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Uncovering the secrets of tea

26 Nov 2012

Flavanols from tea accumulate in the cell nucleus, which could help in understanding their beneficial health effects © Shutterstock

Everyone knows that a cup of tea is good for you, but the exact reasons for this are not clear. To discover the fundamentals of tea’s health benefits, scientists in Germany have investigated the interactions of compounds from tea with cells on a molecular level.

Both green and black tea contain around 30,000 polyphenolic compounds, some of which have been shown to have numerous health benefits, including reducing cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and inflammation. Despite their positive effects, which have been seen in epidemiological findings and clinical trials, their exact biochemical mechanism is still not clear. Polyphenols can act as antioxidants, and for a long time this was thought to be the reason for their health benefits. However, recent studies have shown that this only plays a small part in their effectiveness.

Read the full article in Chemistry World.

Tweet: RT @ChemistryWorld We love a cup of tea at Chemistry World Towers but why exactly is it so good for you? http://rsc.li/TEfBON

Link to journal article
Phenolic promiscuity in the cell nucleus – epigallocatechingallate (EGCG) and theaflavin-3,3′-digallate from green and black tea bind to model cell nuclear structures including histone proteins, double stranded DNA and telomeric quadruplex DNA
Gediminas Mikutis, Hande Karaköse, Rakesh Jaiswal, Adam LeGresley, Tuhidul Islam, Marcelo Fernandez-Lahore and Nikolai Kuhnert
Food Funct., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C2FO30159H

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2nd Oxford Functional Food Conference

11 Oct 2012

The 2nd Oxford Function Food Conference is being held at The Oxford Hotel from the 13th-14th November 2012!

The focus of the conference this year will be on functional foods and the role they play in helping to tackle obesity, diabetes and inflammation. The 2-day programme will include contributions from the UK, Europe, Canada and the US in the form of plenary lectures, symposium sessions and poster sessions. The full provisional programme and working titles for all the talks can be found found here.

Registration for the event is now open! Early Bird registration closes on the 19th October, and the registration deadline is the 28th October. Please go to the conference website for registration rates and the online registration link.

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Issue 10 of Food & Function now available to read online

27 Sep 2012

The latest issue of Food & Function is now available online.

The front cover of this month’s issue highlights work by Suzana Almoosawi and colleagues collaborating from several UK institutions, who compared the effect of polyphenol-rich dark chocolate on biomarkers of glucose metabolism, blood pressure and lipid profile on two groups of women – women with a BMI less than or equal to 25 Kg m⁻²and women with a BMI greater than 25. The results of the study demonstrated that comsuming polyphenol-rich dark chocolate had beneficial health effects for a for women with a BMI greater than 25, but that consumption of polyphenol-deficient chocolate had adverse effects.

This story featured in Chemistry World in July – read the story here.

This article will be free to access for 6 weeks!

Differential effect of polyphenol-rich dark chocolate on biomarkers of glucose metabolism and cardiovascular risk factors in healthy, overweight and obese subjects: a randomized clinical trial, S. Almoosawi, C. Tsang, L. M. Ostertag, L. Fyfe and E. A. S. Al-Dujaili, Food Funct., 2012, 3, 1035-1043

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Joint winter meeting 2012: Dietary Strategies for the Management of Cardiovascular Risk

10 Sep 2012

The joint winter meeting of the Nutritional Society and the Royal Society of Medicine will be held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London between the 11th-12th December 2012. The title of this meeting is “Dietary Strategies for the Management of Cardiovascular Risk“.

Topics that will be presented on during the meeting include dietary guidelines, policy and CVD risk reduction, dietary saturated fatty acids, cholesterol, carbohydrates, n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, pre- and pro-biotics, phytochemicals, vitamin D and fruit and vegetables. The provisional programme and list of speakers can be found on the website.

The deadline for submission of Original Communications for the meeting is midnight on the 17th September 2012. Full submission details can be found online.

To register for this event, please visit the Royal Society of Medicine website, and scroll down to the end of the page.

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The physical structure of food

06 Sep 2012

The structure of foods plays a vital role in the way foods are perceived and processed by the body. It can direct how a food will be digested and where it will release important bioactive compounds or conversely toxic substances into the body. It can also play an important part in foods which have been made ‘healthier’, like reduced fat products. Novel structuring can enable these foods to fool our sensory organs into thinking that there is no difference in the taste or texture of the food.

