Food functionality research as a new national project in special reference to improvement of cognitive and locomotive abilities

Abstract

In Japan, where a super-aging society is realized, we are most concerned about healthy longevity, which would ascertain the wellness of people by improving their quality of life (QOL). In 2014, the Cabinet Office proposed a strategic innovation promotion programme, launching a national project for the development of the agricultural-forestry-fisheries food products with new functionalities for the next generation. In addition to focusing on a conventional prevention of lifestyle-associated metabolic syndromes, the project targets the scientific evidence of the activation of brain cognitive ability and the improvement of bodily locomotive function. The project also involves the analysis of the foods-sports interrelation of chronic importance, and the development of devices for the verification of QOL-associated maintenance of homeostasis. In this review, we provide an overview of these studies, with special reference to cognition as a case of the gut-brain axis which the author is particularly interested in.

Effect of Resistance Training and Fish Protein Intake on Motor Unit Firing Pattern and Motor Function of Elderly

“…Also, the effectiveness of some other nutritional supplements such as omega-3 fatty acids, creatine, and β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate, to promote muscle functions were reported (Fragala et al, 2015). Recently, attention has been paid to traditional natural foods to improve age-related muscle functions (Abe et al, 2017; Abe and Misaka, 2018). For example, the intake of fish protein, i.e., APP, which Japan and other countries have traditionally consumed in daily meals, induced more marked muscle hypertrophy comparing with casein in rat muscle (Mizushige et al, 2010; Kawabata et al, 2015).…”