Commercial Bakery, Fast-Food, and Soft Drink Consumption and Quality of Life in the SUN Project

Objective: Few studies have related nutritional factors with quality of life in healthy populations. Our aim was to analyze the relationship between commercial bakery, fast food or soft drinks consumption and mental and physical quality of life. Study Design: This analysis included 8335 participants from the 'Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra' (SUN) Project (a multipurpose, dynamic cohort). Methods: The consumption of commercial bakery, fast food and soft drinks was assessed through a validated food-frequency questionnaire at baseline. Quality of life was measured after 4 years of follow-up with the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey. Generalized Linear Models were fit to assess the regression coefficients (b) and their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the association between commercial bakery, fast food and soft drinks consumption and each domain and the two standardized measures of the SF-36. Results: As compared to the participants in the lowest quintile of consumption, those participants in the highest quintile of consumption of commercial bakery, fast food and soft drinks showed a score significantly lower (>2 points) for vitality (b = -2.14, 95% CI = -3.31 to -0.96), role emotional (b = -2.23, 95% CI = -4.33 to -0.13), and role physical (b = -2.31, 95% IC = -4.26 to -0.36) domains with statistically significant dose-response relationships (p for trend < 0.05). When the food groups were analysed separately, significant inverse associations were found only for commercial bakery and fast-food consumption. Conclusions: The results suggest that high consumption of commercial bakery, fast-food and soft drinks at baseline was associated with worse scores on self-perceived quality of life. This association was stronger for the mental domains of the SF-36.

Effects of Intake of Milk Enriched with <i>Aloe vera</i>on Patients with Gastrointestinal Reflux Disease

Background: Aloe vera has been used by many civilizations throughout history due to the numerous properties attributed. Gastro oesophageal reflux disease is a common disorder with consequences for the patient’s health related quality of life. Aims: The purpose of this study was to assess the benefits of the Aloe vera in 80 patients with gastro oesophageal reflux. Methods: This is probably the first randomised and double-blind trail ever performed on this subject. The study included eight weeks of treatment with milk enriched with Aloe vera or placebo. Data of diet (frequency questionnaire), symptoms (gastrointestinal symptom rating scale) and quality of life (quality of life in reflux and disease) were obtained. Results: So far, there has been hardly any proof that Aloe vera decreases symptoms of reflux disease;on the contrary, a lower percentage of remission of pain is observed among the Aloe vera group. As long as its effectiveness has not been proven properly, the use of Aloe vera in reflux disease cannot be recommend. Conclusion: Aloe vera does not have a beneficial effect on reflux disease under the study conditions.