Below is a selection of high quality articles published in Food & Function in this area. Enjoy all these articles for free!*

Hydrocolloid-based nutraceutical delivery systems, Srinivas Janaswamy and Susanne R. Youngren, Food Funct., 2012, 3, 503-507*

Salt release from potato crisps, Xing Tian and Ian D. Fisk, Food Funct., 2012, 3, 376-380**

Thermodynamic and structural insight into the underlying mechanisms of the phosphatidylcholine liposomes – casein associates co-assembly and functionality, M. G. Semenova, A. S. Antipova, M. S. Anokhina, L. E. Belyakova, Yu. N. Polikarpov, N. V. Grigorovich and E. N. Tsapkina, Food Funct., 2012, 3, 271-282*

Fibrillar structures in food, Ardy Kroes-Nijboer, Paul Venema and Erik van der Linden, Food Funct., 2012, 3, 221-227*

Development of oral food-grade delivery systems: Current knowledge and future challenges, Revital Cohen Benshitrit, Carmit Shani Levi, Sharon Levi Tal, Eyal Shimoni and Uri Lesmes, Food Funct., 2012, 3, 10-21*

Intestinal passage of microencapsulated fish oil in rats following oral administration, Mary Ann Augustin, Glen Patten, Anthony De Luca, Mahinda Abeywardena, Trevor Lockett, Richard Head and Luz Sanguansri, Food Funct., 2011, 2, 684-696

Functional and sensory properties of hen eggs with modified fatty acid compositions, H. Aro, T. Rokka, J. Valaja, J. Hiidenhovi, R. Huopalahti and E.-L. Ryhänen, Food Funct., 2011, 2, 671-677

Structure of modified ε-polylysine micelles and their application in improving cellular antioxidant activity of curcuminoids, Hailong Yu, Ji Li, Ke Shi and Qingrong Huang, Food Funct., 2011, 2, 373-380

Role of reverse micelles on lipid oxidation in bulk oils: impact of phospholipids on antioxidant activity of α-tocopherol and Trolox, Bingcan Chen, Ashley Han, Michaël Laguerre, David Julian McClements and Eric Andrew Decker, Food Funct., 2011, 2, 302-309

Interfacial design of protein-stabilized emulsions for optimal delivery of nutrients, Amir Malaki Nik, Amanda J. Wright and Milena Corredig, Food Funct., 2010, 1, 141-148

Interested in these? Why not check out our themed issue published earlier this year of contributions from the 4^th Delivery of Functionality in Complex Food Systems Conference.

Submit your research in this area today to our new Associate Editor, Dr Tim Foster (University of Nottingham).

*Articles published in 2012 are free to access until the 6th October 2012. All articles from 2010 and 2011 are free to access for an unlimited period of time. ** Free to access via RSC Open Science.

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The OCC world congress – ‘Oxidants and Antioxidants in Biology’

24 Jul 2012

The world congress “Oxidants and Antioxidants in Biology” was held in Alba, Italy, 20th-23rd June 2012. It was a joint meeting of the Oxygen Club of California (OCC) and the University of Turin, Italy, co-sponsored by the Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University, U.S.A. This congress is part of a serial of congresses organized every other year by the OCC that gather highly recognized scientists in areas that convey basic and applied medical research.

Guliz Armagan receiving her certificate from Food & Function Associate Editor, Professor Cesaer Fraga

This year, the subject of the meeting was “Cell signaling and nutrient-gene interactions,” having sessions on NRF2-driven regulation of antioxidant defenses, nutrient-gene interactions and epigenetics, novel roles of micronutrients, lipid oxidation and signaling, and epigenetics, metabolism, and aging. The Congress had an attendance of 220 delegates from all over the world, including speakers and chairpersons, general attendants, and young scientists.

Selected from about one hundred presentations 4 Young Investigator prizes were given. The selection was done based on the quality of the work and the proficiency of the presenter by a committee of 6 senior scientists (including: John Maguire, Berkeley; Emily Ho, Corvalis; Josiane Cillard, Rennes; and Nesrin Ozer, Istambul).

Food & Function and the Royal Society of Chemistry awarded a prize for the best work in the area of Nutrition to Guliz Armagan from the Department of Biochemistry, School of Pharmacy, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey. The work, “Induction of oxidative stress, apoptosis and inflammation in rat brain regions by D-serine” was co-authored by Lutfiye Kanit, and Ayfer Yalcin from the same University. Many congratulations to Guliz on winning this prize.

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The Nutrition Society – Summer Meeting 2012

24 Jun 2012

The Summer Meeting of the Nutrition Society with be held at Queen’s University Belfast between the 16-19th July 2012. Around 400+ delegates from the UK, Ireland and other European countries are expected to attend – from nutritionists, dietitians and food industry representatives, through to academics, students and researchers.

