The impact of nutrition on psycho-affective status in an older Cretan population: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive and mood status influence both personal and social daily activities, with great impact on life quality, particularly among the elderly population. AIM: This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the psycho-affective status concerning eating habits within an elderly population of the Chania area in Crete, Greece. METHODS: Cognitive status was assessed in 101 elderly subjects through the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and mood was evaluated using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Nutritional status was assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. RESULTS: Multivariable statistical analysis, after adjustment for age, marital status, education, and comorbidity, highlighted among males a positive association of the MMSE score with vegetable consumption (RR 1.18; 95%CI 1.03‒1.34) and a negative association with potato consumption (RR 0.83; 95%CI 0.72‒0.95). Conversely, among females, no statistically significant association was observed for any food. Further, among males, a protective effect on affective status was identified for chicken meat (RR 0.45; 95%CI 0.27‒0.77), fish (RR 0.41; 95%CI 0.21‒0.82), fruit (RR 0.70; 95%CI 0.52‒0.94), cereals (RR 0.67; 95%CI 0.53‒0.87), and cheese (RR 0.78; 95%CI 0.63‒0.97) consumption. Among females, the adjusted model showed a significant detrimental effect of vegetable consumption (RR 1.33; 95%CI 1.02‒1.73). CONCLUSION: A predominantly vegetable-based diet-with the notable exception of fruits and legumes-was associated with better cognitive status in males, albeit not in females. A higher intake of fruit, as well as fish, chicken meat, and cheese among males was associated with a better affective status, indicating that adequate protein supply may play a role in maintaining emotional balance.

Assessing the Interlinkage between Biodiversity and Diet through the Mediterranean Diet Case.

The adoption of healthy and sustainable diets and the transition to sustainable food systems is of principal importance in order to counteract the double burden of climate change and noncommunicable diseases. The Mediterranean diet (MD) has been widely recognized as a biodiversity and healthy nutrition resource to support sustainable development and food security. This study explored biodiversity in terms of food plants species, subspecies, varieties, and races, and also addressed food plant diversity differences between the MD and Western-type consumption patterns. It was funded by the EU BioValue Project, aiming to promote the integration of underutilized crops into the food value chains. Using a 2-stage scheme, data were selected from MEDUSA and Euro+Med databases (including 449 species, 2366 subspecies, varieties, and races). Furthermore, 12 countries from North Africa and Europe were classified in 2 groups according to their subregional attributes and their traditionally most prevalent dietary pattern (MD or Western-type diets). Statistical analysis showed that the mean of the majorly cultivated food plants in the MD was significantly higher than its counterpart in the Western diet. Furthermore, no statistical difference was detected in the averages of native food plants between the MD group and the Western diet group, implying that the higher diversity in food plants observed in the MD seems to be attributed to crop utilization rather than crop availability. Our findings indicated the interlinkage between biodiversity and prevailing dietary patterns and further underlined that biodiversity could constitute a prerequisite for dietary diversity and hence nutrition security. In addition, this study demonstrated that diets and nutrition should be approached in a broader way within the context of both agro-food and ecological systems.

Assessing the Aftermath of COVID-19 Outbreak in the Agro-Food System: An Exploratory Study of Experts' Perspectives.

The present study explored COVID-19 outbreak impacts on the food system in terms of agro-food production, distribution networks efficiency, and emerging food consumption patterns according to food experts' perspectives. Individual level data were selected from a sample of 59 executive managers of different domains representing agro-food businesses, agro-food cooperatives, and agro-food consulting firms and public institutions. The empirical analysis addressed the effects of the COVID-19 crisis to all the stages in the food chain and attempted to indicate the factors that could influence the trajectory from "farm to fork" under uncertain circumstances. Factor analysis elicited the underlying dimensions of experts' viewpoints toward the operation of the food system during COVID-19 pandemic. Data were also elaborated through hierarchical and k-means cluster analysis and the cluster structure was further validated by discriminant analysis. A two-cluster solution emerged, revealing differences in experts' perceptions toward the aftermath of the pandemic on agriculture (socioeconomic impacts on rural areas, impacts on agricultural production), food processing businesses (decline in the economic viability of food businesses, sharp economic downturn in the food industry, economic recession, incentives for innovation), food distribution networks (distribution channels fallout, food supply disruption), and consumers' food habits and preferences (increasing interest in health protection, adoption of unhealthy eating habits, demand for innovative and sustainable foods). These segments were identified as "skeptical food experts about COVID-19 impacts" (33.9%) and "alarmed food experts about COVID-19 impacts" (66.1%). Our findings highlighted the main disruptions that the food sector should overcome to meet consumer demand for safe and healthy food products and also ensure food availability and food system resiliency.

Changing Dietary Behavior for Better Biodiversity Preservation: A Preliminary Study.

Broadly consumed dietary patterns, such as the European and Western ones, are exerting pressures on biodiversity both in Europe and globally, and shifting toward a sustainable dietary pattern has thus become a must. This paper constitutes a preliminary communication of the results of a research project on the issue. In this study, the pressures of three dietary patterns (European, Western, and Mediterranean) on biodiversity are addressed in terms of land use, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, and eutrophication impact indicators. The environmental impacts are calculated based on a compositional analysis of each dietary pattern and the environmental footprints of the corresponding food groups. Food balance sheets published by the FAO are used as a basis for the compositional analysis, while the environmental footprints of each of the representative food products are retrieved from related life cycle assessment (LCA) studies. The results show that a shift from the European to the Mediterranean dietary pattern would lead to 10 m2/capita/day land savings, 240 L/capita/day water savings, 3 kg CO2/capita/day reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and 20 gPO4eq/capita/day reductions in eutrophication potential. Likewise, a shift from the Western to the Mediterranean dietary pattern would lead to 18 m2/capita/day land savings, 100 L/capita/day water savings, 4 kg CO2/capita/day reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, and 16 gPO4eq/capita/day reduction in eutrophication potential. Based on these findings, it is clear that this shift is urgently needed as a step toward environmentally sustainable dietary patterns, such as the Mediterranean one, to preserve biodiversity for future generations.