Usefulness of herbal and dietary supplement references.

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Sweet, Burgunda V; Gay, Wendy E; Leady, Michelle A; Stumpf, Janice L

2003-04-01

To describe the usefulness of some of the most common tertiary references that healthcare professionals employ to answer requests about herbal and dietary supplements. All requests for information on herbal and dietary supplements received by the drug information service between April and September 2000 were evaluated. Each question was independently reviewed by 4 clinicians using a 4-point scale; 14 references were searched for appropriate answers. The percent of responses for each of the possible scores for each reference overall and by category of question was reported to determine the most helpful references for answering the broadest range of questions. Fifty questions regarding herbal and dietary supplements were analyzed. The electronic databases (Natural Medicine Comprehensive Database, Micromedex) and the Internet site (The Natural Pharmacist) were determined to be overall the most helpful references for providing information on herbal and dietary supplements. The Natural Therapeutics Pocket Guide was the most helpful book reference. These results will facilitate the retrieval of useful information on herbal and dietary supplements and enable healthcare professionals to determine appropriate allocation of resources as they build a drug information library for handling requests about these products.

Evaluation of internet websites marketing herbal weight-loss supplements to consumers.

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Jordan, Melanie A; Haywood, Tasha

2007-11-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality and quantity of drug information available to consumers on Internet websites marketing herbal weight-loss dietary supplements in the United States. We conducted an Internet search using the search engines Yahoo and Google and the keywords "herbal weight loss." Website content was evaluated for the presence of active/inactive ingredient names and strengths and other Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling requirements. Information related to drug safety for the most common herbal ingredients in the products evaluated was compared against standard herbal drug information references. Thirty-two (32) websites were evaluated for labeling requirements and safety information. All sites listed an FDA disclaimer statement and most sites (84.4%) listed active ingredients, although few listed strengths or inactive ingredients. Based on the drug information for the most common ingredients found in the weight-loss dietary supplements evaluated, potential contraindications for cardiovascular conditions, pregnancy/nursing, and high blood pressure were listed most frequently (73%, 65.5%, and 37%, respectively), whereas few websites listed potential drug interactions or adverse reactions. Potential hazards posed by dietary supplements may not be accurately, if at all, represented on Internet websites selling these products. Since consumers may not approach their physicians or pharmacists for information regarding use of dietary supplements in weight loss, it becomes necessary for health care providers to actively engage their patients in open discussion regarding the use, benefits, and hazards of dietary supplements.

Acute liver injury induced by weight-loss herbal supplements.

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Chen, Gary C; Ramanathan, Vivek S; Law, David; Funchain, Pauline; Chen, George C; French, Samuel; Shlopov, Boris; Eysselein, Viktor; Chung, David; Reicher, Sonya; Pham, Binh V

2010-11-27

We report three cases of patients with acute liver injury induced by weight-loss herbal supplements. One patient took Hydroxycut while the other two took Herbalife supplements. Liver biopsies for all patients demonstrated findings consistent with drug-induced acute liver injury. To our knowledge, we are the first institute to report acute liver injury from both of these two types of weight-loss herbal supplements together as a case series. The series emphasizes the importance of taking a cautious approach when consuming herbal supplements for the purpose of weight loss.

The Use of Herbal Supplements as One of Self Medications in Bandung

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Dika P. Destiani

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The use of herbal supplements as one of self medications in Indonesia has not yet been well-documented since many people used these supplements in absence of medical consultation with pharmacist. This retrospective observational study was conducted at one of healthcare service centers in Bandung. Data related to the sale of herbal supplements during 2014 period was collected and analyzed. We found that 30.163 items of herbal supplements were sold in 2014. Approximately 1.277 sold items were specific supplements for chronic and degenerative diseases. Based on the category of therapy, the most sold item was a herbal supplement for hyperlipidemia with three major ingredients: garlic, lecithin, and spirulina. Despite the huge number of the use of herbal supplements in Indonesia, medical information from pharmacist about the use of herbal supplements is still scarce.

DNA barcode authentication of saw palmetto herbal dietary supplements.

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Little, Damon P; Jeanson, Marc L

2013-12-17

Herbal dietary supplements made from saw palmetto (Serenoa repens; Arecaceae) fruit are commonly consumed to ameliorate benign prostate hyperplasia. A novel DNA mini-barcode assay to accurately identify [specificity = 1.00 (95% confidence interval = 0.74-1.00); sensitivity = 1.00 (95% confidence interval = 0.66-1.00); n = 31] saw palmetto dietary supplements was designed from a DNA barcode reference library created for this purpose. The mini-barcodes were used to estimate the frequency of mislabeled saw palmetto herbal dietary supplements on the market in the United States of America. Of the 37 supplements examined, amplifiable DNA could be extracted from 34 (92%). Mini-barcode analysis of these supplements demonstrated that 29 (85%) contain saw palmetto and that 2 (6%) supplements contain related species that cannot be legally sold as herbal dietary supplements in the United States of America. The identity of 3 (9%) supplements could not be conclusively determined.

An empirical investigation on factors influencing export of herbal supplements

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Nazanin Hajmirzahosseini Yazdi

2014-02-01

Full Text Available During the past few years, there have been growing interests in business development of herbal supplements in many developing countries especially in Iran. Herbal supplements are used to cure many deceases such as medicating anxiety, acne, weight loss, depression, etc. In this paper, we present an empirical investigation to detect important factors influencing exporting herbal supplements. The proposed study designs a questionnaire consists of 31 questions, distributes it among 210 experts who are professional in the area of production and distribution of herbal supplements and using factor analysis, the study detects eight factors including supportive laws and regulations, organizational atmosphere, marketing structure, knowledge oriented, feasibility study, research and development, competitive strategy and partnership strategies.

Interaction of Carbamazepine with Herbs, Dietary Supplements, and Food: A Systematic Review

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Sophia Yui Kau Fong

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Carbamazepine (CBZ is a first-line antiepileptic drug which may be prone to drug interactions. Systematic review of herb- and food-drug interactions on CBZ is warranted to provide guidance for medical professionals when prescribing CBZ. Method. A systematic review was conducted on six English databases and four Chinese databases. Results. 196 out of 3179 articles fulfilled inclusion criteria, of which 74 articles were reviewed and 33 herbal products/dietary supplement/food interacting with CBZ were identified. No fatal or severe interactions were documented. The majority of the interactions were pharmacokinetic-based (80%. Traditional Chinese medicine accounted for most of the interactions (n=17, followed by food (n=10, dietary supplements (n=3, and other herbs/botanicals (n=3. Coadministration of 11 and 12 of the studied herbal products/dietary supplement/food significantly decreased or increased the plasma concentrations of CBZ. Regarding pharmacodynamic interaction, Xiao-yao-san, melatonin, and alcohol increased the side effects of CBZ while caffeine lowered the antiepileptic efficacy of CBZ. Conclusion. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the documented interactions between CBZ and herbal products/food/dietary supplements which assists healthcare professionals to identify potential herb-drug and food-drug interactions, thereby preventing potential adverse events and improving patients’ therapeutic outcomes when prescribing CBZ.

Risk assessment of plant food supplements and other herbal products containing aristolochic acids using the margin of exposure (MOE) approach.

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Abdullah, Rozaini; Diaz, Leolean Nyle; Wesseling, Sebastiaan; Rietjens, Ivonne M C M

2017-02-01

After the incidences of induction of aristolochic acid nephropathy after consumption of herbal weight loss preparations that accidentally contained aristolochic acids (AAs), several countries defined national restrictions on the presence of AAs in food, including plant food supplements (PFS) and herbal products. This study investigates whether the risks associated with exposure to AAs via PFS and herbal products are at present indeed negligible. Data reported in literature on AA levels in PFS and other herbal products and also obtained from a new series of PFS in the present study were used to calculate the estimated daily intakes (EDIs) and corresponding margins of exposure (MOEs). Available literature data revealed that 206 out of 573 samples were found to contain aristolochic acid I (AAI) and/or aristolochic acid II (AAII). The results obtained from recently collected PFS revealed that both AAI and AAII were detected in three out of 18 analysed PFS at levels up to 594.8 and 235.3 µg g -1 , respectively, being in line with the levels reported in literature. The EDIs resulting from intake of these PFS resulted in MOEs that were generally below 10,000, corroborating the priority for risk management. Although these results refer to PFS collected by targeted sampling strategies, the data reveal that AA-containing PFS are still freely available. When considering that the use of these samples may be limited to shorter periods of time, the EDIs might be lower, but MOE values would still be lower than 10,000 for more than 50% of the AA-containing PFS and herbal products. In conclusion, the presence of AAs in PFS and herbal products even several years after instalment of the legal restrictions still raises concern, especially for people who frequently use the respective PFS and herbal products.

Review article: herbal and dietary supplement hepatotoxicity.

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Bunchorntavakul, C; Reddy, K R

2013-01-01

Herbal and dietary supplements are commonly used throughout the World. There is a tendency for underreporting their ingestion by patients and the magnitude of their use is underrecognised by Physicians. Herbal hepatotoxicity is not uncommonly encountered, but the precise incidence and manifestations have not been well characterised. To review the epidemiology, presentation and diagnosis of herbal hepatotoxicity. This review will mainly discuss single ingredients and complex mixtures of herbs marketed under a single label. A Medline search was undertaken to identify relevant literature using search terms including 'herbal', 'herbs', 'dietary supplement', 'liver injury', 'hepatitis' and 'hepatotoxicity'. Furthermore, we scanned the reference lists of the primary and review articles to identify publications not retrieved by electronic searches. The incidence rates of herbal hepatotoxicity are largely unknown. The clinical presentation and severity can be highly variable, ranging from mild hepatitis to acute hepatic failure requiring transplantation. Scoring systems for the causality assessment of drug-induced liver injury may be helpful, but have not been validated for herbal hepatotoxicity. Hepatotoxicity features of commonly used herbal products, such as Ayurvedic and Chinese herbs, black cohosh, chaparral, germander, greater celandine, green tea, Herbalife, Hydroxycut, kava, pennyroyal, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, skullcap, and usnic acid, have been individually reviewed. Furthermore, clinically significant herb-drug interactions are also discussed. A number of herbal medicinal products are associated with a spectrum of hepatotoxicity events. Advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis and the risks involved are needed to improve herbal medicine safety. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Regulations applicable to plant food supplements and related products in the European Union.

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Silano, Vittorio; Coppens, Patrick; Larrañaga-Guetaria, Ainhoa; Minghetti, Paola; Roth-Ehrang, René

2011-12-01

This paper deals with the current regulatory and legal settings of traditional plant food supplements and herbal medicinal products in the European Union (EU). Marketing of botanicals in foods and food supplements in the EU is subject to several provisions of food law, which cover aspects of safety, production, labelling and product composition, including the use of additives and maximum levels of contaminants and residues. However, due to limited harmonization at the EU level, specific national regulations adopted at a Member State level also apply and mutual recognition is the mechanism through which such products can be marketed in EU countries other than those of origin. Unlike food supplements, marketing of traditional herbal medicinal products is regulated by an ad hoc Directive (i.e. Directive 2004/24/EC) covering in detail all the relevant aspects of these products, including a facilitated registration procedure at national level. However, by distinguishing traditional herbal medicinal products from plant food supplements and establishing selective marketing modalities for these two product categories, the EU has been confronted with implementation difficulties for traditional herbal medicinal products and a lack of homogeneity in the regulatory approaches adopted in different EU Member States. In fact, currently the nature of the commercial botanical products made available to consumers as traditional medicinal products or food supplements, depends largely on the EU Member State under consideration as a consequence of how competent National Authorities and manufacturing companies interpret and apply current regulations rather than on the intrinsic properties of the botanical products and their constituents. When the EU approach is compared with approaches adopted in some non-European countries to regulate these product categories, major differences become evident.

Organic solute carrier 22 (SLC22 family: Potential for interactions with food, herbal/dietary supplements, endogenous compounds, and drugs

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Raymond E. Lai

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Many drugs, hormones, components of herbal medicines, environmental pesticides and toxins are Solute Carrier family 22 (SLC22 substrates. The last twenty years has seen great progress in determining SLC22 tissue expression profiles, membrane localization, energetics, substrate profiles and biopharmaceutical significance. However, much still remains to be answered in terms of SLC22 family member's roles in ‘normal’ physiology as compared to pathophysiological states, as well as in drug interactions that impact pharmacokinetics, efficacy and toxicity. This review begins with a brief synopsis of SLC22 family discovery, function and tissue expression. Subsequent sections provide examples establishing a role for SLC22 transporters in food-drug, herbal supplement-drug, endogenous substrate-drug and drug–drug interactions. Keywords: Hepatic transport, Nephrotoxicity, Organic anion transporter, Organic cation transporter, Renal transport

Prescription Drugs, Over-the-Counter Drugs, Supplements and Herbal Products

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... at risk? Zika virus and pregnancy Folic acid Medicine safety and pregnancy Birth defects prevention Learn how ... the-counter drugs, supplements and herbal products Prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, supplements and herbal products ...

An overview of herbal supplement utilization with particular emphasis on possible interactions with dental drugs and oral manifestations.

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Abebe, Worku

2003-01-01

Herbal medication in the United States is a popular form of therapy. This paper provides an overview of the utilization of herbal supplements with particular emphasis on possible interactions with oral health drugs and oral manifestations. Herbal supplements are regulated by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), which limits their regulation by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A number of studies indicate that there is a progressive increase in the utilization of herbal supplements. The majority of consumers of these products are white, middle-aged women who have some college education. Many of the consumers use pharmaceutical drugs concurrently, but most do not inform their health-care providers about their use of herbal supplements. Various herbal supplements have been reported or are suspected to interact with certain oral health drugs, the most important one being 1) bromelain, cayenne, chamomile, feverfew, dong quai, eleuthro/Seberian ginseng, garlic, ginkgo, ginger, ginseng and licorice interacting with aspirin; 2) aloe latex, ephedra, ginseng, rhubarb, cascara sagrada, licorice, and senna interacting with corticosteriods; 3) kava, St. John's wort, chamomile, and valerian interacting with central nervous system (CNS) depressant drugs; and 4) herbs acting on the gastrointestinal system, altering the absorption of several orally administered drugs. Further, the use of some herbal supplements has been reported to be associated with oral manifestations, including aphthous ulcers, lip and tongue irritation, and swelling with feverfew; gingival bleeding with feverfew and ginkgo; tongue numbness with echinacea; xerostomia with St. John's wort; oral and lingual dyskinesia with kava; and salivation with yohimbe. These potential effects of herbal supplements in conjunction with factors related to regulation restrictions suggest that the use of these products may be associated with various adverse reactions that can affect oral health and

Herbal Supplements May Not Mix with Heart Medicines

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... Changes in blood pressure Enioutina EY, et al. Herbal medicines: Challenges in the modern world. Part 5. Status ... Pharmacology. 2017;10:327. Saper RB. Overview of herbal medicines and dietary supplements. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/ ...

Non-scientific classification of Chinese herbal medicine as dietary supplement.

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Bao, Kexin

2017-03-01

This article focuses the category status of Chinese herbal medicine in the United States where it has been mistakenly classifified as a dietary supplement. According to Yellow Emperor Canon of Internal Medicine (Huang Di Nei Jing), clinical treatment in broad sense is to apply certain poisonous medicines to fight against pathogeneses, by which all medicines have certain toxicity and side effect. From ancient times to modern society, all, or at least most, practitioners have used herbal medicine to treat patients' medical conditions. The educational curriculums in Chinese medicine (CM) comprise the courses of herbal medicine (herbology) and herbal formulae. The objective of these courses is to teach students to use herbal medicine or formulae to treat disease as materia medica. In contrast, dietary supplements are preparations intended to provide nutrients that are missing or are not consumed in suffificient quantity in a person's diet. In contrast, Chinese herbs can be toxic, which have been proven through laboratory research. Both clinical practice and research have demonstrated that Chinese herbal medicine is a special type of natural materia medica, not a dietary supplement.

Knowledge and characteristics of herbal supplement usage among community pharmacy customers in a Malaysian population.

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Yeong, S W; Choong, Y C

2017-12-01

We investigated the knowledge and characteristics of herbal supplement usage of the customers of community pharmacies in a Malaysian population. Self-administered questionnaires (in English, Malay, or Chinese) were provided to customers at three community pharmacies in Malaysia (Ipoh, Perak). Questionnaire validation and translation validation were performed. A pilot study was conducted before actual questionnaire distribution. Informed consent was obtained from all participants. Total number of participants was 270 (99 males and 171 females) with majority from the 31-50 age group (41.5%). Among the participants, 45.6% were herbal users. The most commonly used herbal supplements were evening primrose oil (17.9%), ginkgo biloba (13.0%), and milk thistle (8.5%). The participants seemed to have sufficient knowledge regarding herbal supplements including safety, quality, and indication of use from medical literature. Participants obtained information about herbal supplements from pharmacists (26.9%), package inserts (25.2%), friends (20.5%), and the Internet (13.3%) more often than from their doctors (9.8%). Most herbal users did not inform their doctors about their usage of herbal supplements (68.3%) or the side effects (61.5%). Herbal supplement users also tended to be women, >50-year-old, and those with higher monthly household incomes. Community pharmacists have a vital role in educating their customers about the safe use of herbal supplements. The participants had sufficient knowledge about herbal supplement usage; therefore, customers of these community pharmacies may have benefitted from the advice of the pharmacists. Further studies could be carried out in future on the knowledge, skills and roles of community pharmacists in the safe use of herbal supplements. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The incidence of vitamin, mineral, herbal, and other supplement use in facial cosmetic patients.

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Zwiebel, Samantha J; Lee, Michelle; Alleyne, Brendan; Guyuron, Bahman

2013-07-01

Dietary supplement use is common in the United States. Some herbal supplements may cause coagulopathy, hypertension, or dry eyes. The goal of this study is to reveal the incidence of herbal supplement use in the cosmetic surgery population. A retrospective chart review of 200 patients undergoing facial cosmetic surgery performed by a single surgeon was performed. Variables studied included patient age, sex, surgical procedure, herbal medication use, and intraoperative variables. Exclusion criteria were age younger than 15 years, noncosmetic procedures such as trauma, and incomplete preoperative medication form. Patients were subdivided into the supplement user group (herbal) and the supplement nonuser group (nonherbal). Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, t test, and chi-square analysis. The incidence of supplement use was 49 percent in the 200 patients; 24.5 percent of patients used only vitamins or minerals, 2.5 percent of patients used only animal- and plant-based (nonvitamin/mineral) supplements, and 22 percent of patients used both types of supplements. In the herbal group, patients used an average of 2.8 supplements. The herbal and nonherbal groups differed significantly in sex (herbal, 89.8 percent female; nonherbal, 77.5 percent; p use is prevalent in the facial cosmetic surgery population, especially in the older female population. Considering the potential ill effects of these products on surgery and recovery, awareness and careful documentation and prohibiting the patients from the consumption of these products will increase the safety and reduce the recovery following cosmetic procedures.

Current concepts and prospects of herbal nutraceutical: A review

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Baby Chauhan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Nutraceuticals are food or part of food that provides medical or health benefits including the prevention and/or treatment of a disease. Nutraceutical has advantage over the medicine because they avoid side effect, have naturally dietary supplement, etc. Nutraceutical; on the basis of their natural source, chemical grouping, categories into three key terms -nutrients, herbals, dietary supplements, dietary fiber, etc. The most rapidly growing segments of the industry were dietary supplements (19.5 percent per year and natural/herbal products (11.6 percent per year. Global nutraceutical market is estimated as USD 117 billion. FDA regulated dietary supplements as foods to ensure that they were safe. In 2006, the Indian government passed Food Safety and Standard Act to regulate the nutraceutical industry. Herbal nutraceutical is used as a powerful instrument in maintaining health and to act against nutritionally induced acute and chronic diseases, thereby promoting optimal health, longevity, and quality of life.

Screening and determination of sibutramine in adulterated herbal slimming supplements by HPTLC-UV densitometry.

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Mathon, Caroline; Ankli, Anita; Reich, Eike; Bieri, Stefan; Christen, Philippe

2014-01-01

The adulteration of herbal supplements is of growing importance, especially when they contain undeclared compounds like sibutramine that are unsafe drugs. Sibutramine was withdrawn from US and European markets in 2010. In this study, an HPTLC-UV densitometric method was developed for the quantification of sibutramine in herbal diet foods. Sample extracts were directly applied onto HPTLC silica gel plates and separated with a mobile phase made of a toluene-methanol mixture. Sibutramine was quantified at 225 nm and its unequivocal identification was confirmed by MS using a TLC-MS interface. During two surveys, 52 weight loss supplements obtained via the Internet were screened. Half of those were adulterated with sibutramine at amounts reaching up to 35 mg per capsule. The results of this validated HPTLC method were compared with those obtained by HPLC-UV and HPLC-MS/MS. The results were not significantly different with the three methods.

Clinical Pharmacokinetic Interactions between Herbal Supplements and Anticancer Drugs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goey, A.K.L.

2013-01-01

In cancer treatment the response to chemotherapy is often characterized by a wide interpatient variability. The increasing popularity of herbal supplements among cancer patients may contribute to this phenomenon. Since these supplements may affect drug metabolizing cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes,

A molecular docking study of phytochemical estrogen mimics from dietary herbal supplements.

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Powers, Chelsea N; Setzer, William N

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to use a molecular docking approach to identify potential estrogen mimics or anti-estrogens in phytochemicals found in popular dietary herbal supplements. In this study, 568 phytochemicals found in 17 of the most popular herbal supplements sold in the United States were built and docked with two isoforms of the estrogen receptor, ERα and ERβ (a total of 27 different protein crystal structures). The docking results revealed six strongly docking compounds in Echinacea, three from milk thistle (Silybum marianum), three from Gingko biloba, one from Sambucus nigra, none from maca (Lepidium meyenii), five from chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus), two from fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), and two from Rhodiola rosea. Notably, of the most popular herbal supplements for women, there were numerous compounds that docked strongly with the estrogen receptor: Licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) had a total of 26 compounds strongly docking to the estrogen receptor, 15 with wild yam (Dioscorea villosa), 11 from black cohosh (Actaea racemosa), eight from muira puama (Ptychopetalum olacoides or P. uncinatum), eight from red clover (Trifolium pratense), three from damiana (Turnera aphrodisiaca or T. diffusa), and three from dong quai (Angelica sinensis). Of possible concern were the compounds from men's herbal supplements that exhibited strong docking to the estrogen receptor: Gingko biloba had three compounds, gotu kola (Centella asiatica) had two, muira puama (Ptychopetalum olacoides or P. uncinatum) had eight, and Tribulus terrestris had six compounds. This molecular docking study has revealed that almost all popular herbal supplements contain phytochemical components that may bind to the human estrogen receptor and exhibit selective estrogen receptor modulation. As such, these herbal supplements may cause unwanted side effects related to estrogenic activity.

Verification of imported food upon import for radiation processing: Dried herbs, including herbs used in food supplements, and spices by PSL and TL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boniglia, C.; Aureli, P.; Bortolin, E.; Onori, S.

2009-01-01

The Italian National Institute of Health in 2005-2006 performed an analytical survey of import on dried spices and herbs, including herbs used in food supplements, to investigate the entry in Italy of irradiated, and not correctly labelled, raw materials. In this survey, 52 samples, including nine herbal extracts, were collected. The method of photo-stimulated luminescence (PSL) was applied to all samples and only samples screened positive or intermediate with PSL were analysed by using the thermo-luminescence (TL) method. Out of the 12 samples screened positive or intermediate with PSL, the TL method confirmed irradiation of five samples (10% of the total assayed samples). One out of these five samples was a herbal supplement whereas three were herbal extracts that are known to be used as ingredients of herbal supplements, and another one was a spice.

Verification of imported food upon import for radiation processing: Dried herbs, including herbs used in food supplements, and spices by PSL and TL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boniglia, C. [Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome (Italy)], E-mail: concetta.boniglia@iss.it; Aureli, P. [Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome (Italy); Bortolin, E.; Onori, S. [Department of Technology and Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome (Italy)

2009-07-15

The Italian National Institute of Health in 2005-2006 performed an analytical survey of import on dried spices and herbs, including herbs used in food supplements, to investigate the entry in Italy of irradiated, and not correctly labelled, raw materials. In this survey, 52 samples, including nine herbal extracts, were collected. The method of photo-stimulated luminescence (PSL) was applied to all samples and only samples screened positive or intermediate with PSL were analysed by using the thermo-luminescence (TL) method. Out of the 12 samples screened positive or intermediate with PSL, the TL method confirmed irradiation of five samples (10% of the total assayed samples). One out of these five samples was a herbal supplement whereas three were herbal extracts that are known to be used as ingredients of herbal supplements, and another one was a spice.

Scientific and Regulatory Perspectives in Herbal and Dietary Supplement Associated Hepatotoxicity in the United States

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Mark I. Avigan

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In the United States (US, the risk of hepatotoxicity linked to the widespread use of certain herbal products has gained increased attention among regulatory scientists. Based on current US law, all dietary supplements sold domestically, including botanical supplements, are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA as a special category of foods. Under this designation, regulatory scientists do not routinely evaluate the efficacy of these products prior to their marketing, despite the content variability and phytochemical complexity that often characterizes them. Nonetheless, there has been notable progress in the development of advanced scientific methods to qualitatively and quantitatively measure ingredients and screen for contaminants and adulterants in botanical products when hepatotoxicity is recognized.

Herbal Supplements for Prostate Enlargement: Current State of the Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Nabavizadeh, Reza; Zangi, Mahdi; Kim, Michelle M; Yavari Bejestani, Maryam; Tabatabaei, Shahin

2018-02-01

To provide a comprehensive review of the current state of herbal supplement market for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and correlate the ingredients of each product with available scientific evidence. Twenty-seven products from Amazon.com that were advertised as herbal supplements for LUTS and had listed their active ingredients were selected. Active ingredients were reviewed on Google Scholar. Product price, warranty, and consumer review information were also collected. A total of 58 unique active ingredients were identified. The mean number of ingredients was 8.26 (standard deviation 5.25). Whereas 17 (63%) products had an ingredient with a systematic review to support their use, 20 (74%) had an ingredient with conflicting evidence based on systematic reviews. Out of the supplements that contained ingredients supported by literature, all (100%) products simultaneously had other ingredients with no, conflicting, or refuting evidence. There was no (0%) product that contained only scientifically proven ingredients. There is no scientific study to evaluate these supplements as a whole. Despite the widespread use of herbal supplements for LUTS, there is scant scientific evidence to support their safety and efficacy. Lack of adequate regulation and government support for research and development are some of the factors that disincentivize researchers to study safety and efficacy of these products. We encourage physicians to warn their patients on the lack of adequate evidence to support the safety and efficacy of many of these supplements. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Safety concerns of herbal products and traditional Chinese herbal medicines: dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids and aristolochic acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Stegelmeier, Bryan L; Brown, Ammon W; Welch, Kevin D

2015-12-01

In many countries, including the United States, herbal supplements, tisanes and vegetable products, including traditional Chinese medicines, are largely unregulated and their content is not registered, monitored or verified. Consequently, potent plant toxins including dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids and other potential carcinogens can contaminate these products. As herbal and food supplement producers are left to their own means to determine the safety and purity of their products prior to marketing, disturbingly often good marketing practices currently in place are ignored and content is largely undocumented. Historical examples of poisoning and health issues relating to plant material containing dehydopyrrolizidine alkaloids and aristolochic acids were used as examples to demonstrate the risk and potential toxicity of herbal products, food supplements, or traditional medicines. More work is needed to educate consumers of the potential risk and require the industry to be more responsible to verify the content and insure the safety of their products. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS: CAUSE FOR CONCERN?

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Paolo Borrione

2008-12-01

Full Text Available More than 1400 herbal products or herbal-derived compounds are commonly commercialised for health uses worldwide (Tyler, 1996. Herbs are considered dietary supplements, and therefore are subjected to a very limited form of regulation, and advertisements normally highlight their potential activities without mentioning any side effect. Also, herbs are generally believed to be 'natural', and hence safe. Many nutritional supplements contains herb compounds usually not present in the diet (e.g. Ginko biloba, horse- chestnut, and only 10% of the herbs used in nutritional supplements are commonly present in the food (e.g. garlic, soy, blueberry, green the, ginger, curcuma (Eisenberg et al., 1993. There is much interest in "alternative natural approaches" in sport. It is appealing for athletes to use 'natural' substances with similar activity to 'pharmacological' ones in term of improving performance, are not considered doping, and are considered side-effects free (Table 1. Indeed, many herbal dietary supplements marketed on internet are presented as legal alternative to illicit drugs (Denneey et al., 2005. EcdysteroidsEcdysteroids are the steroid hormones of arthropods (Figure 1. They also occur in some plants, where they are known as phytoecdysteroids, and are believed to contribute to deter invertebrate predators. In insects, they regulate moulting and metamorphosis, may regulate reproduction and diapause. Most actions of ecdysteroids are mediated by intracellular receptor complexes, which regulate gene expression in a tissue- and development-specific manner (Lehmann et al 1989.Several phytoecdysteroids have anabolic growth-promoting effects on mice, rats, pigs and Japanese quails. Ecdysteroids stimulate muscle growth, and this anabolic effect promotes increased physical performance without training. Ecdysteroids are also able to increase muscle ATP content in vitamin D-deprived rats (Báthori, 2002. Ecdysteroids stimulate protein synthesis in the

An overview of consumer attitudes and beliefs about plant food supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Egan, Bernadette; Hodgkins, Charo; Shepherd, Richard; Timotijevic, Lada; Raats, Monique

2011-12-01

The use of dietary supplements is increasing globally and this includes the use of plant food supplements (PFS). A variety of factors may be influencing this increased consumption including the increasing number of older people in society, mistrust in conventional medicine and the perception that natural is healthy. Consumer studies in this area are limited, with a focus on dietary supplements in general, and complicated by the use of certain plant food supplements as herbal medicines. Research indicates that higher use of dietary supplements has been associated with being female, being more educated, having a higher income, being white and being older, however the drivers for consumption of supplements are complex, being influenced by both demographic and health-related factors. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of current knowledge about the users and the determinants of usage of plant food supplements. With growing consumption of these products, the need for effective risk-benefit assessment becomes ever more important and an insight into who uses these types of products and why is an important starting point for any future science-based decisions made by policy makers, PFS manufacturers and ultimately by consumers themselves.

Liver Injury from Herbal, Dietary, and Weight Loss Supplements: a Review

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Elizabeth X.; Navarro, Victor J.

2015-01-01

Herbal and dietary supplement usage has increased steadily over the past several years in the United States. Among the non-bodybuilding herbal and dietary supplements, weight loss supplements were among the most common type of HDS implicated in liver injury. While drug induced liver injury is rare, its consequences are significant and on the rise. The purpose of this review is to highlight case reports of weight loss products such as Hydroxycut and OxyElite Pro as one form of HDS that have hepatotoxic potential and to characterize its clinical effects as well as pattern of liver injury. We also propose future strategies in the identification and study of potentially hepatotoxic compounds in an effort to outline a diagnostic approach for identifying any drug induced liver injury. PMID:26357638

Plant food supplement (PFS) market structure in EC Member States, methods and techniques for the assessment of individual PFS intake

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vargas-Murga, L.; Garcia-Alvarez, A.; Roman-Vinas, B.; Ngo, J.; Ribas-Barba, L.; Berg, van den S.J.P.L.; Williamson, G.; Serra-Majem, L.

2011-01-01

The popularity of herbal products, especially plant food supplements (PFS) and herbal medicine is on the rise in Europe and other parts of the world, with increased use in the general population as well as among specific subgroups encompassing children, women or those suffering from diseases such as

Hematological alterations in broiler chicks during different seasons supplemented with herbal formulations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nidhi Singh1

2008-08-01

Full Text Available The study was conducted on Vencobb broiler chicks to ascertain the antistress affects of Zist, Zeetress and a combination of Amla and Turmeric during summer, rainy and winter seasons and thereby the haematological changes of birds revealed that during all the three seasons a marked improvement in Haemoglobin was encountered in all the three groups where herbal preparations were supplemented. A marked increase in the lymphocyte count occurred during summer and winter seasons in all the experimental groups of bird as compared to the control group. The heterophil count was decreased with the supplementation of herbal formulations in the feed irrespective of the seasons encountered in the season. This decrease in heterophil count was highly significant in seasons like summer, winter and rainy. This observation proves the hepato-stimulatory, hepato protective and immuno modulating effects of herbal preparations. [Veterinary World 2008; 1(4.000: 110-112

Detection of regulated herbs and plants in plant food supplements and traditional medicines using infrared spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Deconinck, E; Djiogo, C A Sokeng; Bothy, J L; Courselle, P

2017-08-05

The identification of a specific toxic or regulated plant in herbal preparations or plant food supplements is a real challenge, since they are often powdered, mixed with other herbal or synthetic powders and compressed into tablets or capsules. The classical identification approaches based on micro- and macroscopy are therefore not possible anymore. In this paper infrared spectroscopy, combined with attenuated total reflectance was evaluated for the screening of plant based preparations for nine specific plants (five regulated and four common plants for herbal supplements). IR and NIR spectra were recorded for a series of self-made triturations of the targeted plants. After pretreatment of the spectral data chemometric classification techniques were applied to both data sets (IR and NIR) separately and the combination of both. The results show that the screening of herbal preparations or plant food supplements for specific plants, using infrared spectroscopy, is feasible. The best model was obtained with the Mid-IR data, using SIMCA as modelling technique. During validation of the model, using an external test set, 21 of 25 were correctly classified and six of the nine targeted plants showed no misclassifications for the selected test set. For the other three a success rate of 50% was obtained. Mid-IR combined with SIMCA can therefore be applied as a first step in the screening of unknown samples, before applying more sophisticated fingerprint approaches or identification tests described in several national and international pharmacopoeia. As a proof of concept five real suspicious samples were successfully screened for the targeted regulated plants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

DRUG REACTION WITH HERBAL SUPPLEMENT: A POSSIBLE CASE OF DRUG INDUCED LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AZIZ NA

2010-01-01

Full Text Available A 24-year-old lady presented with four days history of fever, non-pruritic rash, ankle pain and swelling. She had consumed herbal supplement five days before the onset of symptoms. Examinations revealed erythematous maculo-papular lesions of varying sizes on sun exposed areas. Patient was suspected to have Drug Induced Lupus Erythematosus (DILE and subsequently symptoms subsided rapidly on withholding the herbal medication.

Evaluation of herbal dietary supplements marketed on the internet for recreational use.

Science.gov (United States)

Dennehy, Cathi E; Tsourounis, Candy; Miller, Amy E

2005-10-01

The Internet is a popular tool for marketing and purchasing herbal dietary supplements (DS). Various Web sites sell these products purely for recreational use. To describe the content of Web sites that advertise and market herbal DS for recreational use (ie, for the purpose of altering mood/behavior/or perception, "getting high," or as a substitute for a drug of abuse). Four major search engines and the search terms "buy herbal high" and "buy legal high" were used to identify Web sites selling herbal DS for recreational use. Web sites were evaluated for their country of origin and for compliance with the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Products were evaluated for their ingredient lists, effect claims, comparisons with illicit drugs, adverse effects, drug interactions, and contraindications. Twenty-eight unique Web sites with 119 products were evaluated. Most sites were in the US (54%) and were in compliance with DSHEA. Forty-seven percent of the products were likened to illicit drugs, typically marijuana (48%) or 3-,4-methylene dioxyamphetamine (Ecstasy; 23%). The most common product ingredients were ephedra alkaloids (27%), Salvia divinorum (17%), kava (10%), guarana (10%), Acorus calamus (10%), and damiana (10%). Effect claims frequently involved the products' use as a hallucinogen (51%) or stimulant (39%). Sixty-four percent of the sites mentioned adverse effects, and 54% mentioned drug interactions. This study demonstrates that herbal DS are being marketed for use as legal alternatives to illicit drugs of abuse. Healthcare professionals need to be aware of this trend and the products that are involved.

A Review of the Hypoglycemic Effects of Five Commonly Used Herbal Food Supplements

Science.gov (United States)

Deng, Ruitang

2013-01-01

Hyperglycemia is a pathological condition associated with prediabetes and diabetes. The incidence of prediabetes and diabetes is increasing and imposes great burden on healthcare worldwide. Patients with prediabetes and diabetes have significantly increased risk for cardiovascular diseases and other complications. Currently, management of hyperglycemia includes pharmacological interventions, physical exercise, and change of life style and diet. Food supplements have increasingly become attractive alternatives to prevent or treat hyperglycemia, especially for subjects with mild hyperglycemia. This review summarized current patents and patent applications with relevant literature on five commonly used food supplements with claims of hypoglycemic effects, including emblica officinalis (gooseberry), fenugreek, green tea, momordica charantia (bitter melon) and cinnamon. The data from human clinical studies did not support a recommendation for all five supplements to manage hyperglycemia. Fenugreek and composite supplements containing emblica officinalis showed the most consistency in lowering fasting blood sugar (FBS) or glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in diabetic patients. The hypoglycemic effects of cinnamon and momordica charantia were demonstrated in most of the trials with some exceptions. However, green tea exhibited limited benefits in reducing FBS or HbA1c levels and should not be recommended for managing hyperglycemia. Certain limitations are noticed in a considerable number of clinical studies including small sample size, poor experimental design and considerable variations in participant population, preparation format, daily dose, and treatment duration. Future studies with more defined participants, standardized preparation and dose, and improved trial design and size are warranted. PMID:22329631

Rapid screening of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs illegally added in anti-rheumatic herbal supplements and herbal remedies by portable ion mobility spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Mengjiao; Ma, Haiyan; Gao, Jinglin; Zhang, Lina; Wang, Xinyu; Liu, Di; Bian, Jing; Jiang, Ye

2017-10-25

In this work, for the first time, a high-performance ion mobility spectrometry with electrospray ionization (ESI-HPIMS) method has been employed as a rapid screening tool for the detection of acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac sodium and indomethacin illegally added in anti-rheumatic herbal supplements and herbal remedies. Samples were dissolved and filtered through a 0.45μm microporous membrane, then the filtrate was directly injected into the high-performance ion mobility spectrometry for analysis. Using this approach, the screening of illegal additions can be accomplished in as rapid as two to three minutes with no pretreatment required. The proposed method provided a LOD of 0.06-0.33μgmL -1 , as well as a good seperation of the five NSAIDs. The precision of the method was 0.1-0.4% (repeatability, n=6) and 0.9-3.3% (reproducibility, n=3). The proposed method appeared to be simple, rapid and highly specific, thus could be effective for the in-situ screening of NSAIDs in anti-rheumatic herbal supplements and herbal remedies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Resveratrol food supplements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica; Grunert, Klaus G

2015-01-01

Background: Consumers increasingly choose food supplements in addition to their diet. Research on supplement users finds they are likely to be female, older and well-educated; Furthermore, supplement users are often characterised as being especially health-oriented, an observation which is termed...... the ‘inverse supplement hypothesis’. However, results are dependent on the substance in question. Little is known so far about botanicals in general, and more specifically, little is known about resveratrol. The psychographic variables of food supplement users are yet relatively underexplored. By comparing US...... and Danish respondents, we aimed to identify whether sociodemographic variables, health status, health beliefs and behaviour and interest in food aspects specifically relevant to resveratrol (e.g., naturalness, indulgence, and Mediterranean food) explain favourable attitudes and adoption intentions toward...

Detection and identification of multiple adulterants in plant food supplements using attenuated total reflectance-Infrared spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Deconinck, E; Aouadi, C; Bothy, J L; Courselle, P

2018-04-15

Due to the rising popularity of dietary supplements, especially plant food supplements, and alternative herbal medicines, a whole market developed and these products became freely available through internet. Though several searches revealed that at least a part of these products, especially the ones obtained from websites disclosing their physical identity, are aldulterated with pharmaceutical compounds. This causes a threat for public health, since these compounds are not declared and therefore adverse effects will not immediately be related to the product. The more the adulterants can interfere with other medicinal treatments. Since the present active pharmaceutical ingredients are not declared on the package and the products are sold as 100% natural or herbal in nature, it is very difficult for custom personnel to discriminate between products to be confiscated or not. Therefore easy to apply analytical approaches to discriminate between adulterated and non-adulterated products are necessary. This paper presents an approach based on infrared spectroscopy combined with attenuated total reflectance (ATR) and partial least squares- discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) to easily differentiate between adulterated and non- adulterated plant food supplements and to get a first idea of the nature of the adulterant present. The performance of PLS-DA models based on Mid-IR and NIR data were compared as well as models based on the combined data. Further three preprocessing strategies were compared. The best performance was obtained for a PLS-DA model using Mid-IR data with the second derivative as preprocessing method. This model showed a correct classification rate of 98.3% for an external test set. Also eight real samples were screened using the model and for seven of these samples a correct classification was obtained. Generally it could be concluded that the obtained model and the presented approach could be used at customs to discriminate between adulterated and non

Chromatographic fingerprinting as a strategy to identify regulated plants in illegal herbal supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Custers, D; Van Praag, N; Courselle, P; Apers, S; Deconinck, E

2017-03-01

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a sexual disorder characterized by the inability to achieve or maintain a sufficiently rigid erection. Despite the availability of non-invasive oral treatment options, many patients turn to herbal alternatives. Furthermore, herbal supplements are increasingly gaining popularity in industrialized countries and, as a consequence, quality control is a highly important issue. Unfortunately, this is not a simple task since plants are often crushed and mixed with other plants, which complicates their identification by usage of classical approaches such as microscopy. The aim of this study was to explore the potential use of chromatographic fingerprinting to identify plants present in herbal preparations intended for the treatment of ED. To achieve this goal, a HPLC-PDA and a HPLC-MS method were developed, using a full factorial experimental design in order to acquire characteristic fingerprints of three plants which are potentially beneficial for treating ED: Epimedium spp., Pausinystalia yohimbe and Tribulus terrestris. The full factorial design demonstrated that for all three plant references a C8 column (250mm×4.6mm; 5µm particle size) is best suited; methanol and an ammonium formate buffer (pH 3) were found to be the best constituents for the mobile phase. The suitability of this strategy was demonstrated by analysing several self-made triturations in three different botanical matrices, which mimic the influential effects that could be expected when analysing herbal supplements. To conclude, this study demonstrates that chromatographic fingerprinting could provide a useful means to identify plants in a complex herbal mixture. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Herbal Energizers: Speed By Any Other Name.

Science.gov (United States)

Jenkins, Andrew P.

This guide focuses on over-the-counter (OTC) stimulants sold to high school aged athletes and dieters as "herbal energizers," food supplements, and fatigue reducers. While advertising often makes them appear healthful and harmless, all of these stimulants belong in the class "sympathomimetic amines," so called because they…

Internet marketing of herbal products.

Science.gov (United States)

Morris, Charles A; Avorn, Jerry

2003-09-17

Passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act in 1994 restricted the Food and Drug Administration's control over dietary supplements, leading to enormous growth in their promotion. The Internet is often used by consumers as a source of information on such therapies. To assess the information presented and indications claimed on the Internet for the 8 best-selling herbal products. We searched the Internet using the 5 most commonly used search engines. For each, we entered the names of the 8 most widely used herbal supplements (ginkgo biloba, St John's wort, echinacea, ginseng, garlic, saw palmetto, kava kava, and valerian root). We analyzed the health content of all Web sites listed on the first page of the search results. We analyzed all accessible, English-language Web sites that pertained to oral herbal supplements. A total of 522 Web sites were identified; of these, 443 sites met inclusion criteria for the analysis. The nature of the Web site (retail or nonretail), whether it was a sponsored link, and all references, indications, claims, and disclaimers were recorded. Two reviewers independently categorized medical claims as disease or nondisease according to Food and Drug Administration criteria. Among 443 Web sites, 338 (76%) were retail sites either selling product or directly linked to a vendor. A total of 273 (81%) of the 338 retail Web sites made 1 or more health claims; of these, 149 (55%) claimed to treat, prevent, diagnose, or cure specific diseases. More than half (153/292; 52%) of sites with a health claim omitted the standard federal disclaimer. Nonretail sites were more likely than retail sites to include literature references, although only 52 (12%) of the 443 Web sites provided referenced information without a link to a distributor or vendor. Consumers may be misled by vendors' claims that herbal products can treat, prevent, diagnose, or cure specific diseases, despite regulations prohibiting such statements. Physicians should be

PhytoAuthent: Molecular authentication of complex herbal food supplements for safety and efficacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihael Ichim

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The PhytoAuthent project was structured to gather, test, develop and apply, in real life case scenarios, molecular techniques, such as biochemical fingerprinting and DNA sequence-based methods, for plant identification of constituents in complex herbal products. The project had a strong focus on applied aspects like protecting consumers from health risks associated with product substitution and contamination of herbal products.

Herbal Medicine

Science.gov (United States)

... used for its scent, flavor, or therapeutic properties. Herbal medicines are one type of dietary supplement. They are ... extracts, and fresh or dried plants. People use herbal medicines to try to maintain or improve their health. ...

Active components in food supplements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Siemelink M; Jansen EHJM; Piersma AH; Opperhuizen A; LEO

2000-01-01

The growing food supplement market, where supplements are both more diverse and more easily available (e.g. through Internet) formed the backdrop to the inventory of the active components in food supplements. The safety of an increased intake of food components via supplements was also at issue

Balancing Herbal Medicine and Functional Food for Prevention and Treatment of Cardiometabolic Diseases through Modulating Gut Microbiota.

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Ming; Wang, Yue-Fei; Fan, Guan-Wei; Wang, Xiao-Ying; Xu, Shuang-Yong; Zhu, Yan

2017-01-01

It has become apparent that gut microbiota is closely associated with cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs), and alteration in microbiome compositions is also linked to the host environment. Next generation sequencing (NGS) has facilitated in-depth studies on the effects of herbal medicine and functional food on gut microbiota. Both herbal medicine and functional food contain fiber, polyphenols and polysaccharides, exerting prebiotics-like activities in the prevention and treatment of CMDs. The administrations of herbal medicine and functional food lead to increased the abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes, and genus Akkermansia, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella , while reducing phylum Firmicutes and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in gut. Both herbal medicine and functional food interact with gut microbiome and alter the microbial metabolites including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acids (BAs) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are now correlated with metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In addition, trimethylamine (TMA)-N-oxide (TMAO) is recently linked to atherosclerosis (AS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks. Moreover, gut-organs axes may serve as the potential strategy for treating CMDs with the intervention of herbal medicine and functional food. In summary, a balance between herbal medicine and functional food rich in fiber, polyphenols and polysaccharides plays a vital role in modulating gut microbiota (phylum Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and genus Akkermansia, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella ) through SCFAs, BAs, LPS and TMAO signaling regarding CMDs. Targeting gut-organs axes may serve as a new therapeutic strategy for CMDs by herbal medicine and functional food in the future. This review aims to summarize the balance between herbal medicine and functional food utilized for the prevention and

Balancing Herbal Medicine and Functional Food for Prevention and Treatment of Cardiometabolic Diseases through Modulating Gut Microbiota

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming Lyu

2017-11-01

Full Text Available It has become apparent that gut microbiota is closely associated with cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs, and alteration in microbiome compositions is also linked to the host environment. Next generation sequencing (NGS has facilitated in-depth studies on the effects of herbal medicine and functional food on gut microbiota. Both herbal medicine and functional food contain fiber, polyphenols and polysaccharides, exerting prebiotics-like activities in the prevention and treatment of CMDs. The administrations of herbal medicine and functional food lead to increased the abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes, and genus Akkermansia, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella, while reducing phylum Firmicutes and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in gut. Both herbal medicine and functional food interact with gut microbiome and alter the microbial metabolites including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs, bile acids (BAs and lipopolysaccharides (LPS, which are now correlated with metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD. In addition, trimethylamine (TMA-N-oxide (TMAO is recently linked to atherosclerosis (AS and cardiovascular disease (CVD risks. Moreover, gut-organs axes may serve as the potential strategy for treating CMDs with the intervention of herbal medicine and functional food. In summary, a balance between herbal medicine and functional food rich in fiber, polyphenols and polysaccharides plays a vital role in modulating gut microbiota (phylum Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and genus Akkermansia, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella through SCFAs, BAs, LPS and TMAO signaling regarding CMDs. Targeting gut-organs axes may serve as a new therapeutic strategy for CMDs by herbal medicine and functional food in the future. This review aims to summarize the balance between herbal medicine and functional food utilized for the prevention and

Balancing Herbal Medicine and Functional Food for Prevention and Treatment of Cardiometabolic Diseases through Modulating Gut Microbiota

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Ming; Wang, Yue-fei; Fan, Guan-wei; Wang, Xiao-ying; Xu, Shuang-yong; Zhu, Yan

2017-01-01

It has become apparent that gut microbiota is closely associated with cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs), and alteration in microbiome compositions is also linked to the host environment. Next generation sequencing (NGS) has facilitated in-depth studies on the effects of herbal medicine and functional food on gut microbiota. Both herbal medicine and functional food contain fiber, polyphenols and polysaccharides, exerting prebiotics-like activities in the prevention and treatment of CMDs. The administrations of herbal medicine and functional food lead to increased the abundance of phylum Bacteroidetes, and genus Akkermansia, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella, while reducing phylum Firmicutes and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio in gut. Both herbal medicine and functional food interact with gut microbiome and alter the microbial metabolites including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bile acids (BAs) and lipopolysaccharides (LPS), which are now correlated with metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes (T2D), obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). In addition, trimethylamine (TMA)-N-oxide (TMAO) is recently linked to atherosclerosis (AS) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks. Moreover, gut-organs axes may serve as the potential strategy for treating CMDs with the intervention of herbal medicine and functional food. In summary, a balance between herbal medicine and functional food rich in fiber, polyphenols and polysaccharides plays a vital role in modulating gut microbiota (phylum Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, and genus Akkermansia, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, Bacteroides and Prevotella) through SCFAs, BAs, LPS and TMAO signaling regarding CMDs. Targeting gut-organs axes may serve as a new therapeutic strategy for CMDs by herbal medicine and functional food in the future. This review aims to summarize the balance between herbal medicine and functional food utilized for the prevention and treatment

Mass spectrometric analysis of pharmaceutical adulterants in products labeled as botanical dietary supplements or herbal remedies: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaclavik, Lukas; Krynitsky, Alexander J; Rader, Jeanne I

2014-11-01

The increased availability and use of botanical dietary supplements and herbal remedies among consumers has been accompanied by an increased frequency of adulteration of these products with synthetic pharmaceuticals. Unscrupulous producers may add drugs and analogues of various classes, such as phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors, weight loss, hypoglycemic, antihypertensive and anti-inflammatory agents, or anabolic steroids, to develop or intensify biological effects of dietary supplements or herbal remedies. The presence of such adulterated products in the marketplace is a worldwide problem and their consumption poses health risks to consumers. Analytical methods that allow rapid and reliable testing of dietary supplements for the presence of synthetic drugs are needed to address such fraudulent practices. Mass spectrometry (MS) and hyphenated techniques such as liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) have become primary tools in this endeavor. The present review critically assesses the role and summarizes the applications of MS in the analysis of pharmaceutical adulterants in botanical dietary supplements and herbal remedies. The uses of MS techniques in detection, confirmation, and quantification of known pharmaceutical adulterants as well as in screening for and structure elucidation of unexpected adulterants and novel designer drugs are discussed.

Dietary supplements: What's in a name? What's in the bottle?

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Donald M

2016-01-01

The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), which arbitrarily classified herbals and other medicinal products as dietary supplements, obscured fundamental differences between two classes of products. Authentic supplements to the diet, such as multivitamins or calcium, have nutritional value and are safe. Herbals are used worldwide as medicines, they do not supplement the diet, they may cause severe adverse events, and they should be regulated as medicines. DSHEA also prevented the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from effectively regulating herbal supplements as medicines. One consequence of weak FDA regulatory oversight is the poor quality of herbals. FDA inspections of manufacturing facilities have revealed violations of good manufacturing practices in over half of facilities inspected, including unsanitary conditions and lack of product specifications. Moreover, many "all natural" herbals marketed for weight loss, enhancement of sexual health and improving sports performance are adulterated with prescription and over-the-counter medications that have caused adverse cardiovascular events. New procedures to authenticate the identity of plants used in herbals will neither detect adulteration by medications nor provide assurance of appropriate pharmacological activity or safety. Nonvitamin, nonmineral "supplements" should be regulated as medicines, but revision or repeal of DSHEA faces strong opposition in Congress. The marketing of botanical supplements is based on unfounded claims that they are safe and effective. Health professionals need to inform patients and the public that there is no reason to take herbal medicines whose composition and benefits are unknown, and whose risks are evident. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Safety, clinical, and immunologic efficacy of a Chinese herbal medicine (Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2) for food allergy.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Julie; Jones, Stacie M; Pongracic, Jacqueline A; Song, Ying; Yang, Nan; Sicherer, Scott H; Makhija, Melanie M; Robison, Rachel G; Moshier, Erin; Godbold, James; Sampson, Hugh A; Li, Xiu-Min

2015-10-01

Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2 (FAHF-2) is a 9-herb formula based on traditional Chinese medicine that blocks peanut-induced anaphylaxis in a murine model. In phase I studies FAHF-2 was found to be safe and well tolerated. We sought to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of FAHF-2 as a treatment for food allergy. In this double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study 68 subjects aged 12 to 45 years with allergies to peanut, tree nut, sesame, fish, and/or shellfish, which were confirmed by baseline double-blind, placebo-controlled oral food challenges (DBPCFCs), received FAHF-2 (n = 46) or placebo (n = 22). After 6 months of therapy, subjects underwent DBPCFCs. For those who demonstrated increases in the eliciting dose, a repeat DBPCFC was performed 3 months after stopping therapy. Treatment was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events. By using intent-to-treat analysis, the placebo group had a higher eliciting dose and cumulative dose (P = .05) at the end-of-treatment DBPCFC. There was no difference in the requirement for epinephrine to treat reactions (P = .55). There were no significant differences in allergen-specific IgE and IgG4 levels, cytokine production by PBMCs, or basophil activation between the active and placebo groups. In vitro immunologic studies performed on subjects' baseline PBMCs incubated with FAHF-2 and food allergen produced significantly less IL-5, greater IL-10 levels, and increased numbers of regulatory T cells than untreated cells. Notably, 44% of subjects had poor drug adherence for at least one third of the study period. FAHF-2 is a safe herbal medication for subjects with food allergy and shows favorable in vitro immunomodulatory effects; however, efficacy for improving tolerance to food allergens is not demonstrated at the dose and duration used. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DNA barcode identification of black cohosh herbal dietary supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Baker, David A; Stevenson, Dennis W; Little, Damon P

2012-01-01

Black cohosh (Actaea racemosa) herbal dietary supplements are commonly consumed to treat menopausal symptoms, but there are reports of adverse events and toxicities associated with their use. Accidental misidentification and/or deliberate adulteration results in harvesting other related species that are then marketed as black cohosh. Some of these species are known to be toxic to humans. We have identified two matK nucleotides that consistently distinguish black cohosh from related species. Using these nucleotides, an assay was able to correctly identify all of the black cohosh samples in the validation set. None of the other Actaea species in the validation set were falsely identified as black cohosh. Of 36 dietary supplements sequenced, 27 (75%) had a sequence that exactly matched black cohosh. The remaining nine samples (25%) had a sequence identical to that of three Asian Actaea species (A. cimicifuga, A. dahurica, and A. simplex). Manufacturers should routinely test plant material using a reliable assay to ensure accurate labeling.

