Annual Congress on Nutrition & Healthcare October 18-20, 2018 Paris, France

Biography:

Bronwen de Klerk is a Yoga and Mindful Eating Teacher. She battled with eating disorders in her earlier years and found peace with food and eating through spiritual practice. She has since studied and qualified in yoga, shiatsu, mindfulness-based eating awareness training, clinical nutrition, Pilates and Exercise Science. She is a Member of the International Yoga Alliance (RYT), Shiatsu Society UK (MRSS) and REPs (Level 3). She teaches yoga and mindful eating privately and in groups, online and live. She runs yoga teacher training for the Meridian Yoga School. She gives talks and runs retreats internationally through her business Surf Yoga Happiness LTD.

Abstract:

Whilst advancement in nutrition sciences has helped many people to overcome illness and disease, we have more people battling with obesity than ever before on this planet. How can it be that we have more knowledge than ever about food and what it does for us, but more problems with overeating and obesity? We can blame it on sugar, refined carbohydrates, trans fats, fried foods and many other unhealthy food options we now have available, but what it really comes down to is that we have lost touch with ourselves and our bodies. We have forgotten how to tune in and truly listen to what our bodies need. What doesn’t help is that we’re living in a world of distraction. We all know exactly what our bodies need, nutritionally and energetically. The only problem is that we spend most of our lives distracted so that we don’t actually tunein and listen to this guiding voice. From a young age we are becoming distracted by television, social media, gaming and devices. Marketing messages are constantly telling us that we are not good enough, but if we ‘buy this’, ‘eat this’ or ‘do that’ we will be good enough. We are always striving to be somewhere or something we are not; we are no longer present. This is one of core teachings of yoga and mindfulness–awareness of the present moment. Through the various practices of yoga and mindfulness, we will learn how to become present in our bodies. We will also learn how to accept where we are and who we are. Through acceptance and presence, we can become more aware of what our bodies need – when we are hungry, when we are full and what we need to nourish ourselves in terms of food and movement.

Biography:

Collino M is a Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Department of Drug Science and Technology at University of Turin (Italy). He is author of 86 full papers published in international journals with high impact factor; total citations: 1886; h-index: 25. He is the European Coordinator of the European Project “Innovative technological approaches for validation of salivary AGEs as novel biomarkers in evaluation of risk factors for diet-related diseases”.

Abstract:

Fructose produces 10 times more advanced glycation end products (AGEs) than glucose. We had recently demonstrated that the high chemical reactivity of fructose contributes to the massive formation of intracellular AGEs, thus evoking marked cellular alterations and organ dysfunction. Here, we investigated whether not only the type (e.g. fructose vs. glucose), but also the form (liquid vs. solid) of sugars may affect the development of metabolic impairments. Male C57Bl/6j mice were fed a standard diet (SD), a standard diet plus 60% fructose syrup (L-Fr), or a 60% fructose solid diet plus water (S-Fr), for 12 weeks. Liver lipogenesis, fibrosis, and inflammation, as well as intestinal absorption, accumulation of AGEs, and integrity were assessed by WB, immunofluorescence and histology. Gut microbiota population was characterized by metagenomic sequencing. L-Fr intake induced higher levels of hepatosteatosis associated to a greater expression/activation of the lipogenic SCAP/SREBP signaling pathway and fibrogenic markers in the liver than the S-Fr administration. In contrast, S-Fr evoked in the ileum intestinal mucosa a stronger local AGEs accumulation, RAGE expression, and gut barrier injury, leading to higher concentration of LPS in the portal plasma. The S-Fr related impairment of gut integrity was associated to a stronger activation of the LPS-dependent pro-inflammatory pathway NLRP3 inflammasomein the liver of S-Fr mice than L-Fr mice. Interestingly, the local accumulation of fructose in the intestine led to alterations of the gut microbiota depending on the fructose formulation. Overall, these results convincingly showed that the consumption of different fructose formulations, liquid or solid, may evoke different impact on gut integrity, thus differently affecting liver homeostasis. Our data suggest that, the solid fructose formulation is more slowly absorbed by enterocytes than liquid fructose, thus producing AGEs, leading to systemic inflammation.

Biography:

Rami Saadeh is an Assistant Professor in Jordan University of Science and Technology in Jordan. He earned his Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) from Jordan, MSPH from Tulane University in Louisiana, US and PhD in Environmental Health and Epidemiology from Indiana University, US, and has a specialty in Dental Public Health from the University of Texas Health at San Antonio, Texas, US. He worked as a Dentist in small villages and Palestinians’ refugee camps in Jordan, taught Public Health courses for years in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the US, and worked as the State Oral Health Epidemiologist in West Virginia. His research focuses on children and disadvantaged populations. His passion is to support equity in healthcare, and he is eager to see low socioeconomic populations gain equitable access to health care.

Abstract:

Objective: The objective of the study is to determine the association of four upper air indicators and seven air pollutants with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in elementary school children in Pennsylvania over a three-year period.

Method: An ecological study design that included records of 168,825 children from elementary schools distributed in 49 Pennsylvania counties was used. The number of children with ADHD exacerbations was extracted from online software specifically designed to record health conditions in schools. Daily measurements of air pollutants and upper air indicators were gained from the US Environmental Protection Agency and from the University of Wyoming, respectively. Generalized estimating equation models with Poisson regression as well as a one-way ANOVA were used in the analysis.

