Nutrient Intake of Rural Households That Participated in a Farming System for Nutrition Study in India

Food based approach can prove effective in improving access and availability of nutrients from foods required for daily life where most of the people depend on agriculture for their livelihood. A study on feasibility of Farming Systems for Nutrition (FSN) approach was undertaken from 2013 to 2018 in a few villages of Koraput district, Odisha state and Wardha district, Maharashtra state in India. Interventions were done to increase crop diversity, intercropping of pulses and cereals, promotion of seasonal vegetables and fruits along with nutrition awareness. The endline survey showed increase in production diversity leading to improved household dietary diversity. This paper demonstrates the impact of FSN interventions on household nutrient intake. The results show that the intake of nutrients like protein, vitamin C, iron and calcium increased significantly in Koraput and all the nutrients including energy and vitamin A increased significantly in Wardha. The evidence shows that Farming System for Nutrition approach improves individual nutrient intake which in the long run can address the problem of undernutrition.

Targeting gut microbiota in type 2 diabetes mellitus:Potential roles of dietary flavonoids

Type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)is a common endocrine and progressive metabolic disorder disease,which seriously threatens peoples’lives and health.Due to the high cost of clinical treatments and obvious side effects,looking for effective bioactive ingredients in the diet is an important strategy to prevent or even reduce the risk of diabetes.Epidemiological studies have suggested that dietary flavonoids have a potential antidiabetic effect,but the underlying mechanism remains unclear.Accumulating evidences indicates that gut microbiota has become an important target of dietary interventions.It plays essential roles in the digestion and absorption of flavonoids and affects the occurrence and progression of T2DM.This review systematically summarized the progress of dietary flavonoids targeting gut microbiota to ameliorate T2DM and analyzed possible molecular mechanisms.It suggests that flavonoids may prevent T2DM for healthy people and ameliorate health situations for T2DM patients.In addition,microbiota-based nutrition aims to provide personalized nutritional guidance to alter an individual’s microbiota and further improve response to dietary flavonoids,which will benefit to achieve a more effective diet for the prevention and management of T2DM.

Calcium deficiency： where does the diagnostic criterion come from and by what is bone health influenced？

Dietary surveys suggest that a considerable proportion of the population fail to consume recommended amounts of calcium m both developing and developed countries. Recommended allowance for dietary calcium has attracted many controversies and there are discrepant opinions on how to meet the recommendations in the global scientific community.