Acute liver injury associated with a newer formulation of the herbal weight loss supplement Hydroxycut.

Science.gov (United States)

Araujo, James L; Worman, Howard J

2015-05-06

Despite the widespread use of herbal and dietary supplements (HDS), serious cases of hepatotoxicity have been reported. The popular herbal weight loss supplement, Hydroxycut, has previously been implicated in acute liver injury. Since its introduction, Hydroxycut has undergone successive transformations in its formulation; yet, cases of liver injury have remained an ongoing problem. We report a case of a 41-year-old Hispanic man who developed acute hepatocellular liver injury with associated nausea, vomiting, jaundice, fatigue and asterixis attributed to the use of a newer formulation of Hydroxycut, SX-7 Clean Sensory. The patient required hospitalisation and improved with supportive therapy. Despite successive transformations in its formulation, potential liver injury appears to remain an ongoing problem with Hydroxycut. Our case illustrates the importance of obtaining a thorough medication history, including HDS, regardless of new or reformulated product marketing efforts. 2015 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Nutritional supplements and herbal medicines for women with polycystic ovary syndrome; a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Arentz, Susan; Smith, Caroline A; Abbott, Jason; Bensoussan, Alan

2017-11-25

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common, reproductive endocrinopathy associated with serious short and long term health risks. Many women with PCOS use ingestible complementary medicines. This systematic review examined the effect on menstrual regulation and adverse effects from randomised controlled trials. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared herbal or nutritional supplements to placebo or active controls in women with PCOS were eligible for inclusion. Electronic databases were searched to July 2017. Study selection and assessment of quality were conducted independently by two review authors. Twenty four studies (1406 women) investigating seven nutritional supplements and four herbal medicines were included. No one study was assessed as having a low risk of bias. Four trials reported on the primary endpoint menstrual regulation. There was no evidence on improved menstrual regularity for calcium plus vitamin D compared to Metformin (RR: 0.66, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.23, p = 0.19), reduced amenorrhoea for Camellia sinensis compared to placebo (RR: 0.17, 95% CI 0.02 to 1.72, p = 0.13) and no difference in the number of menses per month for Cinnamomum sp. against placebo (MD 0.05, 95% CI -0.36 to 1.36, p = 0.26). Adverse effects were investigated in seven studies (164 women). Mild adverse effects were found for Cinnamomum sp. compared to placebo (17 women, RR: 0.36, 95% CI 0.03 to 0.70, p = 0.03). No difference was found for adverse effects between inositol, B complex vitamins, vitamin D, chromium and placebo. Improved reproduction, metabolic hormones and hyperandrogenism was found for inositol and improved cholesterol for omega three fish oils. There is no high quality evidence to support the effectiveness of nutritional supplements and herbal medicine for women with PCOS and evidence of safety is lacking. High quality trials of nutritional supplements and herbal medicines examining menstrual regulation and adverse effects in women with PCOS

Herbal products in pregnancy: experimental studies and clinical reports.

Science.gov (United States)

Smeriglio, Antonella; Tomaino, Antonio; Trombetta, Domenico

2014-08-01

The aim of this work is to provide an update from an overview of the literature of the most frequently consumed herbal remedies during pregnancy, both alone and concomitantly with prescribed medications and particularly on their side effects to the mother and fetus. We have also analyzed some of the adverse interactions that may occur due to concomitant use of herbal and pharmaceutical products during pregnancy. Herbal remedies are not evaluated according to the same standards as pharmaceuticals, and in the USA some of it are not licensed but sold as food supplements. There is a lack of basic knowledge on the part of both clinicians and patients as to the indications for use and safety of herbal medicines used in pregnancy and lactation. If 'traditional use' is the only available information, the pregnant woman should be made aware of this to enable her to make an informed decision concerning potential use. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Future development of global regulations of Chinese herbal products.

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Fan, Tai-Ping; Deal, Greer; Koo, Hoi-Lun; Rees, Daryl; Sun, He; Chen, Shaw; Dou, Jin-Hui; Makarov, Valery G; Pozharitskaya, Olga N; Shikov, Alexander N; Kim, Yeong Shik; Huang, Yi-Tsau; Chang, Yuan Shiun; Jia, William; Dias, Alberto; Wong, Vivian Chi-Woon; Chan, Kelvin

2012-04-10

GP-TCM is the first EU-funded Coordination Action consortium dedicated to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research. One of the key deliverables of the Work Package 7 in GP-TCM was to investigate information of the existing requirements for registration of TCM products listed by global regulatory bodies. The paper aims to collate data and draw comparison of these regulations. Case studies are also presented to illustrate the problems involved in registering TCM products in different regions worldwide. A collaborative network task force was established during the early stage of the GP-TCM project and operated through exchanges, teleconferences and focused discussions at annual meetings. The task force involved coordinators, academics who are actively involved with R&D of Chinese herbal medicines, experts on monographic standards of Chinese materia medica, representatives from regulatory agencies, experts from industries in marketing Chinese medicines/herbal medicines and natural products. The co-ordinators took turns to chair teleconferences, led discussions on specific issues at AGM discussion sessions, at joint workshops with other work-packages such as WP1 (quality issues), WP3 (toxicology issues) and WP6 (clinical trial issues). Collectively the authors were responsible for collating discussion outcomes and updating written information. A global overview of regulations on herbal registration has been compiled during the three years of the consortium. The regulatory requirements for registration of herbal products in the EU and China were compared, and this is extended to other regions/countries: Africa, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. A wide variation of the regulations for the categories of herbal products exists: food (functional food, novel foods, dietary food for special medical purpose, foods for particular nutritional use, food supplement); cosmetic, traditional herbal medicine products; herbal

Herbal medicine for sports: a review.

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Sellami, Maha; Slimeni, Olfa; Pokrywka, Andrzej; Kuvačić, Goran; D Hayes, Lawrence; Milic, Mirjana; Padulo, Johnny

2018-01-01

The use of herbal medicinal products and supplements has increased during last decades. At present, some herbs are used to enhance muscle strength and body mass. Emergent evidence suggests that the health benefits from plants are attributed to their bioactive compounds such as Polyphenols, Terpenoids, and Alkaloids which have several physiological effects on the human body. At times, manufacturers launch numerous products with banned ingredient inside with inappropriate amounts or fake supplement inducing harmful side effect. Unfortunately up to date, there is no guarantee that herbal supplements are safe for anyone to use and it has not helped to clear the confusion surrounding the herbal use in sport field especially. Hence, the purpose of this review is to provide guidance on the efficacy and side effect of most used plants in sport. We have identified plants according to the following categories: Ginseng, alkaloids, and other purported herbal ergogenics such as Tribulus Terrestris , Cordyceps Sinensis. We found that most herbal supplement effects are likely due to activation of the central nervous system via stimulation of catecholamines. Ginseng was used as an endurance performance enhancer, while alkaloids supplementation resulted in improvements in sprint and cycling intense exercises. Despite it is prohibited, small amount of ephedrine was usually used in combination with caffeine to enhance muscle strength in trained individuals. Some other alkaloids such as green tea extracts have been used to improve body mass and composition in athletes. Other herb (i.e. Rhodiola, Astragalus) help relieve muscle and joint pain, but results about their effects on exercise performance are missing.

Occurrence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in animal- and plant-derived food: results of a survey across Europe.

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Mulder, Patrick P J; López, Patricia; Castelari, Massimo; Bodi, Dorina; Ronczka, Stefan; Preiss-Weigert, Angelika; These, Anja

2018-01-01

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are secondary metabolites of plant families such as Asteraceae or Boraginaceae and are suspected to be genotoxic carcinogens. Recent investigations revealed their frequent occurrence in honey and particularly in tea. To obtain a comprehensive overview of the PA content in animal- and plant-derived food from the European market, and to provide a basis for future risk analysis, a total of 1105 samples were collected in 2014 and 2015. These comprised milk and milk products, eggs, meat and meat products, (herbal) teas, and (herbal) food supplements collected in supermarkets, retail shops, and via the internet. PAs were detected in a large proportion of plant-derived foods: 91% of the (herbal) teas and 60% of the food supplements contained at least one individual PA. All types of (herbal) teas investigated were found to contain PAs, with a mean concentration of 460 µg kg -1 dry tea (corresponding to 6.13 µg L -1 in [herbal] tea infusion). The highest mean concentrations were found in rooibos tea (599 µg kg -1 dry tea, 7.99 µg L -1 tea infusion) and the lowest in camomile tea (274 µg kg -1 dry tea, 3.65 µg L -1 tea infusion). Occurrence of PAs in food supplements was found to be highly variable, but in comparable ranges as for (herbal) tea. The highest concentrations were present in supplements containing plant material from known PA-producing plants. In contrast, only 2% of the animal-derived products, in particular 6% of milk samples and 1% of egg samples, contained PAs. Determined levels in milk were relatively low, ranged between 0.05 and 0.17 µg L -1 and only trace amounts of 0.10-0.12 µg kg -1 were found in eggs. No PAs were detected in the other animal-derived products.

Herbal Medicine

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... topics and resources Diseases and Conditions Acupuncture Art, Dance, and Music Ayurveda Bell's Palsy Biofeedback Body Movement ... to your doctor before taking any herbal supplements. Black cohosh This shrub-like plant of eastern North ...

Regulation of medicinal plants for public health--European community monographs on herbal substances.

Science.gov (United States)

Knöss, Werner; Chinou, Ioanna

2012-08-01

The European legislation on medicinal products also addresses the medicinal use of products originating from plants. The objective of the legislation is to ensure the future existence of such products and to consider particular characteristics when assessing quality, efficacy, and safety. Two categories are defined: i) herbal medicinal products can be granted a marketing authorisation; and ii) traditional herbal medicinal products can be granted a registration based on their longstanding use if they are complying with a set of provisions ensuring their safe use. The Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) was established at the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to provide monographs and list entries on herbal substances and preparations thereof. Meanwhile, approx. 100 monographs have been published, which define a current scientific and regulatory standard for efficacy and safety of herbal substances and herbal preparations used in medicinal products. This harmonised European standard will facilitate the availability and adequate use of traditional herbal medicinal products and herbal medicinal products within the European Union. Consequent labelling shall also enable patients and health care professionals to differentiate medicinal products from other product categories like cosmetics, food supplements, and medical devices. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Supply and consumption of cardiovascular food supplements in lithuania

OpenAIRE

Liubartaitė, Elvyra

2017-01-01

Supply and Consumption of Cardiovascular Food Supplements in Lithuania. The aim - to evaluate supply and consumption of cardiovascular food supplements in Lithuania. Work tasks: • To collect information on food supplements for heart health. • To rate the range of food supplements for heart health sold in Lithuania. • To analyze the consumption of food supplements for heart health. Research data were collected through questionnaire data collection method based on January-February, 2017 data. 4...

Prevalence and Predictors of Herbal Medicine Use Among Adults in the United States.

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Rashrash, Mohamed; Schommer, Jon C; Brown, Lawrence M

2017-09-01

To describe the prevalence of herbal medicine use among US adults and to assess factors associated with and predictors of herbal use. The data for herbal products use were collected from the 2015 National Consumer Survey on the Medication Experience and Pharmacists' Roles. Chi-square test was used to analyz factors associated with herbal use, and predictors of herbal use were assessed with logistic regression analysis. Factors associated with herbal supplement use include age older than 70, having a higher than high school education, using prescription medications or over-the-counter (OTC) medications, and using a mail-order pharmacy." All Disease state associated significantly with herbal use. Approximately thirty-eight percent of those who used herbals used prescription medications and 42% of those who used herbals also used an OTC medication. The most frequent conditions associated with herbal supplement use were a stroke (48.7%), cancer (43.1%), and arthritis (43.0%). Among herbal product users, factors that predicted use included having higher than school education, using OTC medications, using mail-order pharmacy, stroke, obesity, arthritis, and breathing problems. More than one-third of respondents reported using herbal supplements. Older age and higher education were associated with a higher use of herbal supplements. People with chronic diseases are more likely to use herbal medicines than others. OTC drug users and patients with stroke are more likely to use herbal medicines than others.

Prevalence and Predictors of Herbal Medicine Use Among Adults in the United States

Science.gov (United States)

Schommer, Jon C; Brown, Lawrence M

2017-01-01

Objective: To describe the prevalence of herbal medicine use among US adults and to assess factors associated with and predictors of herbal use. Design: The data for herbal products use were collected from the 2015 National Consumer Survey on the Medication Experience and Pharmacists’ Roles. Chi-square test was used to analyz factors associated with herbal use, and predictors of herbal use were assessed with logistic regression analysis. Results: Factors associated with herbal supplement use include age older than 70, having a higher than high school education, using prescription medications or over-the-counter (OTC) medications, and using a mail-order pharmacy.” All Disease state associated significantly with herbal use. Approximately thirty-eight percent of those who used herbals used prescription medications and 42% of those who used herbals also used an OTC medication. The most frequent conditions associated with herbal supplement use were a stroke (48.7%), cancer (43.1%), and arthritis (43.0%). Among herbal product users, factors that predicted use included having higher than school education, using OTC medications, using mail-order pharmacy, stroke, obesity, arthritis, and breathing problems. Conclusions: More than one-third of respondents reported using herbal supplements. Older age and higher education were associated with a higher use of herbal supplements. People with chronic diseases are more likely to use herbal medicines than others. OTC drug users and patients with stroke are more likely to use herbal medicines than others. PMID:28959715

Risks associated with consumption of herbal teas.

Science.gov (United States)

Manteiga, R; Park, D L; Ali, S S

1997-01-01

Plants have been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. Health-oriented individuals are turning to herbal teas as alternatives to caffeinated beverages such as coffee, tea, and cocoa and for low-caloric supplements. The popularity of herbal tea consumption has increased significantly during the past two decades in the U.S. Hundreds of different teas made up of varied mixtures of roots, leaves, seeds, barks, or other parts of shrubs, vines, or trees are sold in health food stores. Although chemists have been characterizing toxic plant constituents for over 100 years, toxicological studies of herbal teas have been limited and, therefore, the safety of many of these products is unknown. Plants synthesize secondary metabolites that are not essential in the production of energy and whose role may be in the defense mechanisms as plant toxins to their interactions with other plants, herbivores, and parasites. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) were among the first naturally occurring carcinogens identified in plant products, and their presence in herbal teas is a matter of public health significance. Some herbal tea mixtures and single-ingredient herbal teas have been analyzed for toxic/mutagenic potential by bioassay and chromatographic techniques. Numerous human and animal intoxications have been associated with naturally occurring components, including pyrrolizidine alkaloids, tannins, and safrole. Thus, the prevention of human exposure to carcinogens or mutagens present in herbal tea mixture extracts is crucial. Preparation of infusion drinks prepared from plants appears to concentrate biologically active compounds and is a major source of PA poisoning. The quantity and consumption over a long period of time is of major concern. It is recommended that widespread consumption of herbal infusions should be minimized until data on the levels and varieties of carcinogens, mutagens, and toxicants are made available.

Low-calorie sweeteners in food and food supplements on the Italian market.

Science.gov (United States)

Janvier, Steven; Goscinny, Séverine; Le Donne, Cinzia; Van Loco, Joris

2015-01-01

This study determines the occurrence and concentration levels of artificial low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) in food and food supplements on the Italian market. The analysed sample set (290 samples) was representative of the Italian market and comprised of beverages, jams, ketchups, confectionery, dairy products, table-top sweeteners and food supplements. All samples were analysed via UPLC-MS/MS. The method was in-house validated for the analysis of seven LCSs (aspartame, acesulfame-K, saccharin, sucralose, cyclamate, neotame and neohesperidin dihydrochalcone) in food and for five LCSs (aspartame, acesulfame-K, saccharin, cyclamate and sucralose) in food supplements. Except for cyclamate in one beverage which exceeded the maximum level (ML) with 13%, all concentrations measured in food were around or below the ML. In food supplements, 40 of the 52 samples (77%) were found to be above the ML, with exceedances of up to 200% of the ML.

Safety assessment of food and herbal products containing hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids: interlaboratory consistency and the importance of N-oxide determination.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yu; Colegate, Steven M; Edgar, John A

2008-01-01

Two recent mass spectrometry-based reports concerning Senecio scandens yielded remarkably dissimilar pyrrolizidine alkaloid constituents. In both studies, and in a related analysis of Senecio scandens and Tussilago farfara using micellar electrokinetic chromatography, the presence of hazardous N-oxides of the alkaloids was either not considered or was inadequately considered. This raises concerns about the effectiveness of the methodologies used in these, and similar, studies in assessing the pyrrolizidine alkaloid content and the safety of food, food supplements and medicines for human use. To highlight essential analytical requirements for confident assessment of pyrrolizidine alkaloid-related safety of food and herbal products for human use. Direct infusion-ESI MS and HPLC-ESI MS were used to analyse samples derived from liquid-liquid partitioning experiments and from strong cation exchange, solid-phase extraction of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides. A simple solvent partitioning experiment using pure senecionine and senecionine-N-oxide, two constituents reported in one of the mass spectrometry-based studies of S. scandens, clearly demonstrated the inadequacy of the reported method to detect and quantitate hazardous pyrrolizidine alkaloid N-oxide components. A preliminary LCMS analysis of commercially-prepared extracts of comfrey roots (Symphytum officinale and S. uplandicum s. l.) was used as a model to highlight the analytical importance of N-oxides in the safety assessment of pyrrolizidine alkaloid-containing medicinal herbs. This study highlighted significant differences in the reported identification of pyrrolizidine alkaloids from the same plant species, and clearly demonstrated the inadequacy of some procedures to include N-oxides in the assessment of pyrrolizidine alkaloid-related safety of food and herbal products.

[Marketability of food supplements - criteria for the legal assessment].

Science.gov (United States)

Breitweg-Lehmann, Evelyn

2017-03-01

To be placed on the market legally, food supplements have to meet national and European food law regulations. This is true for all substances used as well as for the labeling on the packaging of and the advertising for food supplements. The food business operator is responsible for its compliance with all regulations. Therefore, in this article, a concise step-by-step assessment is presented, covering all necessary legal requirements to market food supplements. Additionally, all steps are visualized in a flow chart. All vitamins, minerals and other substances used have to meet the legal conditions. Food business operators have to make sure that their products do not contain medicinal ingredients based on their pharmacologic effect. It is prohibited to place medicinal products as food supplements on the market. Furthermore, food business operators have to make sure that their products are not non-authorized novel foods according to the novel food regulation (EC) no. 258/97. Also, food supplements have to meet the requirements of article 14 of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002 concerning the safety of foodstuff. Food shall not be placed on the market if it is unsafe. For food supplements that fail the German food-related legal standards but are legally manufactured in another EU member state or are legally put into circulation, the importer requires the so-called general disposition, which must be applied for at the BVL according to § 54 of the German Food and Feed Act. Another possibility for food which fails to meet German food law is to apply for a certificate of exemption according to § 68 of the Food and Feed Act. The food business operator has to meet the harmonized regulations concerning maximum and minimum levels of additives, flavors and enzymes. The packaging has to meet the compulsory labeling as well the voluntary labeling, like health claims. The BVL is also the relevant authority for other tasks concerning food supplements. A figure shows all

Hepatotoxicity of herbal and dietary supplements: an update.

Science.gov (United States)

Stickel, Felix; Shouval, Daniel

2015-06-01

Herbal and dietary supplements (HDS) have been used for health-related purposes since more than 5000 years, and their application is firmly anchored in all societies worldwide. Over last decades, a remarkable renaissance in the use of HDS can be noticed in affluent societies for manifold reasons. HDS are forms of complementary and alternative medicines commonly used to prevent or treat diseases, or simply as a health tonic. Another growing indication for HDS is their alleged benefit for weight loss or to increase physical fitness. Access is easy via internet and mail-order pharmacies, and their turnover reaches billions of dollars in the USA and Europe alone. However, HDS are generally not categorized as drugs and thus less strictly regulated in most countries. As a result, scientific evidence proving their beneficial effects is mostly lacking, although some HDS may have purported benefits. However, the majority lacks such proof of value, and their use is predominantly based on belief and hope. In addition to missing scientific evidence supporting their use, HDS are typically prone to batch-to-batch variability in composition and concentration, contamination, and purposeful adulteration. Moreover, numerous examples of preparations emerged which have been linked to significant liver injury. These include single ingredients, such as kava, germander, and several Chinese herbals. Other HDS products associated with liver toxicity consist of multiple, often ill-defined ingredients, such as Hydroxycut and Herbalife. Affirmative diagnostic tests are not available, and the assessment of liver injury ascribed to HDS depends on a thorough and proactive medical history, careful exclusion of other causes, and a search for available reports on similar events linked to the intake of the suspected preparation or ingredients contained therein.

Herbal hepatotoxicity: suspected cases assessed for alternative causes.

Science.gov (United States)

Teschke, Rolf; Schulze, Johannes; Schwarzenboeck, Alexander; Eickhoff, Axel; Frenzel, Christian

2013-09-01

Alternative explanations are common in suspected drug-induced liver injury (DILI) and account for up to 47.1% of analyzed cases. This raised the question of whether a similar frequency may prevail in cases of assumed herb-induced liver injury (HILI). We searched the Medline database for the following terms: herbs, herbal drugs, herbal dietary supplements, hepatotoxic herbs, herbal hepatotoxicity, and herb-induced liver injury. Additional terms specifically addressed single herbs and herbal products: black cohosh, Greater Celandine, green tea, Herbalife products, Hydroxycut, kava, and Pelargonium sidoides. We retrieved 23 published case series and regulatory assessments related to hepatotoxicity by herbs and herbal dietary supplements with alternative causes. The 23 publications comprised 573 cases of initially suspected HILI; alternative causes were evident in 278/573 cases (48.5%). Among them were hepatitis by various viruses (9.7%), autoimmune diseases (10.4%), nonalcoholic and alcoholic liver diseases (5.4%), liver injury by comedication (DILI and other HILI) (43.9%), and liver involvement in infectious diseases (4.7%). Biliary and pancreatic diseases were frequent alternative diagnoses (11.5%), raising therapeutic problems if specific treatment is withheld; pre-existing liver diseases including cirrhosis (9.7%) were additional confounding variables. Other diagnoses were rare, but possibly relevant for the individual patient. In 573 cases of initially assumed HILI, 48.5% showed alternative causes unrelated to the initially incriminated herb, herbal drug, or herbal dietary supplement, calling for thorough clinical evaluations and appropriate causality assessments in future cases of suspected HILI.

Herbal hepatotoxicity: a tabular compilation of reported cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Teschke, Rolf; Wolff, Albrecht; Frenzel, Christian; Schulze, Johannes; Eickhoff, Axel

2012-11-01

Herbal hepatotoxicity is a field that has rapidly grown over the last few years along with increased use of herbal products worldwide. To summarize the various facets of this disease, we undertook a literature search for herbs, herbal drugs and herbal supplements with reported cases of herbal hepatotoxicity. A selective literature search was performed to identify published case reports, spontaneous case reports, case series and review articles regarding herbal hepatotoxicity. A total of 185 publications were identified and the results compiled. They show 60 different herbs, herbal drugs and herbal supplements with reported potential hepatotoxicity, additional information including synonyms of individual herbs, botanical names and cross references are provided. If known, details are presented for specific ingredients and chemicals in herbal products, and for references with authors that can be matched to each herbal product and to its effect on the liver. Based on stringent causality assessment methods and/or positive re-exposure tests, causality was highly probable or probable for Ayurvedic herbs, Chaparral, Chinese herbal mixture, Germander, Greater Celandine, green tea, few Herbalife products, Jin Bu Huan, Kava, Ma Huang, Mistletoe, Senna, Syo Saiko To and Venencapsan(®). In many other publications, however, causality was not properly evaluated by a liver-specific and for hepatotoxicity-validated causality assessment method such as the scale of CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences). This compilation presents details of herbal hepatotoxicity, assisting thereby clinical assessment of involved physicians in the future. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Effect of dietary supplementation of herbal seeds on carcass traits of turkey poults

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Darshana B. Bhaisare

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Aim: The present study was conducted to find the effect of four herbal seeds on carcass traits of turkey poults. Materials and Methods: A biological study using Nandanam turkey poults (Meleagris gallapavo for 8 weeks duration was carried out to evaluate the effect of phytobiotics-containing four herbal seeds influence on production performances like biweekly body weight and on carcass traits. 150 poults were randomly subjected to five dietary treatments in a completely randomized design with basal diet (T1, 0.5% (5 g/kg level of each seeds thyme (Thymus vulgaris (T2, fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum (T3, fennel (Foeniculum vulgare (T4 and cumin (Cuminum cyminum (T5. Carcass traits like blood loss, feather loss, dressed weight, New York dressed weight, ready to cook yield and cut-up parts yield were studied. Results: The body weight at 8th week was higher (p<0.05 in poults fed with thyme; whereas at 6th week, fennel and cumin fed birds had better (p<0.05 body weight. Inclusion of herbal seeds did not affect the blood loss, dressed weight and ready to cook yield but it significantly (p<0.05 affected the feathered loss, New York dressed weight and giblet percentages. Feeding of fenugreek has improved New York dressed weight of poults. Feeding of fennel had depressive (p<0.05 effect on liver and gizzard weights. All the four phytobiotic seeds in feed had significant (p<0.05 reduction in breast weight with a compensatory improvement in drumstick and neck weights. Conclusion: The present study revealed that supplementation of phytobiotic herbal seeds has resulted in numerical improvement of body weight of poults throughout the study period whereas these seeds had negative effect on the yield of breast, with increased proportion of drumstick and neck.

Do We Need Plant Food Supplements? A Critical Examination of Quality, Safety, Efficacy, and Necessity for a New Regulatory Framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdel-Tawab, Mona

2018-04-01

Given the expanding market of plant food supplements (PFSs) not undergoing any pre-marketing authorization, the overall quality, safety and efficacy of PFSs were subjected to a critical examination. Although many high-quality PFSs exist on the legal market, quality concerns are in general justified. Besides economic adulteration, active ingredients dramatically differing from label claims and among products were reported in several studies. In addition, PFSs sold via the Internet may be intentionally adulterated with undeclared prescription drugs. Compared to PFSs with only one single herb, PFSs containing herbal mixtures were more involved in moderate and severe clinical courses. Although prohibited by regulation, misleading labels on PFSs are common. Above all, only vague evidence for the efficacy of PFSs exists. Notwithstanding the unproven efficacy and insufficient safety assessment, PFSs represent a relevant source for consumers to get access to herbal preparations in the United States and meanwhile also in Europe, as launching of licensed/registered European herbal medicinal products (HMPs) has steadily decreased. However, being non-vitamin, non-mineral products, PFSs are neither food nor drugs. In terms of protecting public health and providing the consumer with high-quality, effective, and safe PFSs, possibilities are shown how to deal with the many challenges of PFSs. Last but not least, suggestions are made for assigning PFSs a separate regulatory category being less regulated compared to HMPs but more strictly regulated compared to food laws including implementation of good manufacturing practices and a scientific pre-marketing review process by an expert commission. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

MICROBIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF FOOD SUPPLEMENTS.

Science.gov (United States)

Ratajczak, Magdalena; Kubicka, Marcelina M; Kamińska, Dorota; Długaszewska, Jolanta

2015-01-01

Many specialists note that the food offered today - as a result of very complex technological processing - is devoid of many components that are important for the organism and the shortages have to be supplemented. The simplest for it is to consume diet supplements that provide the missing element in a concentrated form. In accordance with the applicable law, medicinal products include all substances or mixtures of substances that are attributed with properties of preventing or treating diseases with humans or animals. Permits to admit supplements to the market are issued by the Chief Sanitary Inspector and the related authorities; permits for medicines are issued by the Chief Pharmaceutical Inspector and the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products. Therefore, admittance of a supplement to the market is less costly and time consuming_than admittance of a medicine. Supplements and medicines may contain the same component but medicines will have a larger concentration than supplements. Sale of supplements at drug stores and in the form of tablets, capsules, liquids or powders makes consumer often confusing supplements with medicines. Now there are no normative documents specifying limits of microbiological impurities in diet supplements. In Polish legislation, diet supplements are subject to legal acts concerning food. Medicines have to comply with microbiological purity requirements specified in the Polish Pharmacopeia. As evidenced with the completed tests, the proportion of diet supplement samples with microbiological impurities is 6.5%. Sales of diet supplements have been growing each year, they are consumed by healthy people but also people with immunology deficiencies and by children and therefore consumers must be certain that they buy safe products.

Herbal medications and plastic surgery: a hidden danger.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohan, Arvind; Lahiri, Anindya

2014-04-01

Herbal medicine is a multibillion-pound industry, and surveys suggest that ~10% of the UK population uses herbal supplements concurrently with prescription medications. Patients and health care practitioners are often unaware of the adverse side effects of herbal medicines. In addition, because many of these herbal supplements are available over the counter, many patients do not disclose these when listing medications to health care providers. A 39-year-old nurse underwent an abdominoplasty with rectus sheath plication after weight loss surgery. Postoperatively, she experienced persistent drain output, and after discharge, a seroma developed requiring repeated drainage in the clinic. After scar revision 10 months later, the woman bled postoperatively, requiring suturing. Again, a seroma developed, requiring repeated drainage. It was discovered that the patient had been taking a herbal menopause supplement containing ingredients known to have anticoagulant effects. Complementary medicine is rarely taught in UK medical schools and generally not practiced in UK hospitals. Many supplements are known to have anticoagulant, cardiovascular, and sedative effects. Worryingly, questions about herbal medicines are not routinely asked in clinics, and patients do not often volunteer such information. With the number and awareness of complementary medications increasing, their usage among the population is likely to increase. The authors recommend specific questioning about the use of complementary medications and consideration of ceasing such medications before surgery. Level of Evidence V This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Effects of food supplementation on a tropical bird.

Science.gov (United States)

Class, Alexandra M; Moore, Ignacio T

2013-10-01

Tropical birds typically exhibit a 'slow pace of life' relative to higher latitude species. This is often manifested as slow development, low fecundity, and high survival. Following from this, it is predicted that tropical birds may be more likely to trade current reproductive effort to favor self-maintenance, thus supporting survival and future reproduction. To test this idea, we conducted two food supplementation experiments on tropical rufous-collared sparrows (Zonotrichia capensis) in the eastern Andes of Ecuador. In the first experiment, we food-supplemented pairs during the non-breeding life-history stage, and in the second experiment, we food-supplemented pairs that were provisioning fledglings. In both experiments, a larger proportion of food-supplemented birds exhibited pre-basic molt (replacement of feathers) than in a control group. To our knowledge, this is the first study to experimentally demonstrate that a food-supplemented bird invests extra resources into molt, a form of self-maintenance, and contrasts with the majority of food supplementation studies in high latitude birds that show they typically advance the initiation of, or extend the period of, reproduction. Our results are consistent with the syndrome of the slow pace of life in the tropics and support the concept of fundamental differences between temperate-zone and tropical birds.

Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors and their analogues as adulterants of herbal and food products: analysis of the Malaysian market, 2014-16.

Science.gov (United States)

Bujang, Nur Baizura; Chee, Chin Fei; Heh, Choon Han; Rahman, Noorsaadah Abd; Buckle, Michael J C

2017-07-01

Adulteration of herbal health supplements with phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitors and their analogues is becoming a worldwide problem. The aim of this study was to investigate herbal and food products sold in the Malaysian market for the presence of these adulterants. Sixty-two products that claim to enhance men's sexual health were sampled between April 2014 and April 2016. These products included unregistered products seized by the Pharmacy Enforcement Division of the Ministry of Health (n = 39), products sent to the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency for pre-registration testing (n = 9) and products investigated under the post-registration market surveillance programme (n = 14). The products were tested against an in-house spectral library consisting of 61 PDE-5 inhibitors and analogues using a validated liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry ion-trap-time-of-flight (LC-MS IT-TOF) method. Thirty-two (82%) of the unregistered products and two (14%) of the registered products were found to be adulterated with at least one PDE-5 inhibitor or analogue, while none of the pre-registration products contained adulterants. A total of 16 different adulterants were detected and 36% of the adulterated products contained a mixture of two or more adulterants. This study has demonstrated that the adulteration of unregistered herbal products in the Malaysian market is an alarming issue that needs to be urgently addressed by the relevant authorities.

Herbal and dietary supplements related to diarrhea and acute kidney injury: a case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Wanitsriphinyo, Suphamat; Tangkiatkumjai, Mayuree

2017-03-01

Background There is very little evidence relating to the association of herbal medicine with diarrhea and the development of acute kidney injury (AKI). This study reports a case of diarrhea-induced AKI, possibly related to an individual ingesting copious amounts of homemade mixed fruit and herb puree. Case presentation A 45-year-old Thai man with diabetes had diarrhea for 2 days, as a result of taking high amounts of a puree made up of eight mixed fruits and herbs over a 3-day period. He developed dehydration and stage 2 AKI, with a doubling of his serum creatinine. He had been receiving enalapril, as a prescribed medication, over one year. After he stopped taking both the puree and enalapril, and received fluid replacement therapy, within a week his serum creatinine had gradually decreased. The combination of puree, enalapril and AKI may also have induced hyperkalemia in this patient. Furthermore, the patient developed hyperphosphatemia due to his worsening kidney function, exacerbated by regularly taking some dietary supplements containing high levels of phosphate. His serum levels of potassium and phosphate returned to normal within a week, once the patient stopped both the puree and all dietary supplements, and had begun receiving treatment for hyperkalemia. Results The mixed fruit and herb puree taken by this man may have led to his diarrhea due to its effect; particularly if the patient was taking a high concentration of such a drink. Both the puree and enalapril are likely to attenuate the progression of kidney function. The causal relationship between the puree and AKI was probable (5 scores) assessed by the modified Naranjo algorithm. This is the first case report, as far as the authors are aware, relating the drinking of a mixed fruit and herbal puree to diarrhea and AKI in a patient with diabetes. Conclusions This case can alert health care providers to the possibility that herbal medicine could induce diarrhea and develop acute kidney injury.

Assessment of Fecal Microflora Changes in Pigs Supplemented with Herbal Residue and Prebiotic.

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Ashis Kumar Samanta

Full Text Available Antibiotic usage in animals as a growth promoter is considered as public health issue due to its negative impact on consumer health and environment. The present study aimed to evaluate effectiveness of herbal residue (ginger, Zingiber officinale, dried rhizome powder and prebiotic (inulin as an alternative to antibiotics by comparing fecal microflora composition using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism. The grower pigs were offered feed containing antibiotic (tetracycline, ginger and inulin separately and un-supplemented group served as control. The study revealed significant changes in the microbial abundance based on operational taxonomic units (OTUs among the groups. Presumptive identification of organisms was established based on the fragment length of OTUs generated with three restriction enzymes (MspI, Sau3AI and BsuRI. The abundance of OTUs representing Bacteroides intestinalis, Eubacterium oxidoreducens, Selonomonas sp., Methylobacterium sp. and Denitrobacter sp. was found significantly greater in inulin supplemented pigs. Similarly, the abundance of OTUs representing Bacteroides intestinalis, Selonomonas sp., and Phascolarcobacterium faecium was found significantly greater in ginger supplemented pigs. In contrast, the abundance of OTUs representing pathogenic microorganisms Atopostipes suicloacalis and Bartonella quintana str. Toulouse was significantly reduced in ginger and inulin supplemented pigs. The OTUs were found to be clustered under two major phylotypes; ginger-inulin and control-tetracycline. Additionally, the abundance of OTUs was similar in ginger and inulin supplemented pigs. The results suggest the potential of ginger and prebioticsto replace antibiotics in the diet of grower pig.

7 CFR 246.10 - Supplemental foods.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Supplemental foods. 246.10 Section 246.10 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE... nutritional needs of the participant. The food packages are as follows: (1) Food Package I—Infants birth...

APPROACH FOR ASSESSING RISK OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINANTS PRESENT IN BOTANICAL DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS

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Botanical dietary supplements have a long history of use in Europe and China, but they are becoming increasing popular in the United States. Since these products are classified as herbals, the United States Food and Drug Administration does not regulate nor monitor these suppleme...

The safety and regulation of natural products used as foods and food ingredients.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdel-Rahman, Ali; Anyangwe, Njwen; Carlacci, Louis; Casper, Steve; Danam, Rebecca P; Enongene, Evaristus; Erives, Gladys; Fabricant, Daniel; Gudi, Ramadevi; Hilmas, Corey J; Hines, Fred; Howard, Paul; Levy, Dan; Lin, Ying; Moore, Robert J; Pfeiler, Erika; Thurmond, T Scott; Turujman, Saleh; Walker, Nigel J

2011-10-01

The use of botanicals and dietary supplements derived from natural substances as an adjunct to an improved quality of life or for their purported medical benefits has become increasingly common in the United States. This review addresses the safety assessment and regulation of food products containing these substances by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The issue of safety is particularly critical given how little information is available on the toxicity of some of these products. The first section uses case studies for stevia and green tea extracts as examples of how FDA evaluates the safety of botanical and herbal products submitted for consideration as Generally Recognized as Safe under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. The 1994 Dietary Supplement Health Education Act (DSHEA) created a regulatory framework for dietary supplements. The article also discusses the regulation of this class of dietary supplements under DSHEA and addresses the FDA experience in analyzing the safety of natural ingredients described in pre-market safety submissions. Lastly, we discuss an ongoing interagency collaboration to conduct safety testing of nominated dietary supplements.

 Hepatoportal sclerosis related to the use of herbals and nutritional supplements. Causality or coincidence?

Science.gov (United States)

Rios, Fernanda Ferreira; Rodrigues de Freitas, Luiz Antônio; Codes, Liana; Santos Junior, Genario Oliveira; Schinoni, Maria Isabel; Paraná, Raymundo

 Introduction and aim. Non-cirrhotic idiopathic portal hypertension (NCIPH), also known as hepatoportal sclerosis (HPS) is a disease of uncertain etiology. However, various pathophysiological mechanisms has been postulated, including chronic or recurrent infections and exposure to drugs or toxins. In this context, it appears to be of multifactorial etiology or resulting from a portal vascular endothelium aggression. It is important to consider whether the use of dietary supplements and herbs can trigger or contribute to the occurance of HPS. We report a possible association of HPS with the consumption of herbals and / or dietary supplements. We describe two cases of HPS in patients without known etiology causes associated with this disease. Both patients were females who were diagnosed with HPS following the consumption of Herbalife® products and putative anorexigenic agents in the form herbals infusions. Image-based analysis and the assessment of the histopathological alterations found in the livers confirmed the diagnosis. The histopatological analysis of liver samples from both patients showed portal tracts enlarged by fibrosis with disappearance or reduction in the diameter of the portal vein branches. In many portal tracts, portal veins branches were replaced by aberrant thin-walled fendiforme vessels. The bile ducts and branches of the hepatic artery show normal aspects. After the exclusion of other etiologic factors and a comprehensive analysis of clinical history, consumption of Herbalife® products and anorexigenic agents was pointed-out as a puttative predisposing factor for the development of the disease.

Use and perception of herbal and dietary supplements in the Hutterites of South Dakota.

Science.gov (United States)

Peters, Stacy; Shiyanbola, Olayinka

2013-12-01

South Dakota is home to 6,000 Hutterites, the largest population of Hutterites in the United States. Observation of frequent supplement use by this population prompted the current survey based study. Use of supplements is on the rise with around 53 percent of Americans reporting at least one herbal and dietary supplement (HDS). Use and perception of HDS has not previously been evaluated in the Hutterite population. Participants were 18 years of age and older and had to be present at the time of survey administration. Surveys were administered before and after an educational presentation at five colonies to volunteer participants. Survey data was analyzed using descriptive analysis and chi-square tests. One-hundred and six surveys were completed with 81.1 percent being female. Approximately 78 percent reported using at least one type of HDS, with an average of 2.7 (SD = 1.4) supplements per person. Women were more likely to report supplement use than men. Hutterites reported they felt HDS were safer than prescription medications. Education was effective on some aspects such as telling their doctor if they are taking HDS. Some study limitations included small sample size, possible lack of survey understanding, and the limited number of male participants. The frequency of HDS use in South Dakota Hutterites appears to be very high. Baseline knowledge on the safety and regulation of HDS reveals that education of this population is needed. Further investigation of HDS use in Hutterites is warranted.

Estimating safe maximum levels of vitamins and minerals in fortified foods and food supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Flynn, Albert; Kehoe, Laura; Hennessy, Áine; Walton, Janette

2017-12-01

To show how safe maximum levels (SML) of vitamins and minerals in fortified foods and supplements may be estimated in population subgroups. SML were estimated for adults and 7- to 10-year-old children for six nutrients (retinol, vitamins B6, D and E, folic acid, iron and calcium) using data on usual daily nutrient intakes from Irish national nutrition surveys. SML of nutrients in supplements were lower for children than for adults, except for calcium and iron. Daily energy intake from fortified foods in high consumers (95th percentile) varied by nutrient from 138 to 342 kcal in adults and 40-309 kcal in children. SML (/100 kcal) of nutrients in fortified food were lower for children than adults for vitamins B6 and D, higher for vitamin E, with little difference for other nutrients. Including 25 % 'overage' for nutrients in fortified foods and supplements had little effect on SML. Nutritionally significant amounts of these nutrients can be added safely to supplements and fortified foods for these population subgroups. The estimated SML of nutrients in fortified foods and supplements may be considered safe for these population subgroups over the long term given the food composition and dietary patterns prevailing in the respective dietary surveys. This risk assessment approach shows how nutrient intake data may be used to estimate, for population subgroups, the SML for vitamins and minerals in both fortified foods and supplements, separately, each taking into account the intake from other dietary sources.

Alternative Medicine and Herbal Use among University Students

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Susan K.; Blanchard, Anita

2006-01-01

In this study, the authors investigated the predictors of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and herbal supplement use among university students. They investigated demographic factors, trait affectivity, symptom reports, and individuals' worries about modernity as potential contributors to use of CAM and herbals. The authors surveyed 506…

Consumption of plant food supplements in the Netherlands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jeurissen, Suzanne M F; Buurma-Rethans, Elly J M; Beukers, Marja H; Jansen-van der Vliet, Martine; van Rossum, Caroline T M; Sprong, R Corinne

2018-01-01

The use of food supplements containing herbs or other botanical ingredients (plant food supplements, PFS) is on the rise. In some cases, PFS can contain compounds that are toxic and may pose a health risk. To assess the potential health risks, information on the consumption of PFS is required,

Rosaceae products: Anthocyanin quality and comparisons between dietary supplements and foods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jungmin Lee

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Rosaceae (strawberry, cherry, blackberry, red raspberry, and black raspberry dietary supplements and food products (total n = 74 were purchased and analyzed to determine their anthocyanin concentrations and profiles. Eight of the 33 dietary supplements had no detectable anthocyanins (five samples or were adulterated with anthocyanins from unlabeled sources (three samples. Five of 41 food products contained no detectable anthocyanins. In mg per serving, the dietary supplements tested contained 0.02–86.27 (average 10.00, and food products contained 0.48–39.66 (average 7.76. Anthocyanin levels between the dietary supplements and food products were not significantly different in mg per serving. Individual anthocyanin profiles can be used to evaluate quality of Rosaceae food products and dietary supplements. These findings show that increasing anthocyanin content and reducing adulteration could improve the quality of Rosaceae products available in the marketplace. Keywords: Rubus, Fragaria, Prunus, Dietary supplement, Nonmineral dietary supplement, Nonvitamin dietary supplement

Contaminants in food supplements and associated health risks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reeuwijk, N.M.

2014-01-01

Summary

Through the increasing use and availability of food supplements on the market, safety Aconcerns relating to the safety of these food supplements are growing as well. The aim of the present PhD thesis was to investigate the presence and actual levels of contaminants of

Food Components and Supplements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parlesak, Alexandr

2012-01-01

The major part of food consists of chemical compounds that can be used for energy production, biological synthesis, or maintenance of metabolic processes by the host. These components are defined as nutrients, and can be categorized into macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, triglycerides......, and alcohol), minerals, and micronutrients. The latter category comprises 13 vitamins and a hand full of trace elements. Many micronutrients are used as food supplements and are ingested at doses exceeding the amounts that can be consumed along with food by a factor of 10–100. Both macro- and micronutrients...... can interact with enzyme systems related to xenobiotic metabolism either by regulation of their expression or direct interference with their enzymatic activity. During food consumption, we consume a wide range of xenobiotics along with the consumable food, either as an original part of the food (e...

MOST SOLD CATEGORIES FOOD SUPPLEMENTS IN BULGARIAN PHARMACIES - RESEARCH

OpenAIRE

Elina Petkova1, Kalin Ivanov2, Stanislava Ivanova2*, Stanislav Gueorguiev3, Radiana Staynova3

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to investigate which are the most sold categories food supplements in Bulgarian pharmacies. The survey covers 820 pharmacies across the country. We have found that the leading category of food supplements is “Immune and digestive health” (41.5%). The second place is for the “Bone and joint health” (12.9%). The “Urology” category (consisted mainly by plant extracts) is about 7.9%. Food supplements in the “Urology” category are not only recommended by pharmacists but of...

Brain Food for Alzheimer-Free Ageing: Focus on Herbal Medicines.

Science.gov (United States)

Hügel, Helmut M

2015-01-01

Healthy brain aging and the problems of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are a global concern. Beyond 60 years of age, most, if not everyone, will experience a decline in cognitive skills, memory capacity and changes in brain structure. Longevity eventually leads to an accumulation of amyloid plaques and/or tau tangles, including some vascular dementia damage. Therefore, lifestyle choices are paramount to leading either a brain-derived or a brain-deprived life. The focus of this review is to critically examine the evidence, impact, influence and mechanisms of natural products as chemopreventive agents which induce therapeutic outcomes that modulate the aggregation process of beta-amyloid (Aβ), providing measureable cognitive benefits in the aging process. Plants can be considered as chemical factories that manufacture huge numbers of diverse bioactive substances, many of which have the potential to provide substantial neuroprotective benefits. Medicinal herbs and health food supplements have been widely used in Asia since over 2,000 years. The phytochemicals utilized in traditional Chinese medicine have demonstrated safety profiles for human consumption. Many herbs with anti-amyloidogenic activity, including those containing polyphenolic constituents such as green tea, turmeric, Salvia miltiorrhiza, and Panax ginseng, are presented. Also covered in this review are extracts from kitchen spices including cinnamon, ginger, rosemary, sage, salvia herbs, Chinese celery and many others some of which are commonly used in herbal combinations and represent highly promising therapeutic natural compounds against AD. A number of clinical trials conducted on herbs to counter dementia and AD are discussed.

The effect of the humic acid and herbal additive supplement on production parameters of broiler chicken

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Veronika Pistová

2016-10-01

Full Text Available In this study the effect of humic acids and dietary herbal additive (clove (Syzygium aromaticum, lavender (Lavendula angustifolia and black pepper (Piper nigrum L. on production parameters of broiler chicken were studied.  A total of 60 Ross 308 broiler chicken were divided into 3 treatments (n=20. The control group of chickens was fed with complete feed mixtures without any additives. Chicken in treatment T1 were fed a diet containing 1% of humic acid and drank a water containing 150 mg/l of herbal additive. Chicken in treatment T2 were fed with complete feed mixture without any additives and drank a water containing 150 mg/l of herbal additive. The body weight, feed intake and feed conversion were evaluated. The results shout that the body weight was significantly higher (P≤0.05 in treatments groups compared to the control group (the order of the groups: 1796.4±188.1; 2052.9±197.9 and 2140.4±300.4 g±SD. The feed intake was in the control group 3.11 kg, in the treatment T1 3.00 kg and in the treatment T2 3.12 kg. Feed conversion for the entire fattening period was in control group 2.19 kg/kg complete feed mixture, in the treatment T1 1.83 kg/kg complete feed mixture and in the treatment T2 1.84 kg/kg complete feed mixture with no significant different (P≥0.05 compared to control group. In conclusion, supplement by humic acid and herbal additive can improve production parameters of broiler chicken.

Simultaneous HPLC determination of caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline in food, drinks, and herbal products.

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Srdjenovic, Branislava; Djordjevic-Milic, Vukosava; Grujic, Nevena; Injac, Rade; Lepojevic, Zika

2008-02-01

A rapid and selective high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is developed for the separation and determination of caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline. The chromatography is performed on a Zorbax Eclipse XDB-C8 column (4.6x150 mm i.d., 5-microm particle size) at 25 degrees C, with a mobile phase of water-THF (0.1% THF in water, pH 8)-acetonitrile (90:10, v/v). The flow rate is 0.8 mL/min, and detection is by UV at 273 nm. This method permits the simultaneous determination of caffeine, theobromine, and theophylline in food, drinks, and herbal products with detection limits of 0.07-0.2 mg/L and recoveries of 100.20-100.42%. Correlation coefficients, for the calibration curves in the linear range of 0.2-100 mg/L, are greater than 0.9999 for all compounds. The within- and between-day precision is determined for both retention times and peak area. The data suggests that the proposed HPLC method can be used for routine quality control of food, drinks, and herbal products.

Safety concerns of herbal products and traditional Chinese herbal medicines: Dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids and aristolochic acid

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In many countries, including the United States, herbal supplements, tisanes and vegetable products, including traditional Chinese medicines, are largely unregulated and their content is not registered, monitored or verified. Consequently, potent plant toxins including dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids ...

Health Food Supplements (Health Food Highly Nutritious From Chlorella And Oil Catfish (Pangasius hypopthalmus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Syahrul Syahrul

2017-02-01

Full Text Available AbstractThe utilization of microalgae as a food ingredient considered effective, because in addition to alternative food sources also contains nutrients chlorella microalgae in particular is very good for health. This microalgae rich in protein (60.5%, fat (11%, carbohydrates (20.1%, water, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals Besides these microalgae contain pigments (chlorophyll, tocopherol and the active component (antimicrobial and antioxidants. This is what underlies microalgae is very useful to be used as a source of raw materials of health food supplements. Currently the health food supplements have become a necessity for people to maintain their health in order to remain vibrant. This study aims to produce high nutritious health food supplements from raw material chlorella enriched with fish protein concentrate and oil catfish. The method used in the manufacture of high nutritious health food supplement is a method of microencapsulation with different formulations. The results showed that the best formulations based on the profile of amino acids, fatty acids and standards AAE per day especially essential fatty acids oleic and linoleic is formulation B (chlorella 2%, 1% fish oil and fish protein concentrate 1%.

Safety concerns of herbal products and traditional Chinese herbal medicines: Dehydopyrrolizidine alkaloids and aristolochic acid

Science.gov (United States)

In many countries, including the United States, herbal supplements, tisanes and vegetable products including traditional Chinese medicines are largely unregulated and their content is not registered, monitored or verified. Consequently potent plant toxins including dehydopyrrolizidine alkaloids and...

Effects of Trang Phuc Linh Plus-Food Supplement on Irritable Bowel Syndrome Induced by Mustard Oil.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Thong T; Dau, Duong T; Nguyen, Dung C; Nguyen, Huong T T G; Ngo, Phuong T B; Nguyen, Thai Q; Han, Bo; Hoang, Ba X

2017-04-01

Trang phuc linh plus (TPLP) is a food supplement product derived from dried extracts of herbal agents Atractylodes macrocephala, Poria cocos, Paeonia lactiflora, Phellodendron amurense, and added lactobacillus fermentum lysate (ImmuneGamma ® ) and 5-hydroxytryptophan. TPLP is a functional food used as adjunctive treatment for treating irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). However the biological effect and its mechanism of action in IBS have not been elucidated. In this study, we aimed to determine the pharmacological activities and mode of action of TPLP on IBS animal models. Mice were given a single administration of 5% mustard oil (MO) intracollonically. Acute colitis induction by MO resulted in later development of an IBS-like accelerated upper gastrointestinal transit in mice. Mice were treated with different does of TPLP and controls. Results showed that TPLP at the dose of 654 mg/kg/day given orally significantly decreased intestinal motility (IM) compared with the control animals. The effect was similar to Duspatalin (80 mg/kg/day) (Mebeverine Hydrochloride, an antispasmodic that helps to relieve the pain and discomfort associated with gastrointestinal spasms). Increased TPLP dose (1962 mg/kg/day) had a better effect on relief of IM than Duspatalin (80 mg/kg/day). TPLP also reduced peristalsis frequency and decreased fluid volume and electrolytes excretion in intestine tested in ex vivo models. Overall, TPLP may be an effective nutraceutical supplement for IBS.

