Jenny Paxman

Daily ingestion of alginate reduces energy intake in free-living subjects

Sodium alginate is a seaweed-derived fibre that has previously been shown to moderate appetite in models of acute feeding. The mechanisms underlying this effect may include slowed gastric clearance and attenuated uptake from the small intestine. In order to assess whether alginate could be effective as a means of appetite control in free-living adults, 68 males and females (BMI range: 18.50-32.81 kg/m(2)) completed this randomised, controlled two-way crossover intervention to compare the effects of 7 day daily ingestion of a strong-gelling sodium alginate formulation against a control. A sodium alginate with a high-guluronate content was chosen because, upon ingestion, it forms a strong gel in the presence of calcium ions. Daily preprandial ingestion of the sodium alginate formulation produced a significant 134.8 kcal (7%) reduction in mean daily energy intake. This reduced energy intake was underwritten by significant reductions in mean daily carbohydrate, sugar, fat, saturated fat and protein intakes. The absence of any significant interaction effects between the main effect of preload type and those of gender, BMI classification and/or timing of preload delivery indicates the efficacy of this treatment for individuals in different settings. These findings suggest a possible role for a strong-gelling sodium alginate formulation in the future management of overweight and obesity.

Alginate reduces the increased uptake of cholesterol and glucose in overweight male subjects: a pilot study

Dietary fibers are of particular interest in the prevention and management of obesity and consequent pathologies. Among the proposed mechanisms of action of fiber is the modulation of nutrient uptake from the small intestine. We have used a crossover study design in human subjects to monitor the uptake of glucose, cholesterol, and triacylglycerols in human subjects with normal and high body mass index. Our data demonstrate that uptakes of glucose, triacylglycerols, and cholesterol are all increased with increasing body fat. We demonstrate that treatment with a 1.5-g dose of a strong-gelling alginate may restore uptake of cholesterol and glucose to the levels of healthy subjects. These data indicate a potential therapeutic application of gelling fibers.

Ascophyllum nodosum enriched bread reduces subsequent energy intake with no effect on post-prandial glucose and cholesterol in healthy, overweight males. A pilot study.

It is well recognised that the consumption of seaweed isolates (such as alginate) successfully reduce energy intake and modulate glycaemic and cholesterolaemic responses. However, to date, the effect of adding whole seaweed to bread has not been widely investigated. Hence, this study aims to investigate the acceptability of Ascophyllum nodosum enriched bread as part of a meal, and measure its effect on energy intake and nutrient absorption in overweight, healthy males to see if it has a similar impact. Results from the acceptability study, (79 untrained sensory panellists) indicated that it is acceptable to incorporate seaweed (A. nodosum) into a staple food such as bread at concentrations of up to 4% per 400 g wholemeal loaf. A single blind cross over trial (n=12 males, aged 40.1±12.5 years; BMI 30.8±4.4 kg/m(2)) was used to compare energy intake and nutrient uptake after a breakfast meal using the enriched bread (4% A. nodosum) against the control bread (0% A. nodosum). Consumption of the enriched bread at breakfast led to a significant reduction (16.4%) in energy intake at a test meal 4 h later. Differences between treatment arms for area under the curve, peak values, and time of peak for blood glucose and cholesterol were not significant. Further investigation of potential mechanisms of action is warranted.

Effects of an acute bout of aerobic exercise on immediate and subsequent three-day food intake and energy expenditure in active and inactive men

This study examined the effects of an acute bout of low-intensity cycling on food intake and energy expenditure over four days. Thirty healthy, active (n=15) and inactive (n=15) men completed two conditions (exercise and control), in a randomised crossover fashion. The exercise experimental day involved cycling for one hour at an intensity equivalent to 50% of maximum oxygen uptake and two hours of rest. The control condition comprised three hours of rest. Participants arrived at the laboratory fasted overnight; breakfast was standardised and an ad libitum pasta lunch was consumed on each experimental day. Participants kept a food diary and wore an Actiheart to estimate energy intake and expenditure for the remainder of the experimental days and over the subsequent 3 days. Ad libitum lunch energy intake did not differ between conditions (p=0.32, d=0.18) or groups (p=0.43, d=0.27). Energy intake in the active group was greater on the exercise experimental day than on the control experimental day (mean difference=2070 kJ; 95% CI 397 to 3743 kJ, p=0.024, d=0.56) while in the inactive group it was increased on only the third day after exercise (mean difference=2225 kJ; 95% CI 414 to 4036 kJ, p=0.024, d=0.80). There was only a group effect (p=0.032, d=0.89) for free-living energy expenditure, indicating that active participants expended more energy than inactive over this period. Acute low-intensity exercise did not affect energy intake at the meal immediately after exercise, but induces an acute (within the experimental day) and delayed (third day after the experimental day) increase in energy intake in active and inactive participants, respectively with no compensatory changes to daily energy expenditure. These results suggest that active individuals compensate for an acute exercise-induced energy deficit quicker than inactive individuals.

