Publication: BMJ Open

Saman Khalatbari-Soltani, Pedro Marques-Vidal, Fumiaki Imamura, G. Forouhi

22 December 2020

Summary:

In an international study, with researchers from Cambridge and Switzerland, researchers reviewed a Mediterranean-style diet to see if it may lower the risk of developing fatty liver disease.

Fatty liver, defined as fat accumulation of more than 5% of liver volume, is common especially among obese and diabetic individuals. Fatty liver is the first stage for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is a major cause of liver disease worldwide, and may also predispose to higher risk of cardiovascular diseases.

The Mediterranean diet is thought to be beneficial but research was limited to people with established fatty liver disease. Researchers

In 2288 study participants without NAFLD at baseline, when we assessed their dietary habits and scaled their levels of adherence to the well-established Mediterranean diet. After an average of 5.3-years of follow-up in the study, we tested for the presence of fatty liver disease based on two indices called “fatty liver index” and “NAFLD score”.

Results showed that those who adhered more to the Mediterranean diet had lower risk of developing new-onset fatty liver disease based on fatty liver index.

Publication: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences

Kerry S. Jones, Damon A. Parkington, Lorna J. Cox, Albert Koulman

22 December 2020

Summary:

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) is an essential nutrient required for energy metabolism and the nervous system.  Thiamine deficiency can cause infantile beriberi (a potential life-threatening condition that affects multiple parts of the body.) Populations particularly at risk of thiamine deficiency are breastfed infants of thiamine-deficient mothers in low-income countries, especially those where rice, which contains little thiamine, is the staple food. However, deficiency is associated with a range of non-specific clinical symptoms and can be difficult to diagnose. Evidence also exists to suggest that mild thiamine deficiency may have long-term effects on brain development and gross motor skills.

Biomarkers are compounds we can measure in blood that tell us about a person’s physiology and health. Biomarkers of thiamine status are essential to identify deficiency and improve understanding of the global prevalence of thiamine deficiency and of the links between thiamine and later health outcomes.

An important biomarker of thiamine status is the “erythrocyte transketolase activity coefficient” (ETKAC). ETKAC is a measure of the availability of thiamine available for use in in red blood cells (erythrocytes).

Researchers provided a step-by-step protocol to perform the ETKAC assay. It will facilitate harmonisation of the ETKAC assay. It provides a foundation for the establishment of the assay in new laboratories and supports the investigation of outstanding questions in thiamine biology contributing to the ultimate aim of developing strategies to control thiamine deficiency.

Publication: Diabetes Care

Ju-Sheng Zheng, Jian’an Luan, Eleni Sofianopoulou, Fumiaki Imamura, Isobel D. Stewart, Felix R. Day, Maik Pietzner, Eleanor Wheeler, Luca A. Lotta, Thomas E. Gundersen, Pilar Amiano, Eva Ardanaz, María-Dolores Chirlaque, Guy Fagherazzi, Paul W. Franks, Rudolf Kaaks, Nasser Laouali, Francesca Romana Mancini, Peter M. Nilsson, N. Charlotte Onland-Moret, Anja Olsen, Kim Overvad, Salvatore Panico, Domenico Palli, Fulvio Ricceri, Olov Rolandsson, Annemieke M.W. Spijkerman, María-José Sánchez, Matthias B. Schulze, Núria Sala, Sabina Sieri, Anne Tjønneland, Rosario Tumino, Yvonne T. van der Schouw, Elisabete Weiderpass, Elio Riboli, John Danesh, Adam S. Butterworth, Stephen J. Sharp, Claudia Langenberg, Nita G. Forouhi, Nicholas J. Wareham

17 November 2020

Summary:

Type 2 is a condition with serious health problems. Previous research has shown higher blood levels of vitamin C were linked with lower future risk of type 2 diabetes and if this was proven, it could mean that giving vitamin C as a supplement may help in preventing the condition. Testing this theory is quite challenging due to finding the correct dose.

Researchers identified 11 genetic markers that can predict blood levels of vitamin C using a large sample of more than 50,000 adults. They tested the association of type 2 diabetes with genetically predicted vitamin C levels with a large sample size of more than 80,000 people with diabetes and up-to 840,000 people without diabetes.

They found a mismatch when comparing the link of diabetes with the genetically predicted vitamin C levels versus when used directly measured blood vitamin C levels. The researchers results for directly measured or genetically predicted blood vitamin C levels indicated that blood vitamin C is not likely to be a causal factor for the development of type diabetes. Therefore conclude that it is not justified to use vitamin C supplementation for the prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Researchers highlighted that the current research findings should be interpreted as showing no link of the micronutrient vitamin C with type 2 diabetes.