Combining nutrient intake from food/beverages and vitamin/mineral supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Garriguet, Didier

2010-12-01

To calculate total intake of a nutrient and estimate inadequate intake for a population, the amounts derived from food/beverages and from vitamin/mineral supplements must be combined. The two methods Statistics Canada has suggested present problems of interpretation. Data collected from 34,386 respondents to the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey-Nutrition were used to compare four methods of combining nutrient intake from food/beverages and vitamin/mineral supplements: adding average intake from supplements to the 24-hour food/beverage recall and estimating the usual distribution in the population (Method 1); estimating usual individual intake from food? beverages and adding intake from supplements (Method 2); and dividing the population into supplement users and non-users and applying Method 1 or Method 2 and combining the estimates based on the percentages of users and non-users (Methods 3 and 4). Interpretation problems arise with Methods 1 and 2; for example, the percentage of the population with inadequate intake of vitamin C and folate equivalents falls outside the expected minimum-maximum range. These interpretation problems are not observed with Methods 3 and 4. Interpretation problems that may arise in combining food and supplement intake of a given nutrient are overcome if the population is divided into supplement users and non-users before Method 1 or Method 2 is applied.

Factors associated with household food security of participants of the MANA food supplement program in Colombia.

Science.gov (United States)

Hackett, Michelle; Melgar-Quiñonez, Hugo; Taylor, Christopher A; Alvarez Uribe, Martha Cecilia

2010-03-01

The objective of this study was to explore demographic and economic characteristics associated with household food security of 2,784 low-income households with pre-school aged children receiving food supplements from the Colombian Plan for Improving Food and Nutrition in Antioquia - MANA (Mejoramiento Alimentario y Nutricional de Antioquia) in the Department of Antioquia, Colombia. Included in the study was a 12-item household food security survey was collected from a cross-sectional, stratified random sample of MANA participants in which households were characterized as food secure, mildly food insecure, moderately food insecure, and severely food insecure. It was hypothesized that household food security status would be strongly associated with demographic characteristics, food expenditure variables, and food supplement consumption by children in MANA. Food insecure households were characterized by more members, older parents, and lower income (p < 0.0001). Rural residence and female head of households had higher rates of food insecurity (p < 0.01). Food insecure households had the lowest monthly expenditures food (p < 0.0001). Severely food insecure households saved the highest percentage of per capita food expenditure from consuming MANA supplements (p < 0.0001), similarly, MANA food supplement intakes were greatest in households reporting the most food insecurity (p < 0.001). The results of this study are important to describe characteristics of the population benefiting from the MANA nutrition intervention by their unique level of household food security status.

Food supplement 20070721-GX may increase CD34+ stem cells and telomerase activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Po-Cheng; Chiou, Tzyy-Wen; Liu, Po-Yen; Chen, Shee-Ping; Wang, Hsin-I; Huang, Pi-Chun; Lin, Shinn-Zong; Harn, Horng-Jyh

2012-01-01

Few rejuvenation and antiaging markers are used to evaluate food supplements. We measured three markers in peripheral blood to evaluate the antiaging effects of a food supplement containing placental extract. Samples were evaluated for CD34(+) cells, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), and telomerase activity, which are all markers related to aging. To control the quality of this food supplement, five active components were monitored. In total, we examined 44 individuals who took the food supplement from 1.2 months to 23 months; the average number of CD34(+) cells was almost 6-fold higher in the experimental group compared with the control group. Food supplement intake did not change serum IGF1 levels significantly. Finally, the average telomerase activity was 30% higher in the subjects taking this food supplement. In summary, our results suggest that the placental extract in the food supplement might contribute to rejuvenation and antiaging.

Food Supplement 20070721-GX May Increase CD34+ Stem Cells and Telomerase Activity

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Po-Cheng Lin

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Few rejuvenation and antiaging markers are used to evaluate food supplements. We measured three markers in peripheral blood to evaluate the antiaging effects of a food supplement containing placental extract. Samples were evaluated for CD34+ cells, insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1, and telomerase activity, which are all markers related to aging. To control the quality of this food supplement, five active components were monitored. In total, we examined 44 individuals who took the food supplement from 1.2 months to 23 months; the average number of CD34+ cells was almost 6-fold higher in the experimental group compared with the control group. Food supplement intake did not change serum IGF1 levels significantly. Finally, the average telomerase activity was 30% higher in the subjects taking this food supplement. In summary, our results suggest that the placental extract in the food supplement might contribute to rejuvenation and antiaging.

Food supplements complexes for pregnant' s: composition analysis and selection features at community pharmacies

OpenAIRE

Tamelytė, Raimonda

2016-01-01

Compared food supplements complexes composition for pregnant women and adults. made a questionnaire survey. the composition of the food supplements complexes for pregnant women includes all major necessary vitamins and minerals for pregnancy. the assessment of active substances in the composition of the food supplements complexes for pregnant women are more suitable for use during pregnancy than, food supplements complexes for adults. in pharmacy, selecting food supplements complexes for preg...

An evaluation of selected herbal reference texts and comparison to published reports of adverse herbal events.

Science.gov (United States)

Haller, Christine A; Anderson, Ilene B; Kim, Susan Y; Blanc, Paul D

2002-01-01

There has been a recent proliferation of medical reference texts intended to guide practitioners whose patients use herbal therapies. We systematically assessed six herbal reference texts to evaluate the information they contain on herbal toxicity. We selected six major herbal references published from 1996 to 2000 to evaluate the adequacy of their toxicological information in light of published adverse events. To identify herbs most relevant to toxicology, we reviewed herbal-related calls to our regional California Poison Control System, San Francisco division (CPCS-SF) in 1998 and identified the 12 herbs (defined as botanical dietary supplements) most frequently involved in these CPCS-SF referrals. We searched Medline (1966 to 2000) to identify published reports of adverse effects potentially related to these same 12 herbs. We scored each herbal reference text on the basis of information inclusiveness for the target 12 herbs, with a maximal overall score of 3. The herbs, identified on the basis of CPCS-SF call frequency were: St John's wort, ma huang, echinacea, guarana, ginkgo, ginseng, valerian, tea tree oil, goldenseal, arnica, yohimbe and kava kava. The overall herbal reference scores ranged from 2.2 to 0.4 (median 1.1). The Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database received the highest overall score and was the most complete and useful reference source. All of the references, however, lacked sufficient information on management of herbal medicine overdose, and several had incorrect overdose management guidelines that could negatively impact patient care. Current herbal reference texts do not contain sufficient information for the assessment and management of adverse health effects of botanical therapies.

Microbial quality of some herbal solid dosage forms

African Journals Online (AJOL)

STORAGESEVER

2010-03-15

Mar 15, 2010 ... Key words: Microbial quality, herbal, contamination, solid dosage form ... The type of dosage form, packaging, manufacturing and expiration dates of subject solid herbal .... According to WHO report (2002), Salmonella food.

Effect of an herbal/botanical supplement on strength, balance, and muscle function following 12-weeks of resistance training: a placebo controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Furlong, Jonathan; Rynders, Corey A; Sutherlin, Mark; Patrie, James; Katch, Frank I; Hertel, Jay; Weltman, Arthur

2014-01-01

StemSport (SS; StemTech International, Inc. San Clemente, CA) contains a proprietary blend of the botanical Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and several herbal antioxidant and anti-inflammatory substances. SS has been purported to accelerate tissue repair and restore muscle function following resistance exercise. Here, we examine the effects of SS supplementation on strength adaptations resulting from a 12-week resistance training program in healthy young adults. Twenty-four young adults (16 males, 8 females, mean age = 20.5 ± 1.9 years, mass = 70.9 ± 11.9 kg, stature = 176.6 ± 9.9 cm) completed the twelve week training program. The study design was a double-blind, placebo controlled parallel group trial. Subjects either received placebo or StemSport supplement (SS; mg/day) during the training. 1-RM bench press, 1-RM leg press, vertical jump height, balance (star excursion and center of mass excursion), isokinetic strength (elbow and knee flexion/extension) and perception of recovery were measured at baseline and following the 12-week training intervention. Resistance training increased 1-RM strength (p 0.10). These data suggest that compared to placebo, the SS herbal/botanical supplement did not enhance training induced adaptations to strength, balance, and muscle function above strength training alone.

Intersection of Inflammation and Herbal Medicine in the Treatment of Osteoarthritis

OpenAIRE

Mobasheri, Ali

2012-01-01

Herbal remedies and dietary supplements have become an important area of research and clinical practice in orthopaedics and rheumatology. Understanding the risks and benefits of using herbal medicines in the treatment of arthritis, rheumatic diseases, and musculoskeletal complaints is a key priority of physicians and their patients. This review discusses the latest advances in the use of herbal medicines for treating osteoarthritis (OA) by focusing on the most significant trends and developme...

Adverse effects of plant food supplements and botanical preparations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Di Lorenzo, Chiara; Ceschi, Alessandro; Kupferschmidt, Hugo

2015-01-01

The objective of this review was to collect available data on the following: (i) adverse effects observed in humans from the intake of plant food supplements or botanical preparations; (ii) the misidentification of poisonous plants; and (iii) interactions between plant food supplements...... evaluated according to the World Health Organization Guidelines for causality assessment. Data were obtained for 66 plants that are common ingredients of plant food supplements; of the 492 papers selected, 402 (81.7%) dealt with adverse effects directly associated with the botanical and 89 (18.1%) concerned......) the number of severe clinical reactions was very limited, but some fatal cases have been described. Data presented in this review were assessed for quality in order to make the results maximally useful for clinicians in identifying or excluding deleterious effects of botanicals....

Anthocyanin- and proanthocyanidin-rich extracts of berries in food supplements--analysis with problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Krenn, L; Steitz, M; Schlicht, C; Kurth, H; Gaedcke, F

2007-11-01

The fundamental nutritional benefit of fruit and vegetables in the prevention of degenerative diseases--especially in the light of the current "anti-aging wave"--has directed the attention of scientists and consumers to a variety of berry fruits and their constituents. Many of these fruits, e.g. blueberries, elderberries or cranberries, have a long tradition in European and North American folk medicine. Based on these experiences and due to the growing interest the number of food supplements on the market containing fruit powders, juice concentrates or extracts of these fruits has increased considerably. Advertising for these products mainly focusses on the phenolic compounds, especially the anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins and their preventive effects. Most of the preparations are combinations, e.g. of extracts of different fruits with vitamins and trace elements, etc. which are labelled in a way which does not allow a comparison of the products. Typically, information on the extraction solvent, the drug: extract ratio and the content of anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins is missing. Besides that, the analysis of these polyphenols causes additional problems. Whereas the quality control of herbal medicinal products is regulated in detail, no uniform requirements for food supplements are existing. A broad spectrum of methods is used for the assay of the constituents, leading to differing, incomparable results. In addition to that, the methods are quite interference-prone and consequently lead to over- or underestimation of the contents. This publication provides an overview of some selected berries (lingonberry, cranberry, black elderberry, black chokeberry, black currant, blueberry), their constituents and use. The analytical methods currently used for the identification and quantification of the polyphenols in these berries are described, including an evaluation of their advantages and disadvantages.

Herbal Medicines: Socio-Demographic Characteristics And Pattern ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Herbal medicines are used by patients, mostly without the knowledge of their Doctors and other Health providers. The presentation, course and outcomes of the patient's condition may thus be affected. There has been a lot of concern recently about the use of herbal medicines. The Ghana Food and Drugs Board has come ...

Herbal Supplement in a Buffer for Dry Eye Syndrome Treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Hung-Chang; Chen, Zhi-Yu; Wang, Tsung-Jen; Drew, Victor J; Tseng, Ching-Li; Fang, Hsu-Wei; Lin, Feng-Huei

2017-08-03

Dry eye syndrome (DES) is one of the most common types of ocular diseases. There is a major need to treat DES in a simple yet efficient way. Artificial tears (AT) are the most commonly used agents for treating DES, but are not very effective. Herbal extractions of ferulic acid (FA), an anti-oxidant agent, and kaempferol (KM), an anti-inflammatory reagent, were added to buffer solution (BS) to replace ATs for DES treatment. The cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effects were examined in vitro by co-culture with human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs) to obtain the optimal concentration of KM and FA for treating HCECs. Physical properties of BS, such as pH value, osmolality, and refractive index were also examined. Then, rabbits with DES were used for therapeutic evaluation. Tear production, corneal damage, and ocular irritation in rabbits' eyes were examined. The non-toxic concentrations of KM and FA for HCEC cultivation over 3 days were 1 µM and 100 µM, respectively. Live/dead stain results also show non-toxicity of KM and FA for treating HCECs. Lipopolysaccharide-stimulated HCECs in inflammatory conditions treated with 100 µM FA and 1 µM KM (FA100/KM1) showed lower IL-1B , IL-6 , IL-8 , and TNFα expression when examined by real-time PCR. The BS with FA100/KM1 had neutral pH, and a similar osmolality and refractive index to human tears. Topical delivery of BS + FA100/KM1 showed no irritation to rabbit eyes. The corneal thickness in the BS + FA100/KM1 treated group was comparable to normal eyes. Results of DES rabbits treated with BS + FA100/KM1 showed less corneal epithelial damage and higher tear volume than the normal group. In conclusion, we showed that the combination of FA (100 µM) and KM (1 µM) towards treating inflamed HCECs had an anti-inflammatory effect, and it is effective in treating DES rabbits when BS is added in combination with these two herbal supplements and used as a topical eye drop.

Herbal Supplement in a Buffer for Dry Eye Syndrome Treatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hung-Chang Chen

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Dry eye syndrome (DES is one of the most common types of ocular diseases. There is a major need to treat DES in a simple yet efficient way. Artificial tears (AT are the most commonly used agents for treating DES, but are not very effective. Herbal extractions of ferulic acid (FA, an anti-oxidant agent, and kaempferol (KM, an anti-inflammatory reagent, were added to buffer solution (BS to replace ATs for DES treatment. The cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effects were examined in vitro by co-culture with human corneal epithelial cells (HCECs to obtain the optimal concentration of KM and FA for treating HCECs. Physical properties of BS, such as pH value, osmolality, and refractive index were also examined. Then, rabbits with DES were used for therapeutic evaluation. Tear production, corneal damage, and ocular irritation in rabbits’ eyes were examined. The non-toxic concentrations of KM and FA for HCEC cultivation over 3 days were 1 µM and 100 µM, respectively. Live/dead stain results also show non-toxicity of KM and FA for treating HCECs. Lipopolysaccharide-stimulated HCECs in inflammatory conditions treated with 100 µM FA and 1 µM KM (FA100/KM1 showed lower IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, and TNFα expression when examined by real-time PCR. The BS with FA100/KM1 had neutral pH, and a similar osmolality and refractive index to human tears. Topical delivery of BS + FA100/KM1 showed no irritation to rabbit eyes. The corneal thickness in the BS + FA100/KM1 treated group was comparable to normal eyes. Results of DES rabbits treated with BS + FA100/KM1 showed less corneal epithelial damage and higher tear volume than the normal group. In conclusion, we showed that the combination of FA (100 µM and KM (1 µM towards treating inflamed HCECs had an anti-inflammatory effect, and it is effective in treating DES rabbits when BS is added in combination with these two herbal supplements and used as a topical eye drop.

Safety of herbal preparations on the Dutch market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martena, M.J.

2010-01-01

The use and availability of herbal preparations covered by food law is increasing in the Netherlands and in other European Member States. Correspondingly, safety concerns relating to herbal preparations are growing as well. The aim of the present PhD project was therefore to review the toxicity of

Herbal remedies for asthma treatment: between myth and reality.

Science.gov (United States)

Szelenyi, Istvan; Brune, Kay

2002-04-01

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases worldwide. To treat this widespread disease there is a high prevalence of usage of herbal medicine. The use of plants is as old as humankind and it has been steadily increasing over the past 10 years. Plant-based remedies are now one of the most popular complementary treatments. Herbal supplements are receiving increasing exposure through media, including the Internet, in lay journals and more recently in the scientific press. Interest in herbal medicine has been facilitated by multiple factors, including the perception that pharmaceutical medications are expensive, overprescribed and may often be dangerous. Alternatively, herbal medicine is often perceived as being "natural" and therefore is considered safe. However, the scientific literature supporting the efficacy of herbal therapies is incomplete. There are few well-controlled studies that support the efficacy of herbal remedies in the treatment and clinical improvement of patients with asthma. Available scientific evidence has not yet confirmed the validity of their popular role in the treatment of asthma. The present review evaluates herbs and their efficacy in asthma to provide a balanced and objective view for the reader seeking information on herbal therapy

Food intake in laboratory rats provided standard and fenbendazole-supplemented diets.

Science.gov (United States)

Vento, Peter J; Swartz, Megan E; Martin, Lisa Be; Daniels, Derek

2008-11-01

The benzimidazole anthelmintic fenbendazole (FBZ) is a common and effective treatment for pinworm infestation in laboratory animal colonies. Although many investigators have examined the potential for deleterious biologic effects of FBZ, more subtle aspects of the treatment remain untested. Accordingly, we evaluated differences in food intake when healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were provided a standard nonmedicated laboratory rodent chow or the same chow supplemented with FBZ. We also tested for a preference for either food type when subjects were provided a choice of the 2 diets. Data from these experiments showed no differences in food intake or body weight when rats were maintained on either standard or FBZ-supplemented chow. When the rats were given access to both the standard and FBZ-supplemented diets, they showed a clear preference for the standard diet. The preference for the standard diet indicates that the rats can discriminate between the 2 foods and may avoid the FBZ-supplemented chow when possible. Investigators conducting experiments during treatment with FBZ in which differences in food preference are relevant should be aware of these data and plan their studies accordingly.

Constipation and Herbal medicine

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Norio eIizuka

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Constipation is characterized by a variety of bowel symptoms such as difficulty passing stool, hard stool, and a feeling of incomplete evacuation. The multifactorial causes of constipation limit the clinical efficacy of current conventional treatments that use a single drug that acts through only one pathway. To complement the shortcomings of the current Western medical model and provide a complete holistic approach, herbal medicines capable of targeting multiple organs and cellular sites may be used. In Japan, many herbs and herbal combinations have traditionally been used as foods and medicines. Currently, Japanese physicians use standardized herbal combinations that provide consistent and essential quality and quantity.This review highlights representative Japanese herbal medicines (JHMs, Rhei rhizoma-based JHMs including Daiokanzoto and Mashiningan, and Kenchuto-based JHMs including Keishikashakuyakuto and Daikenchuto, which coordinate the motility of the alimentary tract. This review provides a framework to better understand the clinical and pharmacological efficacies of JHMs on constipation according to the unique theory of Japanese traditional medicine, known as Kampo medicine.

Food Components and Supplements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Parlesak, Alexandr

2012-01-01

acting as carcinogens) to health-protective effects (e.g., flavonoids ameliorating detrimental effects of mitochondrial oxidative stress). In particular, secondary plant metabolites along with vitamins, specific types of macronutrients and live bacteria (probiotics) as well as substances promoting.......g., secondary plant metabolites such as flavonoids), or as contaminants that enter the food chain at different stages or during the food production process. For these components, a wide spectrum of biological effects was observed that ranges from health-threatening impacts (e.g., polycyclic aromatic amines....... The supplements and contaminants can compete directly with drug oxidation, induce or suppress the expression of xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes, change the bioavailability of drugs, and, in the case of live bacteria, bring in their own xenobiotic metabolism, including cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity. In numerous...

Guidance for the safety assessment of botanicals and botanical preparations for use in food and food supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilter, B; Andersson, C; Anton, R; Constable, A; Kleiner, J; O'Brien, J; Renwick, A G; Korver, O; Smit, F; Walker, R

2003-12-01

There is a growing interest by both consumers and industry for the development of food products with 'functional' properties, or health benefits. These products may take the form of dietary supplements or of foods. The health benefits are given by particular ingredients, and in many cases these are derived from botanicals. The variety of plants providing these functions is large, ranging from staple food sources such as cereals, fruits and vegetables, to herbals as used in traditional medicine. The food or ingredient conferring health properties may consist of the plants themselves, extracts thereof, or more purified components. The scientific literature is abundant with articles not only on the beneficial properties, but also on possible adverse health effects of plants and their components. The present report discusses the data required to determine the safe use of these types of ingredients, and provides advice on the development of risk assessment strategies consistent with due diligence under existing food regulations. Product specifications, composition and characterisation of standardised and authentic materials, documented history of use and comparison to existing products (taking into account the effect of industrial processing), description of the intended use and consequent exposure are highlighted as key background information on which to base a risk evaluation. The extent of experimental investigation required, such as in vitro, animal, and/or human studies, depends on the adequacy of this information. A decision tree is presented as an aid to determine the extent of data requirements based on product comparison. The ultimate safety in use depends on the establishment of an adequate safety margin between expected exposure and identified potential hazards. Health hazards may arise from inherent toxicities or contaminants of the plant materials, including the mechanism of the intended beneficial effect. A lower safety margin may therefore be expected

Use and Factors Associated With Herbal/Botanical and Nonvitamin/Nonmineral Dietary Supplements Among Women of Reproductive Age: An Analysis of the Infant Feeding Practices Study II.

Science.gov (United States)

Budzynska, Katarzyna; Filippelli, Amanda C; Sadikova, Ekaterina; Low Dog, Tieraona; Gardiner, Paula

2016-07-01

Little is known about the changes in prevalence of dietary supplement use in pregnancy, postpartum, and in a comparison group of nonpregnant women. We conducted a secondary analysis of the Infant Feeding Practices II study. The purpose of this study is to report the prevalence of herbal or botanical and nonvitamin, nonmineral dietary supplement use by US women with respect to demographic, behavioral, and health factors. We compared pregnant and postpartum women to a comparison group of nonpregnant women who had not given birth in the past 12 months. Our main outcome was the prevalence of dietary supplements. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with herbal or botanical and nonvitamin, nonmineral dietary supplement use during reproductive age, pregnancy, and postpartum. The total sample included 1444 women assessed during the prenatal period, 1422 from the postpartum period, and 1517 women in a comparison group. In terms of herb or botanical use, 15% of the prenatal group, 16% of the postpartum group, and 22% of the comparison group reported using herbs or botanicals. The most frequently used nonvitamin, nonmineral supplement was omega-3 fatty acid. Among the total prenatal group and comparison group, women eating 5 or more servings of fruits or vegetables were less likely to report using herbs or botanicals. Women in the comparison group self-identifying as black were 4 times as likely to report using herbs or botanicals compared to participants self-identifying as white. In addition, women identifying as a race other than white were almost twice as likely to report herb or botanical use across all study groups. This is one of the rare studies that shows the changing prevalence of herbs or botanicals and nonvitamin, nonmineral dietary supplement use in women in the reproductive stage of their lives. © 2016 by the American College of Nurse-Midwives.

Chinese medicinal herbal residues as a bulking agent for food waste composting.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Ying; Selvam, Ammaiyappan; Wong, Jonathan W C

2018-02-01

This study aimed to co-compost Chinese medicinal herbal residues (CMHRs) as the bulking agent with food waste (FW) to develop a high value antipathogenic compost. The FW, sawdust (SD) and CMHRs were mixed at three different mixing ratios, 5:5:1, 2:2:1 and 1:1:1 on dry weight basis. Lime at 2.25% was added to the composting mix to buffer the pH during the composting. A control without lime addition was also included. The mixtures were composted in 20-L in-vessel composters for 56 days. A maximum of 67.2% organic decomposition was achieved with 1:1:1 mixing ratio within 8 weeks. The seed germination index was 157.2% in 1:1:1 mixing ratio, while other ratios showed compost food waste at the dry weight ratio of 1:1:1 (FW: SD: CMHRs) was recommended for FW-CMHRs composting. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Herbal supplement extends life span under some environmental conditions and boosts stress resistance.

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Bryant Villeponteau

Full Text Available Genetic studies indicate that aging is modulated by a great number of genetic pathways. We have used Drosophila longevity and stress assays to test a multipath intervention strategy. To carry out this strategy, we supplemented the flies with herbal extracts (SC100 that are predicted to modulate the expression of many genes involved in aging and stress resistance, such as mTOR, NOS, NF-KappaB, and VEGF. When flies were housed in large cages with SC100 added, daily mortality rates of both male and female flies were greatly diminished in mid to late life. Surprisingly, SC100 also stabilized midlife mortality rate increases so as to extend the maximum life span substantially beyond the limits previously reported for D. melanogaster. Under these conditions, SC100 also promoted robust resistance to partial starvation stress and to heat stress. Fertility was the same initially in both treated and control flies, but it became significantly higher in treated flies at older ages as the fertility of control flies declined. Mean and maximum life spans of flies in vials at the same test site were also extended by SC100, but the life spans were short in absolute terms. In contrast, at an independent test site where stress was minimized, the flies exhibited much longer mean life spans, but the survival curves became highly rectangular and the effects of SC100 on both mean and maximum life spans declined greatly or were abolished. The data indicate that SC100 is a novel herbal mix with striking effects on enhancing Drosophila stress resistance and life span in some environments, while minimizing mid to late life mortality rates. They also show that the environment and other factors can have transformative effects on both the length and distribution of survivorship, and on the ability of SC100 to extend the life span.

Health Information Provided by Retail Health Food Outlets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaclyn Calder

2000-01-01

Full Text Available Alternative health practices have become increasingly popular in recent years. Many patients visit specific complementary practitioners, while others attempt to educate themselves, trusting advice from employees at local health food stores or the Internet. Thirty-two retail health food stores were surveyed on the nature of the information provided by their staff. A research assistant visited the stores and presented as the mother of a child in whom Crohn’s disease had been diagnosed. Seventy-two per cent (23 of 32 of store employees offered advice, such as to take nutritional and herbal supplements. Of the 23 stores where recommendations were made, 15 (65% based their recommendation on a source of information. Fourteen of the 15 stores using information sources used the same reference book. This had a significant impact on the recommendations; the use of nutritional supplements was favoured. In conclusion, retail health food stores are not as inconsistent as hypothesized, although there are many variances in the types of supplements recommended for the same chronic disease.

Whole Food versus Supplement: Comparing the Clinical Evidence of Tomato Intake and Lycopene Supplementation on Cardiovascular Risk Factors12

Science.gov (United States)

Burton-Freeman, Britt M.; Sesso, Howard D.

2014-01-01

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality in the United States and worldwide. A link between diet and CVD is well established, with dietary modification a foundational component of CVD prevention and management. With the discovery of bioactive components beyond the essential nutrients of foods, a new era of nutritional, medical, botanical, physiologic, and analytical sciences has unfolded. The ability to identify, isolate, purify, and deliver single components has expanded the dietary supplement business and health opportunity for consumers. Lycopene is an example of a food component that has attracted attention from scientists as well as food, agriculture, and dietary supplement industries. A major question, however, is whether delivering lycopene through a supplement source is as effective as or more effective than consuming lycopene through whole food sources, specifically the tomato, which is the richest source of lycopene in the Western diet. In this review, we examined clinical trials comparing the efficacy of lycopene supplements with tomato products on intermediate CVD risk factors including oxidative stress, inflammation, endothelial function, blood pressure, and lipid metabolism. Overall, the present review highlights the need for more targeted research; however, at present, the available clinical research supports consuming tomato-based foods as a first-line approach to cardiovascular health. With the exception of blood pressure management where lycopene supplementation was favored, tomato intake provided more favorable results on cardiovascular risk endpoints than did lycopene supplementation. Indeed, future research that is well designed, clinically focused, mechanistically revealing, and relevant to human intake will undoubtedly add to the growing body of knowledge unveiling the promise of tomatoes and/or lycopene supplementation as an integral component of a heart-healthy diet. PMID:25469376

Neurotransmitters as food supplements: the effects of GABA on brain and behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evert eBoonstra

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The food supplement version of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA is widely available online. Although many consumers claim that they experience benefits from the use of these products, it is unclear whether these supplements confer benefits beyond a placebo effect. Currently, the mechanism of action behind these products is unknown. It has long been thought that GABA is unable to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB, but the studies that have assessed this issue are often contradictory and range widely in their employed methods. Accordingly, future research needs to establish the effects of oral GABA administration on GABA levels in the human brain, for example using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. There is some evidence in favor of a calming effect of GABA food supplements, but most of this evidence was reported by researchers with a potential conflict of interest. We suggest that any veridical effects of GABA food supplements on brain and cognition might be exerted through BBB passage or, more indirectly, via an effect on the enteric nervous system. We conclude that the mechanism of action of GABA food supplements is far from clear, and that further work is needed to establish the behavioral effects of GABA.

Effects of Herbal Supplements on PTSD-Induced Changes in Rat Behavior & Brain Gene Expression

Science.gov (United States)

2014-06-10

Corporation; 2008. 14. Bent S. Herbal medicine in the United States: review of efficacy, safety, and regulation: grand rounds at University of...Ceremuga, Thomas COL (Ret) USU Project Number: N10-P12 70. Bent S: Herbal medicine in the United States: review of efficacy, safety, and regulation...2012;177(7):814-822. 135. Ang-Lee MK, Moss J, Yuan CS. Herbal medicines and perioperative care. Jama. Jul 11 2001;286(2):208-216. 136. Jankowsi K

Lutein in food supplements available on the markets of the Viszegrad countries

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Miroslav Šivel

2014-11-01

Full Text Available RP-HPLC method with UV-VIS detection was implemented for determination of contents of lutein in food supplements available on the markets in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary. Altogether, 48 samples of food supplements in three dosage forms (22 samples of tablets, 18 samples of soft capsules, and 8 samples of hard capsules were analysed. The amounts of lutein specified by the producer complied with their real contents only in 7 samples of the food supplements. Lutein in soft capsules showed the highest stability against oxidation; lutein in tablets was more prone to oxidation and lutein in hard capsules was most susceptible to oxidation process. Out of 21 Czech products, only four fell into the category of satisfactory products, three of them were soft capsules and one was a tablet. Out of 27 products manufactured abroad, only three were evaluated as satisfactory products, all of them were soft capsules, out of 48 analysed food supplement samples just seven fell into the category of satisfactory preparations, eight were evaluated as less satisfactory preparations, five were found inadequate products and 28 samples were labelled unsatisfactory. Only one in six analyzed samples contained the amount of lutein specified by the manufacturer, almost 60% of monitored lutein containing food supplement samples fell into the unsatisfactory product category.

Evaluation of negative and positive health effects of n-3 fatty acids as constituents of food supplements and fortified foods

OpenAIRE

Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety

2011-01-01

The Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food Safety (VKM) has on request from The Norwegian Food Safety Authority evaluated negative and positive human health effects from intake of n-3 fatty acids from food supplements and fortified foods. The evidence presented in this evaluation show that it is possible to obtain positive health effects in the Norwegian population from intake of EPA and DHA, including from food supplements, without any appreciable risk of negative or adverse health ...

The effect of herbal formula PROVE 1 and Stevia levels in diets on diet utilization of growing pigs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kooprasert, S.

2007-05-01

Full Text Available The objective of this experiment was to study the effect of 0.2% antibiotic (ascomix-s®, one kilogram of which contains lincomycin hydrochloride 44 g and sulfamethazine 110 g or 0.25% herbal formulaPROVE 1, combined with five levels of Stevia supplementation in the diets on digestibility of pigs. Two factors; 1 type of drug (0.2% antibiotic and 0.25% herbal formula PROVE 1 and 2 five Stevia levels (0,0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8% were investigated and 10 dietary treatments were used in this study. Ten related growing crossbred (Large White x Landrace barrow pigs (30±1.5 kg body weight were raised in individualmetabolism cages for three collecting periods (30, 40 and 50 kg body weight, each pig was fed one experimental diet throughout the collecting period.The results showed that pigs fed diet with either 0.2% antibiotic or 0.25% herbal formula PROVE 1 had similar digestibility of diet, crude protein (CP, fiber, ash and nitrogen free extract (NFE (89.01 vs 87.83,94.96 vs 94.23, 60.73 vs 59.03, 61.22 vs 60.44 and 93.28 vs 92.03%, respectively. Negligible differences were observed between 0 and 0.4% Stevia supplementation in diet, but levels showed better digestibility than the other levels of Stevia supplementation, and the diet with 0.4% Stevia supplementation had the highestdigestibility of diet, CP, fiber, ash and NFE (91.04, 96.43, 69.48, 70.47 and 94.07%, respectively. The diet with antibiotic combined with 0.4% Stevia had digestibility of diet, CP, fat and fiber better than the otherlevels of Stevia supplementation, especially digestibility of ash, which was significantly higher than that of diet with 0.2% Stevia, but not significantly different from the other levels of Stevia supplementation. A partof herbal formula PROVE1 combined with 0% Stevia had the highest digestibility of ash (72.90%, significantly higher than the other levels of Stevia supplementation, except the diet with herbal formula PROVE 1combined with 0.4% Stevia supplementation

Neurotransmitters as food supplements: the effects of GABA on brain and behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Boonstra, Evert; de Kleijn, Roy; Colzato, Lorenza S; Alkemade, Anneke; Forstmann, Birte U; Nieuwenhuis, Sander

2015-01-01

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human cortex. The food supplement version of GABA is widely available online. Although many consumers claim that they experience benefits from the use of these products, it is unclear whether these supplements confer benefits beyond a placebo effect. Currently, the mechanism of action behind these products is unknown. It has long been thought that GABA is unable to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), but the studies that have assessed this issue are often contradictory and range widely in their employed methods. Accordingly, future research needs to establish the effects of oral GABA administration on GABA levels in the human brain, for example using magnetic resonance spectroscopy. There is some evidence in favor of a calming effect of GABA food supplements, but most of this evidence was reported by researchers with a potential conflict of interest. We suggest that any veridical effects of GABA food supplements on brain and cognition might be exerted through BBB passage or, more indirectly, via an effect on the enteric nervous system. We conclude that the mechanism of action of GABA food supplements is far from clear, and that further work is needed to establish the behavioral effects of GABA.

HIV/AIDS, food supplementation and livelihood programs in Uganda: a way forward?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica E Yager

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Over the last decade, health, nutrition and policy experts have become increasingly aware of the many ways in which food insecurity and HIV infection negatively impact and reinforce one another. In response, many organizations providing HIV care began supplying food aid to clients in need. Food supplementation, however, was quickly recognized as an unsustainable and incomplete intervention. Many HIV care organizations therefore developed integrated HIV and livelihood programs (IHLPs to target the root causes of food insecurity. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 21 key informants who worked at seven organizations providing HIV care, food aid, or IHLPs in Kampala, Uganda in 2007-2008 to better understand the impact of IHLPs on the well-being of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHAs and the challenges in transitioning clients from food aid to IHLPs. There was strong consensus among those interviewed that IHLPs are an important intervention in addressing food insecurity and its adverse health consequences among PLWHAs. Key informants identified three main challenges in transitioning PLWHAs from food supplementation programs to IHLPs: (1 lack of resources (2 timing of the transition and (3 logistical considerations including geography and weather. Factors seen as contributing to the success of programs included: (1 close involvement of community leaders (2 close ties with local and national government (3 diversification of IHLP activities and (4 close integration with food supplementation programs, all linked through a central program of HIV care. CONCLUSION: Health, policy and development experts should continue to strengthen IHLPs for participants in need. Further research is needed to determine when and how participants should be transitioned from food supplementation to IHLPs, and to determine how to better correlate measures of food insecurity with objective clinical outcomes so

Components of an Anticancer Diet: Dietary Recommendations, Restrictions and Supplements of the Bill Henderson Protocol

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Laurie Heilman Bell

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The use of complementary and alternative medicines including dietary supplements, herbals and special diets to prevent or treat disease continues to be popular. The following paper provides a description of an alternative dietary approach to the self-management and treatment of cancer, the Bill Henderson Protocol (BHP. This diet encourages daily intake of raw foods, a combination of cottage cheese and flaxseed oil and a number of supplements. Some foods and food groups are restricted (e.g., gluten, meat, dairy. Early background theory that contributed to the protocol’s development is presented as is a summary of relevant evidence concerning the anti-cancer fighting properties of the individual components. Supplement intake is considered in relation to daily recommended intakes. Challenges and risks to protocol adherence are discussed. As with many complementary and alternative interventions, clear evidence of this dietary protocol’s safety and efficacy is lacking. Consumers of this protocol may require guidance on the ability of this protocol to meet their individual nutritional needs.

Safety assessment of plant food supplements (PFS)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, van den S.J.P.L.; Serra-Majem, L.; Coppens, P.; Rietjens, I.

2011-01-01

Botanicals and botanical preparations, including plant food supplements (PFS), are widely used in Western diets. The growing use of PFS is accompanied by an increasing concern because the safety of these PFS is not generally assessed before they enter the market. Regulatory bodies have become more

Innovation strategies for functional foods and supplements. Challenges of the positioning between foods and drugs

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bröring, S.

2010-01-01

Functional benefits delivering more than a nutritional value to consumers present an opportunity for above average returns and, thus, have triggered numerous innovations from food as well as pharmaceutical companies. This development of functional foods and supplements has led to a new

Beyond the use of food supplements: An empirical analysis in Italy

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A. LOMBARDI

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to profile Italian food supplements used by consumers based upon their psychometric patterns and demographic characteristics. The FTNS scale is used to assess empirically and evaluate the role of technophobic/technophilic consumer traits in determining the decision whether or not to consume supplements and vitamins and the frequency of their consumption.An ad-hoc survey was carried out in 2012 involving 400 residents of a metropolitan area in southern Italy. Our results show that women have a higher consumption frequency of dietary supplements, while age, BMI and education influence the propensity to consume. As regards food habits, the propensity to use dietary supplements is positively associated to the consumption of bread and pasta, red meat and pulses, and negatively with the consumption of fruit and cheese.Finally, the research supports the role of technophobic traits as consistent and significant determinants of the consumption frequency of dietary supplements.

Intersection of inflammation and herbal medicine in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

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Mobasheri, Ali

2012-12-01

Herbal remedies and dietary supplements have become an important area of research and clinical practice in orthopaedics and rheumatology. Understanding the risks and benefits of using herbal medicines in the treatment of arthritis, rheumatic diseases, and musculoskeletal complaints is a key priority of physicians and their patients. This review discusses the latest advances in the use of herbal medicines for treating osteoarthritis (OA) by focusing on the most significant trends and developments. This paper sets the scene by providing a brief introduction to ethnopharmacology, Ayurvedic medicine, and nutrigenomics before discussing the scientific and mechanistic rationale for targeting inflammatory signalling pathways in OA by use of herbal medicines. Special attention is drawn to the conceptual and practical difficulties associated with translating data from in-vitro experiments to in-vivo studies. Issues relating to the low bioavailability of active ingredients in herbal medicines are discussed, as also is the need for large-scale, randomized clinical trials.

[Food supplements on the Hungarian market: regulations of marketing and of the composition of the products].

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Lugasi, Andrea; Horacsek, Márta; Martos, Eva

2010-09-26

According to recent legislation, food supplements are foodstuffs with the purpose of supplementing normal diet. Food supplements are concentrated sources of nutrients such as vitamins and minerals and other substances with a physiological or nutritional effect. In Hungary, marketing of food supplements has not been bound to pre-market authorization since joining to the European Union. The food business operator, who is responsible for production or distribution of the product, must notify it at National Institute for Food and Nutrition Science latest at the time when the product has been placed on the market and it can be distributed simultaneously. Distribution, ingredients, and all those information which appear on the label are determined by numerous regulations and prescriptions but at the same time the lack of harmonized legislation at certain places may cause a lot of problems on Community level. The first part of the study shows the laws and regulations influencing the distribution and ingredients of food supplements, while the main target of the second part is to introduce the evaluation process of components from nutritional and physiological point of view, and the role played by the food supplements in nutrition.

Estrogenic Activities of Food Supplements and Beers as Assessed by a Yeast Bioreporter Assay.

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Omoruyi, Iyekhoetin Matthew; Pohjanvirta, Raimo

2017-10-31

Mounting evidence of the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in humans has led to assaying a vast array of food items (processed or packaged) as possible sources of human exposure to estrogens. In this study, we investigated the current situation in this respect of different food supplements and beer brands. Eleven food supplements and 24 beer brands were obtained from Helsinki, Finland. Sample preparation was carried out by established methods while estrogenic activities were assessed by a yeast bioluminescent assay, using two recombinant yeast strains (Saccharomyces cerevisiae BMAEREluc/ERα and S. cerevisiae BMA64/luc). All the food supplements as well as 81% of the beer samples tested were found to be estrogenic, with estradiol equivalent concentrations of food supplements and beer brands ranging from 7.5 to 11.5 µg/ml and from below detection limits to 43.6 ng/ml, respectively. The estrogenic activities detected in beer samples were not dependent on the beer's alcoholic content, the country of production, or the size of the production brewery. The results of our study imply that both food supplements and beers can be a significant source of human exposure to estrogens. Therefore, further studies and regular surveillance are warranted.

Recent progress of research on medicinal mushrooms, foods, and other herbal products used in traditional Chinese medicine

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Kuo-Hsiung Lee

2012-04-01

Full Text Available This article will review selected herbal products used in traditional Chinese medicine, including medicinal mushrooms (巴西蘑菇 bā xī mó gū; Agaricus blazei, 雲芝 yún zhī; Coriolus versicolor, 靈芝 líng zhī; Ganoderma lucidum, 香蕈 xiāng xùn; shiitake, Lentinus edodes, 牛樟芝 niú zhāng zhī; Taiwanofungus camphoratus, Cordyceps (冬蟲夏草 dōng chóng xià cǎo, pomegranate (石榴 shí liú; Granati Fructus, green tea (綠茶 lǜ chá; Theae Folium Non Fermentatum, garlic (大蒜 dà suàn; Allii Sativi Bulbus, turmeric (薑黃 jiāng huáng; Curcumae Longae Rhizoma, and Artemisiae Annuae Herba (青蒿 qīng hāo; sweet wormwood. Many of the discussed herbal products have gained popularity in their uses as dietary supplements for health benefits. The review will focus on the active constituents of the herbs and their bioactivities, with emphasis on the most recent progress in research for the period of 2003 to 2011.

Memory improvements in elderly women following 16 weeks treatment with a combined multivitamin, mineral and herbal supplement: A randomized controlled trial.

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Macpherson, Helen; Ellis, Kathryn A; Sali, Avni; Pipingas, Andrew

2012-03-01

There is potential for multivitamin supplementation to improve cognition in the elderly. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to investigate the effects of 16 weeks multivitamin supplementation (Swisse Women's 50+ Ultivite ®) on cognition in elderly women. Participants in this study were 56 community dwelling, elderly women, with subjective complaints of memory loss. Cognition was assessed using a computerized battery of memory and attention tasks designed to be sensitive to age-related declines to fluid intelligence, and a measure of verbal recall. Biochemical measures of selected nutrients, homocysteine, markers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and blood safety parameters were also collected. All cognitive and haematological parameters were assessed at baseline and 16 weeks post-treatment. The multivitamin improved speed of response on a measure of spatial working memory, however benefits to other cognitive processes were not observed. Multivitamin supplementation decreased levels of homocysteine and increased levels of vitamin B(6) and B(12), with a trend for vitamin E to increase. There were no hepatotoxic effects of the multivitamin formula indicating this supplement was safe for everyday usage in the elderly. Sixteen weeks ssupplementation with a combined multivitamin, mineral and herbal formula may benefit working memory in elderly women at risk of cognitive decline.

Rosaceae products: Anthocyanin quality and comparisons between dietary supplements and foods

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Rosaceae (strawberry, cherry, blackberry, red raspberry, and black raspberry) dietary supplements and food products (total n=74) were purchased and analyzed to determine their anthocyanin concentrations and profiles. Eight of the 33 dietary supplements had no detectable anthocyanins (five samples) o...

Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in food supplements containing botanicals and other ingredients on the Dutch market.

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Martena, M J; Grutters, M M P; De Groot, H N; Konings, E J M; Rietjens, I M C M

2011-01-01

Food supplements can contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has defined 16 priority PAH that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic and identified eight priority PAH (PAH8) or four of these (PAH4) as good indicators of the toxicity and occurrence of PAH in food. The current study aimed to determine benzo[a]pyrene and other EFSA priority PAH in different categories of food supplements containing botanicals and other ingredients. From 2003 to 2008, benzo[a]pyrene exceeded the limit of quantification (LOQ) in 553 (44%) of 1258 supplements with a lower-bound mean of 3.37 µg kg(-1). In 2008 and 2009, benzo[a]pyrene and 12 other EFSA priority PAH were determined in 333 food supplements. Benzo[a]pyrene exceeded the LOQ in 210 (63%) food supplements with a lower-bound mean of 5.26 µg kg(-1). Lower-bound mean levels for PAH4 and PAH8(-indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene) were 33.5 and 40.5 µg kg(-1), respectively. Supplements containing resveratrol, Ginkgo biloba, St. John's wort and propolis showed relatively high PAH4 levels in 2008 and 2009. Before 2008, supplements with these ingredients and also dong quai, green tea or valerian contained relatively high benzo[a]pyrene levels. On average, PAH4 intake resulting from food supplement use will be at the lower end of the range of contributions of main food groups to PAH4 exposure, although individual food supplements can contribute significantly to PAH4 exposure. Regular control of EFSA indicator PAH levels in food supplements may prove a way forward to reduce further the intake of PAH from food.

Effect of an herbal/botanical supplement on recovery from delayed onset muscle soreness: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

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Rynders, Corey A; Weltman, Judy Y; Rynders, Sara D; Patrie, James; McKnight, John; Katch, Frank I; Hertel, Jay; Weltman, Arthur

2014-01-01

We examined the effects of a proprietary herbal/botanical supplement (StemSport, Stemtech, San Clemente, CA.) suggested to increase circulating stem cells, decrease inflammation, and attenuate exercise induced muscle damage on recovery from delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Sixteen subjects (male = 7, female = 9; age 23.8 ± 10 years; height 171.9 ± 10 cm, mass 72.2 ± 15 kg) were randomized in a crossover, double-blind, placebo controlled trial to receive a placebo or StemSport supplement (6150 mg/day) for 14 days. DOMS was induced on day 7 for both placebo and active conditions in the non-dominant elbow flexor group with repeated eccentric repetitions. Muscle swelling (biceps girth), elbow flexor isometric strength (hand held dynamometer), muscle pain/tenderness (visual analog scale), range of motion (active elbow flexion and extension), and inflammation (hsCRP, IL6, and TNF-α) were measured at baseline and at 24 h, 48 h, 72 h, and 168 h (1 week) post eccentric exercise. The crossover washout period was ≥14 days. No significant condition-by-time interactions between placebo and StemSport supplementation were observed with regard to measures of pain (p = 0.59), tenderness (p = 0.71), isometric strength (p = 0.32), elbow flexion (p = 0.45), muscle swelling (p = 0.90), or inflammation (p > 0.90). Decrements in elbow extension range of motion 48 h post-exercise were less after StemSport supplementation (Δ elbow extension 48 h post; StemSport, -2.0 deg; placebo, -10 deg; p = 0.003). These data suggest that compared to placebo, StemSport supplementation does not improve outcome measures related to muscle recovery after acute upper-arm induced DOMS.

Preparation of food supplements from oilseed cakes.

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Sunil, L; Appaiah, Prakruthi; Prasanth Kumar, P K; Gopala Krishna, A G

2015-05-01

Oilseed cakes have been in use for feed preparation. Being rich in proteins, antioxidants, fibers, vitamins and minerals, oilseed cakes have been considered ideal for food supplementation. These oilseed cakes can be processed and made more palatable and edible by suitable treatments and then incorporated as food supplements for human consumption. Rice bran pellets (RBP), stabilized rice bran (SRB), coconut cake (CC) and sesame cake (SC) were taken up for the study. These were mixed with distilled water and cooked in such a way to separate the cooked solid residue and liquid extract followed by freeze drying to get two products from each. The raw, cooked dried residue and extract were analyzed for various parameters such as moisture (0.9-27.4 %), fat (2.1-16.1 %), ash (3.3-9.0 %), minerals (2.6-633.2 mg/100 g), total dietary fiber (23.2-58.2 %), crude fiber (2.7-10.5 %), protein (3.2-34.0 %), and the fat further analyzed for fatty acid composition, oryzanol (138-258 mg/100 g) and lignan (99-113 mg/100 g) contents and also evaluated sensory evaluation. Nutritional composition of products as affected by cooking was studied. The cooked products (residue and extract) showed changes in nutrients content and composition from that of the starting cakes and raw materials, but retained more nutrients in cooked residue than in the extract. The sensory evaluation of cooked residue and extract showed overall higher acceptability by the panelists than the starting cakes and raw materials. On the basis of these findings it can be concluded that these cooked residue and extract products are highly valuable for food supplementation than the raw ones.

Early participation in a prenatal food supplementation program ameliorates the negative association of food insecurity with quality of maternal-infant interaction.

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Frith, Amy L; Naved, Ruchira T; Persson, Lars Ake; Rasmussen, Kathleen M; Frongillo, Edward A

2012-06-01

Food insecurity is detrimental to child development, yet little is known about the combined influence of food insecurity and nutritional interventions on child development in low-income countries. We proposed that women assigned to an early invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program could reduce the negative influence of food insecurity on maternal-infant interaction. A cohort of 180 mother-infant dyads were studied (born between May and October 2003) from among 3267 in the randomized controlled trial Maternal Infant Nutritional Interventions Matlab, which was conducted in Matlab, Bangladesh. At 8 wk gestation, women were randomly assigned an invitation time to start receiving food supplements (2.5 MJ/d; 6 d/wk) either early (~9 wk gestation; early-invitation group) or at the usual start time (~20 wk gestation; usual-invitation group) for the government program. Maternal-infant interaction was observed in homes with the use of the Nursing Child Assessment Satellite Training Feeding Scale, and food-insecurity status was obtained from questionnaires completed when infants were 3.4-4.0 mo old. By using a general linear model for maternal-infant interaction, we found a significant interaction (P = 0.012) between invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program and food insecurity. Those in the usual-invitation group with higher food insecurity scores (i.e., more food insecure) had a lower quality of maternal-infant interaction, but this relationship was ameliorated among those in the early-invitation group. Food insecurity limits the ability of mothers and infants to interact well, but an early invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation program can support mother-infant interaction among those who are food insecure.

Effect of high-pressure homogenization on different matrices of food supplements.

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Martínez-Sánchez, Ascensión; Tarazona-Díaz, Martha Patricia; García-González, Antonio; Gómez, Perla A; Aguayo, Encarna

2016-12-01

There is a growing demand for food supplements containing high amounts of vitamins, phenolic compounds and mineral content that provide health benefits. Those functional compounds have different solubility properties, and the maintenance of their compounds and the guarantee of their homogenic properties need the application of novel technologies. The quality of different drinkable functional foods after thermal processing (0.1 MPa) or high-pressure homogenization under two different conditions (80 MPa, 33 ℃ and 120 MPa, 43 ℃) was studied. Physicochemical characteristics and sensory qualities were evaluated throughout the six months of accelerated storage at 40 ℃ and 75% relative humidity (RH). Aroma and color were better maintained in high-pressure homogenization-treated samples than the thermally treated ones, which contributed significantly to extending their shelf life. The small particle size obtained after high-pressure homogenization treatments caused differences in turbidity and viscosity with respect to heat-treated samples. The use of high-pressure homogenization, more specifically, 120 MPa, provided active ingredient homogeneity to ensure uniform content in functional food supplements. Although the effect of high-pressure homogenization can be affected by the food matrix, high-pressure homogenization can be implemented as an alternative to conventional heat treatments in a commercial setting within the functional food supplement or pharmaceutical industry. © The Author(s) 2016.

Isolation of Cronobacter sakazakii from different herbal teas

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Stojanović Marija M.

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Bacground/Aim. Cronobacter sakazakii (C. sakazakii is an emerging food-borne pathogen that has increasingly raised interest among the whole public community and food industry, especially in the production of powder infant formula. It has been isolated from water, sediment and soil. The question is whether this pathogen can be present in herbal teas. Herbal teas are widely used for great number of health problems, as an additional or sometimes only “medicine” given. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of C. sakazakii in herbal teas which are traditionally used for all restricted populations, including newborns and immunocompromised infant and adults. Methods. In this study 150 samples of dried herbal teas were tested: Children (Baby tea (11, Althaea officinalis (7, Sennae folium (4, Mentha piperita (8, Hypericum perforatum (3, Thymus serpyllum (5, Matricaria recutita (6, Fruit tea (18, Black, Green and Rooibos tea (11, Salvia officinalis (9, Arctostaphylos uva ursi (5, Urtica dioica (3, Achillea millefolium (2, Melissa officinalis (4, Cynosbati fructus (3, Flower Herbal tea (3 and 17 different mixtures of tea (48 samples. The presence of C. sakazakii was also investigated in previously positive samples of prepared teas (48 samples after 2 h, 12 h and 24 h. C. sakazakii was isolated by the use of the official method ISO TS 22964 : 2006 and confirmed with the biochemical test API 20E (Biomerieux-France. Results. The obtained results showed that C. sakazakii was isolated from 48 (32% samples dried herbal teas. C. sakazakii was not isolated only from 2 (4% of the 48 tested samples of prepared tea and in 46 (96% of the samples C. sakazakii remained viable after 2 h, 12 h and 24 h. Conclusion. Herbal teas should be carefully used, especially for infants and immunocompromited people with severe chronic diseases because of the possibility of infection by C. sakazakii. Better control and improve testing as well as new facts about

DNA-based techniques for authentication of processed food and food supplements.

