Recent epidemiological studies provide strong support for the hypothesis that the daily consumption of fruits is effective for preventing such diseases as cancer, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The value of fruit is considered to be equivalent to that of vegetables by health-conscious American and European consumers concerned with preventing such diseases. Health authorities in the USA recommend a diet of five servings of fruit and vegetables each day. However, in Japan, fruit is given less attention than vegetables by the average consumer concerned with nutrition and disease prevention. The consumption of fruit in Japan has recently decreased or remained at the same level. It is possible that this may be due to a general mistaken connection between fruit consumption and the risks of diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and obesity. Youthful consumers are especially susceptible to this misunderstanding, and their consumption of fruit has recently been decreasing annually. Fruit is a significant source of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. Furthermore, fruit contains numerous bioactive substances, such as carotenoids and flavonoids, which play an important role in protecting from oxidative damage. Recent epidemiological studies about the relationship of fruit consumption and chronic diseases are reviewed.

View full abstract

Meal planning skills that are easily practiced in a daily life tend to be strongly needed in view of the prevention and treatment of life-style related diseases to cater for the wide variety of the life styles, health problems, meals and cooking methods, and food information. The “Lunch Box Diet Method, ” which is based on the framework of the Dish-Selecting Method of nutritional education, has been theoretically and practically proved to be effective for understanding one meal volume, and an intervention (educational) program to understand the appropriate volume of one meal was created, which has included one study meeting, we asked 49 mid- and high-age female learners as subjects to participate in this program for a practice period of 1 to 3 weeks, during which they could practice the method freely according to their own schedule. The learners practiced the “Lunch Box Diet Method” for an average of 9.4±6.7 days in their daily life. The volume of meals during the practice period became more appropriate than that before the study meeting, and their weight, percentage of body fat and blood quality have significantly improved. Their dietary knowledge, attitude and behavior have also significantly improved. 96% of the learners encouraged their family, friends and neighbors to test the “Lunch Box Diet Method.”
These results indicate that the program is easily usable in daily life and is effective for producing meals and improving health.

View full abstract

To identify the cut-off point of the serum ferritin concentration for an assessment of the iron nutritional status, the relationship between the serum ferritin and blood hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations was cross-sectionally examined in a group of young adult women. The total number of subjects examined was 788. This study was started in 1995 and continued until 2002, the number of subjects examined in each year being 90-110. The serum ferritin concentration was measured by a two-site immunoradiometric assay (RIA) for the first 4 years from 1995 to 1998, and then by an enzyme immunoassay (ETA) for the second 4 years from 1999 to 2002. Analyses of the data by these different ferritin measurement methods were independently conducted, since there was a significant difference between the results by the two methods; i. e., the group average by the RIA method was 33.5ng/ml, while that by the EIA method was 23.7ng/ml (t-test, p<0.001).
When the serum ferritin concentration was compared with the Hb concentration, the incidence rate of low Hb (<12.0g/dl) was associated with a low level of serum ferritin concentration. The cut-off point for serum ferritin seemed to be 15ng/ml with the RIA method and 10ng/ml with the ETA method when using a value of 5% for the incidence rate of low Hb concentration, (<12.0g/dl) as a criterion.

View full abstract

Weanling male rats fed on a low-methionine diet showed elevated hepatic γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT) activity, in contrast to those fed on a methionine-sufficient diet. The direct action of dexamethasone response to GGT activity in primary cultured hepatocytes was studied. The dexamethasone response to GGT activity was high in cultured hepatocytes prepared from weanling male rats, while the response gradually diminished while the rats were being fed on a methionine-sufficient diet. However, in the hepatocytes of rats fed on a low-methionine diet, the response remained as high as that in the hepatocytes of weanling rats. Both cycloheximide and actinomycin D inhibited the elevation of GGT activity, suggesting that the elevation of GGT activity was accompanied by the synthesis of both GGT protein and GGT mRNA. These findings indicate that methionine is an important determinant of the developmental change in hepatic GGT activity, and that its level modulates the glucocorticoid response.

View full abstract

Although smoking has already been proved to cause health problems and non-smoking programs have been widely promoted, the number of female adolescents smoking is increasing. The aim of this study is to derive the relationship between the smoking status and dietary habits of 870 female college students who responded to a questionnaire survey.
The data indicate that 16.8% are current smokers, 9.1% are former smokers, and 74.1% are non-smokers. Of the current and former smokers, 52.0% started smoking at high school, 28.0% at college, 16.9% at junior high school and 0.9% at primary school. The earlier the starting time to smoke, the more were the number of cigarettes smoked a day. The current smokers missed more breakfasts and lunches, ate dinner at home less often, and took meals more irregularly than the non-smokers, with the results for former smokers being between the two.
The frequency of eating potatoes, soy bean products, vegetables and fruits was lowest with the current smokers and then with the former smokers, while the frequency of drinking alcohol was highest with the current smokers and then with the former smokers. The current smokers and then the former smokers were more subject to an unsuitable diet than the non-smokers, putting them in poorer health than the non-smokers.
The results show that the smoking habit of female college students was related to their dietary habits, so health and nutrition education for female college students should be focused on both not smoking and diet.

View full abstract