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BackgroundDifferent healthy food patterns may modify cardiometabolic risk. We investigated the effects of an isocaloric healthy Nordic diet on insulin sensitivity, lipid profile, blood pressure and inflammatory markers in people with metabolic syndrome.MethodsWe conducted a randomized dietary study lasting for 18–24 weeks in individuals with features of metabolic syndrome (mean age 55 years, BMI 31.6 kg m−2, 67% women). Altogether 309 individuals were screened, 200 started the intervention after 4-week run-in period, and 96 (proportion of dropouts 7.9%) and 70 individuals (dropouts 27%) completed the study, in the Healthy diet and Control diet groups, respectively. Healthy diet included whole-grain products, berries, fruits and vegetables, rapeseed oil, three fish meals per week and low-fat dairy products. An average Nordic diet served as a Control diet. Compliance was monitored by repeated 4-day food diaries and fatty acid composition of serum phospholipids.ResultsBody weight remained stable, and no significant changes were observed in insulin sensitivity or blood pressure. Significant changes between the groups were found in non-HDL cholesterol (−0.18, mmol L−1 95% CI −0.35; −0.01, P = 0.04), LDL to HDL cholesterol (−0.15, −0.28; −0.00, P = 0.046) and apolipoprotein B to apolipoprotein A1 ratios (−0.04, −0.07; −0.00, P = 0.025) favouring the Healthy diet. IL-1 Ra increased during the Control diet (difference −84, −133; −37 ng L−1, P = 0.00053). Intakes of saturated fats (E%, beta estimate 4.28, 0.02; 8.53, P = 0.049) and magnesium (mg, −0.23, −0.41; −0.05, P = 0.012) were associated with IL-1 Ra.ConclusionsHealthy Nordic diet improved lipid profile and had a beneficial effect on low-grade inflammation.

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The current paper reviews content and variation in fiber and nonstarch polysaccharides (NSP) of common crops used in broiler diets. The cereal grain is a complex structure, and its cell walls (CW) differ in their composition and hence properties. Arabinoxylan (AX), mixed linkage (1→3; 1→4)-β-glucan (β-glucan), cellulose, and the noncarbohydrate component lignin are the predominant polymers in cereals. They occur in different proportions depending on the species and tissue type. Rye, triticale, wheat, corn, and sorghum are all rich in AX, whereas barley and oats contain a high level of β-glucan. The AX from rye, wheat, and triticale and β-glucan from barley and oats are to a large extent soluble, whereas the solubility of AX found in corn and sorghum is lower than the other cereals. The ratio of arabinose to xylose gives a crude indication of the AX structure, which varies between the endosperm, the aleurone and the outer grain layers as well as between the same tissues from different grains. Varietal differences in AX structure of the endosperm are also identified. From the analysis of the released oligomers after hydrolysis with a specific (1→3,1→4)-β-d-glucan hydrolase, it is found that the ratio of trisaccharides (degree of polymerization 3) and tetrasaccharides (degree of polymerization 4) varies depending on the source, being higher in barley than in oats but lower than in wheat. The molecular weight of β-glucan is higher than that of AX, and both polymers contribute to the viscosity of the extract. However, because AX molecules are more resistant to degradation than β-glucan, the use of AX rich grains in broiler diets is usually more problematic than those containing high concentrations of β-glucan. The cereal coproducts (brans and hulls) are concentrated sources of cellulose, lignin, and insoluble AX, but β-glucan can also be present mainly in rye and wheat brans. The CW composition of seeds and grains of protein crops and feedstuffs are different from that of cereals. The main CW polymers are pectic substances (homogalacturonan, rhamnogalacturonan type I and II, xylogalacturonan, and arabinogalactans type I and II), xyloglucans, and cellulose, but there are significant differences in the composition of the parenchymatous (cotyledon) tissues and that of the hulls. In the hulls, cellulose is the predominant polysaccharide, followed by acidic xylans and pectic substances. The implications of the heterogeneous CW for the action of exogenous enzymes are discussed.

A major challenge in affluent societies is the increase in disorders related to gut and metabolic health. Chronic over nutrition by unhealthy foods high in energy, fat, and sugar, and low in dietary fibre is a key environmental factor responsible for this development, which may cause local and systemic inflammation. A low intake of dietary fibre is a limiting factor for maintaining a viable and diverse microbiota and production of short-chain fatty acids in the gut. A suppressed production of butyrate is crucial, as this short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) can play a key role not only in colonic health and function but also at the systemic level. At both sites, the mode of action is through mediation of signalling pathways involving nuclear NF-κB and inhibition of histone deacetylase. The intake and composition of dietary fibre modulate production of butyrate in the large intestine. While butyrate production is easily adjustable it is more variable how it influences gut barrier function and inflammatory markers in the gut and periphery. The effect of butyrate seems generally to be more consistent and positive on inflammatory markers related to the gut than on inflammatory markers in the peripheral tissue. This discrepancy may be explained by differences in butyrate concentrations in the gut compared with the much lower concentration at more remote sites.