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Lo, Yat-Tung; Shaw, Pang-Chui

2018-02-01

Authentication of food or food supplements with medicinal values is important to avoid adverse toxic effects, provide consumer rights, as well as for certification purpose. Compared to morphological and spectrometric techniques, molecular authentication is found to be accurate, sensitive and reliable. However, DNA degradation and inclusion of inhibitors may lead to failure in PCR amplification. This paper reviews on the existing DNA extraction and PCR protocols, and the use of small size DNA markers with sufficient discriminative power for molecular authentication. Various emerging new molecular techniques such as isothermal amplification for on-site diagnosis, next-generation sequencing for high-throughput species identification, high resolution melting analysis for quick species differentiation, DNA array techniques for rapid detection and quantitative determination in food products are also discussed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Food supplements: survey of the ASL TO3.

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Valfrè, R; Bioletti, L; Spagna, S; Rolle, M; Zucaro, D; Vietti, F; Laurenti, P

2014-01-01

In recent years, the increase of the consumption of supplements reveals problems concerning the safety of use. Current legislation states that supplements must be free of any therapeutic purpose and must have quality guarantees for the users' safety. The operators of the of Hygiene, Food and Nutrition Service (SIAN) of ASL TO 3 (province of Turin) conducted a surveillance in order to asses the situation on the territory, to know the use and consumption in local gyms. During the official control at the manufacturers / packers of supplements, located on the territory of the ASL TO 3, labels of supplement produced / packed were acquired, to analyze the components indicated, to carry out a deep evaluation of the individual product . Updating of the register of companies located in the territory of the ASL TO 3 was carried out; and during the period October 2011-March 2013 the labels of the products of these companies have been found and analyzed. The detailed content of the labels (ingredients, dose, method of recruitment, composition, etc. ..) was written in a database. It was also checked how many local gyms marketed supplements, and, in a small sample, a questionnaire was administered to visitors, in order to assess consumption. 355 labels were acquired and loaded on the database. 80% of them falls within the category of supplements based on ingredients derived from plants or similar. For these products was evaluated the presence on the label of not allowed plant extracts (according to the Ministerial Decree of 9 July 2012): only 2 products (of the same company) contained an ingredient not allowed. In all the examined labels was evaluated the presence of the substances for which there are specific warnings: 97% of the label is compliant and 3% are not in compliance. In the analyzed products the indications for use mainly found on the labels are related to increased demand and/or reduced intake, followed by antioxidant action. The study also evaluated the sale of

Functional foods in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: olive leaf extract, turmeric and fenugreek, a qualitative review

OpenAIRE

Julio Wainstein; Mona Boaz; Yosefa Bar Dayan; Eyal Leibovitz

2011-01-01

AbstractAlmost 30% of US residents ages 65 and older have diabetes. The cost of diabetes care was estimated at $174 billion in 2007, including $116 billion in additional medical costs, and $58 billion in reduced productivity. Globally, the estimated cost of diabetes care was $376 billion in 2010, representing 12% of health expenditures. Many individuals with diabetes make use of functional foods, nutritional supplements, and/or herbal remedies to manage their disease. The functional foods ...

Herbal Supplement Ameliorates Cardiac Hypertrophy in Rats with CCl4-Induced Liver Cirrhosis

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Ping-Chun Li

2012-01-01

Full Text Available We used the carbon tetrachloride (CCl4 induced liver cirrhosis model to test the molecular mechanism of action involved in cirrhosis-associated cardiac hypertrophy and the effectiveness of Ocimum gratissimum extract (OGE and silymarin against cardiac hypertrophy. We treated male wistar rats with CCl4 and either OGE (0.02 g/kg B.W. or 0.04 g/kg B.W. or silymarin (0.2 g/kg B.W.. Cardiac eccentric hypertrophy was induced by CCl4 along with cirrhosis and increased expression of cardiac hypertrophy related genes NFAT, TAGA4, and NBP, and the interleukin-6 (IL-6 signaling pathway related genes MEK5, ERK5, JAK, and STAT3. OGE or silymarin co-treatment attenuated CCl4-induced cardiac abnormalities, and lowered expression of genes which were elevated by this hepatotoxin. Our results suggest that the IL-6 signaling pathway may be related to CCl4-induced cardiac hypertrophy. OGE and silymarin were able to lower liver fibrosis, which reduces the chance of cardiac hypertrophy perhaps by lowering the expressions of IL-6 signaling pathway related genes. We conclude that treatment of cirrhosis using herbal supplements is a viable option for protecting cardiac tissues against cirrhosis-related cardiac hypertrophy.

Program for Research on Dietary Supplements in Military Operations and Healthcare Metabolically Optimized Brain - JWF

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2014-05-01

Alcohol; Vitamins / Minerals / Antioxidants / Dietary supplements (not specified); Herbal Medicine (Subsets: Ginseng and Gingko Biloba); Diet...looking specifically at the role of glucose (Hoyland 2008). c. Other Intervention Groupings considered: i. Herbal Medicine : 58 abstracts identified...involved herbal medicine (excluding gingko biloba and ginseng) as an intervention on the healthy adult population. 31 separate herb or herbal

Berberine as a chemical and pharmacokinetic marker of the butanol-extracted Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2.

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Yang, Nan; Srivastava, Kamal; Song, Ying; Liu, Changda; Cho, Sool; Chen, Yujuan; Li, Xiu-Min

2017-04-01

Food Allergy Herbal Formula-2 (FAHF-2) provided protection against peanut anaphylaxis in a murine model and induced beneficial immune-modulation in humans. Butanol-refined FAHF-2, B-FAHF-2, retained safety and efficacy in the peanut allergic murine model at only 1/5 of FAHF-2 dosage. One compound, berberine, was isolated and identified in vitro as a bioactive component present in FAHF-2 and B-FAHF-2. The aim of this study was to investigate berberine as a chemical and pharmacokinetic marker of B-FAHF-2. The consistency of constituents between B-FAHF-2 and FAHF-2 was tested. Peanut allergic C3H/HeJ mice were orally administered with 1mg of berberine or B-FAHF-2 containing an equivalent amount of berberine, and the ability to protect against peanut anaphylaxis and pharmacokinetic parameters were determined. Human intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2) were cultured with berberine with or without the nine individual herbal constituents in B-FAHF-2, and the absorbed berberine levels were determined. Berberine is one of the major components in B-FAHF-2 and FAHF-2 formula. In a peanut allergic mouse model, B-FAHF-2, but not berberine, protected mice from anaphylaxis reactions. Pharmacokinetic profiles showed that the C max of B-FAHF-2 fed mice was 289.30±185.40ng/mL; whereas berberine alone showed very low bioavailability with C max value of 35.13±47.90ng/mL. Caco-2 cells influx assay showed that 7 of 9 herbal constituents in B-FAHF-2 increased berberine absorption at rates ranging from 18 to 205%. B-FAHF-2 remarkably increased the bioavailability of berberine. Berberine can be used as chemical and pharmacokinetic marker of B-FAHF-2. Other herbal components in B-FAHF-2 may facilitate the absorption of berberine. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Caffeine-based food supplements and beverages: Trends of consumption for performance purposes and safety concerns.

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Bessada, Sílvia M F; Alves, Rita C; Oliveira, M Beatriz P P

2018-07-01

Nowadays, daily food supplementation regarding the improvement of physical and mental performance is a growing trend in sport practitioners, young students and active people. Food supplements are foodstuffs, labeled under food law and not obliged to safety assessments before their commercialization. Several products are commercialized claiming ergogenic effects as marketing strategies. Caffeine is often one of their main ingredients, as it increases both physical performance and concentration. This manuscript presents a general overview of the current caffeine-based food supplements and energy drinks available in the Portuguese market, as well as the consuming trends regarding their ergogenic effects, performance purposes, and active ingredients. Product claims, recommended daily intakes, caffeine pharmacology, and safety concerns aspects are also discussed aspects. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neurotransmitters as food supplements: the effects of GABA on brain and behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boonstra, E.; Kleijn, R.; Colzato, L.S.; Alkemade, A.; Forstmann, B.U.; Nieuwenhuis, S.

2015-01-01

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human cortex. The food supplement version of GABA is widely available online. Although many consumers claim that they experience benefits from the use of these products, it is unclear whether these supplements confer

The science and regulations of probiotic food and supplement product labeling.

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Sanders, Mary Ellen; Levy, Dan D

2011-02-01

Presented by the New York Academy of Sciences, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the U.S. Office of Dietary Supplements of the National Institutes of Health, the symposium "Probiotic Foods and Supplements: The Science and Regulations of Labeling," was held on June 12, 2010 at the New York Academy of Sciences, New York, NY, the goals of which were to facilitate the exchange of ideas regarding labeling and substantiation of claims for probiotics among academic, industry, and regulatory professionals, and to discuss ways to translate and communicate research results in a truthful way to the consumer and to such health professionals as physicians, pharmacists, and dieticians. The target audience for this symposium included academicians interested in conducting research on the health benefits of probiotics; scientists; communications personnel, and regulatory specialists from companies involved in, or interested in, the marketing of probiotics; U.S. government regulatory experts tasked with oversight of probiotic foods and dietary supplement products; and other experts in the field interested in the development of probiotics for the U.S. market. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.

Effects of superliv® supplementation in feed on some biochemical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

To explore the mechanisms for production performance enhancement effects of Superliv®(Superliv), an Ayurvedic proprietary herbal supplement for livestock and poultry, post peak Shika Brown layers were exposed to the herbal mixture in feed and monitored over 12 weeks for effects on some blood chemistry and egg ...

An Evaluation of Significance of Herbal Acupuncture on Treating Limb Impediment Among the Children with Development Disabilities

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Huh Young-Jin

2004-02-01

Full Text Available Objectives : This study was conducted to establish a standard and classify suitability in the treatment of limb impediment among the children with development disabilities using bee venom and eight principles herbal acupuncture. Methods : 10 patients with pediatric development disabilities with limb impediment as the main symptoms were chosen in this study. Bee venom herbal acupuncture and eight principles herbal acupuncture treatments were rendered and evaluated responses as well as pursuing most proper treatment methods. Results : 1. Bee venom herbal acupuncture showed a significant effects when used as supplement treatment technique for the children with partial movement, but insignificant for the children whom were unable to move. 2. Bee venom was effective for severe limb impediment and limb asthenia, whileas eight principles herbal acupuncture effective for mild limb impediment and spasticity. 3. Bee venom herbal acupuncture used in conjunction with eight principles herbal acupuncture for treating limb impediment among the children with development disabilities showed general improvement by intensifying muscular strength.

Intermittent fasting combined with supplementation with Ayurvedic herbs reduces anxiety in middle aged female rats by anti-inflammatory pathways.

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Singh, Harpal; Kaur, Taranjeet; Manchanda, Shaffi; Kaur, Gurcharan

2017-08-01

Intermittent fasting-dietary restriction (IF-DR) is an increasingly popular intervention to promote healthy aging and delay age associated decline in brain functions. Also, the use of herbal interventions is gaining attention due to their non-pharmacological approach to treat several abnormalities and promote general health with least side effects. The present study was aimed to investigate the synergistic effects of IF-DR regimen with herbal supplementation on anxiety-like behavior and neuroinflammation in middle aged female rats. We used dried leaf powder of Withania somnifera and dried stem powder of Tinospora cordifolia for our study. The rats were divided into three groups: (1) Control group fed ad libitum (AL); (2) rats deprived of food for full day and fed ad libitum on every alternate day (IF-DR); and (3) IF-DR and herbal extract (DRH) group in which rats were fed ad libitum with herbal extract supplemented diet, every alternate day. Post regimen, the rats were tested for anxiety-like behavior and further used for study of key inflammatory molecules (NFκB, Iba1, TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6) and glial marker (GFAP) in hippocampus and piriform cortex regions of brain. The study was further extended to explore the effect of DRH regimen on stress response protein (HSP70) and calcium dependent regulators of synaptic plasticity (CaMKIIα, Calcineurin). Our data demonstrated that DRH regimen reduced anxiety-like behavior in middle age female rats and associated neuroinflammation by ameliorating key inflammatory cytokines and modulated stress response. The present data may provide scientific validation for anxiolytic and anti-inflammatory potential of herbal intervention combined with short term IF-DR regimen.

[Review on community herbal monographs for traditional herbal medicinal products].

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Zou, Wenjun; Qu, Liping; Ye, Zuguang; Ji, Jianxin; Li, Bogang

2011-12-01

This article discusses the characteristics of cmmunity herbal monographs for traditional herbal medicinal products and its establishment procedure. It also reviews the new development of cmmunity traditional herbal monographs. The purpose is to clarify the relationship between cmmunity herbal monographs and simplified registration for traditional herbal medicinal product in European Union and provide reference to the registration of taditional Chinese mdicinal products in Europe.

[Current research situation of nephrotoxicity of Chinese herbal medicine].

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Feng, Xue; Fang, Sai-Nan; Gao, Yu-Xin; Liu, Jian-Ping; Chen, Wei

2018-02-01

To provide the basis for the future research on the nephrotoxicity of Chinese herbal medicine through systematic and comprehensive summary of all the Chinese herbal medicines which may lead to nephrotoxicity. Foreign resources included PubMed and Cochrane library， and domestic research resources was China Food and Drug Administration(CDFA) Adverse Drug Reaction Monitoring Center database. The databases were searched from establishment to January 1， 2017. There was no limitation on research type. 28 English studies were found， including 97 Chinese herbs or prescriptions with the risk of nephrotoxicity. The following six Chinese herbal medicines with the risk of nephrotoxicity had a large number of studies： aristolochic acid(5 studies)， Tripterygium wilfordii(4 studies)， Erycibe obtusifolia(2 studies)， Rheum palmatum(2 studies)， Ephedra sinica(2 studies)， and Atractylodes lances(2 studies). The remaining 91 Chinese medicines were reported with risk of nephrotoxicity in only 1 study respectively. CDFA reported 16 Chinese herbal medicines with the risk of nephrotoxicity， including Ganmaoqing Pian(capsule)， Zhenju Jiangya Pian， T. wilfordii preparation， Vc-Yinqiao Pian， Chuanhuning injection， Shuanghuanglian injection， Qingkailing injection， Lianbizhi injection， herbal decoction containing Aristolochiae Radix， Guanxin Suhe Wan， Shugan Liqi Wan， Ershiwuwei Songshi Wan， herbal decoction containing Aristolochia Fangchi， herbal granules containing root of Kaempfer Dutchmanspipe， Ganmaotong(tablets)， and Longdan Xiegan Wan. Currently， in addition to aristolochic acids， the most reported Chinese herbal medicine with the risk of nephrotoxicity is T. wilfordii preparation. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Unmonitored use of herbal medicine by patients with breast cancer: reframing expectations.

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Samuels, Noah; Ben-Arye, Eran; Maimon, Yair; Berger, Raanan

2017-11-01

To identify the unmonitored use of herbal medicine by female patients with breast cancer, examining the impact of an integrative physician (IP) consultation on this practice. The files of 269 female patients with breast cancer following an IP consultation were surveyed retrospectively for use of herbal medicine for cancer-related goals. Expectations from the IP consultation and adherence to the IP-guided treatments were examined as well. Among the cohort, 111 (41.3%) reported using herbal medicine for cancer-related goals, unmonitored by their oncology healthcare professional. Factors predicting herbal medicine use were the adoption of dietary changes (odds ratio = 13.6, p herbal medicine than non-users (34.5 vs. 22.8%; p = 0.088), as were those who had consulted with a complementary/alternative medicine practitioner (54.9 vs. 20.8%; p = 0.005). The IP advised 17 patients (15.3%) to stop taking specific herbal products due to safety-related concerns; and 10 patients to take dietary supplements for relief of specific symptoms. Herbal medicine users were less likely than non-users to adhere to the IP-recommended treatment program (34.7 vs. 48.3%; p = 0.037). Unmonitored use of herbal medicine by patients with breast cancer is more frequent among those adopting dietary changes for cancer-related goals. Integrative physicians provide evidence-based guidance on the safe and effective use of herbal products, and reframe patient expectations from cancer-related goals to reducing symptoms and improving quality of life.

Impact of food supplementation on weight loss in randomised-controlled dietary intervention trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

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Wibisono, Cinthya; Probst, Yasmine; Neale, Elizabeth; Tapsell, Linda

2016-04-01

Dietary trials provide evidence for practice and policy guidelines, but poor adherence may confound results. Food supplementation may improve adherence to dietary interventions, but the impact of supplementation on study outcomes is not known. The aim of this review was to examine the impact of food supplementation on weight loss in dietary intervention trials. The databases Scopus, PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched for dietary intervention trials published between January 2004 and March 2015 using the following keyword combinations: 'trial' OR 'intervention', 'food' OR 'diet', 'weight loss' and 'adherence' OR 'adherence'. Studies were included if food was provided to at least one study group and both 'weight change' and 'adherence' were reported. Random effects meta-analyses were conducted to assess weighted mean differences (WMD) in body weight (change or final mean values). The included studies formed two groups: trials involving an intervention group supplemented with a food and a control without food supplementation (food v. no food), and trials in which food was provided to all subjects (food v. food) (PROSPERO registration: CRD42015017563). In total, sixteen studies were included. Significant weight reduction was reported in the food v. no food studies (WMD -0·74 kg; 95 % CI -1·40, -0·08; P=0·03, I 2=63 %). A non-significant increase in weight was found among the food v. food studies (WMD 0·84 kg; 95 % CI -0·60, 2·27; P=0·25, I 2=0 %). Food supplementation appeared to result in greater weight loss in dietary trials. Energy restrictions and intensity of interventions were other significant factors influencing weight loss.

Research and development for botanical products in medicinals and food supplements market.

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Miroddi, Marco; Mannucci, Carmen; Mancari, Ferdinando; Navarra, Michele; Calapai, Gioacchino

2013-01-01

Botanical products sold in the health area are generally intended as drugs, medicinal products, food supplements or substances for therapeutic use. Use of botanicals for improving or to care human health has evolved independently in different countries worldwide. Regulatory issues regarding botanical products designed for the food supplements or medicinal market and their influence on research and development are discussed. European Union (EU) and United States (US) policies regulating these products are focused with comments on the legislations delivered during the last ten years and differences existing in rules between these countries are emphasized. Research and development on botanical products nowdays strongly influenced by the product destination in the market. Addressed and differentiated research for either food supplements or medicinal markets is necessary to purchase data really useful for assessment of safe and effective use for both the categories. The main objective is to catalyze interest of academic and companies' researchers on crucial aspects to be taken into account in the research for the development of botanical products.

Research and Development for Botanical Products in Medicinals and Food Supplements Market

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Marco Miroddi

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Botanical products sold in the health area are generally intended as drugs, medicinal products, food supplements or substances for therapeutic use. Use of botanicals for improving or to care human health has evolved independently in different countries worldwide. Regulatory issues regarding botanical products designed for the food supplements or medicinal market and their influence on research and development are discussed. European Union (EU and United States (US policies regulating these products are focused with comments on the legislations delivered during the last ten years and differences existing in rules between these countries are emphasized. Research and development on botanical products nowdays strongly influenced by the product destination in the market. Addressed and differentiated research for either food supplements or medicinal markets is necessary to purchase data really useful for assessment of safe and effective use for both the categories. The main objective is to catalyze interest of academic and companies' researchers on crucial aspects to be taken into account in the research for the development of botanical products.

Herbal Hepatotoxicity: Clinical Characteristics and Listing Compilation

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Christian Frenzel

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Herb induced liver injury (HILI and drug induced liver injury (DILI share the common characteristic of chemical compounds as their causative agents, which were either produced by the plant or synthetic processes. Both, natural and synthetic chemicals are foreign products to the body and need metabolic degradation to be eliminated. During this process, hepatotoxic metabolites may be generated causing liver injury in susceptible patients. There is uncertainty, whether risk factors such as high lipophilicity or high daily and cumulative doses play a pathogenetic role for HILI, as these are under discussion for DILI. It is also often unclear, whether a HILI case has an idiosyncratic or an intrinsic background. Treatment with herbs of Western medicine or traditional Chinese medicine (TCM rarely causes elevated liver tests (LT. However, HILI can develop to acute liver failure requiring liver transplantation in single cases. HILI is a diagnosis of exclusion, because clinical features of HILI are not specific as they are also found in many other liver diseases unrelated to herbal use. In strikingly increased liver tests signifying severe liver injury, herbal use has to be stopped. To establish HILI as the cause of liver damage, RUCAM (Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method is a useful tool. Diagnostic problems may emerge when alternative causes were not carefully excluded and the correct therapy is withheld. Future strategies should focus on RUCAM based causality assessment in suspected HILI cases and more regulatory efforts to provide all herbal medicines and herbal dietary supplements used as medicine with strict regulatory surveillance, considering them as herbal drugs and ascertaining an appropriate risk benefit balance.

A note on the effect of dietary supplementation with herbal extracts ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of the phytogenic product, Ruchamax® (Ayurvet, India), on the productivity of sows and the performance of their first litters. Ruchamax® contains a blend of herbal extracts from Adrographis paniculata, Phyllanthus emblica, Curcuma longa, Zingiber officinale and Allium sativum ...

Toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids in herbal medicines commonly used in Ghana.

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Letsyo, Emmanuel; Jerz, Gerold; Winterhalter, Peter; Beuerle, Till

2017-04-18

Herbal medicines have been used for centuries for the management and treatment of various ailments due to the belief that they pose only little or no health risk and side effects, and also, in part, due to their availability, affordability and/or self-supply. However, the increasing information over the recent years on the occurrence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) in honey, herbal food and tea products has raised concerns about the safety of herbal medicines with respect to contamination. To this day, little is known on the occurrence of toxic PAs in herbal medicines, especially in tropical West Africa. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the PA content of 70 well-known and widely patronized plant-derived medicinal preparations, which are commercialized in Ghana and some West African countries, in order to ascertain their potential health risk. PAs of the herbal medicinal products, sourced from specialized drugstores and mostly regulatory approved, were analyzed for their PA content by a HPLC-ESI-MS/MS sum parameter method. The results show that a total of 60% of the analyzed herbal products were PA positive, indicating an average PA-concentration of 25.0μg/kg. The maximum PA level (1290.0μg/kg) was attributed to a regulatory-approved herbal medicine not known, according to the list of declared ingredients, to contain PA-plant parts. Interestingly, higher PA content (average, 30.2μg/kg) was detected in regulatory-approved herbal medicines, in contrast to lower amount (average, 8.0μg/kg) detected in non-regulatory-approved products. The findings of this study clearly demonstrate that herbal medicines containing PA plants as ingredients, as well as some of those containing plant species not known to produce PAs, are likely to contain hepatotoxic PA at levels higher than the daily dose in food and herbal medicinal products proposed by the European Medicines Agency (i.e. 0.35μg PA per day for 50kg adult and 0.14μg PA per day for 20kg children

Inappropriate Usage of Dietary Supplements in Patients by Miscommunication with Physicians in Japan

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Chiba, Tsuyoshi; Sato, Yoko; Nakanishi, Tomoko; Yokotani, Kaori; Suzuki, Sachina; Umegaki, Keizo

2014-01-01

Recently, people have used dietary supplements not only for nutritional supplementation, but also for treatment of their diseases. However, use of dietary supplements to treat diseases, especially with medications, may cause health problems in patients. In this study, we investigated use of dietary supplements in patients in Japan. This survey was conducted from January to December 2012, and was completed by 2732 people, including 599 admitted patients, 1154 ambulatory patients, and 979 healthy subjects who attended a seminar about dietary supplements. At the time of the questionnaire, 20.4% of admitted patients, 39.1% of ambulatory patients, and 30.7% of healthy subjects were using dietary supplements, which including vitamin/mineral supplements, herbal extracts, its ingredients, or food for specified health uses. The primary purpose for use in all groups was health maintenance, whereas 3.7% of healthy subjects, 10.0% of ambulatory patients, and 13.2% of admitted patients used dietary supplements to treat diseases. In addition, 17.7% of admitted patients and 36.8% of ambulatory patients were using dietary supplements concomitantly with their medications. However, among both admitted patients and ambulatory patients, almost 70% did not mention dietary supplement use to their physicians. Overall, 3.3% of all subjects realized adverse effects associated with dietary supplements. Communication between patients and physicians is important to avoid health problems associated with the use of dietary supplements. PMID:25431879

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extraction of Selected Herbal Leaves: An Overview

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Hamid, I. A. Abd; Ismail, N.; Rahman, N. Abd

2018-05-01

Supercritical fluid extraction of carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) is one of new alternative extraction method that has been widely used to isolate bioactive components from variety of plant materials. The method was proved to be clean and safe, compatible for the extraction of edible products such as spices, food additives, medicines and nutritional supplement products compared to traditional extraction techniques such as solvent extraction, hydro distillation and steam distillation. The SC-CO2 extraction was known as highly influenced by its process parameter such as temperature and pressure for obtaining maximum yield. Therefore, a clear review on the optimum range of temperature and pressure for herbal leaves extraction using SC-CO2 is necessary for future reference. The aim of this work is to analyze the effect of temperature and pressure of SC-CO2 process without modifier on extraction yield of some selected herbal leaves i.e clubmoss, drumstick leaves, kratom leaves, mallee and myrtle leaves. The values of investigated parameters were; pressure from 8.9 to 50 MPa and temperature from 35 to 80°C. The results showed that the highest extraction yields were obtained when the pressure and temperature were above 30 MPa and 40°C. The interaction between pressure and temperature for SC-CO2 extraction of plant leaves are crucial since the values cannot be very high or very low in order to preserve the quality of the extracts.

Uso de hierbas medicinales en mujeres gestantes y en lactancia en un hospital universitario de Bogotá (Colombia The use of herbal medicine among pregnant and lactating women attending a university hospital in Bogota, Colombia

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Gloria Paulina Pulido Acuña

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Las mujeres durante la gestación y lactancia utilizan diferentes hierbas y es escasa la información en el ámbito clínico en Colombia. Objetivo: Describir las prácticas relacionadas con el uso de hierbas en mujeres gestantes y en lactancia del Hospital de San José, Bogotá (Colombia. Metodología: Estudio de corte transversal. Con un cuestionario estructurado se indagó el uso, la frecuencia, el modo y razones de uso, de las hierbas medicinales y de quién se aprendió la práctica. Resultados: El uso de hierbas en mujeres gestantes y en lactancia fue de 33.6% (IC95%: 29.2% - 38% y 36.6% (IC95%: 30.8% - 42.3%, respectivamente. En el grupo de gestantes la hierba más usada fue la manzanilla (36.7% y en las mujeres en lactancia fue el hinojo (65%. Conclusión: Las mujeres gestantes y en lactancia, utilizan hierbas para las molestias del embarazo, acelerar el parto, disminuir el frío y promover la producción de leche.The use of herbal supplements is a common practice about pregnant and lactating women, however in Colombia there is limited data regarding the extent of women's use of herbal medicines during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The aim of this study was to describe the patterns of herbal medication use among pregnant and lactating women at the Hospital San Jose in Bogota, Colombia. Methods: Cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was designed to measure the frequency of herbal supplementation, why women took the herbal medicine, form of supplements, and who recommended the supplements or how did they learn about the herbal supplements. Results: The use of herbal supplements among pregnant and lactating women is 33.6% (CI 95%: 29.2%-38% and 36.6 (CI 95%: 30.8%-42.3%, respectively. The most common supplement used by pregnant women is Chamomile (36,7%, and among lactating women is Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare (65%. Conclusion: Pregnant and breastfeeding women use herbal supplements for specific pregnancy-related problems, to induce labor, to

Habits and beliefs related to food supplements: Results of a survey among Italian students of different education fields and levels.

Science.gov (United States)

Sirico, Felice; Miressi, Salvatore; Castaldo, Clotilde; Spera, Rocco; Montagnani, Stefania; Di Meglio, Franca; Nurzynska, Daria

2018-01-01

The increasing availability of food supplements, aggressive media advertising, and common beliefs that these substances have only positive effects on health and sport performance indicate a need for continuous monitoring of this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to investigate the habits and beliefs related to diet supplementation among medical, health professional, and other university/high school students by means of a cross-sectional anonymous survey online. Among the respondents aware of supplements, 37.4% were taking or had taken them in the past. Food supplement use was more common among university students (in particular, those in health professional graduate courses) than high school students. Individual sport practice, rather than team sport, was associated with higher likelihood of food supplement use. Multivitamins were most commonly used, while weight-loss formulations were the least popular. Strikingly, filling nutrient gaps was statistically not considered the main reason for taking food supplements. Instead, they were used to enhance mental performance or enhance well-being. There was statistical evidence that students not enrolled in health or medical professional studies strongly agreed more often than medical students that taking food supplements prevents illness. These results indicate a striking difference between the evidence-based and personal reasons for food supplement use. Arguably, it calls for an improvement in education about diet supplementation and a change in attitude of health care providers to its implementation.

Habits and beliefs related to food supplements: Results of a survey among Italian students of different education fields and levels

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Miressi, Salvatore; Castaldo, Clotilde; Spera, Rocco; Montagnani, Stefania; Di Meglio, Franca; Nurzynska, Daria

2018-01-01

The increasing availability of food supplements, aggressive media advertising, and common beliefs that these substances have only positive effects on health and sport performance indicate a need for continuous monitoring of this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to investigate the habits and beliefs related to diet supplementation among medical, health professional, and other university/high school students by means of a cross-sectional anonymous survey online. Among the respondents aware of supplements, 37.4% were taking or had taken them in the past. Food supplement use was more common among university students (in particular, those in health professional graduate courses) than high school students. Individual sport practice, rather than team sport, was associated with higher likelihood of food supplement use. Multivitamins were most commonly used, while weight-loss formulations were the least popular. Strikingly, filling nutrient gaps was statistically not considered the main reason for taking food supplements. Instead, they were used to enhance mental performance or enhance well-being. There was statistical evidence that students not enrolled in health or medical professional studies strongly agreed more often than medical students that taking food supplements prevents illness. These results indicate a striking difference between the evidence-based and personal reasons for food supplement use. Arguably, it calls for an improvement in education about diet supplementation and a change in attitude of health care providers to its implementation. PMID:29351568

Health aspects of Spirulina (Arthrospira microalga food supplement

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Sotiroudis Theodore G.

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Spirulina, now named Arthrospira, is a microscopic and filamentous cyanobacterium that has a long history of use as a safe food lacking toxicity. It is commercially produced in large outdoor ponds under controlled conditions. The aim of this review article is to summarize available recent information concerning human clinical potential and applications of Spirulina, as well as clinical data related to the safety and side effects of Spirulina. Potential health benefits of Spirulina are mainly due to its chemical composition, which includes proteins (the highest protein content of any natural food, 55%-70%, carbohydrates, essential amino acids, minerals (especially iron, essential fatty acids, vitamins, and pigments. In this respect, three major bioactive components of Spirulina, the protein phycocyanin (a biliprotein pigment, sulfated polysaccharides and gamma linolenic acid seem to play significant role in imparting improved human body functions. Furthermore, new experimental evidence supports the immunomodulation and antiviral effects of Spirulina supplementation. According to the Dietary Supplements Information Expert Committee of United States Pharmacopeial Convention the available clinical evidence does not indicate a serious risk to health or other public health concerns for Spirulina. However, a few cases of severe side-effects have been reported.

Herbal hepatotoxicity in traditional and modern medicine: actual key issues and new encouraging steps.

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Teschke, Rolf; Eickhoff, Axel

2015-01-01

Plants are natural producers of chemical substances, providing potential treatment of human ailments since ancient times. Some herbal chemicals in medicinal plants of traditional and modern medicine carry the risk of herb induced liver injury (HILI) with a severe or potentially lethal clinical course, and the requirement of a liver transplant. Discontinuation of herbal use is mandatory in time when HILI is first suspected as diagnosis. Although, herbal hepatotoxicity is of utmost clinical and regulatory importance, lack of a stringent causality assessment remains a major issue for patients with suspected HILI, while this problem is best overcome by the use of the hepatotoxicity specific CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) scale and the evaluation of unintentional reexposure test results. Sixty five different commonly used herbs, herbal drugs, and herbal supplements and 111 different herbs or herbal mixtures of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are reported causative for liver disease, with levels of causality proof that appear rarely conclusive. Encouraging steps in the field of herbal hepatotoxicity focus on introducing analytical methods that identify cases of intrinsic hepatotoxicity caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and on omics technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and assessing circulating micro-RNA in the serum of some patients with intrinsic hepatotoxicity. It remains to be established whether these new technologies can identify idiosyncratic HILI cases. To enhance its globalization, herbal medicine should universally be marketed as herbal drugs under strict regulatory surveillance in analogy to regulatory approved chemical drugs, proving a positive risk/benefit profile by enforcing evidence based clinical trials and excellent herbal drug quality.

Herbal hepatotoxicity in traditional and modern medicine: actual key issues and new encouraging steps

Science.gov (United States)

Teschke, Rolf; Eickhoff, Axel

2015-01-01

Plants are natural producers of chemical substances, providing potential treatment of human ailments since ancient times. Some herbal chemicals in medicinal plants of traditional and modern medicine carry the risk of herb induced liver injury (HILI) with a severe or potentially lethal clinical course, and the requirement of a liver transplant. Discontinuation of herbal use is mandatory in time when HILI is first suspected as diagnosis. Although, herbal hepatotoxicity is of utmost clinical and regulatory importance, lack of a stringent causality assessment remains a major issue for patients with suspected HILI, while this problem is best overcome by the use of the hepatotoxicity specific CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences) scale and the evaluation of unintentional reexposure test results. Sixty five different commonly used herbs, herbal drugs, and herbal supplements and 111 different herbs or herbal mixtures of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are reported causative for liver disease, with levels of causality proof that appear rarely conclusive. Encouraging steps in the field of herbal hepatotoxicity focus on introducing analytical methods that identify cases of intrinsic hepatotoxicity caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and on omics technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and assessing circulating micro-RNA in the serum of some patients with intrinsic hepatotoxicity. It remains to be established whether these new technologies can identify idiosyncratic HILI cases. To enhance its globalization, herbal medicine should universally be marketed as herbal drugs under strict regulatory surveillance in analogy to regulatory approved chemical drugs, proving a positive risk/benefit profile by enforcing evidence based clinical trials and excellent herbal drug quality. PMID:25954198

Herbal hepatotoxicity in traditional and modern medicine: Actual key issues and new encouraging steps

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Rolf eTeschke

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Plants are natural producers of chemical substances, providing potential treatment of human ailments since ancient times. Some herbal chemicals in medicinal plants of traditional and modern medicine carry the risk of herb induced liver injury (HILI with a severe or potentially lethal clinical course, and the requirement of a liver transplant. Discontinuation of herbal use is mandatory in time when HILI is first suspected as diagnosis. Although herbal hepatotoxicity is of utmost clinical and regulatory importance, lack of a stringent causality assessment remains a major issue for patients with suspected HILI, while this problem is best overcome by the use of the hepatotoxicity specific CIOMS (Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences scale and the evaluation of unintentional reexposure test results. Sixty five different commonly used herbs, herbal drugs, and herbal supplements and 111 different herbs or herbal mixtures of the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM are reported causative for liver disease, with levels of causality proof that appear rarely conclusive. Encouraging steps in the field of herbal hepatotoxicity focus on introducing analytical methods that identify cases of intrinsic hepatotoxicity caused by pyrrolizidine alkaloids, and on omics technologies, including genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and assessing circulating micro-RNA in the serum of some patients with intrinsic hepatotoxicity. It remains to be established whether these new technologies can identify idiosyncratic HILI cases. To enhance its globalization, herbal medicine should universally be marketed as herbal drugs under strict regulatory surveillance in analogy to regulatory approved chemical drugs, proving a positive risk/benefit profile by enforcing evidence based clinical trials and excellent herbal drug quality.

Functional food supplements to ameliorate the secondary complications in high fructose fed diabetic rats.

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Gite, S S; Yadav, S A; Nilegaonkar, S S; Agte, V V

2017-05-24

Functional foods are the most natural and safest source of health ingredients, providing health benefits beyond basic nutrition, and hence can be used as supplements for the prevention of secondary complications in diabetes. Persistent diabetes may cause glycation of various tissue proteins such as of those in lens, kidney, blood, and brain, which may further lead to the development of pathological conditions such as cataract and cardiovascular diseases. This study on adult rats was designed to assess if the functional food supplements A and B (proprietary blends of antioxidant rich plant materials) can reduce secondary complications such as cataract, dyslipidemia, and oxidative stress under severe diabetic conditions. After nine weeks of intervention of the supplements, it was found that the % HbA1c levels in the formulation group B significantly (p functional foods in the effective management of secondary complications associated with severe diabetic conditions.

Conventional foods, followed by dietary supplements and fortified foods, are the key sources of vitamin D, vitamin B6, and selenium intake in Dutch participants of the NU-AGE study.

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Berendsen, Agnes A M; van Lieshout, Lilou E L M; van den Heuvel, Ellen G H M; Matthys, Christophe; Péter, Szabolcs; de Groot, Lisette C P G M

2016-10-01

With aging, energy needs decrease, necessitating a more nutrient-dense diet to meet nutritional needs. To bridge this gap, the use of nutrient-dense foods, fortified foods, and dietary supplements can be important. This observational study aims to describe current micronutrient intakes of Dutch elderly and to identify the contribution of nutrient-dense foods, fortified foods, and dietary supplements to the intake of micronutrients that are often inadequately consumed in Dutch elderly. Data of 245 Dutch volunteers from the NU-AGE study aged 65 to 80 years were used. Dietary intake was assessed by means of 7-day food records, and dietary supplement use was recorded with an additional questionnaire. Information on fortified foods was obtained from the Dutch Food Composition Table 2011. Nutrient density of foods was evaluated using the Nutrient Rich Food 9.3 score. The percentages of participants not meeting their average requirement were high for vitamin D (99%), selenium (41%), and vitamin B6 (54%) based on conventional foods and also when taking into account fortified foods (98%, 41%, and 27%, respectively) and vitamin and mineral supplements (87%, 36%, and 20%, respectively). Conventional foods were the main source of vitamin D, vitamin B6, and selenium intake (42%, 45%, and 82%, respectively), followed by vitamin and mineral supplements (41%, 44%, and 18%) and fortified foods (17%, 11%, and 1%). Foods with the highest nutrient density contributed most to total vitamin B6 intake only. To optimize nutrient intakes of elderly, combinations of natural food sources, fortified foods, and dietary supplements should be considered. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cytochrome P450 enzyme mediated herbal drug interactions (Part 2)

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Wanwimolruk, Sompon; Phopin, Kamonrat; Prachayasittikul, Virapong

2014-01-01

To date, a number of significant herbal drug interactions have their origins in the alteration of cytochrome P450 (CYP) activity by various phytochemicals. Among the most noteworthy are those involving St. John's wort and drugs metabolized by human CYP3A4 enzyme. This review article is the continued work from our previous article (Part 1) published in this journal (Wanwimolruk and Prachayasittikul, 2014[ref:133]). This article extends the scope of the review to six more herbs and updates information on herbal drug interactions. These include black cohosh, ginseng, grape seed extract, green tea, kava, saw palmetto and some important Chinese medicines are also presented. Even though there have been many studies to determine the effects of herbs and herbal medicines on the activity of CYP, most of them were in vitro and in animal studies. Therefore, the studies are limited in predicting the clinical relevance of herbal drug interactions. It appeared that the majority of the herbal medicines have no clear effects on most of the CYPs examined. For example, the existing clinical trial data imply that black cohosh, ginseng and saw palmetto are unlikely to affect the pharmacokinetics of conventional drugs metabolized by human CYPs. For grape seed extract and green tea, adverse herbal drug interactions are unlikely when they are concomitantly taken with prescription drugs that are CYP substrates. Although there were few clinical studies on potential CYP-mediated interactions produced by kava, present data suggest that kava supplements have the ability to inhibit CYP1A2 and CYP2E1 significantly. Therefore, caution should be taken when patients take kava with CYP1A2 or CYP2E1 substrate drugs as it may enhance their therapeutic and adverse effects. Despite the long use of traditional Chinese herbal medicines, little is known about the potential drug interactions with these herbs. Many popularly used Chinese medicines have been shown in vitro to significantly change the

Non-European traditional herbal medicines in Europe: a community herbal monograph perspective.

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Qu, Liping; Zou, Wenjun; Zhou, Zhenxiang; Zhang, Tingmo; Greef, JanVander; Wang, Mei

2014-10-28

The European Directive 2004/24/EC introducing a simplified registration procedure for traditional herbal medicinal products, plays an important role in harmonising the current legislation framework for all herbal medicinal products in the European Union (EU). Although substantial achievements have been made under the new scheme, only a limited number of herbal medicinal products from non-European traditions commonly used in Europe have been registered. Therefore, identification of the obstacles, and determination of appropriate means to overcome the major challenges in the registration of non-European traditional herbal medicinal products are of critical importance for the EU herbal medicinal product market. The primary aims of this study were to understand the key issues and obstacles to registration of non-European traditional herbal medicinal products within the EU. The findings may identify the need for more attention on the Community herbal monographs elaborated by the Herbal Medicinal Products Committee (HMPC), as well as further evidence based scientific research on non-European herbal substances/preparations by the scientific community. A systematic evaluation of the herbal substances and preparations included in Community herbal monographs and public statements has been carried out. The focus was herbal substances and preparations derived from non-European traditions. Of the 109 adopted Community herbal monographs, 10 are herbal substances used in Chinese traditional medicine. Where the HMPC issued a public statement because it was unable to elaborate a monograph more than half-involved herbal substances/preparations from non-European traditions. The main reasons herbal substances/preparations from non-European traditions were not accepted for inclusion in the Community herbal monographs have been identified as due to unfulfilled requirements of Directive 2004/24/EC. The most common reasons were the lack of evidence to demonstrate a 15-year minimum

Habits and beliefs related to food supplements: Results of a survey among Italian students of different education fields and levels.

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Felice Sirico

Full Text Available The increasing availability of food supplements, aggressive media advertising, and common beliefs that these substances have only positive effects on health and sport performance indicate a need for continuous monitoring of this phenomenon. The aim of this study was to investigate the habits and beliefs related to diet supplementation among medical, health professional, and other university/high school students by means of a cross-sectional anonymous survey online. Among the respondents aware of supplements, 37.4% were taking or had taken them in the past. Food supplement use was more common among university students (in particular, those in health professional graduate courses than high school students. Individual sport practice, rather than team sport, was associated with higher likelihood of food supplement use. Multivitamins were most commonly used, while weight-loss formulations were the least popular. Strikingly, filling nutrient gaps was statistically not considered the main reason for taking food supplements. Instead, they were used to enhance mental performance or enhance well-being. There was statistical evidence that students not enrolled in health or medical professional studies strongly agreed more often than medical students that taking food supplements prevents illness. These results indicate a striking difference between the evidence-based and personal reasons for food supplement use. Arguably, it calls for an improvement in education about diet supplementation and a change in attitude of health care providers to its implementation.

Effect of a Dietary Herbal Mixture Supplement on the Growth Performance, Egg Production and Health Status in Chickens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasko GERZILOV

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The experiment was carried out with dual-purpose fowls developed for rural backyard farming – indigenous Katunitsa chicken (line “AN”, in a free range management system from hatching to 52 weeks of age. The purpose of the investigation was to establish the influence of a blend of herbs as a dietary supplement on some serum biochemical parameters (alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total cholesterol, gamma-glutamyl transferase, triglycerides and creatinine, growth performance, egg production, egg fatty acid composition, and health status. The composition of this blend of herbs included: 0.05% garlic powder (Allium sativum, 0.3% cinnamon powder (Cinnamomum verum and 0.03% of each of the following dried herbs: yarrow (Achillea millefolium, rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis, thyme (Thymus serpyllum, basil (Ocimum basilicum and oregano (Origanum vulgare. The birds were divided into two groups – control (n=60 without supplemental mixture to the diet and experimental (n=700 with supplemental mixture to the diet from the first day of age to the end of the experiment. The results showed that the herbal mixture supplement decreased significantly the blood serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels – at 7 (P0.05. Over the entire investigation period the chickens from the experimental group had a better feed conversion ratio (with 3.37% and a higher egg laying capacity (with 1.79%. At the end of experiment (52 weeks of age, hens from the control group exhibited generalised fatty degeneration of liver parenchyma, while these in experimental group, the major part of hepatocytes had no fat droplets in their cytoplasm. The death rate from 0 to 7, from 8 to 21 and from 22 to 52 weeks of age was 18.33%, 0% and 8.57% in the control group and 1.00%, 0.26% and 2.62% in the experimental group, respectively. Therefore in conclusion, it can be affirmed that the use of this blend of herbs had a beneficial effect in the treated fowls and

Perspectives on the Market Globalization of Korean Herbal Manufacturers: A Company-Based Survey

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dongsu; Ahn, Miyoung; Jung, Jeeyoun; Kwon, Soohyun; Park, Eun-Ji; Koo, Ki Hoon; Woo, Jong-Min

2015-01-01

The growth of herbal markets has increased substantially in South Korea, but the worldwide market share remains small despite significant governmental efforts. This study aimed to characterize manufacturing employment and identify employees' general perceptions of market expansion. A survey study covering 567 companies was conducted using face-to-face interviews in 2012. Data were analyzed using comparisons among three manufacturing groups (i.e., the herbal dietary supplement manufacturing group, the herbal medicine manufacturing group, and the personal care product manufacturing group) or among the manufacturers themselves. We found that the majority of the manufacturing employee respondents were regular permanent and production workers. The domestic distributors were primarily chain stores/direct outlets or retailers/wholesalers, and the dominant product was red ginseng (hongsam). Although the responding companies exhibited a variety of perspectives, “advertisement/public relations” was cited as the most important factor in the development of the herbal industry. In contrast, “low manpower/seeking business partners” were the most crucial limiting and challenging factors for market globalization. Our results can be used to design a proper national plan by reducing the gaps in perspective between herbal product producers and policy makers. PMID:26199635

Perspectives on the Market Globalization of Korean Herbal Manufacturers: A Company-Based Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dongsu; Ahn, Miyoung; Jung, Jeeyoun; Kwon, Soohyun; Park, Eun-Ji; Koo, Ki Hoon; Woo, Jong-Min

2015-01-01

The growth of herbal markets has increased substantially in South Korea, but the worldwide market share remains small despite significant governmental efforts. This study aimed to characterize manufacturing employment and identify employees' general perceptions of market expansion. A survey study covering 567 companies was conducted using face-to-face interviews in 2012. Data were analyzed using comparisons among three manufacturing groups (i.e., the herbal dietary supplement manufacturing group, the herbal medicine manufacturing group, and the personal care product manufacturing group) or among the manufacturers themselves. We found that the majority of the manufacturing employee respondents were regular permanent and production workers. The domestic distributors were primarily chain stores/direct outlets or retailers/wholesalers, and the dominant product was red ginseng (hongsam). Although the responding companies exhibited a variety of perspectives, "advertisement/public relations" was cited as the most important factor in the development of the herbal industry. In contrast, "low manpower/seeking business partners" were the most crucial limiting and challenging factors for market globalization. Our results can be used to design a proper national plan by reducing the gaps in perspective between herbal product producers and policy makers.

Measuring the Effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participation on Food Security.

OpenAIRE

James Mabli; Jim Ohls; Lisa Dragoset; Laura Castner; Betsy Santos

2013-01-01

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance to more than 47 million low-income Americans every month. It aims to reduce hunger by facilitating beneficiaries’ access to enough food for a healthy, active lifestyle, otherwise known as "food security." Our study conducted for the Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that SNAP participation is associated with improved food security. The study is the largest and most rigorous one...

Herbal Wisdom: memory and migration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cathy Avila

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Within contemporary Western herbal medicine, traditional knowledge and modern science are combined to provide a unique meeting of patient, practitioner and plant. In the Australian context, herbalists have based their practice on knowledge which originates from the traditions of Europe, and has more recently been influenced by traditional medicine from Asia. The combination of these diverse ways of knowing—traditional and modern, Eastern and Western—means herbal practitioners are influenced by ancient philosophy alongside phytochemistry and biomedical sciences. The challenge for herbal medicine today is that faced by all living (as opposed to ossified traditions: how is a practice forged which retains what is valuable from the past while establishing relevance to the 21st century? We illustrate these issues in the context of the conference theme of ‘food for thought’ and consider medicinal plants which are used for the improvement of cognition. We focus on the therapeutic use of common herbs from the Eastern and Western traditions and present the scientific research which shows their ability to facilitate cognitive function and the laying down of memory. We also tell their traditional stories which indicate that these actions have been recognised and utilised for centuries. We go on to demonstrate, via case studies, the clinical application of this knowledge and in particular the importance of ancient practice of synergistic prescribing which occurs when a number of herbs are prescribed together in a formula. Scientific understanding of the basis of this practice is being developed which further complements and validates traditional herbal wisdom.

Food supplementation and testosterone interact to influence reproductive behavior and immune function in Sceloporus graciosus.

Science.gov (United States)

Ruiz, Mayté; French, Susannah S; Demas, Gregory E; Martins, Emília P

2010-02-01

The energetic resources in an organism's environment are essential for executing a wide range of life-history functions, including immunity and reproduction. Most energetic budgets, however, are limited, which can lead to trade-offs among competing functions. Increasing reproductive effort tends to decrease immunity in many cases, and increasing total energy via supplemental feedings can eliminate this effect. Testosterone (T), an important regulator of reproduction, and food availability are thus both potential factors regulating life-history processes, yet they are often tested in isolation of each other. In this study, we considered the effect of both food availability and elevated T on immune function and reproductive behavior in sagebrush lizards, Sceloporus graciosus, to assess how T and energy availability affect these trade-offs. We experimentally manipulated diet (via supplemental feedings) and T (via dermal patches) in males from a natural population. We determined innate immune response by calculating the bacterial killing capability of collected plasma exposed to Escherichia coli ex vivo. We measured reproductive behavior by counting the number of courtship displays produced in a 20-min sampling period. We observed an interactive effect of food availability and T-patch on immune function, with food supplementation increasing immunity in T-patch lizards. Additionally, T increased courtship displays in control food lizards. Lizards with supplemental food had higher circulating T than controls. Collectively, this study shows that the energetic state of the animal plays a critical role in modulating the interactions among T, behavior and immunity in sagebrush lizards and likely other species. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Consumption of plant food supplements in the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeurissen, Suzanne M F; Buurma-Rethans, Elly J M; Beukers, Marja H; Jansen-van der Vliet, Martine; van Rossum, Caroline T M; Sprong, R Corinne

2018-01-24

The use of food supplements containing herbs or other botanical ingredients (plant food supplements, PFS) is on the rise. In some cases, PFS can contain compounds that are toxic and may pose a health risk. To assess the potential health risks, information on the consumption of PFS is required, however, this was lacking for the Netherlands. In the current study, the consumption of PFS was investigated for several subgroups in the Dutch population, including children. Data from the Dutch National Food Consumption Surveys were used to get a first impression on the consumption of PFS. To obtain more detailed information, a specific PFS consumption survey was performed using online questionnaires. First, a screening survey was performed among a representative sample of 75 100 adults and children of the Dutch population, followed by a main survey among 739 selected PFS users in eight different age and gender subgroups. The prevalence of PFS users in the Dutch population was approximately 10% for men, 17% for women and 13% for children. A wide variety of PFS was used, with around 600 different PFS reported, containing 345 different botanicals. The most frequently used botanicals were echinacea (Echinacea purpurea), ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon), ginseng (Panax ginseng) and algae (such as species belonging to the genus Spirulina or Chlorella). Because PFS are widely used in the Dutch population, it is important to evaluate the potential risks associated with PFS consumption in the Netherlands, including potential herb-drug interactions. The data collected in this study are of great value to assess these risks.

Reviewing the Effects of l-Leucine Supplementation in the Regulation of Food Intake, Energy Balance, and Glucose Homeostasis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João A.B. Pedroso

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Leucine is a well-known activator of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR. Because mTOR signaling regulates several aspects of metabolism, the potential of leucine as a dietary supplement for treating obesity and diabetes mellitus has been investigated. The objective of the present review was to summarize and discuss the available evidence regarding the mechanisms and the effects of leucine supplementation on the regulation of food intake, energy balance, and glucose homeostasis. Based on the available evidence, we conclude that although central leucine injection decreases food intake, this effect is not well reproduced when leucine is provided as a dietary supplement. Consequently, no robust evidence indicates that oral leucine supplementation significantly affects food intake, although several studies have shown that leucine supplementation may help to decrease body adiposity in specific conditions. However, more studies are necessary to assess the effects of leucine supplementation in already-obese subjects. Finally, although several studies have found that leucine supplementation improves glucose homeostasis, the underlying mechanisms involved in these potential beneficial effects remain unknown and may be partially dependent on weight loss.

IMPACT OF FOOD AND FOLATE SUPPLEMENTATION DURING Salmonella TYPHI INFECTION IN Caenorhabditis elegans

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Bhagavathi Sundaram Sivamaruthi

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Caenorhabditis elegans is an instructive and suitable model for studying pathogenesis of almost all human pathogens. Salmonella Typhi is gram-negative facultative intracellular anaerobe that causes several pathetic infections. Necessary enriched nutrient ingestion during pathological conditions may reduce the harshness of the infection. We investigated the impact of folate and food supplementation during S. Typhi infection on the model system, C. elegans. Our data indicated that folate supplementation (10 µg increases the lifespan of S. Typhi infected C. elegans up to 20%. In combination with laboratory food source E. coli OP50, folate increases the infected the worm’s lifespan to 40%. The wild type C. elegans infected by S. Typhi died with the LT50 of 60 ± 12 h. The LT50 of S. Typhi infected folt-1 mutant strain VC959 was 96 ± 6 h. However, the folate supplemented mutant worms exhibited an extended life with LT50 of 120 ± 6 h. The short time exposure and pharyngeal pumping studies confirmed that folt-1 mutant worm exhibited increased survival rate during pathogenic course at significant level when compared to wild-type. Our data revealed that folt-1 plays a significant role in host defense system against S. Typhi infection and the folate supplementation in combination with food increases the host survival during S. Typhi infection.