The programme focuses on translational nutrition and the links between research, practice and policy, and the topics of the four main symposia will be:

Innovation in diet and lifestyle assessment
Intervention study design and personalised nutrition
Diet, insulin resistance and diabetes
Diet and aging

The current provisional list of invited speakers include Food & Function Advisory Board member Professor Mike Gibney from University College Dublin. More details about the event and the speakers can be found on the conference website.

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International Scientific Conference on Probiotics and Prebiotics – IPC2012

09 May 2012

The next International Scientific Conference on Probiotics and Prebiotics (IPC 2012) will be held between the 12th-14th June in the university city of Kosice, Slovakia.

The conference programme will focus on current advances in the science and research of probiotics and prebiotics their present and future role in maintaining health and preventing diseases. IPC2012 will focus on evidence-based benefits as proven in clinical trials and scientific experiments.

The mission of IPC2012 is to provide a comprehensive scientific forum to all stakeholders of probiotics. The three day conference is a networking event for scientists, researchers, product developers, industry participants and regulatory officials who work with probiotics. The conference will also provide a platform for scientific exchange and discussion.

For information on the Keynote Speakers at this even, please go to: http://www.probiotic-conference.net/Keynote-Speakers

For further information on the conference please visit www.probiotic-conference.net or contact the Organizing
Secretariat of IPC2012. Phone: +421 917 858 838, e-mail: info@probiotic-conference.net

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Too much caffeine in your coffee?

01 Dec 2011

UK scientists have found that caffeine levels in espresso coffees purchased from coffee shops are well above the recommended daily allowance set by the Food Standards Agency. This could have implications for public health as consumers are unaware of the caffeine content of their daily fix.

Coffee consumers often experience increased alertness owing to the caffeine content, but for some, caffeine can lead to increased anxiety. Caffeine stays in an adult body for around five hours but can be up to 30 hours for women taking an oral contraceptive, pregnant women, young children and people with liver disease. According to the Food Standards Agency, pregnant women should restrict caffeine content to below 200mg per day. A 225ml cup of instant coffee is said to contain 60-85mg of caffeine and a 28ml espresso around 30-50mg.

Alan Crozier and colleagues at the University of Glasgow, UK, analysed espressos (cup size 23-70ml) purchased ‘to go’ from local coffee shops using high performance liquid chromatography and found large variations in the caffeine (51-322mg) levels. The findings indicated that with one or two espressos per day, people at risk from a high caffeine intake could consume more caffeine than the Food Standards Agency guidelines recommend.

However, ‘it is not simply a matter of reducing the levels in coffees as many consumers do not have adverse side effects and like the “kick” of a high caffeine coffee,’ says Crozier. ‘As long as you can tolerate caffeine and do not suffer adverse side effects, and are neither pregnant, young, or have liver disease, enjoy drinking your full-bodied coffee.’

Commenting on these results, Nikolai Kuhnert, an expert on polyphenol analysis in food and drink at Jacobs University, Germany, notes that the reality of caffeine intake through coffee is very different compared to previous assumptions. ‘The authorities that issue safety guidelines and recommendations base their opinion on data that are not necessarily compatible with the real world and it is always worth checking what reality really looks like,’ he concludes.

Reproduced from a Chemistry World story written by Carl Saxton.

Espresso coffees, caffeine and chlorogenic acid intake: potential health implications, Thomas W. M. Crozier, Angelique Stalmach, Michael E. J. Lean and Alan Crozier, Food Funct., 2012, DOI: 10.1039/C1FO10240K

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Science for a safer world

14 Nov 2011

Monday 21 November 2011, 12.30 pm – The Chemistry Centre, London, W1J 0BA
Entrance: Free

The Government Chemist supports the measurement science of food safety from farm to fork. This function has been in place since 1842; however the food safety challenges dealt with back then are very different from today. While the analytical instrumentation used to solve complex, unpredictable problems has advanced, food safety still relies on applying the best practical methods of measurement to ensure scientific excellence.

Dr Derek Craston, the Government Chemist will explain a number of recent cases where sound measurement has been applied to resolve food incidents and ultimately protect the public. Plus, he will reveal how in 1901, following a personal request from Captain Scott, research undertaken by the Government Chemist exposed a nutritional deficit in the food supplies planned for use in Scott’s1901 scientific and geographical expedition to the Antarctic.

And looking to the future, Dr Craston will discuss emerging food risks and the science that will be required to meet future challenges.

This event will also be broadcast live on The Reaction website.

To book your place at this event, click here.

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