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A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Sports Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2023) | Viewed by 11584

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Prof. Dr. Ahmad Alkhatib

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Guest Editor

College of Life Sciences, Birmingham City University, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3TN, UK
Interests: diets or nutritional supplements across the lifespan; lifestyle interventions, especially to prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease; obesity prevention strategies in children and adolescents; cellular physiological mechanisms determining adaptations to exercise training or nutritional supplementation
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Dear Colleagues,

There remains an unprecedented increase in lifestyle-related chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. Those are responsible for the increased burden on healthcare systems, decreased quality of life, reduced life expectancy, and increased mortality. Healthy living across the lifespan requires maintaining adequate nutrition and an active lifestyle. Preventative interventions across different populations groups and localised settings are needed. Large-scale interventions, epidemiological and experimental studies, and clinical and randomised trials have all demonstrated the effectiveness of physical activity, nutrition or combined multicomponent interventions on reducing secondary and primary outcomes of several diseases and also enhancing longevity outcomes. Lifestyle prevention can be applied at any stage, whether in the early phase such as in populations with obesity or at high risk or late phase for those with a known condition, such as diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

This Special Issue focuses on bringing the latest evidence together from all types of studies involving any lifestyle component with a focus on studies involving physical activity, exercise or nutritional strategies. We particularly welcome studies which combine nutritional and exercise components’ mechanistic effects on various population groups (those at risk of with conditions including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, novel nutraceuticals and/or novel applications of functional foods or nutraceuticals). Novel combinations of exercise and nutritional approaches involving healthy participants are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Ahmad Alkhatib
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

lifestyle
physical activity
nutrition
nutraceuticals
obesity
diabetes
cardiovascular disease
obesity
ageing
longevity

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

36 pages, 1426 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effectiveness of Lifestyle Nutrition and Physical Activity Interventions for Childhood Obesity and Associated Comorbidities among Children from Minority Ethnic Groups: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

by George Obita and Ahmad Alkhatib

Nutrients 2023, 15(11), 2524; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15112524 - 29 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4391

Abstract

Lifestyle physical activity (PA) and nutrition are known to be effective interventions in preventing and managing obesity-related comorbidities among adult populations but less so among children and adolescents. We examined the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions in children from minority ethnic populations in Western high-income countries (HICs). Our systematic review included 53 studies, involving 26,045 children from minority ethnic populations who followed lifestyle intervention programmes lasting between 8 weeks and 5 years with the aim of preventing and/or managing childhood obesity and associated comorbidities, including adiposity and cardiometabolic risks. The studies were heterogenous in terms of lifestyle intervention components (nutrition, PA, behavioural counselling) and settings (community vs. schools and after-school settings). Our meta-analysis included 31 eligible studies and showed no significant effects of lifestyle interventions when they focused on body mass index (BMI) outcomes (pooled BMI mean change = −0.09 (95% CI = −0.19, 0.01); p = 0.09). This was irrespective of the intervention programme duration (<6 months vs. ≥6 months), type (PA vs. nutrition/combined intervention) and weight status (overweight or obese vs. normal weight) as all showed nonsignificant effects in the sensitivity analysis. Nonetheless, 19 of the 53 studies reported reductions in BMI, BMI z-score and body fat percentage. However, the majority of lifestyle interventions adopting a quasi-design with combined primary and secondary obesity measures (11 out of 15 studies) were effective in reducing the obesity comorbidities of cardiometabolic risks, including metabolic syndrome, insulin sensitivity and blood pressure, in overweight and obese children. Preventing childhood obesity in high-risk ethnic minority groups is best achieved using combined PA and nutrition intervention approaches, which jointly target preventing obesity and its comorbidities, especially the outcomes of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Therefore, public health stakeholders should integrate cultural and lifestyle factors and contextualise obesity prevention strategies among minority ethnic groups in Western HICs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Lifelong Health)

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19 pages, 2877 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Association of Bioelectrical Impedance Phase Angle with Physical Performance and Nutrient Intake of Older Adults

by Sandra Unterberger, Rudolf Aschauer, Patrick A. Zöhrer, Agnes Draxler, Mirjam Aschauer, Benno Kager, Bernhard Franzke, Eva-Maria Strasser, Karl-Heinz Wagner and Barbara Wessner

Nutrients 2023, 15(6), 1458; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15061458 - 17 Mar 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1757