Monitoring of essential and toxic metals in imported herbal teas ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Journal of Applied Sciences and Environmental Management ... Teas are the most consumed beverage worldwide after water, and its consumption ... Key words: Herbal teas, food safety, health risk assessment, THQ, EDI, HI, toxic metals ...

Health Food Supplements (“Health Food” Highly Nutritious From Chlorella And Oil Catfish (Pangasius hypopthalmus

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Syahrul Syahrul

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The utilization of microalgae as a food ingredient considered effective, because in addition to alternativefood sources also contains nutrients chlorella microalgae in particular is very good for health. This microalgaerich in protein (60.5%, fat (11%, carbohydrates (20.1%, water, dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals Besidesthese microalgae contain pigments (chlorophyll, tocopherol and the active component (antimicrobial andantioxidants. This is what underlies microalgae is very useful to be used as a source of raw materials ofhealth food supplements. Currently the health food supplements have become a necessity for people tomaintain their health in order to remain vibrant. This study aims to produce high nutritious health foodsupplements from raw material chlorella enriched with fish protein concentrate and oil catfish. The methodused in the manufacture of high nutritious health food supplement is a method of microencapsulation withdifferent formulations. The results showed that the best formulations based on the profile of amino acids,fatty acids and standards AAE per day especially essential fatty acids oleic and linoleic is formulation B(chlorella 2%, 1% fish oil and fish protein concentrate 1%.

Development of Databases on Iodine in Foods and Dietary Supplements

Science.gov (United States)

Ershow, Abby G.; Skeaff, Sheila A.; Merkel, Joyce M.; Pehrsson, Pamela R.

2018-01-01

Iodine is an essential micronutrient required for normal growth and neurodevelopment; thus, an adequate intake of iodine is particularly important for pregnant and lactating women, and throughout childhood. Low levels of iodine in the soil and groundwater are common in many parts of the world, often leading to diets that are low in iodine. Widespread salt iodization has eradicated severe iodine deficiency, but mild-to-moderate deficiency is still prevalent even in many developed countries. To understand patterns of iodine intake and to develop strategies for improving intake, it is important to characterize all sources of dietary iodine, and national databases on the iodine content of major dietary contributors (including foods, beverages, water, salts, and supplements) provide a key information resource. This paper discusses the importance of well-constructed databases on the iodine content of foods, beverages, and dietary supplements; the availability of iodine databases worldwide; and factors related to variability in iodine content that should be considered when developing such databases. We also describe current efforts in iodine database development in the United States, the use of iodine composition data to develop food fortification policies in New Zealand, and how iodine content databases might be used when considering the iodine intake and status of individuals and populations. PMID:29342090

Herbal Medicines: challenges in the modern world. Part 5. status and current directions of complementary and alternative herbal medicine worldwide.

Science.gov (United States)

Enioutina, Elena Yu; Salis, Emma R; Job, Kathleen M; Gubarev, Michael I; Krepkova, Lubov V; Sherwin, Catherine M T

2017-03-01

Herbal medicine (HM) use is growing worldwide. Single herb preparations, ethnic and modern HM formulations are widely used as adjunct therapies or to improve consumer wellbeing. Areas covered: This final part in the publication series summarizes common tendencies in HM use as adjunct or alternative medicine, education of healthcare professionals and consumers, current and proposed guidelines regulating of production. We discuss potential HM-HM and HM-drug interactions that could lead to severe adverse events in situations where HMs are taken without proper medical professional oversight. Expert commentary: A number of serious problems have arisen with the steady global increase in HM use. HM interaction with conventional drugs (CD) may result in inadequate dosing of CD or adverse reactions; HM-HM interaction within herbal supplements could lead to toxicity of formulations. Inadequate education of clinicians and patients regarding medicinal properties of HMs must be addressed regionally and globally to ensure consumer safety.

Phytosome and Liposome: The Beneficial Encapsulation Systems in Drug Delivery and Food Application

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Nayyer Karimi

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Due to poor solubility in lipids, many of bioactive components (Nutraceutical materials show less bioactivity than optimal state in water solution. Phytosomes improve absorption and bioavailability of biomaterials. Liposomes, spherical shaped nanocarriers, were discovered in the 1960s by bangham. Due to their composition, variability and structural properties, liposomes and phytosomes are extremely versatile, leading to a large number of applications including pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food industrial fields. They are advanced forms of herbal formulations containing the bioactive phytoconstituents of herb extracts such as flavonoids, glycosides and terpenoids, which have good ability to transit from a hydrophilic environment into the lipid friendly environment of the outer cell membrane. They have better bioavailability and actions than the conventional herbal extracts containing dosage. Phytosome technology has increasing effect on the bioavailability of herbal extracts including ginkgo biloba, grape seed, green tea, milk thistle, ginseng, etc., and can be developed for various therapeutic uses or dietary supplements. Liposomes are composed of bilayer membranes, which are made of lipid molecules. They form when phospholipids are dispersed in aqueous media and exposed to high shear rates by using micro-fluidization or colloid mill. The mechanism for formation of liposomes is mainly the hydrophilic–hydrophobic interactions between phospholipids and water molecules. Here, we attempt to review the features of phytosomes and liposomes as well as their preparation methods and capacity in food and drug applications. Generally, it is believed that phytosomes and liposomes are suitable delivery systems for nutraceuticals, and can be widely used in food industry.

Intervention Study of Women Wrestler on the Energy Consumption and Food Supplement in Weight Reduction Phase

OpenAIRE

Bing Li

2015-01-01

The research aimed to explore the influence of energy consumption on wrestler in weight reduction phase and the intervention of food supplement on athletes. Twenty wrestlers were divided into intervention group and control group and went through weight reduction phase and food supplement by using the methods of slow weight training and weighing method to meet the entry requirements of the athlete’s weight and improve exercise capacity at the same time.

EPlantLIBRA: A composition and biological activity database for bioactive compounds in plant food supplements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plumb, J.; Lyons, J.; Nørby, Karin Kristiane

2015-01-01

The newly developed ePlantLIBRA database is a comprehensive and searchable database, with up-to-date coherent and validated scientific information on plant food supplement (PFS) bioactive compounds, with putative health benefits as well as adverse effects, and contaminants and residues. It is the......The newly developed ePlantLIBRA database is a comprehensive and searchable database, with up-to-date coherent and validated scientific information on plant food supplement (PFS) bioactive compounds, with putative health benefits as well as adverse effects, and contaminants and residues...

Neurotransmitters as food supplements: the effects of GABA on brain and behavior

OpenAIRE

Boonstra, Evert; de Kleijn, Roy; Colzato, Lorenza S.; Alkemade, Anneke; Forstmann, Birte U.; Nieuwenhuis, Sander

2015-01-01

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human cortex. The food supplement version of GABA is widely available online. Although many consumers claim that they experience benefits from the use of these products, it is unclear whether these supplements confer benefits beyond a placebo effect. Currently, the mechanism of action behind these products is unknown. It has long been thought that GABA is unable to cross the blood–brain barrier (BBB), but the studie...

A Clinical Trial about a Food Supplement Containing α-Lipoic Acid on Oxidative Stress Markers in Type 2 Diabetic Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Derosa, Giuseppe; D'Angelo, Angela; Romano, Davide; Maffioli, Pamela

2016-10-28

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a food supplement containing α-lipoic acid and of a placebo on glyco-metabolic control and on oxidative stress markers in type 2 diabetics. We randomized 105 diabetics to either a supplementation containing 600 mg of α-lipoic acid, 165 mg of L -carnosin, 7.5 mg of zinc, and vitamins of group B, or a placebo, for three months. We evaluated body mass index, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), post-prandial-glucose (PPG), glycated hemoglobin (HbA 1c ), fasting plasma insulin (FPI), HOMA-index (HOMA-IR), lipid profile, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), malondialdehyde (MDA). There was a reduction of FPG, PPG, and HbA 1c with the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid compared with a baseline, and with the placebo. Concerning lipid profile, we observed a reduction of LDL-C, and Tg with the food supplement, compared with both the baseline, and the placebo. There was a reduction of Hs-CRP with the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, both compared with the baseline and the placebo. An increase of SOD, and GSH-Px, and a decrease of MDA were reached by the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, both compared with the baseline and the placebo. We can conclude that the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, L -carnosin, zinc, and vitamins of group B improved glycemic control, lipid profile, and anti-oxidative stress markers.

A Clinical Trial about a Food Supplement Containing α-Lipoic Acid on Oxidative Stress Markers in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

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Giuseppe Derosa

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a food supplement containing α-lipoic acid and of a placebo on glyco-metabolic control and on oxidative stress markers in type 2 diabetics. We randomized 105 diabetics to either a supplementation containing 600 mg of α-lipoic acid, 165 mg of L-carnosin, 7.5 mg of zinc, and vitamins of group B, or a placebo, for three months. We evaluated body mass index, fasting plasma glucose (FPG, post-prandial-glucose (PPG, glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c, fasting plasma insulin (FPI, HOMA-index (HOMA-IR, lipid profile, high sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP, superoxide dismutase (SOD, glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px, malondialdehyde (MDA. There was a reduction of FPG, PPG, and HbA1c with the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid compared with a baseline, and with the placebo. Concerning lipid profile, we observed a reduction of LDL-C, and Tg with the food supplement, compared with both the baseline, and the placebo. There was a reduction of Hs-CRP with the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, both compared with the baseline and the placebo. An increase of SOD, and GSH-Px, and a decrease of MDA were reached by the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, both compared with the baseline and the placebo. We can conclude that the food supplement containing α-lipoic acid, L-carnosin, zinc, and vitamins of group B improved glycemic control, lipid profile, and anti-oxidative stress markers.

Serum lithium as a compliance marker for food and supplement intake

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Roos, de N.; Vries, de J.H.M.; Katan, M.B.

2001-01-01

Analyzing 24-h urine for lithium after consumption of lithium-tagged foods or supplements provides a validated compliance marker but is laborious. Objective: Most studies involve blood sampling; therefore, we tested whether serum lithium concentration could be used as a compliance marker. Design: We

Effects of Honey Addition on Antioxidative Properties of Different Herbal Teas

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Toydemir Gamze

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Tea and herbal infusions are among the major contributors of phenolic compounds, specifically flavonoids, in our daily diet. Honey is another antioxidant-rich food that is widely used as a natural sweetener. In this work, the effects of honey addition on antioxidant properties of different herbal teas were investigated. For this purpose, 2 different types of honey (flower and pine honey were added into 9 different herbal teas (melissa, green tea, rosehip, sage, echinacea, fennel, linden, daisy, and ginger at 4 different temperatures (55°C, 65°C, 75°C, and 85°C, and the changes in the content of total pheolics, total flavonoids, and total antioxidant capacity were determined. The total phenolic content and the total antioxidant capacity of the honey-added-tea samples were found to be increased (up to 57% for both, especially with pine honey and at higher temperatures of honey addition. The findings of this study supported the use of honey as a natural sweetener in tea in order to be able to benefit from the health-enhancing antioxidative properties of these two promising food products.

Sustainability of the effects of medicinal iron and iron rich food supplementation on haemoglobin, intelligence quotient and growth of school aged girls

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Monika Jain

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Anaemia in school aged girls is an important but neglected issue. Since iron supplementation programmes have had little reported success in reducing anaemia, interest is turning to food based approaches that have higher potential for achieving far reaching benefits. The purpose of the study was to observe sustainability of the effect of iron and food supplementation on haemoglobin (Hb, intelligence quotient (IQ and growth of the subjects. At baseline, estimation of haemoglobin (Hb, red cell indices, serum iron, total iron binding capacity, serum transferrin saturation and serum ferritin was done. IQ, weight and height were measured using standard procedures. Anaemic subjectswere divided into three groups, viz., (i twice weekly supplementation of iron folic acid syrup (53 mg iron/week; (ii daily supplementation of 4 niger seed and defatted soyaflour biscuits plus 2 lemons (45 mg iron/week and (iii control. Non anaemic group(NAC was not intervened. Endline data was collected after 120 days. Follow up for Hb, IQ, weight and height was done 4 months after cessation of supplementation. The prevalence of anaemia was 77% in the study population; 46% subjects had mild anaemia and 32% had moderate anaemia. Iron status was lower in anaemic subjects (p<0.001.Iron supplementation was more effective in raising Hb and building iron stores than iron rich food supplementation. Iron supplementation improved IQ but did not bring about catch up of anaemics to non anaemics. Iron rich food supplementation was better than medicinal iron in promoting growth in anaemic girls. The impact of iron rich food supplementation on Hb, IQ and growth sustained for 4 months while that of medicinal iron did not. Effects of food supplementation are sustainable for 4 months, therefore, this strategy holds more potential to control anaemia, in school aged girls.

Could We Really Use Aloe vera Food Supplements to Treat Diabetes? Quality Control Issues

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Solomon Habtemariam

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Diabetes UK has recently listed a number of herbs and spices that have been clinically shown to improve blood glucose control in type-2 diabetes patients and the diabetes high-risk group. With Aloe vera being top in this list, its health benefit along with health and beauty/food retailers supplying it was illustrated in detail. Previous article from this laboratory scrutinised the merit of using A. vera as an alternative therapy to prescription antidiabetic drugs and the risk of using food supplements in the market which do not qualify as drug preparations. In continuation of this discussion, the present study assesses three Aloe Pura brands and one Holland and Barret brand of A. vera juice supplements in the UK market through chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis. While the polysaccharide active ingredient, acemannan, appears to be within the recommended limit, it was found that Aloe Pura (one of the best-selling brands for A. vera supplement products have benzoate additive that does not appear in the supplement levels. Moreover, two of the Aloe Pura brand juices contain methanol, suggesting that the International Aloe Science Council (IASC certification does not guarantee the medicinal quality of these products. The therapeutic fitness of such supplements is discussed.

Could We Really Use Aloe vera Food Supplements to Treat Diabetes? Quality Control Issues

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

Diabetes UK has recently listed a number of herbs and spices that have been clinically shown to improve blood glucose control in type-2 diabetes patients and the diabetes high-risk group. With Aloe vera being top in this list, its health benefit along with health and beauty/food retailers supplying it was illustrated in detail. Previous article from this laboratory scrutinised the merit of using A. vera as an alternative therapy to prescription antidiabetic drugs and the risk of using food supplements in the market which do not qualify as drug preparations. In continuation of this discussion, the present study assesses three Aloe Pura brands and one Holland and Barret brand of A. vera juice supplements in the UK market through chromatographic and spectroscopic analysis. While the polysaccharide active ingredient, acemannan, appears to be within the recommended limit, it was found that Aloe Pura (one of the best-selling brands for A. vera supplement) products have benzoate additive that does not appear in the supplement levels. Moreover, two of the Aloe Pura brand juices contain methanol, suggesting that the International Aloe Science Council (IASC) certification does not guarantee the medicinal quality of these products. The therapeutic fitness of such supplements is discussed. PMID:29511381

Food supplementation mitigates dispersal-dependent differences in nest defence in a passerine bird.

Science.gov (United States)

Récapet, Charlotte; Daniel, Grégory; Taroni, Joëlle; Bize, Pierre; Doligez, Blandine

2016-05-01

Dispersing and non-dispersing individuals often differ in phenotypic traits (e.g. physiology, behaviour), but to what extent these differences are fixed or driven by external conditions remains elusive. We experimentally tested whether differences in nest-defence behaviour between dispersing and non-dispersing individuals changed with local habitat quality in collared flycatchers, by providing additional food during the nestling rearing period. In control (non-food-supplemented) nests, dispersers were less prone to defend their brood compared with non-dispersers, whereas in food-supplemented nests, dispersing and non-dispersing individuals showed equally strong nest defence. We discuss the importance of dispersal costs versus adaptive flexibility in reproductive investment in shaping these differences in nest-defence behaviour between dispersing and non-dispersing individuals. Irrespective of the underlying mechanisms, our study emphasizes the importance of accounting for environmental effects when comparing traits between dispersing and non-dispersing individuals, and in turn assessing the costs and benefits of dispersal. © 2016 The Author(s).

Herbs and natural supplements in the prevention and treatment of delayed-onset muscle soreness

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Abbas Meamarbashi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Objective:  Unaccustomed and intense eccentric exercise is a common cause of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS. There are multiple remedies for the treatment of DOMS, but its clinical and laboratory pieces of evidence are scarce. Currently, the treatments proposed for DOMS are numerous and include pharmaceuticals, herbal remedies, stretching, massage, nutritional supplements, and other alternatives. To find a holistic treatment with effective pain relief and minimum side effects, complementary and alternative medicine, including herbal therapies, plays a main role.Methods: In this review, the existing published studies investigating the efficacy of herbal and natural supplementation therapies for the prevention or treatment of side effects, symptoms, and signs of DOMS are summarized.Results: Previous studies have documented the efficacy of herbal therapies to treat pain, inflammation, as well as laboratory and clinical side effects of DOMS.Conclusion: The use of herbs in DOMS seems safer and has lower side effects than pharmacotherapy. However, the potential for side effects and drug interactions should be considered.

Personalized Herbal Medicine? A Roadmap for Convergence of Herbal and Precision Medicine Biomarker Innovations.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomford, Nicholas Ekow; Dzobo, Kevin; Chimusa, Emile; Andrae-Marobela, Kerstin; Chirikure, Shadreck; Wonkam, Ambroise; Dandara, Collet

2018-06-01

While drugs remain the cornerstone of medicine, herbal medicine is an important comedication worldwide. Thus, precision medicine ought to face this clinical reality and develop "companion diagnostics" for drugs as well as herbal medicines. Yet, many are in denial with respect to the extent of use of traditional/herbal medicines, overlooking that a considerable number of contemporary therapeutic drugs trace their discovery from herbal medicines. This expert review underscores that absent such appropriate attention on both classical drug therapy and herbal medicines, precision medicine biomarkers will likely not stand the full test of clinical practice while patients continue to use both drugs and herbal medicines and, yet the biomarker research and applications focus only (or mostly) on drug therapy. This asymmetry in biomarker innovation strategy needs urgent attention from a wide range of innovation actors worldwide, including governments, research funders, scientists, community leaders, civil society organizations, herbal, pharmaceutical, and insurance industries, policymakers, and social/political scientists. We discuss the various dimensions of a future convergence map between herbal and conventional medicine, and conclude with a set of concrete strategies on how best to integrate biomarker research in a realm of both herbal and drug treatment. Africa, by virtue of its vast experience and exposure in herbal medicine and a "pregnant" life sciences innovation ecosystem, could play a game-changing role for the "birth" of biomarker-informed personalized herbal medicine in the near future. At this critical juncture when precision medicine initiatives are being rolled out worldwide, precision/personalized herbal medicine is both timely and essential for modern therapeutics, not to mention biomarker innovations that stand the test of real-life practices and implementation in the clinic and society.

Predicting intentions to consume functional foods and supplements to offset memory loss using an adaptation of protection motivation theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, D N; Koster, A; Russell, C G

2004-08-01

The widespread use of dietary supplements and so-called 'functional foods' is thought to be partially motivated by self-control of health. However, whilst consumers want foods associated with well-being or disease prevention, they are unlikely to be willing to compromise on taste or technology. This presents a dilemma for promoters of functional foods. Middle-aged consumers' intentions to consume functional foods or supplements that may improve memory were tested within an adaptation of Protection Motivation theory (PMT). Participants evaluated text descriptions of four products described as: having an unpleasant bitter taste (Natural-FF); having 'additives' to reduce bitterness (Sweetened-FF); being genetically modified to enhance function (GM-FF) and Supplements. Participants were recruited as being of high and low perceived vulnerability to memory failure. In total, 290 middle-aged consumers (aged 40-60 years) participated in the study. Motivations to consume the GM-FF were the lowest. There were gender differences between intention to consume the supplements, Natural-FF and Sweetened-FF and product differences within genders. Women were less favourable than men in their attitudes towards genetic modification in general. Regression analyses indicated that PM predictors of intention to consume functional foods or supplements explained 59-63% of the variance (R2). Overall, perceived 'efficacy' (of the behaviour) and self-efficacy were the most important predictors of intentions to consume.

Dissolution of xylitol from a food supplement administered with a novel slow-release pacifier: preliminary results.

Science.gov (United States)

Taipale, T; Pienihakkinen, K; Alanen, P; Jokela, J; Söderling, E

2007-06-01

The aim of the study was to monitor the pattern of release and salivary xylitol concentrations during sucking of a slow-release pacifier used to deliver a novel food supplement. The food supplement tablet contained 300 mg xylitol and 0.5 x 10(10) colony-forming units of Bifidobacterium lactis Bb-12 (Bb-12). The reference tablet contained 300 mg xylitol and was used by 10 adults (mean age 32 years) in the study. Whole saliva samples were collected with 2.5 min intervals during pacifier sucking. The salivary xylitol concentrations were determined using an enzyme assay kit. All subjects showed salivary xylitol concentrations exceeding 1% at least at one collection point. The xylitol and xylitol-Bb-12 tablets showed similar dissolving with no clear concentration peaks (comparison of saliva collection times; p = 0.139). Xylitol released from the food supplement, delivered with the novel pacifier, may result in salivary xylitol concentrations high enough to inhibit mutans streptococci in vivo.

Demographics and beliefs of consumers indicating preference for healthy food or dietary supplements / Wilna Cornelia du Toit

OpenAIRE

Du Toit, Wilna Cornelia

2003-01-01

Healthy food and/or supplements may be used in the context of a healthy lifestyle or as a means to compensate for an unhealthy lifestyle. Consumers are increasingly taking charge of their health and manipulate food choices or use dietary supplement regimes. By analysing usage across segments, marketers can determine the optimum audience for any specific health and wellness product. Marketers can develop marketing plans to the common motives, beliefs and behaviours of the opt...

Oral administration of O-2 lean, an anti-obesity herbal composition increased 5-HT metabolism, decreased food intake and body weight in overweight rats

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bano, F.; Akhtar, N.; Haleem, D.J.

2012-01-01

Feeding behavior is complex processes controlled by the neruroendocrine system.5-HT play an important role in regulation of energy balance by suppressing food intake. Depletion of brain serotonin increase feeding behavior and develop obesity. Many serotoninergic compounds are available in market for the management of body weight. 02-Lean is an anti-obesity herbal formulation prepared by combination of different herbs. Oral administration of aqueous suspension of 02-Lean caused a significant decrease in body weight, food intake, and increase in whole brain 5-HT 5HIAA, tryptophan and plasma tryptophan in over weight rats treated with 0.096g/2ml 02-Lean in comparison to control group. (author)

Immune function and hematology of male cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) in response to food supplementation and methionine

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Webb, R.E.; Leslie, David M.; Lochmiller, R.L.; Masters, R.E.

2003-01-01

We examined effects of supplementation of food quantity and quality (=enhanced methionine) on hematologic and immunologic parameters of wild, but enclosed, adult male cotton rats (Sigmodon hispidus) in north-central Oklahoma. Sheet metal enclosures were stocked with a high density of wild-caught cotton rats (160 animals/ha) and randomly assigned a treatment of no supplementation, mixed-ration supplementation or methionine-enhanced supplementation. Aside from small increases in counts of red blood cells and hematocrit levels, most indices of erythrocytic characteristics were not affected by supplementation with the mixed-ration or enhanced methionine. In contrast, platelet counts were highest in mixed-ration and methionine treatments and counts of total white blood cells were highest with methionine supplementation, albeit relative proportions of different leukocytes did not differ among treatments. Immunologically, neither delayed-type hypersensitivity response nor hemolytic-complement activity differed among treatments. Supplementation of food quantity and quality did not broadly affect hematologic parameters and immune function of male cotton rats, but enhanced platelet and leukocyte counts may confer advantages to overall health. Clarification of the role of such effects on population limitation or regulation requires additional research.

Nephrotoxicity and Chinese Herbal Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Bo; Xie, Yun; Guo, Maojuan; Rosner, Mitchell H; Yang, Hongtao; Ronco, Claudio

2018-04-03

Chinese herbal medicine has been practiced for the prevention, treatment, and cure of diseases for thousands of years. Herbal medicine involves the use of natural compounds, which have relatively complex active ingredients with varying degrees of side effects. Some of these herbal medicines are known to cause nephrotoxicity, which can be overlooked by physicians and patients due to the belief that herbal medications are innocuous. Some of the nephrotoxic components from herbs are aristolochic acids and other plant alkaloids. In addition, anthraquinones, flavonoids, and glycosides from herbs also are known to cause kidney toxicity. The kidney manifestations of nephrotoxicity associated with herbal medicine include acute kidney injury, CKD, nephrolithiasis, rhabdomyolysis, Fanconi syndrome, and urothelial carcinoma. Several factors contribute to the nephrotoxicity of herbal medicines, including the intrinsic toxicity of herbs, incorrect processing or storage, adulteration, contamination by heavy metals, incorrect dosing, and interactions between herbal medicines and medications. The exact incidence of kidney injury due to nephrotoxic herbal medicine is not known. However, clinicians should consider herbal medicine use in patients with unexplained AKI or progressive CKD. In addition, exposure to herbal medicine containing aristolochic acid may increase risk for future uroepithelial cancers, and patients require appropriate postexposure screening. Copyright © 2018 by the American Society of Nephrology.

Herbal bathing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klooster, van 't Charlotte I.E.A.; Haabo, Vinije; Ruysschaert, Sofie; Vossen, Tessa; Andel, van Tinde R.

2018-01-01

Background: Herbal baths play an important role in the traditional health care of Maroons living in the interior of Suriname. However, little is known on the differences in plant ingredients used among and within the Maroon groups. We compared plant use in herbal baths documented for Saramaccan and

Oral intake of added titanium dioxide and its nanofraction from food products, food supplements and toothpaste by the Dutch population.

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Rompelberg, Cathy; Heringa, Minne B; van Donkersgoed, Gerda; Drijvers, José; Roos, Agnes; Westenbrink, Susanne; Peters, Ruud; van Bemmel, Greet; Brand, Walter; Oomen, Agnes G

2016-12-01

Titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) is commonly applied to enhance the white colour and brightness of food products. TiO 2 is also used as white pigment in other products such as toothpaste. A small fraction of the pigment is known to be present as nanoparticles (NPs). Recent studies with TiO 2 NPs indicate that these particles can have toxic effects. In this paper, we aimed to estimate the oral intake of TiO 2 and its NPs from food, food supplements and toothpaste in the Dutch population aged 2 to over 70 years by combining data on food consumption and supplement intake with concentrations of Ti and TiO 2 NPs in food products and supplements. For children aged 2-6 years, additional intake via ingestion of toothpaste was estimated. The mean long-term intake to TiO 2 ranges from 0.06 mg/kg bw/day in elderly (70+), 0.17 mg/kg bw/day for 7-69-year-old people, to 0.67 mg/kg bw/day in children (2-6 year old). The estimated mean intake of TiO 2 NPs ranges from 0.19 μg/kg bw/day in elderly, 0.55 μg/kg bw/day for 7-69-year-old people, to 2.16 μg/kg bw/day in young children. Ninety-fifth percentile (P95) values are 0.74, 1.61 and 4.16 μg/kg bw/day, respectively. The products contributing most to the TiO 2 intake are toothpaste (in young children only), candy, coffee creamer, fine bakery wares and sauces. In a separate publication, the results are used to evaluate whether the presence of TiO 2 NPs in these products can pose a human health risk.

Effect of Encapsulation on Antimicrobial Activity of Herbal Extracts with Lysozyme

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Petra Matouskova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics has increased. The use of natural components with antimicrobial properties can be of great significance to reduce this problem. The presented work is focused on the study of the effect of encapsulation of selected plant and animal antimicrobial substances (herbs, spices, lysozyme and nisin on their activity and stability. Antimicrobial components were packaged into liposomes and polysaccharide particles (alginate, chitosan and starch. Antimicrobial activity was tested against two Gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus luteus and two Gram-negative (Escherichia coli and Serratia marcescens bacteria. Encapsulation was successful in all types of polysaccharide particles and liposomes. The prepared particles exhibited very good long-term stability, especially in aqueous conditions. Antimicrobial activity was retained in all types of particles. Liposomes with encapsulated herb and spice extracts exhibited very good inhibitory effect against all tested bacterial strains. Most of herbal extracts had very good antimicrobial effect against the tested Gram-negative bacterial strains, while Gram-positive bacteria were more sensitive to lysozyme particles. Thus, particles with co-encapsulated herbs and lysozyme are more active against different types of bacteria, and more stable and more effective during long-term storage. Particles with encapsulated mixture of selected plant extracts and lysozyme could be used as complex antimicrobial preparation with controlled release in the production of food and food supplements, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.

Food supplementation does not increase demographic rates in a passerine species of conservation concern

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Innes M.W. Sim

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Numerous studies have examined the effects of the provision of supplementary food on aspects of avian reproductive success, but far fewer have gone on to examine the potential positive effects of food supplementation on the demographic rates which are key for population growth rate. Testing for potential effects of food shortage on vital rates is likely to be particularly important in species of high conservation concern, where populations are particularly small, isolated or decreasing rapidly. Here we test the effects of the provision of supplementary food on reproductive success, body condition at fledging and post-fledging survival of ring ouzels (Turdus torquatus, a species of high conservation concern in the UK. However, food supplementation had no detectable effect on any of these parameters. There was no significant difference in return rates of fed and unfed fledglings in the year following hatching, and most post-fledging mortality was apparently caused by predation by raptors and mustelids. We conclude that the supply of invertebrate food sources for nestlings was not a major limiting factor in our study area, at least during this two-year study. Further studies are required to quantify the precise mix of habitats used by ring ouzels, at the appropriate scale, which provide concealment from predators and access to food supplies throughout the spring and summer months.

Maternal and Child Supplementation with Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements, but Not Child Supplementation Alone, Decreases Self-Reported Household Food Insecurity in Some Settings.

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Adams, Katherine P; Ayifah, Emmanuel; Phiri, Thokozani E; Mridha, Malay K; Adu-Afarwuah, Seth; Arimond, Mary; Arnold, Charles D; Cummins, Joseph; Hussain, Sohrab; Kumwenda, Chiza; Matias, Susana L; Ashorn, Ulla; Lartey, Anna; Maleta, Kenneth M; Vosti, Stephen A; Dewey, Kathryn G

2017-12-01

Background: It is unknown whether self-reported measures of household food insecurity change in response to food-based nutrient supplementation. Objective: We assessed the impacts of providing lipid-based nutrient supplements (LNSs) to women during pregnancy and postpartum and/or to their children on self-reported household food insecurity in Malawi [DOSE and DYAD trial in Malawi (DYAD-M)], Ghana [DYAD trial in Ghana (DYAD-G)], and Bangladesh [Rang-Din Nutrition Study (RDNS) trial]. Methods: Longitudinal household food-insecurity data were collected during 3 individually randomized trials and 1 cluster-randomized trial testing the efficacy or effectiveness of LNSs (generally 118 kcal/d). Seasonally adjusted Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) scores were constructed for 1127 DOSE households, 732 DYAD-M households, 1109 DYAD-G households, and 3671 RDNS households. The impact of providing LNSs to women during pregnancy and the first 6 mo postpartum and/or to their children from 6 to 18-24 mo on seasonally adjusted HFIAS scores was assessed by using negative binomial models (DOSE, DYAD-M, and DYAD-G trials) and mixed-effect negative binomial models (RDNS trial). Results: In the DOSE and DYAD-G trials, seasonally adjusted HFIAS scores were not different between the LNS and non-LNS groups. In the DYAD-M trial, the average household food-insecurity scores were 14% lower ( P = 0.01) in LNS households than in non-LNS households. In the RDNS trial, compared with non-LNS households, food-insecurity scores were 17% lower ( P = 0.02) during pregnancy and the first 6 mo postpartum and 15% lower ( P = 0.02) at 6-24 mo postpartum in LNS households. Conclusions: The daily provision of LNSs to mothers and their children throughout much of the "first 1000 d" may improve household food security in some settings, which could be viewed as an additional benefit that may accrue in households should policy makers choose to invest in LNSs to promote child growth and development

A household-level sweet potato-based infant food to complement vitamin A supplementation initiatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Amagloh, Francis K; Hardacre, Allan; Mutukumira, Anthony N; Weber, Janet L; Brough, Louise; Coad, Jane

2012-10-01

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) prevalence in Sub-Saharan Africa is high in spite of vitamin A supplementation programmes among children in most countries. Plant-based complementary foods remain the key source of nutrients in addition to breast milk for infants in lower income countries. Cereal-legume blends are superior in protein and energy densities compared with maize, millet or sorghum-only porridge. However, unfortified cereal-legume and cereal-only porridges are low in vitamin A. A household-level sweet potato-based infant food, rich in vitamin A, has been developed to complement vitamin A supplementation initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa. A composite flour containing sweet potato, soybean, soybean oil and fishmeal was processed as complementary food by oven toasting (denoted oven-toasted ComFa). The oven-toasted ComFa and enriched Weanimix (processed from dehulled maize, dehulled soybean, groundnut and fishmeal) were assessed for suitability as complementary food based on the nutrient composition using specifications in the Codex Standard (CS) as a reference. The sweet potato-based formulation and enriched Weanimix met the energy, protein, fructose and fat specifications but barely met the amino acid score as indicated in the CS. However, only the oven-toasted ComFa met the calcium and almost half the vitamin A levels as specified in the CS. Oven-toasted ComFa was slightly lower in energy, protein and fat by a difference not greater than 4.0% but was higher by more than 100% in fructose and vitamin A levels. Therefore, the sweet potato-based complementary food is likely to support vitamin A supplementation initiatives in low-income countries better than the cereal-based formulation. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Liver injury from Herbals and Dietary Supplements in the US Drug Induced Liver Injury Network

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro, Victor J.; Barnhart, Huiman; Bonkovsky, Herbert L.; Davern, Timothy; Fontana, Robert J.; Grant, Lafaine; Reddy, K. Rajender; Seeff, Leonard B.; Serrano, Jose; Sherker, Averell H.; Stolz, Andrew; Talwalkar, Jayant; Vega, Maricruz; Vuppalanchi, Raj

2014-01-01

Background The Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) studies hepatotoxicity due to conventional medications as well as herbals and dietary supplements (HDS). Rationale To characterize hepatotoxicity and its outcomes from HDS versus medications, patients with hepatotoxicity attributed to medications or HDS were enrolled prospectively between 2004 and 2013. The study took place among eight US referral centers that are part of the DILIN. Consecutive patients with liver injury referred to a DILIN center were eligible. The final sample comprised 130 (15.5%) of all subjects enrolled (839) who were judged to have experienced liver injury due to HDS. Hepatotoxicity due to HDS was evaluated by expert opinion. Demographic and clinical characteristics and outcome assessments including death and liver transplantation were ascertained. Cases were stratified and compared according to the type of agent implicated in liver injury; 45 had injury due to bodybuilding HDS, 85 due to non-bodybuilding HDS, and 709 due to medications. Main Results Liver injury due to HDS increased from 7% to 20% (p Bodybuilding HDS caused prolonged jaundice (median 91 days) in young men but did not result in any fatalities or liver transplantation. The remaining HDS cases presented as hepatocellular injury, predominantly in middle-aged women and more frequently led to death or transplantation compared to injury from medications (13% vs. 3%, p bodybuilding HDS is more severe than from bodybuilding HDS or medications, as evidenced by differences in unfavorable outcomes; death and transplantation. PMID:25043597

Composition, labelling, and safety of food supplements based on bee products in the legislative framework of the European Union - Croatian experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Vujić, Mario; Pollak, Lea

2015-12-01

The European Union market is overflown by food supplements and an increasing number of consumers prefer those where bee products play an important part in their composition. This paper deals with complex European Union legislation concerning food supplements based on bee products, placing a special emphasis on their composition, labelling, and safety. Correct labelling of food supplements also represents a great challenge since, in spite of legal regulations in force, there are still open issues regarding the statements on the amount of propolis, which is not clearly defined by the legal framework. One of the key issues are the labels containing health claims from the EU positive list approved by the European Food Safety Authority. Emphasis will also be placed on informing consumers about food, as statements which imply the healing properties of food supplements and their capacity to cure diseases are forbidden. One of the key elements of product safety is HACCP based on the EU Regulations EC 178/02 and 852/2004. Health safety analyses of food supplements with bee products used as raw materials, which are standardised by legal regulations will also be discussed. In the future, attention should also be paid to establishing the European Union "nutrivigilance" system. Croatian experiences in addressing challenges faced by producers, supervisory entities, and regulatory and inspection bodies may serve as an example to countries aspiring to become part of the large European family.

Measurement of toxic elements in infant food supplements marketed in Iran (short comunication

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M. A. Mehrnia

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Due to similarities with breast-feeding, baby food is used as a partial replacement for babies between 6 to 12 months of age. In this study, five samples of famous infant food supplement consisting of three types from Ghoncheh company (rice with milk, wheat with milk, almond porridge and two types from Nestle company (wheat and milk, and banana and wheat with milk were prepared. Samples were digested with nitric acid and the concentrations of cadmium, lead, manganese, molybdenum and nickel were analyzed. In addition, the estimated daily intake (EDI index for all samples was calculated and compared with tolerable daily intake (TDI index. The minimum and maximum concentration of cadmium was found in the sample with rice + milk formula (40.3 µg/kg and infant food supplements containing wheat + milk (58.0 µgr/kg, respectively. The amount of cadmium, lead, manganese, molybdenum and nickel were estimated in the range of 40.3-58.0 ppb, 31.85 ppb, 2.3-4.9 ppm, 417.9-518.8 ppb and 4479.1-6415.0 ppb, respectively. In was concluded that the amount of toxic elements in infant foods marketed in Iran were found below the maximum limit.

Study on the effect of supplementation of ironfortified food to chinese juvenile athletes by nuclear analysis techniques and blood analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qian, Q.F.; Feng, W.Y.; Zhang, P.Q.; Chai, C.F.; Pan, J.X.; Wu, Y.Y.; Chao, Z.Y.

1996-01-01

The iron contents in the hair and blood samples of 37 juvenile athletes who were supplemented with 0, 8 and 16 mg Fe/day, respectively, in the food of ferrous gluconatecontaining chocolate for 3 months were determined before and after the supplementation by INAA, SRXRF and blood analysis. The experimental results showed that after supplementation of the iron-fortified food, the normal ferritin level in the blood of the male athletes was attained and the iron content in the hair was increased with supplementation, but both are not in the positive proportion. Most of the female athletes had similar results. It is suggested that supplementation of 8 mg iron/day to juvenile athletes may be desirable. (author). 3 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

Adverse effects of plant food supplements and botanical preparations: a systematic review with critical evaluation of causality.

Science.gov (United States)

Di Lorenzo, Chiara; Ceschi, Alessandro; Kupferschmidt, Hugo; Lüde, Saskia; De Souza Nascimento, Elizabeth; Dos Santos, Ariana; Colombo, Francesca; Frigerio, Gianfranco; Nørby, Karin; Plumb, Jenny; Finglas, Paul; Restani, Patrizia

2015-04-01

The objective of this review was to collect available data on the following: (i) adverse effects observed in humans from the intake of plant food supplements or botanical preparations; (ii) the misidentification of poisonous plants; and (iii) interactions between plant food supplements/botanicals and conventional drugs or nutrients. PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase were searched from database inception to June 2014, using the terms 'adverse effect/s', 'poisoning/s', 'plant food supplement/s', 'misidentification/s' and 'interaction/s' in combination with the relevant plant name. All papers were critically evaluated according to the World Health Organization Guidelines for causality assessment. Data were obtained for 66 plants that are common ingredients of plant food supplements; of the 492 papers selected, 402 (81.7%) dealt with adverse effects directly associated with the botanical and 89 (18.1%) concerned interactions with conventional drugs. Only one case was associated with misidentification. Adverse effects were reported for 39 of the 66 botanical substances searched. Of the total references, 86.6% were associated with 14 plants, including Glycine max/soybean (19.3%), Glycyrrhiza glabra/liquorice (12.2%), Camellia sinensis/green tea ( 8.7%) and Ginkgo biloba/gingko (8.5%). Considering the length of time examined and the number of plants included in the review, it is remarkable that: (i) the adverse effects due to botanical ingredients were relatively infrequent, if assessed for causality; and (ii) the number of severe clinical reactions was very limited, but some fatal cases have been described. Data presented in this review were assessed for quality in order to make the results maximally useful for clinicians in identifying or excluding deleterious effects of botanicals. © 2014 The British Pharmacological Society.

Legal requirements for the quality of herbal substances and herbal preparations for the manufacturing of herbal medicinal products in the European union.

Science.gov (United States)

Vlietinck, Arnold; Pieters, Luc; Apers, Sandra

2009-06-01

In the European Union (EU) herbal medicinal products have become increasingly important. This is, for instance, underlined by the recent introduction of a simplified procedure in the Member States of the EU allowing the registration of herbal medicinal products which fulfill the criteria of a traditional herbal medicinal product, i.e., sufficient evidence of its medicinal use throughout a period of at least 30 years for products in the EU and at least 15 years within the EU and 15 years elsewhere for products outside the EU. With regard to the manufacturing of these products and their quality, applications of traditional herbal medicinal products have to fulfil the same requirements as applications for a marketing authorization. The quality of herbal substances as well as herbal preparations will be determined by the availability of modern science-based public monographs in the European Pharmacopoeia and their equivalents developed by the pharmaceutical industry. The standards put forward in these monographs must allow us not only to define the quality of these products, but also to eliminate dangerous counterfeit, substandard, adulterated and contaminated (traditional) herbal medicinal products. The usefulness of these monographs to implement the criteria on quality and specifications put forward for these products in the different guidelines of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) is discussed.

Combining rigour with relevance: a novel methodology for testing Chinese herbal medicine.

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Flower, Andrew; Lewith, George; Little, Paul

2011-03-24

There is a need to develop an evidence base for Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) that is both rigorous and reflective of good practice. This paper proposes a novel methodology to test individualised herbal decoctions using a randomised, double blinded, placebo controlled clinical trial. A feasibility study was conducted to explore the role of CHM in the treatment of endometriosis. Herbal formulae were pre-cooked and dispensed as individual doses in sealed plastic sachets. This permitted the development and testing of a plausible placebo decoction. Participants were randomised at a distant pharmacy to receive either an individualised herbal prescription or a placebo. The trial met the predetermined criteria for good practice. Neither the participants nor the practitioner-researcher could reliably identify group allocation. Of the 28 women who completed the trial, in the placebo group (n=15) 3 women (20%) correctly guessed they were on placebo, 8 (53%) thought they were on herbs and 4 (27%) did not know which group they had been allocated to. In the active group (n=13) 2 (15%) though they were on placebo, 8 (62%) thought they were on herbs and 3 (23%) did not know. Randomisation, double blinding and allocation concealment were successful and the study model appeared to be feasible and effective. It is now possible to subject CHM to rigorous scientific scrutiny without compromising model validity. Improvement in the design of the placebo using food colourings and flavourings instead of dried food will help guarantee the therapeutic inertia of the placebo decoction. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

45 CFR 205.25 - Eligibility of supplemental security income beneficiaries for food stamps or surplus commodities.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... beneficiaries for food stamps or surplus commodities. 205.25 Section 205.25 Public Welfare Regulations Relating....25 Eligibility of supplemental security income beneficiaries for food stamps or surplus commodities... XVI of the Social Security Act, the State agency shall make the following determinations: (1) The...

Use of dietary supplements by female seniors in a large Northern California health plan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Schaffer Donna M

2005-02-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Women aged ≥ 65 years are high utilizers of prescription and over-the-counter medications, and many of these women are also taking dietary supplements. Dietary supplement use by older women is a concern because of possible side effects and drug-supplement interactions. The primary aim of this study was to provide a comprehensive picture of dietary supplement use among older women in a large health plan in Northern California, USA, to raise awareness among health care providers and pharmacists about the need for implementing structural and educational interventions to minimize adverse consequences of self-directed supplement use. A secondary aim was to raise awareness about how the focus on use of herbals and megavitamins that has occurred in most surveys of complementary and alternative therapy use results in a significant underestimate of the proportion of older women who are using all types of dietary supplements for the same purposes. Methods We used data about use of different vitamin/mineral (VM supplements and nonvitamin, nonmineral (NVNM supplements, including herbals, from a 1999 general health survey mailed to a random sample of adult members of a large Northern California health plan to estimate prevalence of and characteristics associated with supplement use among women aged 65–84 (n = 3,109. Results Based on weighted data, 84% had in the past 12 months used >1 dietary supplement, 82% a VM, 59% a supplement other than just multivitamin or calcium, 32% an NVNM, and 25% an herbal. Compared to white, nonHispanic women, African-Americans and Latinas were significantly less likely to use VM and NVNM supplements and Asian/Pacific Islanders were less likely to use NVNM supplements. Higher education was strongly associated with use of an NVNM supplement. Prevalence did not differ by number of prescription medications taken. Among white, nonHispanic women, multiple logistic regression models showed that college

Marketing herbal medicines.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazarus, M

1999-01-01

HIV-positive support groups, together with hospital pharmacists in Thailand are fighting the high cost and lack of access to pharmaceuticals by producing and distributing herbal medicines. In Theung district, Chiang Rai province, members of the local support group for people with HIV produce their own, low-cost, herbal medicines. Although the herbal medicines they produce do not provide a cure for HIV/AIDS, they do offer relief for some of the symptoms of opportunistic infections. The herbs are prepared by the group members under the supervision of the pharmacy department at the district hospital. Local people judge their effectiveness by hearing testimonials from people who have witnessed improvement in symptoms. In response to the popularity and effectiveness of herbal medicines, the Ministry of Public Health has approved plans to sell products derived from local herbs in the pharmacies of government hospitals.

Isoflavones in food supplements: chemical profile, label accordance and permeability study in Caco-2 cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Almeida, I M C; Rodrigues, F; Sarmento, B; Alves, R C; Oliveira, M B P P

2015-03-01

Consumers nowadays are playing an active role in their health-care. A special case is the increasing number of women, who are reluctant to use exogenous hormone therapy for the treatment of menopausal symptoms and are looking for complementary therapies. However, food supplements are not clearly regulated in Europe. The EFSA has only recently begun to address the issues of botanical safety and purity regulation, leading to a variability of content, standardization, dosage, and purity of available products. In this study, isoflavones (puerarin, daidzin, genistin, daidzein, glycitein, genistein, formononetin, prunetin, and biochanin A) from food supplements (n = 15) for menopausal symptoms relief are evaluated and compared with the labelled information. Only four supplements complied with the recommendations made by the EC on the tolerable thresholds. The intestinal bioavailability of these compounds was investigated using Caco-2 cells. The apparent permeability coefficients of the selected isoflavonoids across the Caco-2 cells were affected by the isoflavone concentration and product matrix.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program: Analysis of Program Administration and Food Law Definitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Pomeranz, Jennifer L; Chriqui, Jamie F

2015-09-01

Under the current version of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), participants can purchase virtually any food or beverage (collectively, food). Research indicates that SNAP recipients may have worse dietary quality than income-eligible nonparticipants. Policymakers have urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to pilot SNAP purchasing restrictions intended to support a healthier diet, and state legislators have proposed similar bills. The USDA rejected these invitations, stating that it would be administratively and logistically difficult to differentiate among products, amid other concerns. However, the USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) do just that. Further, state governments define and differentiate among foods and beverages for tax purposes. This paper reviews several factors intended to inform future policy decisions: the science indicating that SNAP recipients have poorer diet quality than income-eligible nonparticipants; the public's support for revising the SNAP program; federal, state, and city legislators' formal proposals to amend SNAP based on nutrition criteria and the USDA's public position in opposition to these proposals; state bills to amend eligible foods purchasable with SNAP benefits; state retail food tax laws; and the retail administration and program requirements for both WIC and SNAP. The paper finds that the government has a clear ability to align SNAP benefits with nutrition science and operationalize this into law. Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Use of Herbal Medicine in Children

OpenAIRE

Suryawati, Suryawati; Suardi, Hijra Novia

2015-01-01

The herbal medicine has been widely used in children for the treatment of several symptoms and the prevention of diseases before accessing the hospital for professionals help. There are 3 kinds of marketed herbal medicine including empirical based herbal medicine (jamu), standardized herbal medicine (obat herbal terstandar) and clininically tested herbal medicine (fitofarmaka). This study aimed to investigate the utilization of the marketed herbal medicine along with non marketed ones which w...

Complementarity in dietary supplements and foods: are supplement users vegetable eaters?

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Hyoung-Goo; Joo, Hailey Hayeon; Choi, Kyong Duk; Lee, Dongmin; Moon, Junghoon

2017-01-01

Background : The consumption of fruits, vegetables, and dietary supplements correlate. Most previous studies have aimed to identify the determinants of supplement uses or the distinct features of supplement users; this literature lacks a discussion on dietary supplement consumption as a predictor of fruit and vegetable consumption. Objective : This study examines how dietary supplement consumption correlates with fruit and vegetable consumption by combining scanner data and surveys of Korean household grocery shopping. Methods : Propensity score matching (PSM) is used to identify the relationship between dietary supplement consumption and fruit and vegetable consumption in a household. A logit regression using supplement consumption as the dependent variable is used. Then, the supplement takers (the treatment group) are matched with non-takers (the control group) based on the propensity scores estimated in the logit regression. The fruit and vegetable consumption levels of the groups are then compared. Results : We found that dietary supplement use is associated with higher fruit and vegetable consumption. This supports the health consciousness hypothesis based on attention bias, availability heuristics, the focusing effect, and the consumption episode effect. It rejects the health substitute hypothesis based on economic substitutes and mental accounting. Conclusions : Future research on the health benefits of dietary supplements should address the complementary consumption of fruits/vegetables and their health benefits to avoid misstating the health effects of supplements.

Evaluation of Herbal Medicines: Value Addition to Traditional Medicines Through Metabolism, Pharmacokinetic and Safety Studies.

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Thelingwani, Roslyn; Masimirembwa, Collen

2014-01-01

The safety and efficacy of herbal medicines remain major issues of concern especially in the developing world where the use is high. The World Health Organisation estimates up to 80% of the population in Africa relies on herbal medicines for treatment of many diseases. Minimum safety evaluations need to be done for both the herbal and conventional drugs, in particular when there is a high likelihood of co-administration. This is particularly important in Africa where there is increased access to antiretrovirals in the treatment of HIV/AIDS, which are being used in a population background characterized by rampant use of herbal medicines. Many techniques used in the discovery and evaluation of conventional drugs can be adapted to herbal medicines. Such evaluations will add value to herbal medicines as doctors and patients will be better informed on which drugs and herbal medicines to take or not take together. This can also lead to the adoption of guidelines by regulatory agents such as the European Medicines Agency (EMA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and governmental agencies controlling the use of medicines. Of current interest is the evaluation of drug-herb interactions (DHI) involving the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of medicines where there is a promising possibility to adopt the current FDA and EMA guidelines on the evaluation of herbal medicines for drug-drug interactions (DDI). In this review we demonstrate progress made so far in DHI and point to possible future developments that will contribute to the safe use of herbal medicines.

A guide to herbal remedies

Science.gov (United States)

... can help you choose and use herbals safely. Herbals are not Medicines You have to be careful when using an ... A.M. Editorial team. Related MedlinePlus Health Topics Herbal Medicine Browse the Encyclopedia A.D.A.M., Inc. ...

EFSA NDA Panel (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies), 2015. Statement on the safety of lacto-N-neotetraose and 2'-O-fucosyllactose as novel food ingredients in food supplements for children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Poulsen, Morten

2015-01-01

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) was asked to provide a scientific opinion on the safety of lacto-N-neotetraose and 2'‑O-fucosyllactose as novel food ingredients in food supplements for children (excluding infants...... of 1.5 g for LNnT and 3 g for 2’-FL for children (4–18 years of age). In this scientific assessment, maximum daily intakes from food supplements for toddlers, children and teenagers are presented and two scenarios are calculated in which the maximum daily intakes from food supplements are added...... in intake levels which were reported to cause mild gastrointestinal symptoms in adults....

Dietary supplementation of Digestarom® herbal formulation: effect on apparent digestibility, faecal and caecal microbial counts and live performance of growing rabbits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Celia

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The experiment aimed to study the effect of Digestarom® dietary inclusion (herbal formulation containing a mixture of essential oils, herbs, spices and extracts on apparent digestibility and digestive ecosystem of growing rabbits, as well as the effects of its supplementation before and after weaning on growth performance. At kindling, rabbit does and litters were divided into 2 dietary groups (51 does/group and fed either a control diet (C or a diet supplemented with 300 mg Digestarom®/kg diet (D until weaning, which occurred at 35 d (before weaning supplementation. Each group was further divided into 3 dietary groups: CC received the control diet and DD received the D diet from 5 to 12 wk of age, and DC were fed with D (from 5 to 8 wk of age and C diets (from 8 to 12 wk of age (after weaning supplementation; 54 kits/group. An in vivo digestibility trial and a faecal microbial count were carried out on growing rabbits that received only the C or D diets during the trial. The C group showed higher DM intake than D group (215 vs. 196 g/d; P<0.05. The faecal digestibility of ether extract (75.9 vs. 59.8%; P<0.001, cellulose (25.9 vs. 20.6%; P<0.05 and gross energy (51.8 vs. 49.1%; P<0.05 was higher for C than for D group, whereas that of starch (98.9 vs. 98.8%; P<0.001 and the digestible protein to digestible energy ratio (13.9 vs. 13.2 g digestible protein/MJ digestible energy; P<0.01 was the highest for rabbits fed D diet. Stomach and caecal pH, caecal and faecal microbial counts were independent of the dietary treatment. The only exception was the stomach pH in 8 wk-old rabbits, which had the lowest value in C rabbits (P<0.05. The D supplementation before weaning improved feed conversion ratio throughout the growing phase (4.3 vs. 4.4 for D and C, respectively; P<0.05, whereas significant differences in daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and mortality were observed only in the first period after weaning. Based on the results obtained

Launching a new food product or dietary supplement in the United States: industrial, regulatory, and nutritional considerations.

