Objective: To investigate the effect of including seafood and fish oils, as part of an energy-restricted diet, on weight loss in young overweight adults. Design: Randomized controlled trial of energy-restricted diet varying in fish and fish oil content was followed for 8 weeks. Subjects were randomized to one of four groups: (1) control (sunflower oil capsules, no seafood); (2) lean fish (3  150 g portions of cod/week); (3) fatty fish (3  150 g portions of salmon/week); (4) fish oil (DHA/EPA capsules, no seafood). The macronutrient composition of the diets was similar between the groups and the capsule groups, were single-blinded. Subjects: A total of 324 men and women aged 20-40 years, BMI 27.5-32.5 kg/m 2 from Iceland, Spain and Ireland. Measurements: Anthropometric data were collected at baseline, midpoint and endpoint. Confounding factors were accounted for, with linear models, for repeated measures with two-way interactions. The most important interactions for weight loss were (diet  energy intake), (gender  diet) and (gender  initial-weight). Results: An average man in the study (95 kg at baseline receiving 1600 kcal/day) was estimated to lose 3.55 kg (95% CI, 3.14-3.97) (1); 4.35 kg (95% CI, 3.94-4.75) (2); 4.50 kg (95% CI, 4.13-4.87) (3) and 4.96 kg (95% CI, 4.53-5.40) on diet (4) in 4 weeks, from baseline to midpoint. The weight-loss from midpoint to endpoint was 0.45 (0.41-0.49) times the observed weight loss from baseline to midpoint. The diets did not differ in their effect on weight loss in women. Changes in measures of body composition were in line with changes in body weight. Conclusion: In young, overweight men, the inclusion of either lean or fatty fish, or fish oil as part of an energy-restricted diet resulted in B1 kg more weight loss after 4 weeks, than did a similar diet without seafood or supplement of marine origin. The addition of seafood to a nutritionally balanced energy-restricted diet may boost weight loss.

Protein quality describes characteristics of a protein in relation to its ability to achieve defined metabolic actions. Traditionally, this has been discussed solely in the context of a protein's ability to provide specific patterns of amino acids to satisfy the demands for synthesis of protein as measured by animal growth or, in humans, nitrogen balance. As understanding of protein's actions expands beyond its role in maintaining body protein mass, the concept of protein quality must expand to incorporate these newly emerging actions of protein into the protein quality concept. New research reveals increasingly complex roles for protein and amino acids in regulation of body composition and bone health, gastrointestinal function and bacterial flora, glucose homeostasis, cell signaling, and satiety. The evidence available to date suggests that quality is important not only at the minimum Recommended Dietary Allowance level but also at higher intakes. Currently accepted methods for measuring protein quality do not consider the diverse roles of indispensable amino acids beyond the first limiting amino acid for growth or nitrogen balance. As research continues to evolve in assessing protein's role in optimal health at higher intakes, there is also need to continue to explore implications for protein quality assessment.

The protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score (PDCAAS) has been adopted by FAO/WHO as the preferred method for the measurement of the protein value in human nutrition. The method is based on comparison of the concentration of the first limiting essential amino acid in the test protein with the concentration of that amino acid in a reference (scoring) pattern. This scoring pattern is derived from the essential amino acid requirements of the preschool-age child. The chemical score obtained in this way is corrected for true fecal digestibility of the test protein. PDCAAS values higher than 100% are not accepted as such but are truncated to 100%. Although the principle of the PDCAAS method has been widely accepted, critical questions have been raised in the scientific community about a number of issues. These questions relate to 1) the validity of the preschool-age child amino acid requirement values, 2) the validity of correction for fecal instead of ileal digestibility and 3) the truncation of PDCAAS values to 100%. At the time of the adoption of the PDCAAS method, only a few studies had been performed on the amino acid requirements of the preschool-age child, and there is still a need for validation of the scoring pattern. Also, the scoring pattern does not include conditionally indispensable amino acids. These amino acids also contribute to the nutrition value of a protein. There is strong evidence that ileal, and not fecal, digestibility is the right parameter for correction of the amino acid score. The use of fecal digestibility overestimates the nutritional value of a protein, because amino acid nitrogen entering the colon is lost for protein synthesis in the body and is, at least in part, excreted in urine as ammonia. The truncation of PDCAAS values to 100% can be defended only for the limited number of situations in which the protein is to be used as the sole source of protein in the diet. For evaluation of the nutritional significance of proteins as part of mixed diets, the truncated value should not be used. In those cases, a more detailed evaluation of the contribution of the protein to the amino acid composition of the mixed diet is required. From such an evaluation, it appears that milk proteins are superior to plant proteins in cereal-based diets.