Effects of an acute bout of aerobic exercise on immediate and subsequent three-day food intake and energy expenditure in active and inactive pre-menopausal women taking oral contraceptives ☆

UNLABELLED This study examined the effects of an acute bout of exercise of low-intensity on food intake and energy expenditure over four days in women taking oral contraceptives. Twenty healthy, active (n = 10) and inactive (n = 10) pre-menopausal women taking oral contraceptives completed two conditions (exercise and control), in a randomised, crossover fashion. The exercise experimental day involved cycling for one hour at an intensity equivalent to 50% of maximum oxygen uptake and two hours of rest. The control condition comprised three hours of rest. Participants arrived at the laboratory fasted overnight; breakfast was standardised and an ad libitum pasta lunch was consumed on each experimental day. Participants kept a food diary to measure food intake and wore an Actiheart to measure energy expenditure for the remainder of the experimental days and over the subsequent 3 days. There was a condition effect for absolute energy intake (exercise vs. CONTROL 3363 ± 668 kJ vs. 3035 ± 752 kJ; p = 0.033, d = 0.49) and relative energy intake (exercise vs. CONTROL 2019 ± 746 kJ vs. 2710 ± 712 kJ; p <0.001, d = -1.00) at the ad libitum lunch. There were no significant differences in energy intake over the four days in active participants and there was a suppression of energy intake on the first day after the exercise experimental day compared with the same day of the control condition in inactive participants (mean difference = -1974 kJ; 95% CI -1048 to -2900 kJ, p = 0.002, d = -0.89). There was a group effect (p = 0.001, d = 1.63) for free-living energy expenditure, indicating that active participants expended more energy than inactive participants during this period. However, there were no compensatory changes in daily physical activity energy expenditure. These results support the use of low-intensity aerobic exercise as a method to induce a short-term negative energy balance in inactive women taking oral contraceptives.

Seaweed ( Ascophyllum nodosum ) enriched bread is acceptable to consumers

High-fibre foods ( ‡ 6 g dietary fibre/100 g) tend to be less appealing organoleptically than foods with higher energy densities. Alginate is a dietary fibre found in brown seaweed species, e.g. Ascophyllum nodosum. It has been shown to have numerous health benefits. We aimed to determine the acceptability of a seaweed-enriched bread. We developed bread containing 0 g (control), 5 g, 10 g, 15 g and 20 g Ascophyllum nodosum (sea greens (SG); Seagreens1 Ltd, W. Sussex, UK) in 400 g loaves. Analysis using a combined SIGMA/Fibertech method showed the 20 g SG enriched loaf contained 17.8 v. 13.3 g/100 g dietary fibre in the control loaf. Seventy-nine untrained sensory panellists (18–65 years, 40 males) assessed the acceptability of the toasted breads topped with scrambled eggs. Coded samples were randomly presented and rated overall, and across 5 sensory attributes, using visual analogue scales (1–9; extremely unacceptable to extremely acceptable) in FIZZ software (Version 2.10c, Biosystemes, France) in accordance with accepted protocols. A score of 5 was used as a cut-off for lower level acceptability. Results were analysed using one-way repeated measures ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc analyses (SPSS V17.0, SPSS Inc. Chicago, USA). The control bread was significantly more acceptable than the SG-enriched breads overall and for aftertaste, and significantly more acceptable than all but the 15 g SG bread for flavour (see table). Post hoc tests showed no significant differences between any of the enriched breads. Importantly, all bread samples were reported as acceptable overall and for all individual sensory attributes.