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Finley, John Weldon; Finley, John Wescott; Ellwood, Kathleen; Hoadley, James

2014-01-01

Launching a new food/dietary supplement into the US market can be a confusing process to those unfamiliar with the food industry. Industry capability and product specifications are initial determinants of whether a candidate product can be manufactured in a reproducible manner and whether pilot production can be brought up to the market scale. Regulatory issues determine how a product can be produced and marketed; the primary federal institutions involved in regulations are the US Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Federal Trade Commission. A primary distinction is made between food and drugs, and no product may enter the food market if it is in part or whole a drug. Product safety is a major concern, and myriad regulations govern the determination of safety. New foods/dietary supplements are often marketed by health claims or structure/function claims, and there are specific regulations pertaining to claims. Not understanding the regulatory issues involved in developing a new product or failing to comply with associated regulations can have legal and financial repercussions.

Application of HRAM screening and LC-MS/MS confirmation of active pharmaceutical ingredient in "natural" herbal supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Pascali, Jennifer P; Fais, Paolo; Vaiano, Fabio; Bertol, Elisabetta

2018-05-01

The growing market of herbal remedies worldwide could pose severe problems to consumers' health due to the possible presence of potentially harmful, undeclared synthetic substances or analogues of prescription drugs. The present work shows a simple but effective approach to unequivocally identify synthetic anorectic compounds in allegedly 'natural' herbal extracts, by exploiting liquid chromatography/time of flight (Q-TOF LC/MS) technology coupled to liquid chromatography/triple quadrupole (LC-MS/MS) confirmation and quantitation. The procedure was applied to five tea herbal extracts and pills sold as coadjutant for weigh loss. The method exploited liquid-liquid sample extraction (LLE) and separation in a C18 (2.1mm×150mm, 1.8μm) column. QTOF acquisitions were carried out both in scan mode and all ion MS/MS mode and results were obtained after search against ad hoc prepared library. Sibutramine, 4-hydroxyamphetamine, caffeine and theophylline were preliminary identified samples. Confirmation and quantitation of the preliminary identified compounds were obtained in LC-MS/MS after preparation of appropriated standards. Sibutramine, caffeine and theophylline were finally confirmed and quantitate. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dietary supplement for energy and reduced appetite containing the β-agonist isopropyloctopamine leads to heart problems and hospitalisations.

Science.gov (United States)

Bovee, Toine F H; Mol, Hans G J; Bienenmann-Ploum, Monique E; Heskamp, Henri H; Van Bruchem, Gerard D; Van Ginkel, Leendert A; Kooijman, Martin; Lasaroms, Johan J P; Van Dam, Ruud; Hoogenboom, Ron L A P

2016-05-01

In 2013 the Dutch authorities issued a warning against a dietary supplement that was linked to 11 reported adverse reactions, including heart problems and in one case even a cardiac arrest. In the UK a 20-year-old woman, said to have overdosed on this supplement, died. Since according to the label the product was a herbal mixture, initial LC-MS/MS analysis focused on the detection of plant toxins. Yohimbe alkaloids, which are not allowed to be present in herbal preparations according to Dutch legislation, were found at relatively high levels (400-900 mg kg(-1)). However, their presence did not explain the adverse health effects reported. Based on these effects the supplement was screened for the presence of a β-agonist, using three different biosensor assays, i.e. the validated competitive radioligand β2-adrenergic receptor binding assay, a validated β-agonists ELISA and a newly developed multiplex microsphere (bead)-based β-agonist assay with imaging detection (MAGPIX(®)). The high responses obtained in these three biosensors suggested strongly the presence of a β-agonist. Inspection of the label indicated the presence of N-isopropyloctopamine. A pure standard of this compound was bought and shown to have a strong activity in the three biosensor assays. Analysis by LC-full-scan high-resolution MS confirmed the presence of this 'unknown known' β3-agonist N-isopropyloctopamine, reported to lead to heart problems at high doses. A confirmatory quantitative analysis revealed that one dose of the preparation resulted in an intake of 40-60 mg, which is within the therapeutic range of this compound. The case shows the strength of combining bioassays with chemical analytical techniques for identification of illegal pharmacologically active substances in food supplements.

Concealed use of herbal and dietary supplements among Thai patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Science.gov (United States)

Putthapiban, Prapaipan; Sukhumthammarat, Weera; Sriphrapradang, Chutintorn

2017-01-01

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been one of the most common chronic diseases that create great impacts on both morbidities and mortalities. Many patients who suffering from this disease seek for complementary and alternative medicine. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and related factors of herbal and dietary supplement (HDS) use in patients with DM type 2 at a single university hospital in Thailand. A cross-sectional study was performed in 200 type 2 DM patients via face-to-face structured interviews using developed questionnaires comprised of demographic data, diabetes-specific information, details on HDS use, and medical adherence. From the endocrinology clinic, 61% of total patients reported HDS exposure and 28% were currently consuming. More than two-thirds of HDS users did not notify their physicians, mainly because of a lack of doctor concern; 73% of cases had no awareness of potential drug-herb interaction. The use of drumstick tree, turmeric and bitter gourd and holy mushroom were most frequently reported. The main reasons for HDS use were friend and relative suggestions and social media. Comparisons of demographic characteristics, medical adherence, and hemoglobin A1c among these non-HDS users, as well as current and former users, were not statistically significantly different. This study revealed a great number of DM patients interested in HDS use. The use of HDS for glycemic control is an emerging public health concern given the potential adverse effects, drug interactions and benefits associated with its use. Health care professionals should aware of HDS use and hence incorporate this aspect into the clinical practice.

Consumption estimation of non alcoholic beverages, sodium, food supplements and oil.

Science.gov (United States)

López Díaz-Ufano, María Luisa

2015-02-26

The interest in the type and quantity of non alcoholic beverage, sodium, food supplements and oil consumption is not new, and numerous approaches have been used to assess beverage intake, but the validity of these approaches has not been well established. The need to intake liquids varies depending on the diet, the physical activity carried out, the environmental temperature, the humidity, etc. The variety of beverages in the diet can contribute to increasing the micro nutrient intake: vitamins, antioxidants, minerals. Risks associated to high sodium consumption are: an increase in high blood pressure, vascular endothelial deterioration, bone demineralisation, kidney disease, stomach cancer. Progress in health, investigation, education, etc. are leading to an increase in food supplement consumption. Olive oil represents one of the basic pillars of the Mediterranean diet and its normal presence in nutrition guarantees an adequate content of some important nutrients; not only oleic acid and linoleic acid but also tocopherols, phytoesterols and phenolic compounds. Biomarkers of intake are able to objectively assess dietary intake/status without the bias of self-reported dietary intake errors and also overcome the problem of intra-individual diet variability. Furthermore, some methods of of measuring dietary intake used biomarkers to validate the data it collects. Biological markers may offer advantages and be able to improve the estimates of dietary intake assessment, which impact into the statistical power of the study. There is a surprising paucity of studies that systematically examine the correlation of beverages intake and hydration biomarker in different populations. There is no standardized questionnaire developed as a research tool for the evaluation of non alcoholic beverages, sodium, food supplements and oil intake in the general population. Sometimes, the information comes from different sources or from different methodological characteristics which raises

Synthesis of core-shell magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers and detection of sildenafil and vardenafil in herbal dietary supplements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ding Meijuan; Wu Xiaoli; Yuan Lihua; Wang Shu; Li Yun; Wang Ruoyu; Wen Tingting; Du Shuhu; Zhou, Xuemin

2011-01-01

An analytical procedure for selective extraction of sildenafil and vardenafil in herbal dietary supplements (HDSs) has been set up by using the magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) as the extraction and clean-up materials, followed by high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet (HPLC-UV). The MMIPs were prepared by a surface molecular imprinting technique, using Fe 3 O 4 magnetite as a magnetically susceptible component, sildenafil as template molecule, 2-(trifluoromethyl) acrylic acid (TFMAA) as functional monomer, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as polymeric matrix components. The MMIPs were characterized by transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), respectively. The heterogeneity of the MMIPs was modeled with the Freundlich isotherm equation. The resulting MMIPs had high recognition ability and fast binding kinetics for sildenafil. The MMIPs were used as dispersive solid-phase extraction (DSPE) materials to selectively extract sildenafil and vardenafil from HDSs, the contents of sildenafil and vardenafil were found to be 8.05 and 3.86 μg g -1 , respectively, and the average recoveries in spiked HDSs were 70.91-91.75% with a relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) below 7%. The MMIPs were successfully used to selectively enrich and determine sildenafil and vardenafil from HDSs.

Determination of 15 isoflavone isomers in soy foods and supplements by high-performance liquid chromatography.

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Yanaka, Kaoru; Takebayashi, Jun; Matsumoto, Teruki; Ishimi, Yoshiko

2012-04-25

Soy isoflavone is the generic name for the isoflavones found in soy. We determined the concentrations of 15 soy isoflavone species, including 3 succinyl glucosides, in 22 soy foods and isoflavone supplements by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The total isoflavone contents in 14 soy foods and 8 supplements ranged from 45 to 735 μg/g and from 1,304 to 90,224 μg/g, respectively. Higher amounts of succinyl glucosides were detected in natto, a typical fermented soy product in Japan; these ranged from 30 to 80 μg/g and comprised 4.1-10.9% of the total isoflavone content. In soy powder, 59 μg/g of succinyl glucosides were detected, equivalent to 4.6% of the total isoflavone content. These data suggest that the total isoflavone contents may be underestimated in the previous studies that have not included succinyl glucosides, especially for Bacillus subtilis -fermented soy food products.

Surface roughness of composite resin veneer after application of herbal and non-herbal toothpaste

Science.gov (United States)

Nuraini, S.; Herda, E.; Irawan, B.

2017-08-01

The aim of this study was to find out the surface roughness of composite resin veneer after brushing. In this study, 24 specimens of composite resin veneer are divided into three subgroups: brushed without toothpaste, brushed with non-herbal toothpaste, and brushed with herbal toothpaste. Brushing was performed for one set of 5,000 strokes and continued for a second set of 5,000 strokes. Roughness of composite resin veneer was determined using a Surface Roughness Tester. The results were statistically analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis nonparametric test and Post Hoc Mann-Whitney. The results indicate that the highest difference among the Ra values occurred within the subgroup that was brushed with the herbal toothpaste. In conclusion, the herbal toothpaste produced a rougher surface on composite resin veneer compared to non-herbal toothpaste.

Liver injury from herbals and dietary supplements in the U.S. Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro, Victor J; Barnhart, Huiman; Bonkovsky, Herbert L; Davern, Timothy; Fontana, Robert J; Grant, Lafaine; Reddy, K Rajender; Seeff, Leonard B; Serrano, Jose; Sherker, Averell H; Stolz, Andrew; Talwalkar, Jayant; Vega, Maricruz; Vuppalanchi, Raj

2014-10-01

The Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network (DILIN) studies hepatotoxicity caused by conventional medications as well as herbals and dietary supplements (HDS). To characterize hepatotoxicity and its outcomes from HDS versus medications, patients with hepatotoxicity attributed to medications or HDS were enrolled prospectively between 2004 and 2013. The study took place among eight U.S. referral centers that are part of the DILIN. Consecutive patients with liver injury referred to a DILIN center were eligible. The final sample comprised 130 (15.5%) of all subjects enrolled (839) who were judged to have experienced liver injury caused by HDS. Hepatotoxicity caused by HDS was evaluated by expert opinion. Demographic and clinical characteristics and outcome assessments, including death and liver transplantation (LT), were ascertained. Cases were stratified and compared according to the type of agent implicated in liver injury; 45 had injury caused by bodybuilding HDS, 85 by nonbodybuilding HDS, and 709 by medications. Liver injury caused by HDS increased from 7% to 20% (P Bodybuilding HDS caused prolonged jaundice (median, 91 days) in young men, but did not result in any fatalities or LT. The remaining HDS cases presented as hepatocellular injury, predominantly in middle-aged women, and, more frequently, led to death or transplantation, compared to injury from medications (13% vs. 3%; P bodybuilding HDS or medications, as evidenced by differences in unfavorable outcomes (death and transplantation). (Hepatology 2014;60:1399-1408). © 2014 by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

Effects of prenatal food and micronutrient supplementation on child growth from birth to 54 months of age: a randomized trial in Bangladesh

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khan Ashraful

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is a lack of information on the optimal timing of food supplementation to malnourished pregnant women and possible combined effects of food and multiple micronutrient supplementations (MMS on their offspring's growth. We evaluated the effects of prenatal food and micronutrient interventions on postnatal child growth. The hypothesis was that prenatal MMS and early invitation to food supplementation would increase physical growth in the offspring during 0-54 months and a combination of these interventions would further improve these outcomes. Methods In the large, randomized MINIMat trial (Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab, Bangladesh, 4436 pregnant women were enrolled between November 2001 and October 2003 and their children were followed until March 2009. Participants were randomized into six groups comprising 30 mg Fe and 400 μg folic acid (Fe30F, 60 mg Fe and 400 μg folic acid (Fe60F or MMS combined with either an early (immediately after identification of pregnancy or a later usual (at the time of their choosing, i.e., usual care in this community program invitation to food supplementation. The anthropometry of 3267 children was followed from birth to 54 months, and 2735 children were available for analysis at 54 months. Results There were no differences in characteristics of mothers and households among the different intervention groups. The average birth weight was 2694 g and birth length was 47.7 cm, with no difference among intervention groups. Early invitation to food supplementation (in comparison with usual invitation reduced the proportion of stunting from early infancy up to 54 months for boys (p = 0.01, but not for girls (p = 0.31. MMS resulted in more stunting than standard Fe60F (p = 0.02. There was no interaction between the food and micronutrient supplementation on the growth outcome. Conclusions Early food supplementation in pregnancy reduced the occurrence of stunting during 0

Hormones, herbal preparations and nutriceuticals for a better life after the menopause: part II.

Science.gov (United States)

Comhaire, F H; Depypere, H T

2015-06-01

Long-term estrogen replacement therapy with estrogen has benefits for many postmenopausal women. However, some women prefer non-steroidal substitution with herbal preparations. The effectivity against vasomotor symptoms has been evidenced for the extracts of pine bark, of linseed and of Lepidium meyenii (Maca), whereas there is controversy about the effectiveness of genistein-rich soy extract. The extracts of cruciferous vegetables such as Broccoli and of linseed induce changes in the metabolism of estrogens, and antioxidants may reverse altered epigenetic DNA methylation, possibly reducing the risk of breast cancer or its recurrence. Indirect evidence from the literature and from clinical trials supports that a nutriceutical composed of plant extracts, low-dose vitamins and minerals may improve the quality of life by delaying certain age-related diseases. On the basis of epidemiologic studies, physiopathological considerations and controlled prospectieve trials, it is suggested that transdermal substitution therapy with estradiol together with nutriceutical food supplementation may increase the number of quality-adjusted life years of postmenopausal women, but complementary, large-scale, prospective trials are still needed.

Evaluation of effectiveness and safety of a herbal compound in primary insomnia symptoms and sleep disturbances not related to medical or psychiatric causes.

Science.gov (United States)

Palmieri, Giancarlo; Contaldi, Paola; Fogliame, Giuseppe

2017-01-01

Sleep disturbances and related daytime activities impairment are common diseases nowadays. General practitioners are often the first health care professional asked to alleviate sleep disturbances and primary insomnia symptoms. Beyond a wide class of hypnotic drugs, botanicals can represent an alternative treatment for those kinds of symptoms. The scope of the present study is to evaluate safety and effectiveness of a herbal compound composed of valerian, hop, and jujube (Vagonotte ® ) on primary insomnia symptoms and sleep disturbances not related to medical or psychiatric causes. One hundred and twenty subjects with sleep disturbances symptoms were randomized in two branches of 60 persons each, receiving the herbal compound or placebo at dosage of two pills per day 30 minutes before their scheduled bedtime. All subjects were screened for precise items related to sleep quality and daytime activity at the beginning, after 10 days, and after 20 days of consecutive dietary supplement (or placebo) consumption. The participants remained blind to group assignment until all of them completed the trial. Sleep onset, numbers of nocturnal awakenings, and overall nocturnal slept time were assessed. A statistically significant difference between the two groups emerged. The group receiving the herbal compound showed a lower time of sleep onset compared to placebo group, the same result was obtained for total slept time and night awakenings frequency ( p Botanicals dietary supplement with relaxing and soothing properties can help practitioner to treat primary insomnia, especially when the risk/benefit profile of a patient does not sustain hypnotic drugs prescription. This clinical investigation on safety and effectiveness of a herbal compound made of valerian, hop, and jujube opens interesting perspectives on usage of herbal compound to manage primary insomnia. Further investigations could help in understanding herbal compounds' effectiveness on sleep disturbances.

Effect of fortified complementary food supplementation on child growth in rural Bangladesh: a cluster-randomized trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Christian, Parul; Shaikh, Saijuddin; Shamim, Abu Ahmed; Mehra, Sucheta; Wu, Lee; Mitra, Maithilee; Ali, Hasmot; Merrill, Rebecca D; Choudhury, Nuzhat; Parveen, Monira; Fuli, Rachel D; Hossain, Md Iqbal; Islam, Md Munirul; Klemm, Rolf; Schulze, Kerry; Labrique, Alain; de Pee, Saskia; Ahmed, Tahmeed; West, Keith P

2015-12-01

Growth faltering in the first 2 years of life is high in South Asia where prevalence of stunting is estimated at 40-50%. Although nutrition counselling has shown modest benefits, few intervention trials of food supplementation exist showing improvements in growth and prevention of stunting. A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted in rural Bangladesh to test the effect of two local, ready-to-use foods (chickpea and rice-lentil based) and a fortified blended food (wheat-soy-blend++, WSB++) compared with Plumpy'doz, all with nutrition counselling vs nutrition counselling alone (control) on outcomes of linear growth (length and length-for-age z-score, LAZ), stunting (LAZ food groups, provided with one of the allocated supplements daily for a year. Growth deceleration occurred from 6 to 18 months of age but deceleration in LAZ was lower (by 0.02-0.04/month) in the Plumpy'doz (P = 0.02), rice-lentil (food groups relative to the control. In rural Bangladesh, small amounts of daily fortified complementary foods, provided for a year in addition to nutrition counselling, modestly increased linear growth and reduced stunting at 18 months of age. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Epidemiological Association.

Herbal medicines: challenges in the modern world. Part 2. European Union and Russia.

Science.gov (United States)

Sammons, Helen M; Gubarev, Michael I; Krepkova, Lubov V; Bortnikova, Valentina V; Corrick, Fenella; Job, Kathleen M; Sherwin, Catherine Mt; Enioutina, Elena Y

2016-08-01

Herbal medicines (HMs) have been well known to people of the European Union (EU) and Russia for centuries. Currently, Western HMs can be classified into two categories, plant-derived conventional medicines and dietary supplements. Interest to HMs has grown rapidly in all countries during the past two decades. The main goal of this review article is to present the history of HMs in the EU and Russia, forms of modern HMs, including Oriental Medicines that are popular among consumers of both countries. Additional discussion points comprise safety and adulteration issues associated with HMs, including regulatory changes and new legislative measures undertaken by the authorities. Materials available from legislative and governmental websites, PubMed and news media were used. Expert commentary: Due to cultural diversities in the EU and Russia, traditional HMs of other regions, particularly Chinese Traditional and Ayurvedic medicines, are also popular. Recently, dietary supplements containing multiple herbal and other natural products have flooded the EU and Russian markets. Pharmacovigilance in these markets is challenging in terms of establishing quality and safety of ingredients, determining efficacy, and defining risks of herb-herb and herb-drug interactions. Both the EU and Russia have introduced new legislation aimed to overcome these deficiencies.

Effects of food supplementation on the physiological ecology of female Western diamond-backed rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox).

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Emily N; Malawy, Michael A; Browning, Dawn M; Lemar, Shea V; DeNardo, Dale F

2005-06-01

Food availability is an important factor in the life histories of organisms because it is often limiting and thus can affect growth, mass change, reproduction, and behaviors such as thermoregulation, locomotion, and mating. Experimental studies in natural settings allow researchers to examine the effects of food on these parameters while animals are free to behave naturally. The wide variation among organisms in energy demands and among environmental food resources suggest that responses to changes in food availability may vary among organisms. Since most supplemental feeding field experiments have been conducted on species with high energy demands, we conducted a supplemental feeding study on free-ranging, female Western diamond-backed rattlesnakes (Crotalus atrox), a species with low energy demands and infrequent reproductive investment. Snakes were offered thawed rodents 1-4 times per week. Over two active seasons, we collected data on surface activity, home range size, growth, mass change, and reproduction of supplementally fed and control snakes. Fed and control snakes did not differ in surface activity levels (proportion of time encountered above versus below ground) or home range size. Fed snakes grew and gained mass faster, and had a dramatically higher occurrence of reproduction than control snakes. Also, fed snakes were in better body condition following reproduction than snakes that were not fed. However, litter characteristics such as offspring number and size were not increased by feeding, suggesting that these characteristics may be fixed. These data experimentally demonstrate that food availability can directly impact some life history traits (i.e., growth and reproduction for C. atrox), but not others (i.e., surface activity and home range size for C. atrox). The relationship between food availability and life history traits is affected in a complex way by ecological traits and physiological constraints, and thus interspecific variation in this

TANGIBLE VALUE BIODIVERSITAS HERBAL DAN MENINGKATKAN DAYA SAING PRODUK HERBAL INDONESIA DALAM MENGHADAPI MASYARAKAT EKONOMI ASEAN 2015

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eka Intan Kumala Putri

2014-08-01

Full Text Available Herbs are environmentally friendly commodities that slogan 'back to nature'. Herbal is a reliable commodityIndonesia because herbal raw material comes from Indonesia's abundant biodiversity. However, the currentIndonesian herbal faced a number of challenges to be able to compete with the herbs that come from foreigncountries. The existence of the Free Trade Agreement can be seen by the opening of the market to the entry ofIndonesian herbal products imported from Cina, India, Malaysia, and others. Economically, Indonesia's tradebalance deficit with export figures of herbal products continues to decline. That is, the existence of free tradeagreements is adversely affected by the low competitiveness of herbal products against imported products thatcirculate in Indonesia. In the midst of adversity free trade, in 2015 has agreed a free trade agreement between theASEAN countries (EAC. Will EAC able to lift Indonesian herbal products from the domestic market?.

Herbal Medicine and Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Applications and Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yan Li

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Use of herbal medicine in the treatment of liver cancer has a long tradition. The compounds derived from the herb and herbal composites are of considerable interest among oncologists. In the past, certain herbal compounds and herbal composite formulas have been studied through in vitro and in vivo as an anti-hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC agent, enhancing our knowledge about their biologic functions and targets. However there is a significant distinction between the herbal medicine and the herbal production even though both are the plant-based remedies used in the practice. In this article, for the sake of clarity, the effective herbal compounds and herbal composite formulas against HCC are discussed, with emphasizing the basic conceptions of herbal medicine in order to have a better understanding of the prevention and treatment of HCC by herbal active compounds and herbal composite formulas.

Delivering Summer Electronic Benefit Transfers for Children through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children: Benefit Use and Impacts on Food Security and Foods Consumed.

Science.gov (United States)

Gordon, Anne R; Briefel, Ronette R; Collins, Ann M; Rowe, Gretchen M; Klerman, Jacob A

2017-03-01

The Summer Electronic Benefit Transfers for Children (SEBTC) demonstration piloted summer food assistance through electronic benefit transfers (EBTs), providing benefits either through the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) EBT. To inform food assistance policy and describe how demonstrations using WIC and SNAP models differed in benefit take-up and impacts on food security and children's food consumption. Sites chose to deliver SEBTC using the SNAP or WIC EBT system. Within each site, in 2012, households were randomly assigned to a benefit group or a no-benefit control group. Grantees (eight states and two Indian Tribal Organizations) selected school districts serving many low-income children. Schoolchildren were eligible in cases where they had been certified for free or reduced-price meals during the school year. Before the demonstration, households in the demonstration sample had lower incomes and lower food security, on average, than households with eligible children nationally. Grantees provided selected households with benefits worth $60 per child per summer month using SNAP or WIC EBT systems. SNAP-model benefits covered most foods. WIC-model benefits could only be used for a specific package of foods. Key outcomes were children's food security (assessed using the US Department of Agriculture food security scale) and food consumption (assessed using food frequency questions). Differences in mean outcomes between the benefit and control groups measured impact, after adjusting for household characteristics. In WIC sites, benefit-group households redeemed a lower percentage of SEBTC benefits than in SNAP sites. Nonetheless, the benefit groups in both sets of sites had similar large reductions in very low food security among children, relative to no-benefit controls. Children receiving benefits consumed more healthful foods, and these impacts were larger in WIC

The effect of essential oil from sage (Salvia officinalis L.) herbal dust (food industry by-product) on the microbiological stability of fresh pork sausages

Science.gov (United States)

Šojić, B.; Ikonić, P.; Pavlić, B.; Zeković, Z.; Tomović, V.; Kocić-Tanackov, S.; Džinić, N.; Škaljac, S.; Ivić, M.; Jokanović, M.; Tasić, T.

2017-09-01

The effect of essential oil obtained from sage (Salvia officinalis L.) herbal dust (a food industry by-product) (SEO), on the pH value, microbiological stability and sensory properties of fresh pork sausages prepared without chemical additives was evaluated during 8 days of aerobic storage at 3±1°C. The addition of SEO significantly (pmeat product. Hence, the results of this study showed significant antimicrobial activity of SEO obtained from sage filter tea processing byproducts and the potential for utilising SEO in fresh pork sausages in order to enhance their stability and safety.

Prescription for herbal healing

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Balch, Phyllis A; Bell, Stacey J

2012-01-01

.... John's Wort, to less familiar remedies, such as khella and prickly ash Chinese and ayurvedic herbal combinations Discussion of more than 150 common disorders from acne to yeast infection, and suggested herbal treatment therapies"--

Preferences for food and nutritional supplements among adult people living with HIV in Malawi

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodas Moya, Carlos; Kodish, Stephen; Manary, Mark; Grede, Nils; Pee, de Saskia

2016-01-01

Objective: To elucidate the factors influencing food intake and preferences for potential nutritional supplements to treat mild and moderate malnutrition among adult people living with HIV (PLHIV). Design: Qualitative research using in-depth interviews with a triangulation of participants and an

Safety assessment of botanicals and botanical preparations used as ingredients in food supplements: Testing an EFS tired approach

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Speijers, G.; Bottex, B.; Dusemund, B.; Lugasi, A.; Toth, J.; Amberg-Muller, J.; Galli, C.; Silano, V.; Rietjens, I.

2010-01-01

This article describes results obtained by testing the European Food Safety Authority-tiered guidance approach for safety assessment of botanicals and botanical preparations intended for use in food supplements. Main conclusions emerging are as follows. (i) Botanical ingredients must be identified

Report on the risk of using Tribulus terrestris in food supplements

OpenAIRE

Spanish Agency for Consumer Affairs, Food Safety and Nutrition

2015-01-01

Tribulus terrestris L. is a plant from the Zygophyllaceae family whose use in food supplements is authorised in various countries of the European Union. In its natural form, it contains various active substances, the most notable of which are steroidal saponins, b-carboline alkaloids, flavonoids and lignanamides. Tribulus terrestris’ toxicity to animals has been widely documented throughout its history as a medicinal plant and it has been reported to have negative neuronal...

Review of Herbal Traditional Chinese Medicine for the Treatment of Diabetic Nephropathy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Guang-dong; Li, Chao-yuan; Cui, Wen-peng; Guo, Qiao-yan; Dong, Chang-qing; Zou, Hong-bin; Liu, Shu-jun; Dong, Wen-peng; Miao, Li-ning

2016-01-01

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the most serious chronic complications of diabetes; 20-40% of diabetic patients develop into end stage renal disease (ESRD). However, exact pathogenesis of DN is not fully clear and we have great difficulties in curing DN; poor treatment of DN led to high chances of mortality worldwide. A lot of western medicines such as ACEI and ARB have been demonstrated to protect renal function of DN but are not enough to delay or retard the progression of DN; therefore, exploring exact and feasible drug is current research hotspot in medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used to treat and control diabetes and its complications such as DN in a lot of scientific researches, which will give insights into the mechanism of DN, but they are not enough to reveal all the details. In this paper, we summarize the applications of herbal TCM preparations, single herbal TCM, and/or monomers from herbal TCM in the treatment of DN in the recent 10 years, depicting the renal protective effects and the corresponding mechanism, through which we shed light on the renal protective roles of TCM in DN with a particular focus on the molecular basis of the effect and provide a beneficial supplement to the drug therapy for DN.

A billion cups: The diversity, traditional uses, safety issues and potential of Chinese herbal teas.

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Yao; Yang, Jin-Chao; Cunningham, Anthony B; Towns, Alexandra Maria; Zhang, Yu; Yang, Hua-Ying; Li, Jian-Wen; Yang, Xue-Fei

2018-08-10

Herbal teas have long been consumed by Chinese people for preventive and/or therapeutic healthcare. Although herbal teas are widely consumed by many cultural groups in different regions of China, no thorough review has been undertaken to assess the diversity of the country's herbal tea usage. This literature review, complemented by a quantitative survey in an important tea market in Kunming, begins to fill this knowledge gap. The study aims to summarize the current knowledge of plant species used as herbal teas by different cultural groups in different regions of China, with a focus on the teas' perceived traditional healthcare functions, related phytochemical/pharmaceutical research, and safety issues. The study involved a comprehensive literature review and a market survey. The literature review was based on published ethnobotanical studies of herbal teas in China. We searched the Web of Science™, ELSEVIER, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and the China Science and Technology Journal Database to locate relevant studies (including journal articles, Masters/PhD dissertations and books) that were published before March 2017. A species list was compiled based on the review and supplemented with information retrieved from the Scifinder database (https://scifinder.cas.org) and the Chinese Pharmacopoeia (2010). A Use Value Index was employed for ranking the most cited species. Based on the 29 most cited species, we discussed the current research status in relation to healthcare benefits and safety concerns of herbal teas in China. To better understand the current status of the herbal tea market in China, we also surveyed 136 tea vendors at the Xiongda Tea Market in Kunming. Information gathered from the survey included the species sold, the sale prices and the form of the herbal tea product. The literature identified 759 plant species used as herbal tea in China and the market survey identified an additional 23 species. Most of the species used were

[Key points of poverty alleviation of Chinese herbal medicine industry and classification of recommended Chinese herbal medicines].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Lu-Qi; Su, Gang-Qiang; Zhang, Xiao-Bo; Sun, Xiao-Ming; Wu, Xiao-Jun; Guo, Lan-Ping; Li, Meng; Wang, Hui; Jing, Zhi-Xian

2017-11-01

To build a well-off society in an all-round way, eliminate poverty, improve people's livelihood and improve the level of social and economic development in poverty-stricken areas is the frontier issues of the government and science and technology workers at all levels. Chinese herbal medicine is the strategic resource of the people's livelihood, Chinese herbal medicine cultivation is an important part of China's rural poor population income. As most of the production of Chinese herbal medicine by the biological characteristics of their own and the interaction of natural ecological environment factors, showing a strong regional character.the Ministry of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the State Council Poverty Alleviation Office and other five departments jointly issued the "China Herbal Industry Poverty Alleviation Action Plan (2017-2020)", according to local conditions of guidance and planning of Chinese herbal medicine production practice, promote Chinese herbal medicine industry poverty alleviation related work In this paper, based on the relevant data of poverty-stricken areas, this paper divides the areas with priority to the poverty alleviation conditions of Chinese herbal medicine industry, and analyzes and catalogs the list of Chinese herbal medicines grown in poverty-stricken areas at the macro level. The results show that there are at least 10% of the poor counties in the counties where the poverty-stricken counties and the concentrated areas are concentrated in the poverty-stricken areas. There is already a good base of Chinese herbal medicine industry, which is the key priority area for poverty alleviation of Chinese herbal medicine industry. Poverty-stricken counties, with a certain degree of development of Chinese medicine industry poverty alleviation conditions, the need to strengthen the relevant work to expand the foundation and capacity of Chinese herbal medicine industry poverty alleviation; 37% of poor counties to develop Chinese medicine

Efficacy of a food supplement in patients with hashimoto thyroiditis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nordio, M; Basciani, S

2015-01-01

Thyroid inflammation has been commonly seen in recent decades, due to a series of factors and is considered as the most frequent thyroid illness. It is characterized by some distinctive traits, which include morphological and hormonal modifications, often in association with an elevated anti-thyroid autoantibody title. The aim of the therapy is to improve symptoms as fast as possible, treating inflammation and subsequent hypothyroidism, when present. Therefore, we evaluated the efficacy of a Food Supplement (FS) containing enzymes which is commonly used in various inflammatory processes and is able to modulate immune reactions during inflammation in a very rapid and efficacious way. An open, controlled study was then designed and 45 patients with Hashimoto thyroiditis were enrolled and divided into 3 groups (FS alone; thyroid hormones alone; FS plus thyroid hormones). Blood, morphological and subjective parameters were considered. The results obtained indicate that the FS used in our study is efficacious and safe when used alone and/or in combination with thyroid hormones in the treatment of autoimmune thyroiditis, as documented by the improvement of the majority of the parameters considered. The efficacy was considered faster than thyroid hormones alone as far as subjective symptomatology is considered. In conclusion, the use of the food supplement evaluated herein during inflammation may be considered an additional tool in clinicians’ hands, when facing patients with autoimmune thyroiditis, especially in presence of subjective symptomatology, in order to rapidly alleviate it.

Effect of spirulina food supplement on blood morphological parameters, biochemical composition and on the immune function of sportsmen

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K Milasius

2009-07-01

Full Text Available Of highest biological value are natural concentrates of optimally combined substances produced by nature. One of food supplements of this kind is dietary Spirulina produced by the Tianshi firm (China. It is a most rationally balanced food supplement of a high biological value; it satisfies the needs of the whole body, including its immune system. The aim of the current work was to assess the effect of the multicomponent natural food supplement Spirulina on the physical development, blood morphological, biochemical picture and immune function of sportsmen. Materials and Methods: The study cohort comprised 12 high performance sportsmen (age 20-22 years. They were using tablets of Spirulina, a dietary product for 14 days. Physical development was determined with the aid of standard methods. The general blood picture was analyzed with the aid of a Micros-60 hematological analyzer (company ABX DIAGNOSTICS, France. Lymphocytes and their subsets were analysed by flow cytometery (FACSCalibur, Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems (BDIS, USA and the absolute and percentage values were calculated. To evaluate immune function lymphocyte blasttransformation response to mitogens was studied. Results: Investigations carried out on endurance-training sportsmen showed that a 14-d administration of Spirulina exerted a positive effect on blood morphological composition indices and its biochemical changes. The results of our study confirm the positive effect of Spirulina food supplement on the quantitative parameters of immune system. Part of the study cohort after weeks showed a tendency of normalizing CD3 , CD3 CD4 lympocite count: positive changes were still present two weeks following the interruption of Spirulina intake

Herbal Medicine - Multiple Languages

Science.gov (United States)

... Are Here: Home → Multiple Languages → All Health Topics → Herbal Medicine URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/languages/ ... V W XYZ List of All Topics All Herbal Medicine - Multiple Languages To use the sharing features on ...

BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY OF APPLE JUICE ENRICHED BY HERBAL EXTRACTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Ivanišová

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Herbal phytochemicals have recently become an attractive subject for scientists in many different research areas. The aim of this study was to determine antioxidant activity, total polyphenol and flavonoid content of apple juice enriched by water herbal extracts. Secondary was to evaluate sensory characteristic of enriched apple juice. It was found that applications of water herbal extracts to apple juice increase antioxidant activities, and also total polyphenol and flavonoid content with compare to pure apple juice. The highest biological activities were detected in apple juice with addition of lemon balm (14.42 mg TEAC/L; 84.38 mg TEAC/L; 50.88 mg GAE/L; 36.26 μg QE/L, oregano (14.92 mg TEAC/L; 79.97 mg TEAC/L; 50.51 mg GAE/L; 31.02 μg QE/L and salvia (8.40 mg TEAC/L; 30.40 mg TEAC/L; 23.33 mg GAE/L; 27.67 μg QE/L water extract. Sensorial analysis of samples showed, that enriched juices had better properties for evaluators with compared to pure juice. The aim of this study was also to mention the potential use of medicinal herbs in food industry, because plant bioactive compounds can play an important role in preventing cardiovascular diseases, cancers and reduction inflammatory action.

Enhanced Microbial, Functional and Sensory Properties of Herbal Yogurt Fermented with Korean Traditional Plant Extracts

Science.gov (United States)

Joung, Jae Yeon; Lee, Ji Young; Ha, Young Sik; Shin, Yong Kook; Kim, Younghoon; Kim, Sae Hun; Oh, Nam Su

2016-01-01

This study evaluated the effects of two Korean traditional plant extracts (Diospyros kaki THUNB. leaf; DK, and Nelumbo nucifera leaf; NN) on the fermentation, functional and sensory properties of herbal yogurts. Compared to control fermentation, all plant extracts increased acidification rate and reduced the time to complete fermentation (pH 4.5). Supplementation of plant extracts and storage time were found to influence the characteristics of the yogurts, contributing to increased viability of starter culture and phenolic compounds. In particular, the increase in the counts of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus was highest (2.95 and 1.14 Log CFU/mL respectively) in DK yogurt. Furthermore, supplementation of the plant extracts significantly influenced to increase the antioxidant activity and water holding capacity and to produce volatile compounds. The higher antioxidant activity and water holding capacity were observed in NN yogurt than DK yogurt. Moreover, all of the sensory characteristics were altered by the addition of plant extracts. Addition of plant extracts increased the scores related to flavor, taste, and texture from plain yogurt without a plant extract, as a result of volatile compounds analysis. Thus, the overall preference was increased by plant extracts. Consequently, supplementation of DK and NN extracts in yogurt enhanced the antioxidant activity and physical property, moreover increased the acceptability of yogurt. These findings demonstrate the possibility of using plant extracts as a functional ingredient in the manufacture of herbal yogurt. PMID:27499669

Enhanced Microbial, Functional and Sensory Properties of Herbal Yogurt Fermented with Korean Traditional Plant Extracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Joung, Jae Yeon; Lee, Ji Young; Ha, Young Sik; Shin, Yong Kook; Kim, Younghoon; Kim, Sae Hun; Oh, Nam Su

2016-01-01

This study evaluated the effects of two Korean traditional plant extracts (Diospyros kaki THUNB. leaf; DK, and Nelumbo nucifera leaf; NN) on the fermentation, functional and sensory properties of herbal yogurts. Compared to control fermentation, all plant extracts increased acidification rate and reduced the time to complete fermentation (pH 4.5). Supplementation of plant extracts and storage time were found to influence the characteristics of the yogurts, contributing to increased viability of starter culture and phenolic compounds. In particular, the increase in the counts of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus was highest (2.95 and 1.14 Log CFU/mL respectively) in DK yogurt. Furthermore, supplementation of the plant extracts significantly influenced to increase the antioxidant activity and water holding capacity and to produce volatile compounds. The higher antioxidant activity and water holding capacity were observed in NN yogurt than DK yogurt. Moreover, all of the sensory characteristics were altered by the addition of plant extracts. Addition of plant extracts increased the scores related to flavor, taste, and texture from plain yogurt without a plant extract, as a result of volatile compounds analysis. Thus, the overall preference was increased by plant extracts. Consequently, supplementation of DK and NN extracts in yogurt enhanced the antioxidant activity and physical property, moreover increased the acceptability of yogurt. These findings demonstrate the possibility of using plant extracts as a functional ingredient in the manufacture of herbal yogurt.

[Suggestions to strengthen quality management of herbal decoction pieces--based on production chain of herbal decoction pieces].

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yan; Nie, Qing; Chen, Jing

2015-08-01

With the development of society and the improvement of people's living standards, the effect of Chinese medicine in treatment and health care is more and more prominent. The herbal decoction pieces are the important part of Chinese medicine,it can be applied directly to clinical treatment and it's also the raw material of Chinese patent medicine. Therefore, the quality of herbal decoction pieces is quite important. The parts of the production of herbal decoction pieces are numerous, and there are possibilities of adverse effects on the quality of the herbal decoction pieces in every part. In this paper, we based on the production chain of herbal decoction pieces, analyzed the main problem that affect the quality of herbal decoction pieces in the part of selection of Chinese herbal medicines, planting, purchasing, processing, packaging, storage and transport, such as the poor quality of seed and seedlings of plant-based Chinese medicines, some plants left their place of origin and have been introduced in the place that is not suitable for this kind of plant, the insufficient growth time and the excessive harmful substances. The purchasers and the accepters lack of professional knowledge and professional ethics. The mechanism of processing is not clear, the standards can not be uniformed, and lack of qualified person in processing, etc. So we suggest: intensify the basic research of key scientific issues. Improve the quality of persons who work in herbal decoction pieces; Establish an "integration" mode of operation in herbal decoction pieces enterprise; Breeding high quality plant resources, establish the large-scale planting basement; Make the packing of herbal decoction pieces standard; Establish the modernization traditional Chinese medicine logistics enterprise.

Production of a high-nutritional-value functional food, the Update1 bread, with the supplementation of the wheat flour with high-protein-content raw food materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Csapó J.

2017-10-01

Full Text Available During our research, we added extracted soya bean meal, egg-white powder, gluten, wheat sourdough, and bamboo fibre to wheat flour in order to increase the quantity of the essential amino acid and the biological value of the wheat protein, producing such a functional, health-protecting, health-preservative food product which is suitable to satisfy the essential amino acid requirements of humans, assuming normal nutrition. Furthermore, we could produce such a food, which, on the one hand, was suitable to confine or prevent the essential amino acid’s malnutrition symptoms, while, on the other hand, when applied alone, to meet the consumers’ needs. During our work, we determined the protein content and amino acid composition of the wheat flour, of the additives used in bread baking, and in the bread both baked with supplementation (Update1 bread and without supplementation (normal bread, as well as the quantity of the Maillard reaction products (hydroxymethylfurfural. We calculated the biological value of the protein of different breads and evaluated the sensory characteristics of the produced functional food and the fortified bread, supplemented with high essential-amino-acid-containing additives.

The effects of herbal medicine on epilepsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Wei; Ge, Tongtong; Pan, Zhenxiang; Leng, Yashu; Lv, Jiayin; Li, Bingjin

2017-07-18

Traditional herbal medicine plays a significant role in the treatment of epilepsy. Though herbal medicine is widely used in antiepileptic treatment, there is a lack of robust evidence for efficacy and toxicity of most herbs. Besides, the herbal medicine should be subject to evidence-based scrutiny. In this context, we present a review to introduce the effects of herbal medicine on epilepsy. However, hundreds of herbal medicines have been investigated in the available studies. Some commonly used herbal medicines for epilepsy have been listed in our study. The overwhelming majority of these data are based on animal experiments. The lack of clinical data places constraints on the clinical recommendation of herbal medicine. Our study may conduct further studies and provide some insight on the development of anti-epileptic drugs.

The effects of herbal medicine on epilepsy

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Zhenxiang; Leng, Yashu; Lv, Jiayin; Li, Bingjin

2017-01-01

Traditional herbal medicine plays a significant role in the treatment of epilepsy. Though herbal medicine is widely used in antiepileptic treatment, there is a lack of robust evidence for efficacy and toxicity of most herbs. Besides, the herbal medicine should be subject to evidence-based scrutiny. In this context, we present a review to introduce the effects of herbal medicine on epilepsy. However, hundreds of herbal medicines have been investigated in the available studies. Some commonly used herbal medicines for epilepsy have been listed in our study. The overwhelming majority of these data are based on animal experiments. The lack of clinical data places constraints on the clinical recommendation of herbal medicine. Our study may conduct further studies and provide some insight on the development of anti-epileptic drugs. PMID:28423368

Combined food and micronutrient supplements during pregnancy have limited impact on child blood pressure and kidney function in rural Bangladesh.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkesworth, Sophie; Wagatsuma, Yukiko; Kahn, Ashraf I; Hawlader, Mohammad D H; Fulford, Anthony J C; Arifeen, Shams-El; Persson, Lars-Åke; Moore, Sophie E

2013-05-01

Observational evidence suggests nutritional exposures during in utero development may have long-lasting consequences for health; data from interventions are scarce. Here, we present a trial follow-up study to assess the association between prenatal food and micronutrient supplementation and childhood blood pressure and kidney function. During the MINIMat Trial in rural Bangladesh, women were randomly assigned early in pregnancy to receive an early or later invitation to attend a food supplementation program and additionally to receive either iron and folate or multiple micronutrient tablets daily. The 3267 singleton birth individuals with measured anthropometry born during the trial were eligible for a follow-up study at 4.5 y old. A total of 77% of eligible individuals were recruited and blood pressure, kidney size by ultrasound, and glomerular filtration rate (GFR; calculated from plasma cystatin c) were assessed. In adjusted analysis, early invitation to food supplementation was associated with a 0.72-mm Hg [(95% CI: 0.16, 1.28); P = 0.01] lower childhood diastolic blood pressure and maternal MMS supplementation was associated with a marginally higher [0.87 mm Hg (95% CI: 0.18, 1.56); P = 0.01] childhood diastolic blood pressure. There was also some evidence that a supplement higher in iron was associated with a higher offspring GFR. No other effects of the food or micronutrient interventions were observed and there was no interaction between the interventions on the outcomes studied. These marginal associations and small effect sizes suggest limited public health importance in early childhood.

Restoration of the immune functions in aged mice by supplementation with a new herbal composition, HemoHIM.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hae-Ran; Jo, Sung-Kee; Jung, Uhee; Yee, Sung-Tae

2008-01-01

The effect of a new herbal composition, HemoHIM, on immune functions was examined in aged mice, in which various immune responses had been impaired. The composition HemoHIM was prepared by adding the ethanol-insoluble fraction to the total water extract of a mixture of three edible herbs, Angelica Radix, Cnidium Rhizoma and Paeonia Radix. Supplementation to the aged mice with HemoHIM restored the proliferative response and cytokine production of splenocytes with a response to ConA. Also, HemoHIM recovered the NK cell activity which had been impaired in the aged mice. Meanwhile aging is known to reduce the Th1-like function, but not the Th2-like function, resulting in a Th1/Th2 imbalance. HemoHIM restored the Th1/Th2 balance in the aged mice through enhanced IFN-gamma and IgG2a production, and conversely a reduced IL-4 and IgG1 production. It was found that one factor for the Th1/Th2 imbalance in the aged mice was a lower production of IL-12p70. However, HemoHIM restored the IL-12p70 production in the aged mice. These results suggested that HemoHIM was effective for the restoration of impaired immune functions of the aged mice and therefore could be a good recommendation for immune restoration in elderly humans. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Recent advances in herbal medicines treating Parkinson's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xu-Zhao; Zhang, Shuai-Nan; Liu, Shu-Min; Lu, Fang

2013-01-01

Herbal medicines have attracted considerable attention in recent years, which are used to treat Parkinson's disease (PD) in China based on traditional Chinese medicine or modern pharmacological theories. We summarized and analyzed the anti-Parkinsonian activities of herbal medicines and herbal formulations investigated in PD models and provide future references for basic and clinical investigations. All the herbal medicines and herbal formulations were tested on PD models in vitro and in vivo. The relevant compounds and herbal extracts with anti-Parkinsonian activities were included and analyzed according to their genera or pharmacological activities. A total of 38 herbal medicines and 11 herbal formulations were analyzed. The relevant compounds, herbal extracts and formulations were reported to be effective on PD models by modulating multiple key events or signaling pathways implicated in the pathogenesis of PD. The plant species of these herbal medicines belong to 24 genera and 18 families, such as Acanthopanax, Alpinia and Astragalus, etc. These herbal medicines can be an alternative and valuable source for anti-Parkinsonian drug discovery. The plant species in these genera and families may be the most promising candidates for further investigation and deserve further consideration in clinical trials. Active components in some of the herbal extracts and the compatibility law of herbal formulations remain to be further investigated. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

TRADITIONAL CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ZHU, YP; WOERDENBAG, HJ

1995-01-01

Herbal medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion, and massage and the three major constituent parts of traditional Chinese medicine. Although acupuncture is well known in many Western countries, Chinese herbal medicine, the mos important part of traditional Chinese medicine, is less well known in the

Liver injury caused by a herbal and dietary supplement: a case report

African Journals Online (AJOL)

We present a case of a previously healthy male admitted with acute hepatitis while using a body building supplement. An exhaustive laboratory workup for causes of hepatitis was unrevealing. He responded well to withdrawal of the supplement and a course of corticosteroids.

Review of existing experimental approaches for the clinical evaluation of the benefits of plant food supplements on cardiovascular function.

Science.gov (United States)

Meoni, Paolo; Restani, Patrizia; Mancama, Dalu T

2013-06-01

We conducted a survey of the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) PubMed database to identify methods most commonly used for the evaluation of the effect of plant food supplements on the cardiovascular system and their relevance to the regulatory status of these products. Particularly, our search strategy was aimed at the selection of studies concerning the clinical evaluation of the beneficial effects of the most commonly studied plant food supplements acting on the cardiovascular system. Following the screening of 3839 papers for inclusion criteria, 48 published reports were retained for this review. Most studies included in this review used a double blind controlled design, and evaluated the effect of plant food supplements on individuals affected by a disease of the cardiovascular system. The majority of the studies were found to be of low methodological quality on the Jadad scale, mainly because of inadequate reporting of adverse events and of patient withdrawals. In comparison, measures used for the evaluation of benefits included mostly cardiovascular risk factors as recommended in international guidelines and in accordance with principles laid down for the evaluation of health claims in food. The risk factors most frequently evaluated belonged to the category of "lipid function and levels", "heart function" and "blood pressure". For the absolute majority of the studies, the study period did not exceed one month. This review highlights critical factors to be considered in the design of studies evaluating the health effects of plant food supplements on the cardiovascular system. Between others, the inclusion of healthy individuals, better reporting and description of the characteristics of the product used could improve the quality and relevance of these studies.

Ecdysteroid-containing food supplements from Cyanotis arachnoidea on the European market: evidence for spinach product counterfeiting

Science.gov (United States)

Hunyadi, Attila; Herke, Ibolya; Lengyel, Katalin; Báthori, Mária; Kele, Zoltán; Simon, András; Tóth, Gábor; Szendrei, Kálmán

2016-12-01

Phytoecdysteroids like 20-hydroxyecdysone (“ecdysterone”) can exert a mild, non-hormonal anabolic/adaptogenic activity in mammals, and as such, are frequently used in food supplements. Spinach is well-known for its relatively low ecdysteroid content. Cyanotis arachnoidea, a plant native in China, is among the richest sources of phytoecdysteroids, and extracts of this plant are marketed in tons per year amounts via the internet at highly competitive prices. Here we report the investigation of a series of food supplements produced in Germany and claimed to contain spinach extracts. Twelve ecdysteroids including two new compounds were isolated and utilized as marker compounds. A comparative analysis of the products with Cyanotis and spinach extracts provides evidence that they were manufactured from Cyanotis extracts instead of spinach as stated. Based on the chromatographic fingerprints, 20-hydroxyecdysone 2- and 3-acetate are suggested as diagnostic markers for related quality control. This case appears to represent an unusual type of dietary supplement counterfeiting: undeclared extracts from alternative plants would supposedly ‘guarantee’ product efficacy.

A rapid ATR-FTIR spectroscopic method for detection of sibutramine adulteration in tea and coffee based on hierarchical cluster and principal component analyses.

Science.gov (United States)

Cebi, Nur; Yilmaz, Mustafa Tahsin; Sagdic, Osman

2017-08-15

Sibutramine may be illicitly included in herbal slimming foods and supplements marketed as "100% natural" to enhance weight loss. Considering public health and legal regulations, there is an urgent need for effective, rapid and reliable techniques to detect sibutramine in dietetic herbal foods, teas and dietary supplements. This research comprehensively explored, for the first time, detection of sibutramine in green tea, green coffee and mixed herbal tea using ATR-FTIR spectroscopic technique combined with chemometrics. Hierarchical cluster analysis and PCA principle component analysis techniques were employed in spectral range (2746-2656cm -1 ) for classification and discrimination through Euclidian distance and Ward's algorithm. Unadulterated and adulterated samples were classified and discriminated with respect to their sibutramine contents with perfect accuracy without any false prediction. The results suggest that existence of the active substance could be successfully determined at the levels in the range of 0.375-12mg in totally 1.75g of green tea, green coffee and mixed herbal tea by using FTIR-ATR technique combined with chemometrics. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in food supplements containing botanicals and other ingredients on the Dutch market

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martena, M.J.; Grutters, M.; Groot, de H.N.; Konings, E.J.M.; Rietjens, I.