Objective: To determine the effect of consumption of milk fermented by Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota (L. casei Shirota) on the composition and metabolic activities of the intestinal micro¯ora, and immune parameters in humans. Subjects: Twenty healthy male subjects aged 40±65 years were selected. Design: A placebo-controlled trial was performed in which 10 subjects were randomly assigned to a control and 10 to a treatment group. During the ®rst and last two weeks of the 8-week study the subjects received a strictly controlled diet without fermented products. The same controlled diet was given during the intermediate 4-week test period but then the treatment group received three times daily 100 ml of fermented milk containing 10 9 CFU L. casei Shirotaaml, whereas the same amount of unfermented milk was given to the subjects in the control group. Results: In comparison to the control group, the consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk resulted in an increase of the Lactobacillus count in the faeces in which the administered L. casei Shirota was predominant at the level of 10 7 CFUag wet faeces. This was associated with a signi®cant increase in Bi®dobacterium counts (P`0.05). Some shifts in the other bacterial species were found, such as a decreased number of Clostridium; however the differences were not statistically different between the treatment and the control groups.The b-glucuronidase and b-glucosidase activities per 10 10 bacteria decreased signi®cantly (P`0.05) at the second week of the 4-week test period with the consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk. Furthermore, the consumption of the fermented milk product resulted in a slight but signi®cant increase in the moisture content of the faecal samples (P`0.05). No treatment effects were observed for any of the immune parameters measured (including natural killer (NK) cell activity, phagocytosis and cytokine production). Conclusions:The results suggest that consumption of L. casei Shirota-fermented milk is able to modulate the composition and metabolic activity of the intestinal¯ora and indicate that L. casei Shirota-fermented milk does not in¯uence the immune system of healthy immunocompetent males.

The HP breakfast decreased postprandial ghrelin concentrations more strongly over time than did the HC breakfast. High associations between ghrelin and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide and glucagon suggest that stimulation of these peptides may mediate the postprandial ghrelin response. The HP breakfast also reduced gastric emptying, probably through increased secretion of cholecystokinin and glucagon-like peptide 1.

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Nondigestible oligosaccharides (NDOs) have been found to stimulate absorption of several minerals and to improve mineralization of bone. Hence, these substances are potential ingredients for "functional foods." In addition to a nutritional effect, functional foods have physiologic and psychological benefits that result in improved health or reduced risk of chronic disease. Most of the scientific evidence for the functional effects of NDOs is based on animal experiments in which NDOs increased the availability of calcium, magnesium, zinc, and iron. This stimulatory effect of some NDOs is assumed to be mainly due to their prebiotic character. A prebiotic is defined as a substrate or food ingredient that is nondigestible for the host but is fermented selectively by some of the intestinal microflora. Thus, it stimulates the growth and activity of bacteria with beneficial consequences for the host's health. Recently, these findings were confirmed in human studies for some NDOs. The effects seem to be specific for the type of carbohydrate and are likely related to the rate of fermentation by the intestinal flora and appear to depend on the ingested dose. Contradictory results of the effect of prebiotics in literature may be due to the experimental design because the effect of NDOs depends on the dose, the time of administration, the content of calcium in the diet, the part of the skeleton investigated, and the age of the subjects studied.

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