Abstract

In recent years, the phase angle (PhA) as a raw bioelectrical impedance analysis variable has gained attention to assess cell integrity and its association to physical performance in either sports-related or clinical settings. However, data on healthy older adults are scarce. Therefore, data on body composition, physical performance and macronutrient intake from older adults (n = 326, 59.2% women, 75.2 ± 7.2 years) were retrospectively analyzed. Physical performance was evaluated by the Senior Fitness Test battery, gait speed, timed up and go and handgrip strength. Body composition was determined by the BIA and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (from a subgroup of n = 51). The PhA was negatively associated with the timed up and go test and age (r = −0.312 and −0.537, p < 0.001), and positively associated with the 6 min walk test, 30 s chair stand, handgrip strength, gait speed and physical performance score (r = 0.170–0.554, p < 0.05), but not protein intake (r = 0.050, p = 0.386). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that especially age, sex, BMI, but also the PhA predicted the performance test outcomes. In conclusion, the PhA seems to be an interesting contributor to physical performance, but sex- and age-specific norm values still need to be determined. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Lifelong Health)

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19 pages, 2510 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Irvingia gabonensis Extract on Metabolism, Antioxidants, Adipocytokines, Telomere Length, and Aerobic Capacity in Overweight/Obese Individuals

by Rujira Nonsa-ard, Ploypailin Aneknan, Terdthai Tong-un, Sittisak Honsawek and Naruemon Leelayuwat

Nutrients 2022, 14(21), 4646; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14214646 - 03 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2355

Abstract

We investigated the effects of Irvingia gabonensis (IG) kernel extract on the metabolism, adiposity indices, redox status, inflammation, adipocytokines, blood leukocyte relative telomere length (RTL), and aerobic capacity of overweight/obese individuals. All participants used the first 12-week phase to monitor body weight. They were then randomly divided into two groups: (1) 300 mg IG or (2) placebo (PLA). Both groups took one tablet per day for 12 weeks. The variables were measured before supplementation and after 3, 6, and 12 weeks of supplementation. RTL and aerobic capacity were measured before and after 12 weeks. Compared with the PLA, the IG increased plasma vitamin C after supplementation at 6 (p < 0.01) and 12 weeks (p < 0.05) and serum adiponectin after 3 weeks (p < 0.05). Compared with before supplementation, plasma malondialdehyde in the IG and serum leptin in the PLA were decreased after 12-week supplementation, without any differences between the groups. There were no differences between groups with respect to metabolism, inflammation, RTL, and aerobic capacity after the supplementation. We suggest that 12-week daily IG supplementation improved plasma vitamin C and adiponectin. The findings show the possible mechanism contributing to the effect of IG supplementation on a reduction in obesity-related complications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Lifelong Health)

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11 pages, 2619 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High-Dose Nitrate Supplementation Attenuates the Increased Blood Pressure Responses to Isometric Blood Flow Restriction Exercise in Healthy Males

by Ozcan Esen, Ladislav Cepicka, Tomasz Gabrys and Raci Karayigit

Nutrients 2022, 14(17), 3645; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14173645 - 03 Sep 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2354

Abstract

The effect of nitrate (NO₃⁻) supplementation on blood pressure (BP) responses during large muscle mass isometric and ischaemic exercise in healthy young adults is unclear. The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of 5-day supplementation of NO₃⁻ on BP responses during a short isometric contraction and a sustained ischaemic contraction. In a randomised, double-blinded, crossover design, 14 healthy active young adults underwent BP measurements after 5 days of either NO₃⁻ (NIT) or placebo (PLA) supplementation. Beat-by-beat BP was measured at pre- and post-exercise rest, and during a short (20 s) isometric contraction at 25% maximal strength and throughout a sustained ischaemic contraction. Plasma nitrite (NO₂⁻) concentration increased significantly after NO₃⁻ supplementation compared to placebo (475 ± 93 nmol·L⁻¹ vs. 198 ± 46 nmol·L⁻¹, p < 0.001, d = 3.37). Systolic BP was significantly lower at pre- (p = 0.051) and post-exercise rest (p = 0.006), during a short isometric contraction (p = 0.030), and throughout a sustained ischaemic contraction (p = 0.040) after NO₃⁻ supplementation. Mean arterial pressure was significantly lower at pre- (p = 0.004) and post-exercise rest (p = 0.043), during a short isometric contraction (p = 0.041), and throughout a sustained ischaemic contraction (p = 0.021) after NO₃⁻ supplementation. Diastolic BP was lower at pre-exercise rest (p = 0.032), but not at post-exercise rest, during a short isometric contraction, and during a sustained ischaemic contraction (all p > 0.05). Five days of NO₃⁻ supplementation elevated plasma NO₂⁻ concentration and reduced BP during a short isometric contraction and a sustained ischaemic contraction in healthy adults. These observations indicate that multiple-day nitrate supplementation can decrease BP at rest and attenuate the increased BP response during isometric exercise. These findings support that NO₃⁻ supplementation is an effective nutritional intervention in reducing SBP and MAP in healthy young males during submaximal exercise. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Promoting Healthy Diet and Physical Activity for Lifelong Health)

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