2011-01-01

Food supplements can contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has defined 16 priority PAH that are both genotoxic and carcinogenic and identified eight priority PAH (PAH8) or four of these (PAH4) as good indicators of the toxicity and occurrence of

Study on effect of supplementing iron-fortified food to children athletes by nuclear analysis and blood analysis techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qian Qinfang; Sun Jianguo; Feng Weiyue

1996-01-01

The iron content in hair and blood for 37 children athletes who were supplemented with 0, 8 and 16 mg Fe/d, respectively, in the form of ferrous gluconate-containing chocolate for 3 months was determined before and after the supplement by INAA, SRXRF and blood analysis. The experimental results indicated that after the supplement of the iron-fortified food, the ferritin level in blood of the male athletes attained to normal and the iron content in hair was increased with the increasing level of supplement, but not in direct proportion. Most of the female athletes had similar results. It is suggested that supplement of 8 mg Fe/d to a child athlete may be adequate

The total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barikmo Ingrid

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A plant-based diet protects against chronic oxidative stress-related diseases. Dietary plants contain variable chemical families and amounts of antioxidants. It has been hypothesized that plant antioxidants may contribute to the beneficial health effects of dietary plants. Our objective was to develop a comprehensive food database consisting of the total antioxidant content of typical foods as well as other dietary items such as traditional medicine plants, herbs and spices and dietary supplements. This database is intended for use in a wide range of nutritional research, from in vitro and cell and animal studies, to clinical trials and nutritional epidemiological studies. Methods We procured samples from countries worldwide and assayed the samples for their total antioxidant content using a modified version of the FRAP assay. Results and sample information (such as country of origin, product and/or brand name were registered for each individual food sample and constitute the Antioxidant Food Table. Results The results demonstrate that there are several thousand-fold differences in antioxidant content of foods. Spices, herbs and supplements include the most antioxidant rich products in our study, some exceptionally high. Berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate, vegetables and products thereof constitute common foods and beverages with high antioxidant values. Conclusions This database is to our best knowledge the most comprehensive Antioxidant Food Database published and it shows that plant-based foods introduce significantly more antioxidants into human diet than non-plant foods. Because of the large variations observed between otherwise comparable food samples the study emphasizes the importance of using a comprehensive database combined with a detailed system for food registration in clinical and epidemiological studies. The present antioxidant database is therefore an essential research tool to further elucidate the potential

The total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background A plant-based diet protects against chronic oxidative stress-related diseases. Dietary plants contain variable chemical families and amounts of antioxidants. It has been hypothesized that plant antioxidants may contribute to the beneficial health effects of dietary plants. Our objective was to develop a comprehensive food database consisting of the total antioxidant content of typical foods as well as other dietary items such as traditional medicine plants, herbs and spices and dietary supplements. This database is intended for use in a wide range of nutritional research, from in vitro and cell and animal studies, to clinical trials and nutritional epidemiological studies. Methods We procured samples from countries worldwide and assayed the samples for their total antioxidant content using a modified version of the FRAP assay. Results and sample information (such as country of origin, product and/or brand name) were registered for each individual food sample and constitute the Antioxidant Food Table. Results The results demonstrate that there are several thousand-fold differences in antioxidant content of foods. Spices, herbs and supplements include the most antioxidant rich products in our study, some exceptionally high. Berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate, vegetables and products thereof constitute common foods and beverages with high antioxidant values. Conclusions This database is to our best knowledge the most comprehensive Antioxidant Food Database published and it shows that plant-based foods introduce significantly more antioxidants into human diet than non-plant foods. Because of the large variations observed between otherwise comparable food samples the study emphasizes the importance of using a comprehensive database combined with a detailed system for food registration in clinical and epidemiological studies. The present antioxidant database is therefore an essential research tool to further elucidate the potential health effects of

No Acute Effects of Choline Bitartrate Food Supplements on Memory in Healthy, Young, Human Adults

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lippelt, Dominique; van der Kint, Sander; van Herk, Kevin; Naber, M.

2016-01-01

Choline is a dietary component and precursor of acetylcholine, a crucial neurotransmitter for memory-related brain functions. In two double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over experiments, we investigated whether the food supplement choline bitartrate improved declarative memory and working memory

Phytotherapeutics: The Emerging Role of Intestinal and Hepatocellular Transporters in Drug Interactions with Botanical Supplements.

Science.gov (United States)

Murtaza, Ghulam; Ullah, Naveed; Mukhtar, Farah; Nawazish, Shamyla; Muneer, Saiqa

2017-10-21

In herbalism, botanical supplements are commonly believed to be safe remedies, however, botanical supplements and dietary ingredients interact with transport and metabolic processes, affecting drug disposition. Although a large number of studies have described that botanical supplements interfere with drug metabolism, the mode of their interaction with drug transport processes is not well described. Such interactions may result in serious undesired effects and changed drug efficacy, therefore, some studies on interaction between botanical supplement ingredients and drug transporters such as P-gp and OATPs are described here, suggesting that the interaction between botanical supplements and the drug transporters is clinically significant.

Interim relative potency factors for the toxicological risk assessment of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in food and herbal medicines.

Science.gov (United States)

Merz, Karl-Heinz; Schrenk, Dieter

2016-11-30

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are among the most potent natural toxins occurring in a broad spectrum of plant species from various families. Recently, findings of considerable contamination of teas/herbal infusions prepared from non-PA plants have been reported. These are obviously due to cross-contamination with minor amounts of PA plants and can affect both food and herbal medicines. Another source of human exposure is honey collected from PA plants. These findings illustrate the requirement for a comprehensive risk assessment of PAs, hampered by the enormous number of different PA congeners occurring in nature. Up to now, risk assessment is based on the carcinogenicity of certain PAs after chronic application to rats using the sum of detected PAs as dose metric. Because of the well-documented large structure-dependent differences between sub-groups of PA congeners with respect to their genotoxicity and (cyto)toxicity, however, this procedure is inadequate. Here we provide an overview of recent attempts to assess the risk of PA exposure and the available literature on the toxic effects and potencies of different congeners. Based on these considerations, we have derived interim Relative Potency (REP) factors for a number of abundant PAs suggesting a factor of 1.0 for cyclic di-esters and open-chain di-esters with 7S configuration, of 0.3 for mono-esters with 7S configuration, of 0.1 for open-chain di-esters with 7R configuration and of 0.01 for mono-esters with 7R configuration. For N-oxides we suggest to apply the REP factor of the corresponding PA. We are confident that the use of these values can provide a more scientific basis for PA risk assessment until a more detailed experimental analysis of the potencies of all relevant congeners can be carried out. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Gynaecomastia linked to the intake of a herbal supplement fortified with diethylstilbestrol

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Toorians, A.W.F.T.; Bovee, T.F.H.; Rooy, De J.; Stolker, L.A.A.M.; Hoogenboom, L.A.P.

2010-01-01

This study reports the findings of a supplement marketed on the Internet for prostate problems. The supplement was orally taken by a 60-year-old man with divergent hormonal levels and who was surgically treated for gynaecomastia: development of abnormally large mammary glands in males. The

Cost-effectiveness of food, supplement and environmental interventions to address malnutrition in residential aged care: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hugo, Cherie; Isenring, Elisabeth; Miller, Michelle; Marshall, Skye

2018-05-01

observational studies have shown that nutritional strategies to manage malnutrition may be cost-effective in aged care; but more robust economic data is needed to support and encourage translation to practice. Therefore, the aim of this systematic review is to compare the cost-effectiveness of implementing nutrition interventions targeting malnutrition in aged care homes versus usual care. residential aged care homes. systematic literature review of studies published between January 2000 and August 2017 across 10 electronic databases. Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and GRADE were used to evaluate the quality of the studies. eight included studies (3,098 studies initially screened) reported on 11 intervention groups, evaluating the effect of modifications to dining environment (n = 1), supplements (n = 5) and food-based interventions (n = 5). Interventions had a low cost of implementation (<£2.30/resident/day) and provided clinical improvement for a range of outcomes including weight, nutritional status and dietary intake. Supplements and food-based interventions further demonstrated a low cost per quality adjusted life year or unit of physical function improvement. GRADE assessment revealed the quality of the body of evidence that introducing malnutrition interventions, whether they be environmental, supplements or food-based, are cost-effective in aged care homes was low. this review suggests supplements and food-based nutrition interventions in the aged care setting are clinically effective, have a low cost of implementation and may be cost-effective at improving clinical outcomes associated with malnutrition. More studies using well-defined frameworks for economic analysis, stronger study designs with improved quality, along with validated malnutrition measures are needed to confirm and increase confidence with these findings.

Early prenatal food supplementation ameliorates the negative association of maternal stress with birth size in a randomised trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Frith, Amy L; Naved, Ruchira T; Persson, Lars Ake; Frongillo, Edward A

2015-10-01

Low birthweight increases the risk of infant mortality, morbidity and poor development. Maternal nutrition and stress influence birth size, but their combined effect is not known. We hypothesised that an early-invitation time to start a prenatal food supplementation programme could reduce the negative influence of prenatal maternal stress on birth size, and that effect would differ by infant sex. A cohort of 1041 pregnant women, who had delivered an infant, June 2003-March 2004, was sampled from among 3267 in the randomised controlled trial, Maternal Infant Nutritional Interventions Matlab, conducted in Matlab, Bangladesh. At 8 weeks gestation, women were randomly assigned an invitation to start food supplements (2.5 MJ d(-1) ; 6 days a week) either early (∼9 weeks gestation; early-invitation group) or at usual start time for the governmental programme (∼20 weeks gestation; usual-invitation group). Morning concentration of cortisol was measured from one saliva sample/woman at 28-32 weeks gestation to assess stress. Birth-size measurements for 90% of infants were collected within 4 days of birth. In a general linear model, there was an interaction between invitation time to start the food supplementation programme and cortisol with birthweight, length and head circumference of male infants, but not female infants. Among the usual-invitation group only, male infants whose mothers had higher prenatal cortisol weighed less than those whose mothers had lower prenatal cortisol. Prenatal food supplementation programmes that begin first trimester may support greater birth size of male infants despite high maternal stress where low birthweight is a public health concern. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Intake of selected nutrients from foods, from fortification and from supplements in various European countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Flynn, A; Hirvonen, T; Mensik, GBM

2009-01-01

and evaluate recently available data on intakes of selected vitamins and minerals from conventional foods, food supplements and fortified foods in adults and children. Intake of calcium, copper, iodine, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, zinc, folic acid, niacin and total vitamin A/retinol, B6, D and E...... is generally higher in children than in adults. Conclusion: The risk of excessive intakes is relatively low for the majority of nutrients with a few exceptions. Children are the most vulnerable group as they are more likely to exhibit high intakes relative to the UL. There is a need to develop improved methods...

Dietary Supplements: What You Need to Know

Science.gov (United States)

... Food Home Food Resources for You Consumers Dietary Supplements: What You Need to Know Share Tweet Linkedin ... and nutrients you personally need. What are dietary supplements? Dietary supplements include such ingredients as vitamins, minerals, ...

Oral leucine supplementation is sensed by the brain but neither reduces food intake nor induces an anorectic pattern of gene expression in the hypothalamus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thais T Zampieri

Full Text Available Leucine activates the intracellular mammalian target of the rapamycin (mTOR pathway, and hypothalamic mTOR signaling regulates food intake. Although central infusion of leucine reduces food intake, it is still uncertain whether oral leucine supplementation is able to affect the hypothalamic circuits that control energy balance. We observed increased phosphorylation of p70s6k in the mouse hypothalamus after an acute oral gavage of leucine. We then assessed whether acute oral gavage of leucine induces the activation of neurons in several hypothalamic nuclei and in the brainstem. Leucine did not induce the expression of Fos in hypothalamic nuclei, but it increased the number of Fos-immunoreactive neurons in the area postrema. In addition, oral gavage of leucine acutely increased the 24 h food intake of mice. Nonetheless, chronic leucine supplementation in the drinking water did not change the food intake and the weight gain of ob/ob mice and of wild-type mice consuming a low- or a high-fat diet. We assessed the hypothalamic gene expression and observed that leucine supplementation increased the expression of enzymes (BCAT1, BCAT2 and BCKDK that metabolize branched-chain amino acids. Despite these effects, leucine supplementation did not induce an anorectic pattern of gene expression in the hypothalamus. In conclusion, our data show that the brain is able to sense oral leucine intake. However, the food intake is not modified by chronic oral leucine supplementation. These results question the possible efficacy of leucine supplementation as an appetite suppressant to treat obesity.

Review of Herbal Traditional Chinese Medicine for the Treatment of Diabetic Nephropathy

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Guang-dong Sun

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Diabetic nephropathy (DN is the most serious chronic complications of diabetes; 20–40% of diabetic patients develop into end stage renal disease (ESRD. However, exact pathogenesis of DN is not fully clear and we have great difficulties in curing DN; poor treatment of DN led to high chances of mortality worldwide. A lot of western medicines such as ACEI and ARB have been demonstrated to protect renal function of DN but are not enough to delay or retard the progression of DN; therefore, exploring exact and feasible drug is current research hotspot in medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM has been widely used to treat and control diabetes and its complications such as DN in a lot of scientific researches, which will give insights into the mechanism of DN, but they are not enough to reveal all the details. In this paper, we summarize the applications of herbal TCM preparations, single herbal TCM, and/or monomers from herbal TCM in the treatment of DN in the recent 10 years, depicting the renal protective effects and the corresponding mechanism, through which we shed light on the renal protective roles of TCM in DN with a particular focus on the molecular basis of the effect and provide a beneficial supplement to the drug therapy for DN.

Current status of herbal product: Regulatory overview

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Sanjay

2015-01-01

A review of the regulatory status of herbal drugs/products was done for few countries forming part of Asia, Africa, America, Europe, and Australia, to understand various categories under which the trade of herbal products is permitted and their premarketing requirements. A critical assessment was done, to know the hindrances in the process of harmonization of herbal products. It has been found that there is a lack of harmonization in the regulatory requirements of herbal products internationally, besides the issues of availability of herbs and their conservation. These are hindering the international trade and growth of the herbal products segment. PMID:26681886

Natural radioactive traces in food supplements (ergogenic) consumed by the public of the academies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scheibel, Viviane; Appoloni, Carlos R. [Universidade Estadual de Londrina (UEL), PR (Brazil). Dept. de Fisica], e-mail: scheibel@uel.br, e-mail: appoloni@uel.br; Pecequilo, Brigitte R.S. [Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares (IPEN/CNEN-SP), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil)], e-mail: brigitte@ipen.br

2009-07-01

The radioactive traces in food supplements (ergogenic) consumed mainly by the public of the academies were analyzed from the high-resolution gamma spectrometry. After researching in academies of Londrina-PR and Sao Paulo-SP about the main supplements used to increase the performance and muscle hypertrophy, it was decided to examine the three higher consumption of supplements, which were: whey protein, albumin and BCAA (Branched-Chain Amino Acids), the last for branched-chain amino acids for athletes. For each of these supplements have been tested three brands that have the largest sales. The measurements were performed at the Laboratory of Environmental Radiometry, of the Radiation Metrology Center located on the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN-SP). The samples were measured by HPGe detector with beryllium window, model GX2520 Xtra, 25% relative efficiency and effective resolution of 1.85 keV for the energy of 1.33 MeV of {sup 60}Co. The {sup 40}K showed the highest levels of activity for all samples, ranging between 125 {+-} 5 and 270.1 {+-} 9.5 Bq/kg, with the exception of BCAA supplementation, which showed no such radionuclide. The radioactivity present in all analyzed supplement was within the international limits, allowing concluding that consumption of such goods pose no health risk derived from radiation. (author)

Natural radioactive traces in food supplements (ergogenic) consumed by the public of the academies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scheibel, Viviane; Appoloni, Carlos R.

2009-01-01

The radioactive traces in food supplements (ergogenic) consumed mainly by the public of the academies were analyzed from the high-resolution gamma spectrometry. After researching in academies of Londrina-PR and Sao Paulo-SP about the main supplements used to increase the performance and muscle hypertrophy, it was decided to examine the three higher consumption of supplements, which were: whey protein, albumin and BCAA (Branched-Chain Amino Acids), the last for branched-chain amino acids for athletes. For each of these supplements have been tested three brands that have the largest sales. The measurements were performed at the Laboratory of Environmental Radiometry, of the Radiation Metrology Center located on the Institute of Energy and Nuclear Research (IPEN-SP). The samples were measured by HPGe detector with beryllium window, model GX2520 Xtra, 25% relative efficiency and effective resolution of 1.85 keV for the energy of 1.33 MeV of 60 Co. The 40 K showed the highest levels of activity for all samples, ranging between 125 ± 5 and 270.1 ± 9.5 Bq/kg, with the exception of BCAA supplementation, which showed no such radionuclide. The radioactivity present in all analyzed supplement was within the international limits, allowing concluding that consumption of such goods pose no health risk derived from radiation. (author)

Potential risks associated with traditional herbal medicine use in cancer care: A study of Middle Eastern oncology health care professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Ben-Arye, Eran; Samuels, Noah; Goldstein, Lee Hilary; Mutafoglu, Kamer; Omran, Suha; Schiff, Elad; Charalambous, Haris; Dweikat, Tahani; Ghrayeb, Ibtisam; Bar-Sela, Gil; Turker, Ibrahim; Hassan, Azza; Hassan, Esmat; Saad, Bashar; Nimri, Omar; Kebudi, Rejin; Silbermann, Michael

2016-02-15

The authors assessed the use of herbal medicine by Middle Eastern patients with cancer, as reported by their oncology health care professionals (HCPs). Herbal products identified by the study HCPs were evaluated for potential negative effects. Oncology HCPs from 16 Middle Eastern countries received a 17-item questionnaire asking them to list 5 herbal products in use by their patients with cancer. A literature search (PubMed, Micromedex, AltMedDex, and the Natural Medicine Comprehensive Database) was conducted to identify safety-related concerns associated with the products listed. A total of 339 HCPs completed the study questionnaire (response rate of 80.3%), identifying 44 herbal and 3 nonherbal nutritional supplements. Safety-related concerns were associated with 29 products, including herb-drug interactions with altered pharmacodynamics (15 herbs), direct toxic effects (18 herbs), and increased in vitro response of cancer cells to chemotherapy (7 herbs). Herbal medicine use, which is prevalent in Middle Eastern countries, has several potentially negative effects that include direct toxic effects, negative interactions with anticancer drugs, and increased chemosensitivity of cancer cells, requiring a reduction in dose-density. Oncology HCPs working in countries in which herbal medicine use is prevalent need to better understand the implications of this practice. The presence of integrative physicians with training in complementary and traditional medicine can help patients and their HCPs reach an informed decision regarding the safety and effective use of these products. © 2015 American Cancer Society.

Chemometrics and chromatographic fingerprints to classify plant food supplements according to the content of regulated plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Deconinck, E; Sokeng Djiogo, C A; Courselle, P

2017-09-05

Plant food supplements are gaining popularity, resulting in a broader spectrum of available products and an increased consumption. Next to the problem of adulteration of these products with synthetic drugs the presence of regulated or toxic plants is an important issue, especially when the products are purchased from irregular sources. This paper focusses on this problem by using specific chromatographic fingerprints for five targeted plants and chemometric classification techniques in order to extract the important information from the fingerprints and determine the presence of the targeted plants in plant food supplements in an objective way. Two approaches were followed: (1) a multiclass model, (2) 2-class model for each of the targeted plants separately. For both approaches good classification models were obtained, especially when using SIMCA and PLS-DA. For each model, misclassification rates for the external test set of maximum one sample could be obtained. The models were applied to five real samples resulting in the identification of the correct plants, confirmed by mass spectrometry. Therefore chromatographic fingerprinting combined with chemometric modelling can be considered interesting to make a more objective decision on whether a regulated plant is present in a plant food supplement or not, especially when no mass spectrometry equipment is available. The results suggest also that the use of a battery of 2-class models to screen for several plants is the approach to be preferred. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Marketing complementary foods and supplements in Burkina Faso, Madagascar, and Vietnam: lessons learned from the Nutridev program.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruyeron, Olivier; Denizeau, Mirrdyn; Berger, Jacques; Trèche, Serge

2010-06-01

Sustainable approaches to improving infant and young child feeding are needed. The Nutridev program worked in Vietnam, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso to test different strategies to improve complementary feeding using fortified products sold to families. To review the experiences of programs producing and marketing fortified complementary foods and to report on the feasibility of local production and marketing of fortified complementary foods to increase usage of high-quality foods among children of low-income families in a self-sustaining manner. Project documents, surveys of mothers, and production and sales reports were reviewed. Nutridev experience in Vietnam, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso demonstrates that it is possible to produce affordable, high-quality complementary foods and supplements locally in developing countries. Strategies to make products readily available to the targeted population and to convince this population to consume them yielded mixed results, varying greatly based on the strategy utilized and the context in which it was implemented. In several contexts, the optimal approach appears to be strengthening the existing food distribution network to sell complementary foods and supplements, with the implementation of a temporary promotion and nutrition education network in partnership with local authorities (e.g., health services) to increase awareness among families about the fortified complementary food product and optimal feeding practices. In urban areas, where the density of the population is high, design and implementation of specific networks very close to consumers seems to be a good way to combine economic sustainability and good consumption levels.

Children with Special Health Care Needs, Supplemental Security Income, and Food Insecurity.

Science.gov (United States)

Rose-Jacobs, Ruth; Fiore, Jennifer Goodhart; de Cuba, Stephanie Ettinger; Black, Maureen; Cutts, Diana B; Coleman, Sharon M; Heeren, Timothy; Chilton, Mariana; Casey, Patrick; Cook, John; Frank, Deborah A

2016-01-01

To assess food insecurity in low-income households with young children with/without special health care needs (SHCN) and evaluate relationships between child Supplemental Security Income (SSI) receipt and food insecurity. A cross-sectional survey (2013-2015) of caregivers was conducted at 5 medical centers. Eligibility included index child age Children with Special Health Care Needs Screener, 18-item US Food Security Survey Module, household public assistance program participation, and child SSI receipt. Household and child food insecurity, each, were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression models. Of 6724 index children, 81.5% screened negative for SHCN, 14.8% positive for SHCN (no SSI), and 3.7% had SHCN and received SSI. After covariate control, households, with versus without a child with SHCN, were more likely to experience household (Adjusted odds ratios [AOR] 1.24, 95% confidence intervals [CI], 1.03-1.48) and child (AOR 1.35, 95% CI, 1.11-1.63) food insecurity. Among households with children with SHCN, those with children receiving, versus not receiving SSI, were more likely to report household (AOR 1.42, 95% CI, 0.97-2.09) but not child food insecurity. Low-income households with young children having SHCN are at risk for food insecurity, regardless of child SSI receipt and household participation in other public assistance programs. Policy recommendations include reevaluation of assistance programs' income and medical deduction criteria for households with children with SHCN to decrease the food insecurity risk faced by these children and their families.

Evaluation of effectiveness and safety of a herbal compound in primary insomnia symptoms and sleep disturbances not related to medical or psychiatric causes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Palmieri G

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Giancarlo Palmieri,1,2 Paola Contaldi,1 Giuseppe Fogliame1 1ANARDI Medical and Scientific Association, Scafati, Italy; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Niguarda Cà Granda Hospital, Milan, Italy Background and purpose: Sleep disturbances and related daytime activities impairment are common diseases nowadays. General practitioners are often the first health care professional asked to alleviate sleep disturbances and primary insomnia symptoms. Beyond a wide class of hypnotic drugs, botanicals can represent an alternative treatment for those kinds of symptoms. The scope of the present study is to evaluate safety and effectiveness of a herbal compound composed of valerian, hop, and jujube (Vagonotte® on primary insomnia symptoms and sleep disturbances not related to medical or psychiatric causes.Patients and methods: One hundred and twenty subjects with sleep disturbances symptoms were randomized in two branches of 60 persons each, receiving the herbal compound or placebo at dosage of two pills per day 30 minutes before their scheduled bedtime. All subjects were screened for precise items related to sleep quality and daytime activity at the beginning, after 10 days, and after 20 days of consecutive dietary supplement (or placebo consumption. The participants remained blind to group assignment until all of them completed the trial.Results: Sleep onset, numbers of nocturnal awakenings, and overall nocturnal slept time were assessed. A statistically significant difference between the two groups emerged. The group receiving the herbal compound showed a lower time of sleep onset compared to placebo group, the same result was obtained for total slept time and night awakenings frequency (p<0.001. Daily symptom improvement in subjects receiving the herbal compound showed significant reduction in tension and irritability, difficulty in concentration, and fatigue intensity, if compared to placebo scores (p<0.001. None of the 60 subjects in the verum group

Enhanced Microbial, Functional and Sensory Properties of Herbal Yogurt Fermented with Korean Traditional Plant Extracts

OpenAIRE

Joung, Jae Yeon; Lee, Ji Young; Ha, Young Sik; Shin, Yong Kook; Kim, Younghoon; Kim, Sae Hun; Oh, Nam Su

2016-01-01

This study evaluated the effects of two Korean traditional plant extracts (Diospyros kaki THUNB. leaf; DK, and Nelumbo nucifera leaf; NN) on the fermentation, functional and sensory properties of herbal yogurts. Compared to control fermentation, all plant extracts increased acidification rate and reduced the time to complete fermentation (pH 4.5). Supplementation of plant extracts and storage time were found to influence the characteristics of the yogurts, contributing to increased viability ...

Disintegration Test of Health Food Products Containing Ginkgo Biloba L. or Vitex Agnus-Castus L. in the Japanese Market

Science.gov (United States)

Sato-Masumoto, Naoko; Masada, Sayaka; Takahashi, Satoshi; Terasaki, Sachiko; Yokota, Yoichi; Hakamatsuka, Takashi; Goda, Yukihiro

2015-01-01

For many years now, a number of Western herbs have been widely used in health food products in Japan and as pharmaceuticals in Europe. There are few or no mandated criteria concerning the quality of these herbal health food products, thus clarification is warranted. Here, we performed disintegration tests of 26 pharmaceutical and health food products containing the Western herbs ginkgo leaf and chaste tree fruit, in accord with the Japanese Pharmacopoeia. All eight pharmaceutical herbal products found in the European market completely disintegrated within the defined test time, and 11 of the 18 tested herbal products distributed as health foods in Japan disintegrated. Among the incompatible products identified in the Pharmacopoeia test, some products remained intact after incubation in water for 60 min. To ensure the efficacy of Western herbal products sold as health food in Japan, quality control, including disintegration, is therefore recommended, even though these products are not regulated under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law. PMID:28930200

Disintegration Test of Health Food Products Containing Ginkgo Biloba L. or Vitex Agnus-Castus L. in the Japanese Market.

Science.gov (United States)

Sato-Masumoto, Naoko; Masada, Sayaka; Takahashi, Satoshi; Terasaki, Sachiko; Yokota, Yoichi; Hakamatsuka, Takashi; Goda, Yukihiro

2015-04-23

For many years now, a number of Western herbs have been widely used in health food products in Japan and as pharmaceuticals in Europe. There are few or no mandated criteria concerning the quality of these herbal health food products, thus clarification is warranted. Here, we performed disintegration tests of 26 pharmaceutical and health food products containing the Western herbs ginkgo leaf and chaste tree fruit, in accord with the Japanese Pharmacopoeia. All eight pharmaceutical herbal products found in the European market completely disintegrated within the defined test time, and 11 of the 18 tested herbal products distributed as health foods in Japan disintegrated. Among the incompatible products identified in the Pharmacopoeia test, some products remained intact after incubation in water for 60 min. To ensure the efficacy of Western herbal products sold as health food in Japan, quality control, including disintegration, is therefore recommended, even though these products are not regulated under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Law.

Bioavailability enhancers of herbal origin: An overview

Science.gov (United States)

Kesarwani, Kritika; Gupta, Rajiv

2013-01-01

Recently, the use of herbal medicines has been increased all over the world due to their therapeutic effects and fewer adverse effects as compared to the modern medicines. However, many herbal drugs and herbal extracts despite of their impressive in-vitro findings demonstrates less or negligible in-vivo activity due to their poor lipid solubility or improper molecular size, resulting in poor absorption and hence poor bioavailability. Nowadays with the advancement in the technology, novel drug delivery systems open the door towards the development of enhancing bioavailability of herbal drug delivery systems. For last one decade many novel carriers such as liposomes, microspheres, nanoparticles, transferosomes, ethosomes, lipid based systems etc. have been reported for successful modified delivery of various herbal drugs. Many herbal compounds including quercetin, genistein, naringin, sinomenine, piperine, glycyrrhizin and nitrile glycoside have demonstrated capability to enhance the bioavailability. The objective of this review is to summarize various available novel drug delivery technologies which have been developed for delivery of drugs (herbal), and to achieve better therapeutic response. An attempt has also been made to compile a profile on bioavailability enhancers of herbal origin with the mechanism of action (wherever reported) and studies on improvement in drug bioavailability, exhibited particularly by natural compounds. PMID:23620848

Determination of methanol in Iranian herbal distillates.

Science.gov (United States)

Shirani, Kobra; Hassani, Faezeh Vahdati; Azar-Khiavi, Kamal Razavi; Moghaddam, Zohreh Samie; Karimi, Gholamreza

2016-06-01

Herbal distillates have been used as beverages, for flavoring, or as phytomedicines in many countries for a long time. Recently, the occurrence of blindness after drinking herbal distillates has created concerns in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations of methanol in herbal distillates produced in Iran. Eighty-four most commonly used herbal distillates purchased from herbal distillate factories were analyzed for methanol contents by gas chromatography and flame ionization detection, with ethanol as internal standard. In 15 herbal distillates, the methanol concentration was below the limit of quantitation. The methanol concentrations in all samples ranged from 43 to 277 mg/L. Forty-five samples contained methanol in excess of the Iranian standard. The maximum concentration was found in an herbal distillate of Mentha piperita (factory E) (277±12), and the minimum in a distillate of Carum carvi (factory B) (42.6 ± 0.5). Since the 45 Iranian herbal distillates containing methanol levels were beyond the legal limits according to the Iranian standard, it seems necessary to monitor the amount of methanol and give a warning to watch out for the latent risk problem of methanol uptake, and establish a definitive relationship between the degree of intoxication observed and the accumulation of methanol in the blood.

Marine microalgae used as food supplements and their implication in preventing cardiovascular diseases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mimouni Virginie

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Marine microalgae are photosynthetic microorganisms producing numerous bioactive molecules of interest for health and disease care such as lipids rich in omega-3 fatty acids -as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA, 20:5 n-3 and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6 n-3- and carotenoids (e.g., β-carotene, fucoxanthin, astaxanthin. It has already been shown that these molecules, individually used, are benefic in the prevention of diseases such as those associated with the cardiovascular risks, but also in some carcinomas. When these molecules are combined, synergistic effects may be observed. Microalgae, as a dietary supplement, can be used to study these synergistic effects in animal models in which dyslipidemia can be induced by a nutrition treatment. Different marine microalgae of interest are studied in this context to determine their potential effect as an alternative source to marine omega-3 rich fish oils, actually widely used for human health. Actually, the pharmaceutical and nutrition industries are developing health research programs involving microalgae, trying to limit the dramatic reduction of fish stocks and the associated pollution in the marine environment. The aim of this review is threefold: (1 to present research on lipids, particularly long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, as components of marine microalgae used as food supplements; (2 to present the health benefits of some microalgae or their extracts, in particular in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and (3 to highlight the role of Odontella aurita, a marine microalga rich in EPA used as food supplement with the aim of preventing cardiovascular diseases.

Stable isotope aided evaluation of Community Nutrition Program: effect of food supplementation schemes on maternal and infant nutritional status

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sarr Cisse, Aita; Dossou, Nicole; Ndiaye, Mamadou

2002-01-01

The supplementation program of the community nutrition project (PNC) launched by the Senegalese Government in order to protect the most vulnerable groups (children and women) was evaluated. Using a stable isotope (deuterium), we assessed the effect of the PNC on breastmilk output, mother's body composition, and baby's growth at three months of lactation. Breastmilk triglycerides, lactose, protein, and zinc were also determined. Mothers who were supplemented more than 60 days during pregnancy showed a significant increase in fot- free mass as compared to those who were supplemented for less than 30 days (p= .03). Breastmilk output was not influenced by the supplementation, but breastmilk lactose, total protein, and zinc contents increased significantly (p < .01) in the supplemented mothers. Growth of the babies of the supplemented mothers was better than that of those whose mothers were not supplemented. It was concluded that the food supplementation had beneficial effects on both mothers' and babies' nutritional status depending on the onset of the supplementation.

Usage of Plant Food Supplements across Six European Countries: Findings from the PlantLIBRA Consumer Survey

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Garcia-Alvarez, Alicia; Egan, Bernadette; de Klein, Simone; Dima, Lorena; Maggi, Franco M.; Isoniemi, Merja; Ribas-Barba, Lourdes; Raats, Monique M.; Meissner, Eva Melanie; Badea, Mihaela; Bruno, Flavia; Salmenhaara, Maija; Milà-Villarroel, Raimon; Knaze, Viktoria; Hodgkins, Charo; Marculescu, Angela; Uusitalo, Liisa; Restani, Patrizia; Serra-Majem, Lluís

2014-01-01

Background The popularity of botanical products is on the rise in Europe, with consumers using them to complement their diets or to maintain health, and products are taken in many different forms (e.g. teas, juices, herbal medicinal products, plant food supplements (PFS)). However there is a scarcity of data on the usage of such products at European level. Objective To provide an overview of the characteristics and usage patterns of PFS consumers in six European countries. Design Data on PFS usage were collected in a cross-sectional, retrospective survey of PFS consumers using a bespoke frequency of PFS usage questionnaire. Subjects/setting A total sample of 2359 adult PFS consumers from Finland, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom. Data analyses Descriptive analyses were conducted, with all data stratified by gender, age, and country. Absolute frequencies, percentages and 95% confidence intervals are reported. Results Overall, an estimated 18.8% of screened survey respondents used at least one PFS. Characteristics of PFS consumers included being older, well-educated, never having smoked and self-reporting health status as “good or very good”. Across countries, 491 different botanicals were identified in the PFS products used, with Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo), Oenothera biennis (Evening primrose) and Cynara scolymus (Artichoke) being most frequently reported; the most popular dose forms were capsules and pills/tablets. Most consumers used one product and half of all users took single-botanical products. Some results varied across countries. Conclusions The PlantLIBRA consumer survey is unique in reporting on usage patterns of PFS consumers in six European countries. The survey highlights the complexity of measuring the intake of such products, particularly at pan-European level. Incorporating measures of the intake of botanicals in national dietary surveys would provide much-needed data for comprehensive risk and benefit assessments at the European

Usage of plant food supplements across six European countries: findings from the PlantLIBRA consumer survey.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alicia Garcia-Alvarez

Full Text Available The popularity of botanical products is on the rise in Europe, with consumers using them to complement their diets or to maintain health, and products are taken in many different forms (e.g. teas, juices, herbal medicinal products, plant food supplements (PFS. However there is a scarcity of data on the usage of such products at European level.To provide an overview of the characteristics and usage patterns of PFS consumers in six European countries.Data on PFS usage were collected in a cross-sectional, retrospective survey of PFS consumers using a bespoke frequency of PFS usage questionnaire.A total sample of 2359 adult PFS consumers from Finland, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom.Descriptive analyses were conducted, with all data stratified by gender, age, and country. Absolute frequencies, percentages and 95% confidence intervals are reported.Overall, an estimated 18.8% of screened survey respondents used at least one PFS. Characteristics of PFS consumers included being older, well-educated, never having smoked and self-reporting health status as "good or very good". Across countries, 491 different botanicals were identified in the PFS products used, with Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo, Oenothera biennis (Evening primrose and Cynara scolymus (Artichoke being most frequently reported; the most popular dose forms were capsules and pills/tablets. Most consumers used one product and half of all users took single-botanical products. Some results varied across countries.The PlantLIBRA consumer survey is unique in reporting on usage patterns of PFS consumers in six European countries. The survey highlights the complexity of measuring the intake of such products, particularly at pan-European level. Incorporating measures of the intake of botanicals in national dietary surveys would provide much-needed data for comprehensive risk and benefit assessments at the European level.

Matrix-derived combination effect and risk assessment for estragole from basil-containing plant food supplements (PFS)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berg, van den S.J.P.L.; Klaus, V.; Alhusainy, W.; Rietjens, I.

2013-01-01

Basil-containing plant food supplements (PFS) can contain estragole which can be metabolised into a genotoxic and carcinogenic 1'-sulfoxymetabolite. This study describes the inhibition of sulfotransferase (SULT)-mediated bioactivation of estragole by compounds present in basil-containing PFS.

Medicinal plants and finished marketed herbal products used in the treatment of malaria in the Ashanti region, Ghana.

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Komlaga, Gustav; Agyare, Christian; Dickson, Rita Akosua; Mensah, Merlin Lincoln Kwao; Annan, Kofi; Loiseau, Philippe M; Champy, Pierre

2015-08-22

Ethnobotanical survey was performed to document medicinal plants employed in the management of malaria in the Bosomtwe and Sekyere East Districts of the Ashanti Region (Ghana), in comparison with the plant ingredients in herbal antimalarial remedies registered by the Ghana Food and Drug Administration. Two hundred and three (203) herbalists from 33 communities within the two districts were interviewed on medicinal plants they use to manage malaria. A literature search was made to determine already documented plants. In addition, 23 finished marketed herbal products indicated for the management of malaria were identified and their labels examined to find out which of the plants mentioned in our survey were listed as ingredients and whether these products are in anyway regulated. Ninety-eight (98) species of plants were cited for the management of malaria. In comparison with literature citations, 12 (12.2%) species were reported for the management of malaria for the first time and 20 (20.4%) others for the first time in Ghana. Twenty-three (23) finished marketed herbal antimalarial products examined contained aerial or underground parts of 29 of the plants cited in our survey as ingredients. Twenty-two (22) of these products have been registered by the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority, four (4) of which were included in the recommended herbal medicine list for treating malaria in Ghana. This study provides new additions to the inventory of medicinal plants used for the management of malaria and reports the commercial availability and regulation of finished marketed labelled herbal products intended for the treatment of malaria in Ghana. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Glycaemic responses to liquid food supplements among three Asian ethnic groups.

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Tey, Siew Ling; Van Helvoort, Ardy; Henry, Christiani Jeyakumar

2016-12-01

A limited number of studies have compared the glycaemic index (GI) and glycaemic responses (GR) to solid foods between Caucasians and Asians. These studies have demonstrated that Asians have greater GI and GR values for solid foods than Caucasians. However, no study has compared the GI and GR to liquids among various Asian ethnic groups. A total of forty-eight males and females (16 Chinese, 16 Indians, and 16 Malay) took part in this randomised, crossover study. Glycaemic response to the reference food (glucose beverage) was measured on three occasions, and GR to three liquids were measured on one occasion each. Liquids with different macronutrient ratio's and carbohydrate types were chosen to be able to evaluate the response to products with different GIs. Blood glucose concentrations were measured in duplicate at baseline (-5 and 0 min) and once at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min after the commencement of beverage consumption. There were statistically significant differences in GI and GR between the three liquids (P Chinese vs. Indian vs. Malay). The GR for three different types of liquid nutritional supplements did not differ between the three main ethnic groups in Asia. It appears that the GI of liquid food derived from one Asian ethnicity can be applicable to other Asian populations.

Phytochemical profiles and antimicrobial activity of aromatic Malaysian herb extracts against food-borne pathogenic and food spoilage microorganisms.

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Aziman, Nurain; Abdullah, Noriham; Noor, Zainon Mohd; Kamarudin, Wan Saidatul Syida Wan; Zulkifli, Khairusy Syakirah

2014-04-01

Preliminary phytochemical and flavonoid compounds of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of 6 aromatic Malaysian herbs were screened and quantified using Reverse-Phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-HPLC). The herbal extracts were tested for their antimicrobial activity against 10 food-borne pathogenic and food spoilage microorganisms using disk diffusion assay. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC)/minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) of herbal extracts were determined. In the phytochemical screening process, both aqueous and ethanolic extracts of P. hydropiper exhibited presence of all 7 tested phytochemical compounds. Among all herbal extracts, the aqueous P. hydropiper and E. elatior extracts demonstrated the highest antibacterial activity against 7 tested Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with diameter ranging from 7.0 to 18.5 mm and 6.5 to 19 mm, respectively. The MIC values for aqueous and ethanolic extracts ranged from 18.75 to 175 mg/mL and 0.391 to 200 mg/mL, respectively while the MBC/MFC values for aqueous and ethanolic extracts ranged from 25 to 200 mg/mL and 3.125 to 50 mg/mL, respectively. Major types of bioactive compounds in aqueous P. hydropiper and E. elatior extracts were identified using RP-HPLC instrument. Flavonoids found in these plants were epi-catechin, quercetin, and kaempferol. The ability of aqueous Persicaria hydropiper (L.) H. Gross and Etlingera elatior (Jack) R.M. Sm. extracts to inhibit the growth of bacteria is an indication of its broad spectrum antimicrobial potential. Hence these herbal extracts may be used as natural preservative to improve the safety and shelf-life of food and pharmaceutical products. © 2014 Institute of Food Technologists®

Concurrent Use of Herbal and Orthodox Medicines among Residents of Tamale, Northern Ghana, Who Patronize Hospitals and Herbal Clinics

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Ibrahim, Mohammed; Ibrahim, Halimatu-Sadia; Habib, Rabiatu Hamisu; Gbedema, Stephen Yao

2018-01-01

Despite the development of more researched and formulated orthodox medicines, herbal medicines continue to be well patronized for persons across the world with some patrons concurrently using both forms, oblivious of the unwanted effects that may occur. Using a multistage sampling procedure, a semistructured questionnaire was used to collect data in April 2016 from 240 informants from three selected hospitals and three herbal clinics in Tamale, a city in northern Ghana. Using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, binary logistic regression was used to determine sociodemographic predictors of concurrent use of herbal and orthodox medicines. Orthodox medicines were the drug of choice for 54.2% and 49.2% of patrons of hospitals and herbal clinics, respectively. Also, 67.5% of herbal clinic patrons used orthodox medicines, while 25.0% of hospital attendees used herbal medications prior to their visit to the health facilities. Up to 17.9% of respondents concurrently used herbal and orthodox medicines for their prevailing ailment with age, less than 30 years being the only predictor of this habit (p = 0.015; 95% CI, 1.183–4.793; cOR = 2.4). All health professionals including those in herbal clinics should therefore be interested in the drug history of their clients. PMID:29743917

Herbal medicine use among urban residents in Lagos, Nigeria

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

Background Over three-quarter of the world's population is using herbal medicines with an increasing trend globally. Herbal medicines may be beneficial but are not completely harmless. This study aimed to assess the extent of use and the general knowledge of the benefits and safety of herbal medicines among urban residents in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods The study involved 388 participants recruited by cluster and random sampling techniques. Participants were interviewed with a structured open- and close-ended questionnaire. The information obtained comprises the demography and types of herbal medicines used by the respondents; indications for their use; the sources, benefits and adverse effects of the herbal medicines they used. Results A total of 12 herbal medicines (crude or refined) were used by the respondents, either alone or in combination with other herbal medicines. Herbal medicines were reportedly used by 259 (66.8%) respondents. 'Agbo jedi-jedi' (35%) was the most frequently used herbal medicine preparation, followed by 'agbo-iba' (27.5%) and Oroki herbal mixture® (9%). Family and friends had a marked influence on 78.4% of the respondents who used herbal medicine preparations. Herbal medicines were considered safe by half of the respondents despite 20.8% of those who experienced mild to moderate adverse effects. Conclusions Herbal medicine is popular among the respondents but they appear to be ignorant of its potential toxicities. It may be necessary to evaluate the safety, efficacy and quality of herbal medicines and their products through randomised clinical trial studies. Public enlightenment programme about safe use of herbal medicines may be necessary as a means of minimizing the potential adverse effects. PMID:22117933

Functional foods in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: olive leaf extract, turmeric and fenugreek, a qualitative review

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Julio Wainstein

2011-11-01

Full Text Available AbstractAlmost 30% of US residents ages 65 and older have diabetes. The cost of diabetes care was estimated at $174 billion in 2007, including $116 billion in additional medical costs, and $58 billion in reduced productivity. Globally, the estimated cost of diabetes care was $376 billion in 2010, representing 12% of health expenditures. Many individuals with diabetes make use of functional foods, nutritional supplements, and/or herbal remedies to manage their disease. The functional foods olive leaf extract, turmeric, and fenugreek are commonly used in traditional medicine systems to manage diabetes. All three of these functional foods have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties as well as specific insulin sensitizing qualities. In vitro studies offer proof of mechanism, and animal studies consistently show treatment efficacy for all three foods. The few human studies that have been conducted, however, use surrogate rather than clinical endpoints. The establishment of these and other functional foods as evidence based interventions for diabetes requires well designed, adequately powered, and randomized controlled pivotal trials with clinical endpoints.

HPTLC in Herbal Drug Quantification

Science.gov (United States)

Shinde, Devanand B.; Chavan, Machindra J.; Wakte, Pravin S.

For the past few decades, compounds from natural sources have been gaining importance because of the vast chemical diversity they offer. This has led to phenomenal increase in the demand for herbal medicines in the last two decades and need has been felt for ensuring the quality, safety, and efficacy of herbal drugs. Phytochemical evaluation is one of the tools for the quality assessment, which include preliminary phytochemical screening, chemoprofiling, and marker compound analysis using modern analytical techniques. High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) has been emerged as an important tool for the qualitative, semiquantitative, and quantitative phytochemical analysis of the herbal drugs and formulations. This includes developing TLC fingerprinting profiles and estimation of biomarkers. This review has an attempt to focus on the theoretical considerations of HPTLC and some examples of herbal drugs and formulations analyzed by HPTLC.

Predicting intentions to consume functional foods and supplements to offset memory loss using an adaptation of protection motivation theory

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cox, D.N.; Koster, A.; Russell, C.G.

2004-01-01

The widespread use of dietary supplements and so-called `functional foods¿ is thought to be partially motivated by self-control of health. However, whilst consumers want foods associated with well-being or disease prevention, they are unlikely to be willing to compromise on taste or technology. This

Biochemically Investigation of the Effects of Nettle Seed Herbal Mixture on Alcohol Damaged Liver

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A. ÇELİK

2014-06-01

Full Text Available It was experimentally investigated in this research how protective Nettle Seed Herbal Mixture is against ethanol which causes oxidative stress in rats and causes toxic effects in the liver with chronic use. 20 4-month-old female Wistar male rats were used in the study. All rats in the study were fed with normal pellet Mouse food during the experiment. 10 week application was done by dividing the rats into four equal groups. Application method is orally drinking method. First group is the control group. The second group is the alcohol group. This group was given 30% ethanol in order to cause chronic alcoholisms. The third group was the alcohol+ Nettle Seed Herbal Mixture group and the rats in this group were given liquid, which was 30% ethanol,+ Nettle Seed Herbal Mixture extract. Fourth group was Nettle Seed Herbal Mixture extract group and the rats in this group were given liquid, which was Nettle Seed Herbal Mixture extract. At the end of ten weeks, within the first 24 hours, blood species were obtained from the animals under anesthesia using appropriate techniques. Serum ALT and AST values of the obtained blood samples were studied by enzymatic methods in "Roche Cobas 6000" device.. Biochemically ALT and AST enzyme values and statistical analysis with SPSS programe were done. No significant difference was found between these four groups at the end of the analysis because p value was bigger than 0,005.

Acute effects of a weight loss supplement on resting metabolic rate ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In response to the increasing incidence of obesity, a large number of weight loss supplements (WLS) have become available that proclaim to stimulate weight loss and perceived energy. The purpose of the study was to examine a WLS containing caffeine blended with herbal extracts to elucidate the effects of the WLS on ...

Herbal medicines for children: an illusion of safety?

Science.gov (United States)

Tomassoni, A J; Simone, K

2001-04-01

Herbal medicaments are in common use. In general, the judicious use of carefully selected and prepared herbal medications seems to cause few adverse effects and may be beneficial. However, toxic effects of these products have been reported with increasing frequency. Infants and children may be even more susceptible to some of the adverse effects and toxicity of these products because of differences in physiology, immature metabolic enzyme systems, and dose per body weight. Although information promoting the use of herbal medicine is widespread, true evidence-based information about the efficacy and safety of herbal medications is limited. Although the most conservative approach is to recommend against use of herbal medicine until such evidence is available, some patients are not receptive to this approach. A reasonable approach for health care providers may be to follow such use closely, assist in herbal therapeutic decisions, and monitor for adverse effects and interactions. This manuscript discusses general concepts about herbal medicines, public health implications, and a framework for mechanisms of adverse effects from the use of botanicals. Adverse effects and toxicity of selected herbal products, including Chinese herbal medicines, are presented. The authors propose a risk reduction approach in which physicians actively seek information about the use of complementary or alternative medicine while taking medical histories.

The potential of three different PCR-related approaches for the authentication of mixtures of herbal substances and finished herbal medicinal products.

Science.gov (United States)

Doganay-Knapp, Kirsten; Orland, Annika; König, Gabriele M; Knöss, Werner

2018-04-01

Herbal substances and preparations thereof play an important role in healthcare systems worldwide. Due to the variety of these products regarding origin, composition and processing procedures, appropriate methodologies for quality assessment need to be considered. A majority of herbal substances is administered as multicomponent mixtures, especially in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine and ayurvedic medicine, but also in finished medicinal products. Quality assessment of complex mixtures of herbal substances with conventional methods is challenging. Thus, emphasis of the present work was directed on the development of complementary methods to elucidate the composition of mixtures of herbal substances and finished herbal medicinal products. An indispensable prerequisite for the safe and effective use of herbal medicines is the unequivocal authentication of the medicinal plants used therein. In this context, we investigated the potential of three different PCR-related methods in the characterization and authentication of herbal substances. A multiplex PCR assay and a quantitative PCR (qPCR) assay were established to analyze defined mixtures of the herbal substances Quercus cortex, Juglandis folium, Aristolochiae herba, Matricariae flos and Salviae miltiorrhizae radix et rhizoma and a finished herbal medicinal product. Furthermore, a standard cloning approach using universal primers targeting the ITS region was established in order to allow the investigation of herbal mixtures with unknown content. The cloning approach had some limitations regarding the detection/recovery of the components in defined mixtures of herbal substances, but the complementary use of two sets of universal primer pairs increased the detection of components out of the mixture. While the multiplex PCR did not retrace all components in the defined mixtures of herbal substances, the established qPCR resulted in simultaneous and specific detection of the five target sequences in all defined

75 FR 74063 - Supplemental Funding Under the Food and Drug Administration's Convener of Active Medical Product...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-30

... the program expansion including the availability of appropriate staff and sufficient funding. 4. The...] Supplemental Funding Under the Food and Drug Administration's Convener of Active Medical Product Surveillance... expansion of its Conference Cooperative Agreement Program (U13), awarded to the Engelberg Center for Health...

A Rare Case of Psychomotor Disturbances Linked to the Use of an Adulterated Dietary Supplement Containing Sibutramine.

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Shapira, Barak; Goldstein, Lee; Reshef, Amikam; Poperno, Alina

2016-01-01

Sibutramine, an oral anorexiant, is often found as an adulterant in various counterfeit herbal slimming products and dietary supplements. The use of sibutramine has been associated with various cardiovascular and psychiatric symptoms. Here, we report a rare case of psychomotor disturbances, in a patient with no previously diagnosed movement disorders. A 26-year-old woman developed abnormal behavior, visual hallucinations, hyperkinesia, facial flushing, and dizziness after taking a counterfeit dietary supplement which contained undeclared sibutramine and phenolphtalein. Laboratory work-up revealed microcytic anemia; leucopenia; and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein levels, and antistreptolysin O titer, but rheumatic fever was ruled out. After a neurologic examination, involuntary movements were classified as chorea. The psychiatric examination result was unremarkable. The patient responded well to haloperidol therapy. Body temperature, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and C-reactive protein levels eventually normalized. The patient was discharged. This is the first report we are aware of about a transient, chorea-like psychomotor movement disorder associated with sibutramine. Although the causal relationship between sibutramine and the patient's symptoms cannot be proven definitely, the temporal dimension does suggest sibutramine initiation and termination led to onset and resolution of symptoms, respectively. Furthermore, because of the widespread availability of adulterated food supplements containing sibutramine, physicians should be more aware of their implications for patients.

Yellow Oleander Seed, or "Codo de Fraile" (Thevetia spp.): A Review of Its Potential Toxicity as a Purported Weight-Loss Supplement.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Stuart, Armando; Rivera, José O

2018-05-04

The Dietary Supplements and Health Education Act (DSHEA), passed by the United States Congress in October of 1994, defines herbal products as nutritional supplements, not medications. This opened the market for diverse products made from plants, including teas, extracts, essential oils, and syrups. Mexico and the United States share an extensive border, where diverse herbal products are available to the public without a medical prescription. Research undertaken in the neighboring cities of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, USA, shows the use of herbs is higher in this border area compared to the rest of the United States. A portion of the population is still under the erroneous impression that "natural" products are completely safe to use and therefore lack side effects. We review the dangers of ingesting the toxic seed of Thevetia spp. (family Apocynaceae), commonly known as "yellow oleander" or "codo de fraile," misleadingly advertised on the Internet as an effective and safe dietary supplement for weight loss. Lack of proper quality control regarding herbs generates a great variability in the quantity and quality of the products' content. Herb-drug interactions occur between some herbal products and certain prescription pharmaceuticals. Certain herbs recently introduced into the U.S. market may not have been previously tested adequately for purity, safety, and efficacy. Due to the lack of reliable clinical data regarding the safe use of various herbal products currently available, the public should be made aware regarding the possible health hazards of using certain herbs for therapeutic purposes. The potentially fatal toxicity of yellow oleander seed is confirmed by cases reported from various countries, while the purported benefits of using it for weight loss have not been evaluated by any known clinical trials. For this reason, the use of yellow oleander seed as a dietary supplement should be avoided.