The digestibility of polysaccharides and other major components and the metabolic response of the microflora in the small and large intestines to oat diets varying in mixed linked /?(1+ 3; 1 + 4)-~-glucan (8-glucan) were studied in experiments with ileum-cannulated pigs. The oat fractions for diets were prepared in a dry milling process in which oat groats were milled into two endosperm fractions (oat flour 1 and oat flour 2) and oat bran. The digestibility of polysaccharides and the metabolic response of the microflora were followed for the two contrasting diets, oat flour 1 and oat bran, from ingestion to excretion while the digestibility of oat groats and oat flour 2 were estimated only at the ileum and in faeces. There was no degradation of /?-glucan from either oat flour 1 or bran in the stomach and the first, middle and distal thirds of the small intestine (average digestibility approximately 0), while in the terminal ileum digestibility increased to 0.30 to 0.17 respectively. The digestion of starch in the first third of the small intestine was lower for the high-/?-gluean oat-bran diet (0.49) than for the low-/?-glucan flour diet (0.64). However, digestibility differences between the two diets levelled out as the digesta moved aborally in the small intestine and the digestibility at the terminal ileum was almost complete (0.9704995) for all diets. Oat non-starch polysaccharides (NSP) were an easily digestible energy source for the microflora in the large intestine less than 13% of dietary NSP being recovered in faeces. The bulk of /?-glucan which survived the small intestine was degraded in the caecum and proximal colon while arabinoxylan was more slowly degraded. The amount of residues passing the ileo-caecal junction has Little impact on the density of micro-organisms in the large intestine, which on the flour and bran diets were in the range of 101o-lO1' viable counts/g digesta, but a high impact on the activity of the flora in colon. Oat bran resulted in a higher proportion of butyric acid in large intestinal content compared with the flour diet. The faecal bulking effect of oat bran was mainly caused by an increased excretion of protein and fat, presumably of bacterial origin. O f all the diets tested the oat-bran diets had the lowest digestibilities of protein and fat at the terminal ileum and in the faeces.

Genotypes of cereal grains, including winter barley (n = 21), maize (n = 27), oats (n = 14), winter rye (n = 22), winter triticale (n = 21) and winter wheat (n = 29), were assayed for their chemical composition and physical characteristics as part of the collaborative research project referred to as GrainUp. Genotypes of one grain species were grown on the same site, except maize. In general, concentrations of proximate nutrients were not largely different from feed tables. The coefficient of variation (CV) for the ether extract concentration of maize was high because the data pool comprised speciality maize bred for its high oil content. A subset of 8 barley, 20 rye, 20 triticale and 20 wheat samples was analysed to differ significantly in several carbohydrate fractions. Gross energy concentration of cereal grains could be predicted from proximate nutrient concentration with good accuracy. The mean lysine concentration of protein was the highest in oats (4.2 g/16 g N) and the lowest in wheat (2.7 g/16 g N). Significant differences were also detected in the concentrations of macro elements as well as iron, manganese, zinc and copper. Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium and lead were below the limit of detection. The concentration of lower inositol phosphates was low, but some inositol pentaphosphates were detected in all grains. In barley, relatively high inositol tetraphosphate concentration also was found. Intrinsic phytase activity was the highest in rye, followed by triticale, wheat, barley and maize, and it was not detectable in oats. Substantial differences were seen in the thousand seed weight, test weight, falling number and extract viscoelasticity characteristics. The study is a comprehensive overview of the composition of different cereal grain genotypes when grown on the same location. The relevance of the variation in composition for digestibility in different animal species will be subject of other communications.

The present study was undertaken to provide detailed information about the effect of fibre source (pea fibre, wheat bran or oat bran) at inclusion levels of 0,187 and 375 g/kg diet on the development of the digestive tract, nutrient digestibility and energy and protein metabolism in broiler chickens. Heat production was measured using open-air-circuit respiration chambers. Diets with increasing levels of pea fibre decreased the DM in droppings and increased excreta output (25fold) relative to DM intake. Adaptation to increased dietary fibre levels included increases in the size of the digestive system, with pea fibre exerting a stronger impact than wheat bran or oat bran. The length of the intestine, and particularly the length and weight of the caecum, increased with the fibre level. The digestibility of all nutrients also decreased with increasing fibre level. The decrease in the digestibility in relation to NSP for the three fibre sources was bigger for oat bran (0.0020 per g dietary NSP) than for pea fibre and wheat bran (04014 and 0.0016 per g dietary NSP) indicating that the cell walls in oat bran (aleurone and subaleurone) had a significant negative effect on the digestibility of cellular nutrients, i.e. protein and fat. The degradation of the NSP constituents was far lower in chickens than found in other animal species such as pigs and rats, thus supporting the view that chickens do not ferment fibre polymers to a great extent. Excretion of organic acids (mainly lactic acid and acetic acid) accounted for up to 2% of metabolizable energy (ME) intake with the highest excretion for the high-fibre diets. H, excretion was related to the amount of NSP degraded and indicated higher microbial fermentation with increasing fibre levels. The chickens' feed intake responded to a great extent to dietary ME concentration but expressed in terms of metabolic body size (W0'75) ME intake was depressed at the high fibre levels. Dietary NSP was able to explain between 86 YO (oat bran) and 96 YO (pea fibre) of the variation in ME concentration.The amount of energy available from fermentation of NSP appears to reach a maximum of 42 kJ/d independent of fibre source and level. Expressed in relation to M E intake the NSP fermentation contributed 3-4 YO. With increasing fibre intake the partitioning of retained energy between body protein and body fat changed in favour of protein.Gutfill: Heat increment: Non-starch polysaccharides: FermentationThe feed ingredients used in poultry diets are mostly of vegetable origin. Plant materials are rich sources of carbohydrates, i.e. low-molecular-weight sugars, starch and NSP, the latter being resistant to digestive enzymes. However, the NSP fraction can, to a certain degree, be broken down by the microbial flora permanently colonizing the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The end-products of the microbial degradation are various gases (H2, CO,, CH,), lactic acid and short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). The SCFA produced are rapidly absorbed * For reprints.-f Visiting scientist from the Northwest Pla...