Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is considered to be the fastest growing chronic disease in the world and thus multi-sectoral, population-based strategies and approaches are needed to address the modifiable risk factors involved in the development and treatment of T2DM. Evidence-based nutrition principles and recommendations are summarised by the Society for Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes in South Africa (SEMDSA) into guidelines for the management of T2DM. This study aimed to determine the adherence of patients with T2DM with the SEMDSA lifestyle guidelines. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a private practice (n = 50), during which an interviewer-assisted questionnaire related to socio-demographics, diet and lifestyle was completed with each participant. Participants were also weighed and measured. Results: 88% of participants were overweight (22%) or obese (66%). Diets consumed were generally high in total energy (TE) (median: 13 272 kJ), low in carbohydrates (CHO) (56% of participants consumed < 45% of CHO from TE), high in saturated fat (92% consumed ≥ 7% from TE) and high in sodium (74% of participants consumed ≥ 2 300 mg sodium daily). Exercise was not commonplace; 84% of participants did not meet the guideline for aerobic exercise and 92% did not meet the guideline for resistance training. Conclusion: The adherence of participants to the SEMDSA guidelines was poor, thus increasing the risk of long-term complications and poor glycaemic control.
Dairy cows, methane and global warming have become publicly related terms. However, appropriate dairy cow management may in fact be part of the climate solution when viewed as part of the biogenic carbon cycle. Accordingly, governments and consumers are encouraging more sustainable, locally produced, climate friendly dairy production that often includes grassland‐based feeding. However, this system is presumed to result in greater methane emissions compared to corn silage‐ or concentrate‐based diets. An increase in urine nitrogen, associated with increased ammonia and nitrous oxide emission potential, questions the environmental usefulness of this strategy pertaining to global warming. This study is the first to compare the effects of incremental increases of grass silage proportion on enteric methane production as well as N and energy losses in dairy cows. Twenty‐four mid‐ to end‐lactation dairy cows were each fed one of 24 different diets, from two different harvest years, gradually increasing in grassland‐based feeds (grass silage and hay) from about 500 to 1000 g/kg and concomitantly decreasing in corn silage. Each cow underwent a 7‐day total collection period and was housed for 48 h in respiration chambers. Incremental data were subjected to an approved parametric regression analysis approach. The dietary increase in grassland‐based feeds did not impair milk yield, N and energy utilisation. Simplified regression equations revealed that, contrary to current assumptions, there was a decline in methane production from 373 to 303 g/day when increasing grassland‐based feeds from 500 to 1000 g/kg diet, and there was a trend for a decline in emission intensity from 20.6 to 17.6 g/kg of energy‐corrected milk. However, urine nitrogen emissions clearly increased even when related to nitrogen intake; the latter from 260 to 364 g/kg when increasing grassland‐based feeds from 500 to 1000 g/kg. Methane and urine nitrogen emissions were not affected by year of harvest.
This study is a first step approach towards the prediction of the proportion of grassland-based feeds (%GB) in dairy cow diets with the aid of three different groups of milk biomarkers. We aimed to evaluate and quantify the associations between biomarkers commonly suggested in the literature and %GB in individual cows as a hypothesis-generating stage for the prospective establishment of accurate %GB prediction models. Consumers and governments financially encourage sustainable, local milk production making grass-based feeding, in grassland-dominated regions, of major interest. Milk from grassland-fed cows differs from that of other feeding systems by inferential fatty acids (FA), β-carotene content and yellow color; however, these biomarkers have not been evaluated together for their association with %GB. Using approved methods of parametric regression analysis, gas chromatography (GC), mid-infrared spectra (MIR) and color spectroscopy, we aimed to develop a first step towards an easy-to-implement, cost-effective milk-based control to estimate %GB in dairy cow diets. The underlying database was generated with 24 cows each fed one of 24 different diets gradually increasing in grass silage and decreasing in corn silage. Our results indicate that GC-measured α-linolenic acid, total n-3 FA and the n-6:n-3 ratio, MIR-estimated PUFA and milk red-green color index a* are robust milk biomarkers for constructing accurate prediction models to determine %GB. Based on simplified regression analysis, diets containing 75% GB should contain ≥ 0.669 and 0.852 g α-linolenic acid and total n-3 FA per 100 g total FA, respectively, and an n-6:n-3 FA ratio of < 2.02 measured with GC; estimated with MIR, polyunsaturated FA should be ≥ 3.13 g/100 g total FA. β-carotene was not a good predictor for estimating %GB. Unexpectedly, the milk became greener with increasing %GB (negative a* values, ‒6.416 for 75% GB), suggesting the red-green color index, not yellow-blue, as a suitable biomarker.
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