Long-term effects of food supplementation and psychosocial intervention on the physical growth of Colombian infants at risk of malnutrition.

Science.gov (United States)

Super, C M; Herrera, M G; Mora, J O

1990-02-01

280 Colombian infants at risk of malnutrition were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental groups formed by the presence/absence of 2 interventions: (1) food supplementation for the entire family, from mid-pregnancy until the target child was 3 years old, and (2) a twice-weekly home-visiting program to promote cognitive development, from birth until age 3. All families received free medical care and were studied prospectively. At 3 years of age, children who had received food supplementation averaged 2.6 cm and 642 grams larger than controls. Home visiting and supplementation together reduced the number of children with severe growth retardation. 3 years after intervention (age 6), supplementation effects remained. Children in the home visit condition had become larger than controls, by 1.7 cm and 448 grams. The interactive effect to reduce stunting was marginally significant at this age, and the overall distribution of scores was improved. Other results suggest that changes in family functioning as well as biological mechanisms account for the observed pattern of results.

Recent Advances in Antiepileptic Herbal Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Manchishi, Stephen M

2018-01-01

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders worldwide, with about 80 percent of cases thought to be in developing nations where it is mostly linked to superstition. The limited supply, high cost as well as low efficacy and adverse side effects of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) is a matter of major concern. Herbal medicine has always been traditionally part of treatment of epilepsy. Herbal medicines are generally well tolerated, with fewer side effects. To highlight some herbal extracts that have been studied for their anticonvulsant activity in animal models, literature search from PubMed and Science Direct, was performed. The keywords for the search consisted of combinations of the following terms: Herbal antiepileptic and/or anticonvulsant, botanicals + epilepsy. Literature published in the last five years was considered. Eighteen (18) anticonvulsant herbal agents are reported and discussed. Experiments mostly consisted of phenotypic screens in rodents, with little diversity in screening methods. In most experiments, the tested extracts prolonged the time to onset of seizures and decreased their duration. Most experimenters implicate potentiation of GABAergic activity as the mode of action of the extracts, even though some experimenters did not fully characterise the bioactive chemical composition of their extracts. Potential herbal remedies have shown positive results in animal models. It remains unclear how many make it into clinical trials and eventually making part of the AED list. More rigorous research, applying strict research methodology with uniform herbal combinations, as well as clinical studies are urgently needed. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

Conventional foods, followed by dietary supplements and fortified foods, are the key sources of vitamin D, vitamin B6, and selenium intake in Dutch participants of the NU-AGE study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Berendsen, Agnes A.M.; Lieshout, van Lilou E.L.M.; Heuvel, van den Ellen G.H.M.; Matthys, Christophe; Péter, Szabolcs; Groot, de Lisette C.P.G.M.

2016-01-01

With aging, energy needs decrease, necessitating a more nutrient-dense diet to meet nutritional needs. To bridge this gap, the use of nutrient-dense foods, fortified foods, and dietary supplements can be important. This observational study aims to describe current micronutrient intakes of Dutch

Micropropagation of herbal plants for mass production of in vitro plantlets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sobri Hussein; Rusli Ibrahim

2006-01-01

Malaysia herbal industry is considered to be one of the most dynamic enterprises with annual growth estimated at 20 % a year. The total import value of the medicinal and aromatic plants increased from RM 141 million in 1986 to RM 431 million in 1996. Species that have been identified in terms of current priority are Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali), Labisia pumila (Kacip Fatimah), Andrographis paniculata (Hempedu Bumi), Morinda citrifolia (Mengkudu), Centella asiatica (Pegaga), Orthosiphon aristatus (Misai Kucing) and Gynura procumbens (Sambung Nyawa). Herbal and medicinal plants have a larger pool of genetic resources for the production of compounds valuable to the industry and human well being such as in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and health food. The use of tissue culture technology has long been considered as an attractive solution to the problem of limited supply of raw materials for the industries. Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila) has been well known to increase female hormone, overcome tiredness and regain overall health. Misai Kucing (Orthosiphon aristatus) has proven to be active against kidney stones, high blood pressure, diabetes and gout and Sambung Nyawa (Gynura procumbens) is active against hypertension, diabetes and cancer. Tissue culture protocols had been optimized for the mass production of in vitro plantlets of these three selected herbal plants. (Author)

Micropropagation of herbal plants for mass production of in vitro plantlets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hussein, Sobri; Ibrahim, Rusli [Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research MINT, Bangi (Malaysia). Agrotechnology and Biosciences Div.

2006-09-15

Malaysia herbal industry is considered to be one of the most dynamic enterprises with annual growth estimated at 20 % a year. The total import value of the medicinal and aromatic plants increased from RM 141 million in 1986 to RM 431 million in 1996. Species that have been identified in terms of current priority are Eurycoma longifolia (Tongkat Ali), Labisia pumila (Kacip Fatimah), Andrographis paniculata (Hempedu Bumi), Morinda citrifolia (Mengkudu), Centella asiatica (Pegaga), Orthosiphon aristatus (Misai Kucing) and Gynura procumbens (Sambung Nyawa). Herbal and medicinal plants have a larger pool of genetic resources for the production of compounds valuable to the industry and human well being such as in pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and health food. The use of tissue culture technology has long been considered as an attractive solution to the problem of limited supply of raw materials for the industries. Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila) has been well known to increase female hormone, overcome tiredness and regain overall health. Misai Kucing (Orthosiphon aristatus) has proven to be active against kidney stones, high blood pressure, diabetes and gout and Sambung Nyawa (Gynura procumbens) is active against hypertension, diabetes and cancer. Tissue culture protocols had been optimized for the mass production of in vitro plantlets of these three selected herbal plants. (Author)

Impact of Food Rations and Supplements on Micronutrient Status by Trimester of Pregnancy: Cross-Sectional Studies in the Maela Refugee Camp in Thailand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wolfgang Stuetz

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Micronutrient fortified flour (MFF, supplementary food rations and micronutrient (MN supplements may prevent deficiencies among pregnant women. Objectives of cross-sectional surveys in 2004 (n = 533 and 2006 (n = 515 were to assess the impact of new food rations (flour, oil and supplements on MN status by trimester of pregnancy in the Maela refugee camp. Hemoglobin, iron status, zinc, retinol, β-carotene and tryptophan decreased, while α-/γ-tocopherol and 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF increased from first to third trimester. In 2006, mean zinc and α-tocopherol for each trimester was significantly higher than in 2004. The weeks of supplemented thiamine and folic acid were positively correlated with thiamine diphosphate (TDP and 5-MTHF, but not for ferrous sulfate as iron deficiency was observed in 38.5% of third-trimester women. Frequent consumption of fish paste and owning a garden or animal were associated with significantly higher iron status, retinol, β-carotene, and 5-MTHF. In conclusion, MFF and supplementary oil were most likely to explain improved zinc and α-tocopherol status, while thiamine and folate supplements ensured high TDP and 5-MTHF in late pregnancy. MN supplements, MN-rich staple food, small gardens, and programs to improve iron compliance are promising strategies to prevent MN deficiencies during pregnancy in vulnerable populations.

Traditional use and safety of herbal medicines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davyson de L. Moreira

Full Text Available In the European Union, traditional herbal medicines that are regarded as "acceptably safe, albeit not having a recognized level of efficacy" fit into a special category of drugs ("traditional herbal medicine products" for which requirements of non-clinical and clinical studies are less rigorous. A regulation proposal published by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance (Anvisa defines a similar drug category ("traditional phytotherapeutic products" for registration purposes. Regarding herbal medicines, both agencies seem to be lenient regarding proof of efficacy, and consider long-standing folk use as evidence of safety and a waiver of a thorough toxicological evaluation. Nonetheless, several herbal products and constituents with a long history of folk usage are suspected carcinogenic and/or hepatotoxic. Herbal products have also been shown to inhibit and/or induce drug-metabolizing enzymes. Since herbal medicines are often used in conjunction with conventional drugs, kinetic and clinical interactions are a cause for concern. A demonstration of the safety of herbal medicines for registration purposes should include at least in vitroand in vivogenotoxicity assays, long-term rodent carcinogenicity tests (for drugs intended to be continuously used for > 3 months or intermittently for > 6 months, reproductive and developmental toxicity studies (for drugs used by women of childbearing age, and investigation of the effects on drug-metabolizing enzymes.

ENHANCED ANAEROBIC DIGESTION OF FOOD WASTE BY SUPPLEMENTING TRACE ELEMENTS: ROLE OF SELENIUM (VI AND IRON (II

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Javkhlan eAriunbaatar

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the potential to enhance the anaerobic digestion of food waste FW by supplementing trace elements (Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, Mn, Cu, Se, and Mo individually as well as in cocktails. A series of batch experiments on the biomethane potential of synthetic food waste were performed with low (FW-A and high (FW-B trace element background concentrations prepared in, respectively, Delft (The Netherlands and Tampa (Florida, USA. The most effective trace elements for FW-A were Fe with an increase of 39.2 (± 0.6 % of biomethane production, followed by Se (34.1 ± 5.6 % increase, Ni (26.4 ± 0.2 % increase and Co (23.8 ± 0.2 % increase. For FW-B supplementing these trace elements did not result in enhancement of the biomethane production, except for Se. FW-B had a Se concentration of 1.3 (± 0. 5 µg/gTS, while it was below the detection limit for FW-A. Regardless of the FW source, Se resulted in 30 – 35% increase of biomethane production at a concentration range of 25-50 µg/L (0.32 – 0.63 µM. Volatile fatty acids analysis revealed that TE supplementation enhances their consumption, thus yielding a higher biomethane production. Moreover, additional experiments on sulfide inhibition showed the enhancing effects of trace elements on the anaerobic digestion of food waste were not related with sulfide toxicity, but with the enzymatic reactions and/or microbial biomass aggregation.

Investigation of targeted pyrrolizidine alkaloids in traditional Chinese medicines and selected herbal teas sourced in Ireland using LC-ESI-MS/MS.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, Caroline T; Gosetto, Francesca; Danaher, Martin; Sabatini, Stefano; Furey, Ambrose

2014-01-01

Publications linking hepatotoxicity to the use of herbal preparations are escalating. Herbal teas, traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) and dietary supplements have been shown to contain pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs). Acute PA toxicosis of the liver can result in sinusoidal-obstruction syndrome, also known as veno-occlusive disease (VOD). This paper describes a sensitive and robust method for the detection of targeted PAs and their N-oxides (PANOs) in herbal products (selected herbal teas and TCMs) sourced within Ireland. The sample preparation includes a simple acidic extraction with clean-up via solid-phase extraction (SPE). Sample extracts were accurately analysed by using LC-ESI-MS/MS applying for the first time a pentafluorophenyl (PFP) core-shell column to the chromatographic separation of PAs and PANOs. The method was validated for selectivity, taking into consideration matrix effects, specificity, linearity, precision and trueness. Limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantitation (LOQ) were quantified for all PAs and PANOs ranging from 0.4 to 1.9 µg kg⁻¹ and from 1.3 to 6.3 µg kg⁻¹, respectively. In this study 10 PAs and four PANOs were targeted because they are commercially available as reference standards. Therefore, this study can only report the levels of these PAs and PANOs analysed in the herbal teas and TCMs. The results reported represent the minimum levels of PAs and PANOs present in the samples analysed; commercially available herbal teas (n = 18) and TCMs (n = 54). A total of 50% herbal teas and 78% Chinese medicines tested positive for one or more PAs and/or PANOs included within this study, ranging from 10 to 1733 and from 13 to 3668 µg kg⁻¹, respectively.

Herbal medicine use among patients with chronic diseases.

Science.gov (United States)

Tulunay, Munevver; Aypak, Cenk; Yikilkan, Hulya; Gorpelioglu, Suleyman

2015-01-01

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is commonly used all over the world, and herbal medicines are the most preferred ways of CAM. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of herbal medicine use among patients with chronic diseases. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from April 2014 to December 2014 among patients who had been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT), and hyperlipidemia (HL) in Family Medicine Department of Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, in Ankara. A questionnaire about herbal drug use was applied by face to face interview to the participants. A total of 217 patients were included in this study. The mean age of the participants was 56.6 ± 9.7 years (55 male and 162 female). The rate of herbal medicine use was 29%. Herbal medicine use among female gender was significantly higher (P = 0.040). Conventional medication use was found to be lower among herbal medicine consumers. There was no relationship between herbal medicine use and type of chronic disease, living area, and occupation or education level. Most frequently used herbs were lemon (39.6%) and garlic (11.1%) for HT, cinnamon (12.7%) for DM, and walnut (6.3%) for HL. In this study, herbal medicine use was found to be higher among patients who had been diagnosed with chronic diseases. Therefore, physicians should be aware of herbal medicine usage of their patients and inform them about the effectivity and side effects of herbal medicines.

Chinese herbal medicines for hyperthyroidism.

Science.gov (United States)

Zen, X X; Yuan, Y; Liu, Y; Wu, T X; Han, S

2007-04-18

Hyperthyroidism is a disease in which excessive amounts of thyroid hormones circulate in the blood. Patients, among other things suffer from tachycardia, warm moist skin and raised body temperature. The treatment of hyperthyroidism includes symptom relief and therapy with antithyroid medications, radioiodine and thyroidectomy. Medicinal herbs are used alone or in combination with antithyroid agents to treat hyperthyroidism in China and some other countries. To assess the effects of Chinese herbal medicines for treating hyperthyroidism. Studies were obtained from computerised searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, the Chinese Biomedical Database. Randomised controlled trials comparing the effects of Chinese herbal medicines alone with Chinese herbal medicines combined with antithyroid drugs, radioiodine or both. Three authors interviewed authors of all potentially relevant studies by telephone to verify randomisation procedures. One author entered data into a data extraction form and another author verified the results of this procedure. Thirteen relevant trials with 1770 participants were included. All of them were of low quality. Fifty-two studies still need to be assessed because the original authors could not be interviewed. None of these trials analysed mortality, health related quality of life, economic outcomes or compliance. Compared to antithyroid drugs alone the results showed that Chinese herbal medicines combined with antithyroid drugs may offer benefits in lowering relapse rates, reducing the incidence of adverse effects, relieving symptoms, improving thyroid antibody status and thyroid function. Two trials investigated Chinese herbal medicine versus radioiodine and reported improvements in anxiety, tachycardia and heat intolerance. However, thyroid function - with the exception of restored thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) - was not significantly altered. The results suggest that traditional Chinese herbal medicines added to other routine

Integrating biomedical and herbal medicine in Ghana

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boateng, Millicent Addai; Danso-Appiah, Anthony; Turkson, Bernard Kofi

2016-01-01

Background: Over the past decade there has been growing interest in the use of herbal medicine both in developed and developing countries. Given the high proportion of patients using herbal medicine in Ghana, some health facilities have initiated implementation of herbal medicine as a component...... of their healthcare delivery. However, the extent to which herbal medicine has been integrated in Ghanaian health facilities, how integration is implemented and perceived by different stakeholders has not been documented. The study sought to explore these critical issues at the Kumasi South Hospital (KSH) and outline...... the definition, process and goals of integration were lacking, with respondents sharing different views about the purpose and value of integration of herbal medicine within public health facilities. Key informants were supportive of the initiative. Whilst biomedical health workers perceived the system...

Is the clinical relevance of drug-food and drug-herb interactions limited to grapefruit juice and Saint-John's Wort?

Science.gov (United States)

Mouly, Stéphane; Lloret-Linares, Célia; Sellier, Pierre-Olivier; Sene, Damien; Bergmann, J-F

2017-04-01

An interaction of drug with food, herbs, and dietary supplements is usually the consequence of a physical, chemical or physiologic relationship between a drug and a product consumed as food, nutritional supplement or over-the-counter medicinal plant. The current educational review aims at reminding to the prescribing physicians that the most clinically relevant drug-food interactions may not be strictly limited to those with grapefruit juice and with the Saint John's Wort herbal extract and may be responsible for changes in drug plasma concentrations, which in turn decrease efficacy or led to sometimes life-threatening toxicity. Common situations handled in clinical practice such as aging, concomitant medications, transplant recipients, patients with cancer, malnutrition, HIV infection and those receiving enteral or parenteral feeding may be at increased risk of drug-food or drug-herb interactions. Medications with narrow therapeutic index or potential life-threatening toxicity, e.g., the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioid analgesics, cardiovascular medications, warfarin, anticancer drugs and immunosuppressants may be at risk of significant drug-food interactions to occur. Despite the fact that considerable effort has been achieved to increase patient' and doctor's information and ability to anticipate their occurrence and consequences in clinical practice, a thorough and detailed health history and dietary recall are essential for identifying potential problems in order to optimize patient prescriptions and drug dosing on an individual basis as well as to increase the treatment risk/benefit ratio. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Herbal Medicine for Market Potential in Malaysia: An Overview

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shafii khamis

2014-01-01

Due to side effects of synthetic drugs, herbal products are rapidly gaining popularity in the world market. The global herbal market in 2010 was US$65 billion and is estimated to hit US$93 billion in 2015. The Malaysian herbal market is estimated to expand from RM7 billion in 2010 to about RM29 billion by 2020. Inspite of its rich biodiversity and well-practised knowledge of herbal medicine amongst its multi cultured population, the share of Malaysia in the global herbal market is very small and not up to the mark. The present article will deal with the measures to be adopted for global promotion of Malaysian herbal products. The scenario and perceptions of herbal medicine are discussed. (author)

An Evidence-Based Review of Fat Modifying Supplemental Weight Loss Products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Amy M. Egras

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. To review the literature on fat modifying dietary supplements commonly used for weight loss. Methods. Recently published randomized, placebo-controlled trials were identified in PubMed, MEDLINE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar using the search terms dietary supplement, herbal, weight loss, obesity, and individual supplement names. Discussion. Data for conjugated linoleic acid (CLA, Garcinia cambogia, chitosan, pyruvate, Irvingia gabonensis, and chia seed for weight loss were identified. CLA, chitosan, pyruvate, and Irvingia gabonensis appeared to be effective in weight loss via fat modifying mechanisms. However, the data on the use of these products is limited. Conclusion. Many obese people use dietary supplements for weight loss. To date, there is little clinical evidence to support their use. More data is necessary to determine the efficacy and safety of these supplements. Healthcare providers should assist patients in weighing the risks and benefits of dietary supplement use for weight loss.

Herbal medicine: biomolecular and clinical aspects

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Benzie, Iris F. F; Wachtel-Galor, Sissi

2011-01-01

.... With over 3,550 current references, the book highlights the role of herbal medicine in national health care while providing case studies of widely used herbal remedies and their effects on human...

Intake of Nutritional Supplements among People Exercising in Gyms in Beirut City

Science.gov (United States)

El Khoury, D.; Antoine-Jonville, S.

2012-01-01

The use of nutritional supplements among exercisers in gyms has been never investigated in the Middle East. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence intake of nutritional supplements and the potential influencing factors among people exercising in gyms in Beirut city. In this cross-sectional study, 512 exercisers, aged between 20 and 50 years, were randomly selected from gyms. The intake of nutritional supplements was reported among 36.3% (95% confidence interval 32.2–40.5) of participants, with a weak presence of medical supervision. Patterns of supplement use differed by gender and age. Men and younger exercisers were found to focus on supplements associated with performance enhancement and muscle building, while women and older exercisers were more concerned with health-promoting products such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. An appropriate dissemination of accurate and scientifically sound information regarding the benefits and side effects of nutritional supplements is highly recommended in the sports environment in Beirut city. PMID:22506105

Intake of Nutritional Supplements among People Exercising in Gyms in Beirut City.

Science.gov (United States)

El Khoury, D; Antoine-Jonville, S

2012-01-01

The use of nutritional supplements among exercisers in gyms has been never investigated in the Middle East. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence intake of nutritional supplements and the potential influencing factors among people exercising in gyms in Beirut city. In this cross-sectional study, 512 exercisers, aged between 20 and 50 years, were randomly selected from gyms. The intake of nutritional supplements was reported among 36.3% (95% confidence interval 32.2-40.5) of participants, with a weak presence of medical supervision. Patterns of supplement use differed by gender and age. Men and younger exercisers were found to focus on supplements associated with performance enhancement and muscle building, while women and older exercisers were more concerned with health-promoting products such as vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. An appropriate dissemination of accurate and scientifically sound information regarding the benefits and side effects of nutritional supplements is highly recommended in the sports environment in Beirut city.

Dietary aspects in fibromyalgia patients: results of a survey on food awareness, allergies, and nutritional supplementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Arranz, Laura-Isabel; Canela, Miguel-Ángel; Rafecas, Magda

2012-09-01

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a common disease that results in poor quality of life, causing widespread musculoskeletal pain and stiffness, fatigue, sleep disorders, and cognitive impairment among other symptoms. The lack of an effective treatment makes necessary a multidimensional management. FM patients usually seek, from different sources, information about possible benefits from foods, nutrients, or diets. Our objective was to investigate the dietary awareness, food allergies and/or intolerances (FAIs), and nutritional supplement (NS) consumption of FM patients. A questionnaire was prepared with six questions regarding dietary habits, FAIs, and NS use. The questionnaire was filled out by patients recruited in local fibromyalgia associations. One hundred and one women were suffering from FM, diagnosed for more than 6 months, mean age of 53.88 ± 7.78 years; 30% of them changed their diet because of their disease, trying to improve it, and most of them were also using some NS; 7% of women in this group had FAIs, a figure slightly higher than the FAI prevalence in the general population (2-5%) and positively associated with consumption of supplements. Among NS users, some differences were observed; past NS users currently consume a wider range of products, more than new NS users. Magnesium was one of the supplements most recommended specifically for FM. Seventy-four percentage of these patients used NS following advice from health professionals. Once patients are diagnosed, they change their dietary habits and nutritional supplement intake, seeking nutritional strategies to improve their symptoms. Health professionals' advice plays a relevant role.

Herbal Medicine for Xerostomia in Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Bongki; Noh, Hyeonseok; Choi, Dong-Jun

2018-06-01

Xerostomia (dry mouth) causes many clinical problems, including oral infections, speech difficulties, and impaired chewing and swallowing of food. Many cancer patients have complained of xerostomia induced by cancer therapy. The aim of this systematic review is to assess the efficacy of herbal medicine for the treatment of xerostomia in cancer patients. Randomized controlled trials investigating the use of herbal medicines to treat xerostomia in cancer patients were included. We searched the following 12 databases without restrictions on time or language. The risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Twenty-five randomized controlled trials involving 1586 patients met the inclusion criteria. A total of 24 formulas were examined in the included trials. Most of the included trials were insufficiently reported in the methodology section. Five formulas were shown to significantly improve the salivary flow rate compared to comparators. Regarding the grade of xerostomia, all formulas with the exception of a Dark Plum gargle solution with normal saline were significantly effective in reducing the severity of dry mouth. Adverse events were reported in 4 trials, and adverse effects of herbal medicine were reported in 3 trials. We found herbal medicines had potential benefits for improving salivary function and reducing the severity of dry mouth in cancer patients. However, methodological limitations and a relatively small sample size reduced the strength of the evidence. More high-quality trials reporting sufficient methodological data are warranted to enforce the strength of evidence regarding the effectiveness of herbal medicines.

Willingness-to-Pay for Lipid-Based Nutrient Supplements in Burkina Faso

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guissou, Rosemonde; Adams, Katherine; Xu Yingying; Vosti, Stephen; Hess, Sonja; Ouedraogo, Jean Bosco

2014-01-01

Full text: Supplementing young children’s diets with small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) is a promising strategy to prevent growth restriction and improve development. It is uncertain how best to scale up the distribution of SQ-LNS and both private and public approaches are being considered. This paper reports on the willingness-to-pay (WTP) by households in rural Burkina Faso for SQ-LNS designed to prevent childhood undernutrition. In a recent randomized controlled nutrition efficacy trial in the Dandé Health District in rural Burkina Faso, 20 g of SQ-LNS per day along with selected health care services have been shown to increase the linear growth and weight gain of children who received the supplement daily from 9-18 months of age. Given the frequency and duration of prescribed consumption of SQ-LNS (one sachet per day, per child) and inter-household differences in poverty, a hybrid distribution system that reaches target consumers through both public channels and retail markets may be recommended; the viability of the latter will hinge on demand. Therefore, policy makers will need to consider household-level demand for SQ-LNS and the factors that influence demand to guide decisions regarding the cost burden borne by recipients versus public sector programs. Using a contingent valuation approach, we solicited, at baseline and six months later, the hypothetical WTP for a daily dose of 20 g of SQ-LNS and a traditional substitute, herbal teas, from a subsample (N = 319) of households participating in the efficacy trial. WTP for SQ-LNS is positive for almost all households, but WTP for SQ-LNS is, on average, lower than WTP for herbal teas. At baseline, average WTP for a day’s supply of SQ-LNS is $0.22 (4th quarter 2011 USD), while average WTP for herbal teas is $0.28. Approximately six months later, average WTP for LNS and for herbal teas, respectively, are $0.21 and $0.25. These results suggest that while households do value SQ

Public Knowledge about Herbal Beverages in Penang, Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Munaver Nazir

2009-01-01

Full Text Available AIM OF STUDY:To explore public knowledge and perceptions of the efficacy, safety and reason to consume herbal beveragesincluding ginseng tea, gingko biloba tea and tongka ali tea.METHOD:This study was conducted in the state of Penang in June 2007. Participants were recruited at random;respondents were interviewed using a 19 item questionnaire. Non- parametric statistics was applied to analysethe data.RESULTS:Four hundred participants were recruited. Most of the respondents 228(57.0% were habitual consumers ofherbal beverages. 249(62.25% respondents believed that herbal beverages improved their health status.193(48.25% believed that herbal beverages boost the energy level of user and 120(30.0% used them toprevent diseases. 300(75% respondents agreed with the statement that herbal beverages are safe to use andthat they have less side effect than conventional medicines available on the market. Female respondents weremore likely to report using herbal beverages for slimming 78(19.5% and for cosmetic purposes 74(18.5%.However, the use of herbal beverages to boost energy levels was more frequent among male respondents.Respondents aged 18 – 25 years were significantly more likely to report the use of herbal beverages to preventcoughs and flu.CONCLUSION:This potentially ill advised and dangerous consumption of herbal beverages may delay appropriate help seekingfor various medical illnesses. In addition lack of knowledge about the side effects of herbal beverages may putusers at risk of side effects.

Heavy metal hazards of Nigerian herbal remedies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Obi, E.; Akunyili, Dora N.; Ekpo, B.; Orisakwe, Orish E.

2006-01-01

The uses of herbal products are not regulated in Nigeria and in many low-income countries and are freely available to everyone. The safety of these herbal medicines is poorly understood. This study characterizes the content of cadmium, copper, iron, nickel, selenium, zinc, lead and mercury in a random sample of Nigerian traditional products. Ready-to-use herbal products were purchased from the open market and digested using HNO 3 .The heavy metal content of the digested filtrate was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry Uni-cam Model 929. The result showed that 100% of the samples contained elevated amounts of heavy metals. These data alert us to the possibility of heavy metal toxicity from herbal products in Nigeria. The public health hazards from ingestion of herbal medicines should be identified and disclosed by in-depth risk assessment studies

Heavy metal hazards of Nigerian herbal remedies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Obi, E. [Toxicology Unit, Department of Pharmacology, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi (Nigeria); Akunyili, Dora N. [National Agency of Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Lagos (Nigeria); Ekpo, B. [Department of Biochemistry, College of Medical Sciences, Abia State University, Uturu (Nigeria); Orisakwe, Orish E. [Toxicology Unit, Department of Pharmacology, College of Health Sciences, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Nnewi (Nigeria)]. E-mail: eorish@yahoo.com

2006-10-01

The uses of herbal products are not regulated in Nigeria and in many low-income countries and are freely available to everyone. The safety of these herbal medicines is poorly understood. This study characterizes the content of cadmium, copper, iron, nickel, selenium, zinc, lead and mercury in a random sample of Nigerian traditional products. Ready-to-use herbal products were purchased from the open market and digested using HNO{sub 3}.The heavy metal content of the digested filtrate was determined by atomic absorption spectrometry Uni-cam Model 929. The result showed that 100% of the samples contained elevated amounts of heavy metals. These data alert us to the possibility of heavy metal toxicity from herbal products in Nigeria. The public health hazards from ingestion of herbal medicines should be identified and disclosed by in-depth risk assessment studies.

Antiulcerogenic benefits of herbal ingredients in ethanol-induced ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Antiulcerogenic benefits of herbal ingredients in ethanol-induced animal models. ... Although therapeutic approaches are widely available, preventive regimens are limited. Numerous studies have demonstrated that herbal ... gastric ulcer. Key words: Herbal Medicines, Gastric ulcer, Prevention, Animal models, Alcohol ...

A REVIEW ON MODIFICATION OF ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES IN HERBAL RESEARCH

OpenAIRE

Rathod Shobhen; Patel N.M; Patel P.M

2011-01-01

As the demand and commercial value of the Herbal Medicines is increasing tremendously, assurance of safety, quality and efficacy of medicinal plants and herbal products is becoming a crucial issue. The need of the hour is to develop a systematic approach and well-designed methodologies for the standardization of herbal raw materials and herbal formulations. Standardization methods should take into consideration all aspects contributing to the quality of the herbal drugs. Herbal Medicines are ...

Prevalence of Dietary Supplement Use in Patients with Proven or Suspected Cardiovascular Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yu Sun Bin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Systematic search of bibliographic databases was conducted to describe the prevalence of dietary supplement use in cardiac patients. Included for review were studies that investigated supplement use in people with cardiovascular risk factors or proven cardiovascular disease. Databases searched were Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, Meditext, H&S and IPA. Over five hundred articles were retrieved and twenty studies met the criteria for this review. Dietary supplements were taken by a median 36% (interquartile range: 26–42% of cardiac patients; 36% (IQR 18–43% reported taking a vitamin/mineral supplement and 12% (IQR 7–21% used herbal supplements. Many users indicated that supplements were taken specifically for heart health and 16–64% of users reported using supplements alongside prescription medications. However 39–95% of treating physicians were unaware of patients’ supplement use. Dietary supplement use in patients with cardiovascular disease appears common, as does the concurrent use of supplements with prescription medicines. This information is often not communicated to doctors and treating physicians may need to be more proactive in asking about supplement use.

Supplementation of herbal plants differently modulated metabolic profile, insulin sensitivity, and oxidative stress in transition dairy cows fed various extruded oil seeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Hashemzadeh-Cigari, F; Ghorbani, G R; Khorvash, M; Riasi, A; Taghizadeh, A; Zebeli, Q

2015-01-01

The study investigated the effects of a mixture of herbal plants (HM) and two sources of unsaturated fatty acids (FA), extruded linseed (LS) and soybean (SB), on metabolic profile, insulin sensitivity, and oxidative status of transition dairy cows. Thirty-two prepartum Holstein cows, blocked by parity and calving day, were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 treatments, in a 2×2 factorial design, starting from 25 days before the expected calving date to 26 days postpartum. The supplementation rates of HM were 150 and 170 g/animal/day at pre- and postpartum, respectively. Blood samples were analyzed for metabolites on day 7.15±1.70 prepartum and on days 1 and 21 postpartum. An intravenous glucose tolerance test (IV-GTT) was conducted on day 25 postpartum. Data showed that cows supplemented with HM had lower serum concentration of NEFA (0.395 vs. 0.602±0.044 mmol/L; Pinsulin ratio (Pcows fed the LS-based diet had greater serum glucose concentration during prepartum (80.7 vs. 71.3±3.32 mg/dL; P=0.06) and postpartum period (86.3 vs. 73.5±3.35 mg/dL; P=0.01), as well as lower NEFA (0.425 vs. 0.572±0.044 mmol/L; P=0.03) and insulin to glucose ratio (Pinsulin-sensitivity check index revealed that supplementing HM in LS-based diet improved insulin sensitivity (0.45 vs. 0.41±0.013; P=0.03) prepartum, whereas after parturition, the HM addition was effective for both oil seeds (0.40 vs. 0.37±0.008; P=0.06) in enhancing insulin sensitivity. Result of IV-GTT indicated that cows fed LS-based diets had higher basal glucose concentration (63.7 vs. 55.7±2.37; mg/dL; P=0.02) and lower glucose area under the curve (995.8 vs. 1529.5±100.7; mg/dL×45 min; Pinsulin resistance, this feeding strategy lowered total antioxidant capacity prepartum (0. 48 vs. 0.55±0.017 nmol/L; Pinsulin response following glucose infusion, although feeding of LS-based diets induced an increased oxidative stress. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Use of Nutrition Supplements for the Elderly

OpenAIRE

Tenglerová, Dana

2014-01-01

The primary goal of my thesis was to describe the use of food supplements by seniors. Most seniors use medications prescribed by physicians and some of them also use over-the-counter food supplements that are more easily accessible. Seniors, in particular, are susceptible to considering food supplements to be as efficient as medications under the incessant influence of massive advertising on TV and other media, and many of them are willing to spend considerable amounts from their income on su...

Herbal infusions of black seed and wheat germ oil: Their chemical profiles, in vitro bio-investigations and effective formulations as Phyto-Nanoemulsions.

Science.gov (United States)

Gumus, Z Pinar; Guler, Emine; Demir, Bilal; Barlas, F Baris; Yavuz, Murat; Colpankan, Dilara; Senisik, A Murat; Teksoz, Serap; Unak, Perihan; Coskunol, Hakan; Timur, Suna

2015-09-01

The reported studies related to black seed oil (BSO) and wheat germ oil (WGO) have illustrated that they have a wide range of biological activities. Therefore, enhancing the amount of bio-active compounds that caused higher cell based anti-oxidative effect as well as cell proliferation, etc. in seed oils, infusion of crude plant material has been gained importance as a traditional technique. Herein, we accomplished the infusion of Calendula flowers that also contains many phyto-constituents into BSO and WGO. After the infusion of oils, the change of phytochemical amount was investigated and evaluated according to the oils by chromatography, radical scavenging activity. Subsequently, for investigating the biological impact upon live cells, cytotoxicity, cell-based antioxidant capacity, wound healing and radioprotective activity were tested with monkey kidney fibroblast like cells (Vero) and HaCaT keratinocytes. In vitro cell based experiments (wound healing and radioprotective activity) confirmed that Calendula infused BSO and WGO have greater bio-activity when compared to those plain forms. The herbal oils prepared with an effective extraction technique were incorporated into nanoemulsion systems which will be then called as 'Phyto-Nanoemulsion'. After herbal oil biomolecules were encapsulated into nanoemulsion based delivery systems, the designed formulations were investigated in terms of biological activities. In conclusion, these preparations could be a good candidate as a part of dermal cosmetic products or food supplements which have the therapeutic efficiency, especially after radio- or chemotherapy. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Efficacy, safety, quality control, marketing and regulatory guidelines for herbal medicines (phytotherapeutic agents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.B. Calixto

2000-02-01

Full Text Available This review highlights the current advances in knowledge about the safety, efficacy, quality control, marketing and regulatory aspects of botanical medicines. Phytotherapeutic agents are standardized herbal preparations consisting of complex mixtures of one or more plants which contain as active ingredients plant parts or plant material in the crude or processed state. A marked growth in the worldwide phytotherapeutic market has occurred over the last 15 years. For the European and USA markets alone, this will reach about $7 billion and $5 billion per annum, respectively, in 1999, and has thus attracted the interest of most large pharmaceutical companies. Insufficient data exist for most plants to guarantee their quality, efficacy and safety. The idea that herbal drugs are safe and free from side effects is false. Plants contain hundreds of constituents and some of them are very toxic, such as the most cytotoxic anti-cancer plant-derived drugs, digitalis and the pyrrolizidine alkaloids, etc. However, the adverse effects of phytotherapeutic agents are less frequent compared with synthetic drugs, but well-controlled clinical trials have now confirmed that such effects really exist. Several regulatory models for herbal medicines are currently available including prescription drugs, over-the-counter substances, traditional medicines and dietary supplements. Harmonization and improvement in the processes of regulation is needed, and the general tendency is to perpetuate the German Commission E experience, which combines scientific studies and traditional knowledge (monographs. Finally, the trend in the domestication, production and biotechnological studies and genetic improvement of medicinal plants, instead of the use of plants harvested in the wild, will offer great advantages, since it will be possible to obtain uniform and high quality raw materials which are fundamental to the efficacy and safety of herbal drugs.

Analysis of Marketing Strategy for Food Supplements and Over-The-Counter Medicines.

Science.gov (United States)

Dzeparoski, Marjan; Trajkovic-Jolevska, Suzana

2016-09-15

Marketing strategy is correlated with the regulations for the corresponding product category. Accordingly, there is a big difference in the marketing strategy of food supplements and over-the-counter medicines. In this paper are presented 2 different marketing strategies of a new small pharmaceutical company in two studies. The findings of studies analysis can be used for developing marketing strategies in the wider sense and other products, for other small to medium sized companies in other countries of interest with similar regulations and help them understand how to position and promote themselves and their products.

Pyrrolizidine and tropane alkaloids in teas and the herbal teas peppermint, rooibos and chamomile in the Israeli market.

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Shimshoni, Jakob Avi; Duebecke, Arne; Mulder, Patrick P J; Cuneah, Olga; Barel, Shimon

2015-01-01

Dehydro pyrrolizidine alkaloids (dehydro PAs) are carcinogenic phytotoxins prevalent in the Boraginaceae, Asteraceae and Fabaceae families. Dehydro PAs enter the food and feed chain by co-harvesting of crops intended for human and animal consumption as well as by carry-over into animal-based products such as milk, eggs and honey. Recently the occurrence of dehydro PAs in teas and herbal teas has gained increasing attention from the EU, due to the high levels of dehydro PAs found in commercially available teas and herbal teas in Germany and Switzerland. Furthermore, several tropane alkaloids (TAs, e.g. scopolamine and hyoscyamine) intoxications due to the consumption of contaminated herbal teas were reported in the literature. The aim of the present study was to determine the dehydro PAs and TAs levels in 70 pre-packed teabags of herbal and non-herbal tea types sold in supermarkets in Israel. Chamomile, peppermint and rooibos teas contained high dehydro PAs levels in almost all samples analysed. Lower amounts were detected in black and green teas, while no dehydro PAs were found in fennel and melissa herbal teas. Total dehydro PAs concentrations in chamomile, peppermint and rooibos teas ranged from 20 to 1729 μg/kg. Except for black tea containing only mono-ester retrorsine-type dehydro PAs, all other teas and herbal teas showed mixed patterns of dehydro PA ester types, indicating a contamination by various weed species during harvesting and/or production. The TA levels per teabag were below the recommended acute reference dose; however, the positive findings of TAs in all peppermint tea samples warrant a more extensive survey. The partially high levels of dehydro PAs found in teas and herbal teas present an urgent warning letter to the regulatory authorities to perform routine quality control analysis and implement maximum residual levels for dehydro PAs.

Analysis of toxic metals in branded Pakistani herbal products

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saeed, M.; Muhammad, N.; Khan, H.

2010-01-01

The present study was designed to estimate the concentration of heavy toxic metals in Pakistani herbal products frequently used for the treatment of various ailments. For this purpose, twenty five herbal products of well reputed herbal manufacturers were selected. The results of our investigation revealed that the concentrations of lead, cadmium, nickel and chromium were far beyond the permissible limits proposed by the International Regulatory Authorities for herbal drugs. Therefore, this study conveys a strong message to the ministry of health to establish proper rules and regulations for the validation of herbal products on scientific grounds in order to protect the general public from the harmful effects of these heavy metals in herbal products. (author)

Drug interactions in African herbal remedies.

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Cordier, Werner; Steenkamp, Vanessa

2011-01-01

Herbal usage remains popular as an alternative or complementary form of treatment, especially in Africa. However, the misconception that herbal remedies are safe due to their "natural" origins jeopardizes human safety, as many different interactions can occur with concomitant use with other pharmaceuticals on top of potential inherent toxicity. Cytochrome P450 enzymes are highly polymorphic, and pose a problem for pharmaceutical drug tailoring to meet an individual's specific metabolic activity. The influence of herbal remedies further complicates this. The plants included in this review have been mainly researched for determining their effect on cytochrome P450 enzymes and P-glycoprotein drug transporters. Usage of herbal remedies, such as Hypoxis hemerocallidea, Sutherlandia frutescens and Harpagophytum procumbensis popular in Africa. The literature suggests that there is a potential for drug-herb interactions, which could occur through alterations in metabolism and transportation of drugs. Research has primarily been conducted in vitro, whereas in vivo data are lacking. Research concerning the effect of African herbals on drug metabolism should also be approached, as specific plants are especially popular in conjunction with certain treatments. Although these interactions can be beneficial, the harm they pose is just as great.

Disposition pathways and pharmacokinetics of herbal medicines in humans.

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He, S-M; Li, C G; Liu, J-P; Chan, E; Duan, W; Zhou, S-F

2010-01-01

Pharmacokinetic studies have become an integral part of modern drug development, but these studies are not regulatory needs for herbal remedies. This paper updates our current knowledge on the disposition pathways and pharmacokinetic properties of commonly used herbal medicines in humans. To retrieve relevant data, the authors have searched through computer-based literatures by full text search in Medline (via Pubmed), ScienceDirect, Current Contents Connect (ISI), Cochrance Library, CINAHL (EBSCO), CrossRef Search and Embase (all from inception to May 2010). Many herbal compounds undergo Phase I and/or Phase II metabolism in vivo, with cytochrome P450s (CYPs) and uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) playing a major role. Some herbal ingredients are substrates of P-glycoprotein (P-gp) which is highly expressed in the intestine, liver, brain and kidney. As such, the activities of these drug metabolizing enzymes and drug transporters are determining factors for the in vivo bioavailability, disposition and distribution of herbal remedies. There are increasing pharmacokinetic studies of herbal remedies, but these studies are mainly focused on a small number of herbal remedies including St John's wort, milk thistle, sculcap, curcumin, echinacea, ginseng, ginkgo, and ginger. The pharmacokinetic data of a small number of purified herbal ingredients, including anthocyanins, berberine, catechins, curcumin, lutein and quercetin, are available. For the majority of herbal remedies used in folk medicines, data on their disposition and biological fate in humans are lacking or in paucity. For a herbal medicine, the pharmacological effect is achieved when the bioactive agents or the metabolites reach and sustain proper levels at their sites of action. Both the dose levels and fates of active components in the body govern their target-site concentrations after administration of an herbal remedy. In this regard, a safe and optimal use of herbal medicines requires a

The Clinical Study on Acupuncture Sensation in CC, CF and BV Herbal Acupuncture -The Basic Study on Placebo Herbal Acupuncture-

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Seo Jung-Chul

2004-02-01

Full Text Available Objective : This study was designed to find out whether NS(normal saline is able to be constituted as an appropriate control group for CC(Cervi Cornu Parvum herbal acupuncture, CF(Carthami-Flos herbal acupuncture and BV(bee venom herbal acupuncture. Methods : NS and three herbal acupuncture were inserted into Quchi(LI 11 of the subjects. After 5 minutes the subjects completed a questionnaire rating the intensity of 21 kinds of acupuncture sensation; hurting, penetrating, sharp, aching, intense, spreading, radiating, tingling, pricking, stinging, pulling, heavy, dull, numb, electric, shocking, hot, burning, cool, pulsing, and throbbing. We compared subjective evaluations of acupuncture sensation between or among the groups. Results : As for CC half items of the acupuncture sensation were significantly different from NS. As for CF all items were not significantly different from NS. As for CC all items were significantly different from NS except one item. In general the score of CF acupuncture sensation was lower than the others and the score of BV acupuncture sensation was higher than the others from comparison of sensation among herbal acupunctures(CC, CF, BV. Conclusion : We found that NS is able to be an appropriate placebo herbal acupuncture for CF. Further study is needed for new placebo herbal acupuncture for CC and BV.

Preferences for food and nutritional supplements among adult people living with HIV in Malawi

OpenAIRE

Rodas Moya, Carlos; Kodish, Stephen; Manary, Mark; Grede, Nils; Pee, de, Saskia

2016-01-01

Objective: To elucidate the factors influencing food intake and preferences for potential nutritional supplements to treat mild and moderate malnutrition among adult people living with HIV (PLHIV). Design: Qualitative research using in-depth interviews with a triangulation of participants and an iterative approach to data collection. Setting: The study was conducted in a health clinic of rural Chilomoni, a southern town of Blantyre district, Malawi. Subjects: Male and female participants, age...

Maca (Lepidium meyenii) and yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius) in combination with silymarin as food supplements: In vivo safety assessment

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Valentová, K.; Stejskal, D.; Bartek, J.; Dvořáčková, S.; Křen, Vladimír; Ulrichová, J.; Šimánek, V.

2008-01-01

Roč. 46, č. 3 (2008), s. 1003-1013 ISSN 0278-6915 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z50200510 Keywords : food supplement * volunteers * blood pressure Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology Impact factor: 2.321, year: 2008

Contamination of herbal medicinal products marketed in Kaduna ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study aimed to evaluate the bacterial contamination of powdered herbal medicinal preparations sourced from identified herbal retail outlets in different parts of Kaduna metropolis. The assessments of the contamination of the herbal products were carried out using standard procedures: total aerobic bacterial plate count, ...

Health risks related to illegal and on-line sale of drugs and food supplements: results of a survey on marketed products in Italy from 2011 to 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Gaudiano, Maria Cristina; Manna, Livia; Bartolomei, Monica; Rodomonte, Andrea Luca; Bertocchi, Paola; Antoniella, Eleonora; Romanini, Laura; Alimonti, Stefano; Rufini, Leandro; Valvo, Luisa

2016-01-01

The increasing illegal and on-line market of medicines and food supplements is helping the widespread diffusion of harmful counterfeit and forbidden products among consumers of developed countries. The objectives of this survey were the description of the main frauds recognized by public officers and the detection of illegal or counterfeit drugs and food supplements. Medicines and food supplements found by Police forces on the illegal market or resulting from seizures made by Italian Customs authorities were visually inspected and analysed to evaluate their quality and the presence of other undeclared substances. The visual inspection and the chemical analysis revealed unsuitable packaging (mostly lacking of adequate information for consumers), absence of the declared active substances and presence of undeclared active substances. Products containing doping agents, illegal substances and active ingredients requiring medical supervision were found. The present work confirmed the health risk associated with assumption of medicines purchased on the Internet and from the illegal supply chain and evidenced a new threat to consumer safety related to the presence of pharmaceutical active ingredients in food supplements claiming to contain only "natural ingredients".

Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements

Science.gov (United States)

... dietary supplements, making it hard to identify any benefits from the MVMs. Should I take an MVM? MVMs cannot take the place of eating a variety of foods that are important to a healthy diet. Foods ...

Minerals and trace elements in domesticated Namibian Ganoderma ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

maxwell

Edible and medicinal mushrooms are regarded as the ideal health foods. ... Ganoderma can be a valuable dietary supplement to boost the immune system and improve general health of ... Chinese is an herbal mushroom known to have.

Micronutrient Supplement Use and Diet Quality in University Students

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Adam R. Wiltgren

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Many national and international public health organisations recommend achieving nutrient adequacy through consumption of a wide variety of nutritious foods. Despite this, dietary supplement sales continue to increase. Understanding the characteristics of micronutrient supplement users and the relationship with diet quality can help develop effective public health interventions to reduce unnecessary consumption of vitamin and mineral supplements. Participants (n = 1306 were a convenience sample of students studying first year food and nutrition. Data was collected via a Food and Diet Questionnaire (FDQ and a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ. Supplement users were defined as participants who indicated consuming any listed supplement as frequently as once a month or more. Diet quality was assessed using a Dietary Guideline Index (DGI score. Prevalence of supplement use was high in this study population with 56% of participants reporting supplement use; the most popular supplements consumed were multivitamins (28% and vitamin C (28%. A higher DGI score was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of supplement use (mean: 105 ± 18 vs. 109 ± 17, p = 0.001. Micronutrient supplement use was associated with a higher DGI score, suggesting that supplements are more likely to be used by those who are less likely to require them.

Internal validity of a household food security scale is consistent among diverse populations participating in a food supplement program in Colombia.

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Hackett, Michelle; Melgar-Quinonez, Hugo; Uribe, Martha C Alvarez

2008-05-23

We assessed the validity of a locally adapted Colombian Household Food Security Scale (CHFSS) used as a part of the 2006 evaluation of the food supplement component of the Plan for Improving Food and Nutrition in Antioquia, Colombia (MANA - Plan Departamental de Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutricional de Antioquia). Subjects included low-income families with pre-school age children in MANA that responded affirmatively to at least one CHFSS item (n = 1,319). Rasch Modeling was used to evaluate the psychometric characteristics of the items through measure and INFIT values. Differences in CHFSS performance were assessed by area of residency, socioeconomic status and number of children enrolled in MANA. Unidimensionality of a scale by group was further assessed using Differential Item Functioning (DIF). Most CHFSS items presented good fitness with most INFIT values within the adequate range of 0.8 to 1.2. Consistency in item measure values between groups was found for all but two items in the comparison by area of residency. Only two adult items exhibited DIF between urban and rural households. The results indicate that the adapted CHFSS is a valid tool to assess the household food security of participants in food assistance programs like MANA.

Dietary Supplements for Exercise and Athletic Performance

Science.gov (United States)

... protein. If needed, protein supplements and protein-fortified food and beverage products can help you get enough protein. Sports- ... protein. If needed, protein supplements and protein-fortified food and beverage products can help you get enough protein. Sports- ...

Advanced phytochemical analysis of herbal tea in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, J; Deng, J W; Chen, Y W; Li, S P

2013-10-25

Herbal tea is a commonly consumed beverage brewed from the leaves, flowers, seeds, fruits, stems and roots of plants species rather than Camellia sinensis L., which has been widely used for health care and diseases prevention for centuries. With the increasing consumption of herbal tea, a number of public health issues e.g., efficacy, safety and quality assurance have attracted concern. However, to date, there is no a review focus on herbal tea. Phytochemical analysis, as a key step to investigate the chemical composition of herbal tea and ensure the quality, is very important. In this review, we summarized and discussed the recent development (2005-2012) in phytochemical analysis of herbal tea commonly used in China. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Marine-Based Nutraceuticals: An Innovative Trend in the Food and Supplement Industries.

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Suleria, Hafiz Ansar Rasul; Osborne, Simone; Masci, Paul; Gobe, Glenda

2015-10-14

Recent trends in functional foods and supplements have demonstrated that bioactive molecules play a major therapeutic role in human disease. Nutritionists and biomedical and food scientists are working together to discover new bioactive molecules that have increased potency and therapeutic benefits. Marine life constitutes almost 80% of the world biota with thousands of bioactive compounds and secondary metabolites derived from marine invertebrates such as tunicates, sponges, molluscs, bryozoans, sea slugs and many other marine organisms. These bioactive molecules and secondary metabolites possess antibiotic, antiparasitic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antifibrotic and anticancer activities. They are also inhibitors or activators of critical enzymes and transcription factors, competitors of transporters and sequestrants that modulate various physiological pathways. The current review summaries the widely available marine-based nutraceuticals and recent research carried out for the purposes of isolation, identification and characterization of marine-derived bioactive compounds with various therapeutic potentials.

Marine-Based Nutraceuticals: An Innovative Trend in the Food and Supplement Industries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hafiz Ansar Rasul Suleria

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Recent trends in functional foods and supplements have demonstrated that bioactive molecules play a major therapeutic role in human disease. Nutritionists and biomedical and food scientists are working together to discover new bioactive molecules that have increased potency and therapeutic benefits. Marine life constitutes almost 80% of the world biota with thousands of bioactive compounds and secondary metabolites derived from marine invertebrates such as tunicates, sponges, molluscs, bryozoans, sea slugs and many other marine organisms. These bioactive molecules and secondary metabolites possess antibiotic, antiparasitic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antifibrotic and anticancer activities. They are also inhibitors or activators of critical enzymes and transcription factors, competitors of transporters and sequestrants that modulate various physiological pathways. The current review summaries the widely available marine-based nutraceuticals and recent research carried out for the purposes of isolation, identification and characterization of marine-derived bioactive compounds with various therapeutic potentials.

Herbal medicine use in pregnancy: results of a multinational study

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background The use of complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) is growing in the general population. Herbal medicines are used in all countries of the world and are included in the top CAM therapies used. Methods A multinational study on how women treat disease and pregnancy-related health ailments was conducted between October 2011 and February 2012 in Europe, North and South America and Australia. In this study, the primary aim was to determine the prevalence of herbal medicine use in pregnancy and factors related to such use across participating countries and regions. The secondary aim was to investigate who recommended the use of herbal medication in pregnancy. Results There were 9,459 women from 23 countries participating in the study. Of these, 28.9% reported the use of herbal medicines in pregnancy. Most herbal medicines were used for pregnancy-related health ailments such as cold and nausea. Ginger, cranberry, valerian and raspberry were the most commonly used herbs in pregnancy. The highest reported rate of herbal use medicines was in Russia (69%). Women from Eastern Europe (51.8%) and Australia (43.8%) were twice as likely to use an herbal medicine versus other regions. Women using herbal medicines were characteristically having their first child, non-smokers, using folic acid and consuming some alcohol in pregnancy. Also, women who were currently students and women with an education other than a high school degree were more likely to use herbal medicines than other women. Although 1 out of 5 women stated that a physician had recommended the herbal use, most women used herbal medicine in pregnancy on their own initiative. Conclusions In this multinational study herbal medicine use in pregnancy was high although there were distinct differences in the herbs and users of herbal medicines across regions. Most commonly the women self-medicated with herbal medicine to treat pregnancy-related health ailments. More knowledge regarding the efficacy and safety

Analytical procedures for water-soluble vitamins in foods and dietary supplements: a review.

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