High-density lipoprotein (HDL) exerts an anti-atherogenic effect primarily by facilitating the efflux of cholesterol from macrophages and transporting it back to the liver in a process known as reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) , and thus it is considered to be an anti-atherogenic lipoprotein. We revealed that coffee-derived polyphenol increased the efflux of cholesterol from macrophages via cholesterol transport molecules in vitro. To explore the mechanisms involved, the effects of HDL on RCT function with coffee-derived polyphenol were widely examined in vivo and ex vivo. The findings revealed that food factors exert anti-atherogenic effects by improving HDL function, and not only increasing HDL-C.

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The increasing incidence of obesity has become a serious social problem in recent years. In order to lose weight through an improvement of diet, individuals must exercise self-awareness of any problems in their eating habits and behavior, and act initiatively. For successful weight loss, those with specialized knowledge and skills, such as registered nutritionists, must provide correct guidance, evaluate any behavioral modification in their patients, and give them support that is appropriate for each stage. We conducted a cross-sectional study in which we examined the frequency of food intake and the factors contributing to food intake behavior in subjects who underwent detailed medical checkups employing a structural equation model (SEM). The results showed that obese individuals with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 25.0 kg/m² always intented to improve their dietary habits, but did not do so. Furthermore, their food intake behavior was more strongly affected by preference than by health consciousness. Our findings suggest that for effective nutrition counseling, the eating habits responsible for eating behavior, especially food preference, must be taken into account.

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The present study focused on the oral stimulatory effect (cooling sensation) of carbonated water. In order to determine the degree to which consumption of carbonated water changes body temperature, and whether such a reaction can occurs through oral stimulation alone, we conducted feeding and sham-feeding (SF) tests employing identical temperatures and volumes of carbonated water and plain water. We conducted 4 types of tests (carbonated water consumption [CW], plain water consumption [W], carbonated water sham-feeding [CW-SF], and plain water sham-feeding [W-SF]) with a randomized crossover design. Thirteen young women began fasting at 10：00 pm on the previous night and samples of water were ingested (15℃, 250 mL) at 9：00 am on different days in a laboratory where the temperature was maintained at 26℃. Electrocardiograms were obtained 20 min before and 40 min after sample ingestion. The subjects’ core (eardrum) and peripheral (foot) temperatures were monitored continuously using highly sensitive thermosensors. The eardrum temperature did not change in the W-SF and CW-SF groups, but showed a temporary decrease in the W and CW groups. Foot temperature decreased by approximately 2.5-3℃ in the W and CW groups. Furthermore, while foot temperature decreased by approximately 1℃ in the W-SF group, a decrease of approximately 2.5℃ was observed in the CW-SF group. Heart rate increased temporarily immediately after the end of ingestion in the CW and CW-SF groups. These results suggest that oral stimulation by carbonic acid is solely responsible for changing the heart rate and peripheral temperature.

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In this longitudinal study, we examined temporal changes in total folate concentration in human breast milk. Breast milk samples were obtained from 25 healthy Japanese women every week up to the eighth week from the first week postpartum. We measured the total folate content of the milk samples by bioassay. Because a diet survey had not been conducted on these subjects, their total folate intake was unknown. The concentration of total folate in the 200 milk samples was 54.2±31.9 μg/L (mean±SD) or 46.6 (median) (range 4.9-161.9) μg/L. The concentration increased between the first and fifth weeks. The total folate concentration in each sample from the third to eighth weeks was significantly higher than in the first week (p＜0.05) . We also divided the subjects into two groups according to the median folate concentration in the first week. This revealed that the group with the higher folate concentration in the first week continued to have a significantly higher concentration than the other group throughout the entire study period (p＜0.05) .

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