An acute bout of cycling does not induce compensatory responses in pre-menopausal women not using hormonal contraceptives

There is a clear need to improve understanding of the effects of physical activity and exercise on appetite control. Therefore, the acute and short-term effects (three days) of a single bout of cycling on energy intake and energy expenditure were examined in women not using hormonal contraceptives. Sixteen active (n = 8) and inactive (n = 8) healthy pre-menopausal women completed a randomised crossover design study with two conditions (exercise and control). The exercise day involved cycling for 1 h (50% of maximum oxygen uptake) and resting for 2 h, whilst the control day comprised 3 h of rest. On each experimental day participants arrived at the laboratory fasted, consumed a standardised breakfast and an ad libitum pasta lunch. Food diaries and combined heart rate-accelerometer monitors were used to assess free-living food intake and energy expenditure, respectively, over the subsequent three days. There were no main effects or condition (exercise vs control) by group (active vs inactive) interaction for absolute energy intake (P > 0.05) at the ad libitum laboratory lunch meal, but there was a condition effect for relative energy intake (P = 0.004, ηp2 = 0.46) that was lower in the exercise condition (1417 ± 926 kJ vs. 2120 ± 923 kJ). Furthermore, post-breakfast satiety was higher in the active than in the inactive group (P = 0.005, ηp2 = 0.44). There were no main effects or interactions (P > 0.05) for mean daily energy intake, but both active and inactive groups consumed less energy from protein (14 ± 3% vs. 16 ± 4%, P = 0.016, ηp2 = 0.37) and more from carbohydrate (53 ± 5% vs. 49 ± 7%, P = 0.031, ηp2 = 0.31) following the exercise condition. This study suggests that an acute bout of cycling does not induce compensatory responses in active and inactive women not using hormonal contraceptives, while the stronger satiety response to the standardised breakfast meal in active individuals adds to the growing literature that physical activity helps improve the sensitivity of short-term appetite control.

Influence of the obesogenic/leptogenic food environment on consumer behaviour in leisure centres

This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publishers version if you wish to cite from it. Published version ASHWORTH, Pippa, JENSEN, Y.L., STOCKTON, H.J., MORRIS, Cecile, GIOVE, Samantha and PAXMAN, Jenny (2016). Influence of the obesogenic/leptogenic food environment on consumer behaviour in leisure centres. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 75 (OCE3), E136-E136.

Small-group weight management programme using self selected goals improves General Well Being scores

Background: normal weight obesity (NWO) is defined as an excessive body fat associated with a normal body mass index (BMI<25 kg/m2), but its prevalence in the general population is unknown. Objective: to assess the prevalence of NWO in Switzerland according to different cut points used to define excess body fat. Design: cross-sectional study including 3,213 women and 2,912 men aged 35-75 years. Body fat was assessed by bioimpedance and prevalence of NWO was assessed using four previously published definitions for excess body fat. Results: % body fat increased with age: in men, the values (mean SD) were 20.2 5.4, 23.0 5.4, 26.3 5.2 and 28.2 4.6 for age groups [35 - 44], [45 - 54], [55 - 64] and [65 - 75] years, respectively; the corresponding values for women were 29.9 7.8, 33.1 7.4, 36.7 7.5 and 39.6 6.9. In men, prevalence of NWO was <1% irrespective of the definition used. Conversely, in women, a one to twenty fold difference (from 1.4% to 27.8%) in NWO prevalence was found. The prevalence of NWO increased with age when age-independent cut points were used in women, but not in men. Conclusions: prevalence of NWO is low in the general population and higher in women than in men. The prevalence is highly dependent on the criteria used to define excess body fat, namely in women. The use of gender- and age-specific cut points to define excess body fat is better than fixed or gender-specific only cut points.Background and Aims: normal weight obesity (NWO) has been defined as an excessive body fat (BF) associated with a normal body mass index (BMI). Little is known regarding its prevalence in the general population or which cut-offs for BF should be used. Methods: convenience sample of 1,523 Portuguese adults. BF was measured by validated hand-held bioimpedance. NWO was defined as a BMI 30%, along other published criteria. Results: prevalence of NWO was 10.1% in women and 3.2% in men. In women, prevalence of NWO increased considerably with age, and virtually all women aged over 55 with a BMI<25 kg/m2 were actually considered as NWO. Using gender specific cut-offs for BF (29.1% in men and 37.2% in women) led to moderately lower of NWO in women. Using gender- and age-specific cut-points for %BF considerably decreased the prevalence of NWO in women (0.5 to 2.5% depending on the criterion) but not in men (1.9 to 3.4%). Conclusions: gender- and age- specific or at least gender-specific, instead of single cut-offs for %BF, should be used to characterize and study NWO.