Publication: European Heart Journal

Tammy Y N Tong, Paul N Appleby, Timothy J Key, Christina C Dahm, Kim Overvad, Anja Olsen, Anne Tjønneland, Verena Katzke, Tilman Kühn, Heiner Boeing, Anna Karakatsani, Eleni Peppa, Antonia Trichopoulou, Elisabete Weiderpass, Giovanna Masala, Sara Grioni, Salvatore Panico, Rosario Tumino, Jolanda M A Boer, W M Monique Verschuren, J Ramón Quirós, Antonio Agudo, Miguel Rodríguez-Barranco, Liher Imaz, María-Dolores Chirlaque, Conchi Moreno-Iribas, Gunnar Engström, Emily Sonestedt, Marcus Lind, Julia Otten, Kay-Tee Khaw, Dagfinn Aune, Elio Riboli, Nicholas J Wareham, Fumiaki Imamura, Nita G Forouhi, Emanuele di Angelantonio, Angela M Wood, Adam S Butterworth, Aurora Perez-Cornago

24 February 2020

Summary: 

This research looked at more than 418,000 people in nine European countries who were recruited to the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study between 1992 and 2000. Researchers found that while higher intakes of fruit, vegetables, fibre, milk, cheese or yoghurt were each linked to a lower risk of ischaemic stroke, there was no significant association with a lower risk of haemorrhagic stroke.

As the study is observational, it cannot show that the foods studied cause an increase or decrease in risk of ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke, only that they are associated with different risks.

Publication: Diabetes Care

Vissers LET, Sluijs I, van der Schouw YT, Forouhi NG, Imamura F, Burgess S, et al.

6 February 2019

Publication: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Fretts AM, Imamura F, Marklund M, Micha R, Wu JHY, Murphy RA, et al.

15 April 2019

Publication: Nature Communications

Wittemans LBL, Lotta LA, Oliver-Williams C, Stewart ID, Surendran P, Karthikeyan S, et al.

5 March 2019

Publication: International Journal of Obesity

White T, Westgate K, Hollidge S, Venables M, Olivier P, Wareham N,

2 April 2019

Publication: JMIR mHealth uHealth.

Strain T, Wijndaele K, Brage S.

29 January 2019

Publication: The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism

Zheng JS, Imamura F, Sharp SJ, van der Schouw YT, Sluijs I, Gundersen TE, et al.

9 November 2018

Publication: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Hajna S, White T, Brage S, van Sluijs EMF, Westgate K, Jones AP, et al.

27 November 2018

Publication: Nutrients

Jenkins B, Aoun M, Feillet-Coudray C, Coudray C, Ronis M, Koulman A.

3 November 2018

Publication: Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research

Hartley P, Keevil VL, Westgate K, White T, Brage S, Romero-Ortuno R, et al. Curr Gerontol Geriatr Res.

18 October 2018

Publication: PLOS Medicine

Imamura F, Fretts A, Marklund M, Ardisson Korat AV, Yang WS, Lankinen M, et al.

10 October 2018

Publication: BMC Medicine

Khalatbari-Soltani S, Imamura F, Brage S, De Lucia Rolfe E, Griffin SJ, Wareham NJ, et al.

24 January 2019

Publication: PLoS Med

Lotta L.A, Scott R.A, Sharp S.J, Burgess, S. Luan, J. Tillin, T, et al.

29 November 2016

Publication: JAMA

Lotta L. A, Sharp S. J, Burgess S, Perry J. R, Stewart, I. D, et al.

4 October 2016

Publication: PLoS Medicine

Imamura F, Micha R, Wu, J. H, de Oliveira Otto, M. C, Otite, F. O, et al.

19 July 2016

Publication: Nature

Horikoshi M, Beaumont R. N, Day F. R, Warrington N. M., Kooijman M. N, et al.

13 October 2016

Publication: Nature

Fuchsberger C, Flannick J, Teslovich T. M, Mahajan A, Agarwala, V, et al.

11 July 2016

Publication: PLoS Medicine

Forouhi N. G, Imamura F, Sharp, S. J, Koulman A, Schulze, M. B, et al.

19 July 2016

Publication: Lancet

Ekelund U, Steene-Johannessen J, Brown W. J, Fagerland M. W, Owen N, et al.

24 September 2016

Publication: Nature Genetics

Day F. R, Helgason H, Chasman D. I, Rose L. M, Loh P. R, et al.

June 2016

Publication: PLoS Medicine

Conklin A. I, Monsivais P, Khaw K. T, Wareham N. J, and Forouhi N. G.

19 July 2016

Publication: PLoS Med

Adams, J., Mytton, O., White, M., and Monsivais, P.

5 April 2016