Result: The number of ADHD exacerbations significantly increased over the 3-year period [163.9 (±70.1) in 2008, 317.2 (±84.4) in 2009, and 427 (±101.4) in 2010]. Although exacerbations of ADHD fluctuated among months of each year, summer had the lowest number of exacerbations [233.05 (±111.3)], while fall had the highest [367.81(±96.8)]. Further, the difference in the number of ADHD exacerbations among the three years and among the four seasons for all years were statistically significant (P<0.001). Five air pollutants SO₂, CO, NO₂, PM2.5, PM10 and one upper air indicator were significant in the model and no interactions among predictors were significant.

Conclusion: Upper air indicators and pollutants were useful tools to predict ADHD in school children, which help parents and school administration to take appropriate precautionary actions.

Biography:

Mauricio Lisboa Nobre is a Physician specialized in Dermatology and Leprology. He has completed his PhD in Tropical Medicine by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Rio de Janeiro). His main activities include the training of doctors and nurses from the Brazilian Family Health Program on Leprosy Management. He also supports field researches conducted by the Tropical Medicine Institute of Rio Grande do Norte Federal University, especially on leprosy epidemiology and contact tracing. He acts as an Adviser for the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and ILEP agencies

Abstract:

Leprosy is an important public health problem in Brazil, where 25,218 new cases were reported in 2016. Patients with weak resistance against Mycobacterium leprae develop Multibacillary (MB) types of disease and spread the infection. We analyzed 541,090 cases notified in Brazil from 2003-2013, observing that New Cases Detection Rates (NCDR) for MB leprosy increased with age, especially for men, reaching 44.8 new cases/100,000 male population in 65-69-year-old group, while overall NCDR was 2-fold lower. Males had twice the odds of MB leprosy than females (OR=2.36, CI95%=2.33-2.38); the same was observed for patients older than 59 years (OR=1.99, CI 95%=1.96-2.02) compared to youngers. These findings were reported only in areas where leprosy was declining and exposure to infection was reduced, promoting a later onset of disease. However, we observed this pattern for MB leprosy in all Brazilian states, either with the highest NCDR (104.5 new cases/100,000) or the lowest NCDR (1.7 cases/100,000). Additionally, we selected a highly endemic urban area to search for MB leprosy cases among elderly population. As a result, 80% of all residents aged 60 or more years old (531 people) were checked for ML specific antibodies and three new cases of MB leprosy were detected among 188 men (NCDR=1.6%). No new case was detected among 316 women tested. These results suggest that age-specific campaigns should be addressed to increase earlier detection and treatment of MB cases among elderly men in endemic areas, as an important tool to effectively halt leprosy transmission in Brazil

Biography:

Juliana Paludo Vallandro has completed her Doctorate degree from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, which is one of the best three universities in Brazil, according to the Ministry of Education. She is currently pursuing her Post-doctorate degree in Child and Adolescent Health from the same university. She is a Level I-Assistant Professor in the Undergraduate Nutrition course at Ritter dos Reis University, which belongs to the Laureate teaching network, and also teaches several Lato Sensu graduate courses. She has published 14 scientific papers in national and international journals.

Abstract:

The adductor pollicis muscle thickness (APMT) is a promising method for evaluation of muscle loss and, consequently, malnutrition in adult and elderly patients. Within this context, we sought to evaluate the association of APMT with anthropometric variables, body mass index (BMI), pediatric subjective global assessment (SGA) of nutrition, nutritional screening, and clinical outcomes in hospitalized pediatric patients. This is a cross-sectional study of hospitalized patients between the ages of four and 8.9 years, with convenience sampling, performed at a pediatric hospital in Rio Grande do Sul. Patients admitted to the intensive care unit, those who could not orally take food and those with cerebral palsy or Down syndrome were excluded. General and socioeconomic information was collected and SGA Ped and STRONGkids were administered at hospital admission. The clinical data were collected in the electronic medical record. The sample consisted of 447 patients. Most of them, (55.9%) were male; the mean age was 6.2±1.4 years. Low APMT was significantly associated with underweight, short stature, low body fat percentage, and poor muscle reserve (p<0.001). There were also significant associations of moderate and severe malnutrition (assessed by the SGA Ped) and high nutritional risk (assessed by the STRONGkids instrument) with reduced APMT (p<0.001). A longer hospital stay was observed in patients with reduced APMT (p=0.001). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, plotted considering the SGA Ped as the gold standard, suggested APMT cutoff points of 10.2 mm for boys and 9.5 mm for girls. Stratification by age yielded APMT cutoff points of 9.8 mm for boys younger than six years and 10.2 mm for those older than six years, and 9.2 mm and 9.8 mm for girls younger and older than six years, respectively. The APMT is an efficient parameter for the detection of malnutrition in hospitalized pediatric patients.

Biography:

Vanesa Cepas has studied a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology at University of Oviedo, where she also studied a Master’s Degree in Biomedicine and Molecular Oncology. Nowadays she is a PhD student in University Institute for Oncology of Principality of Asturias (IUOPA) and is a researcher in JPI-HDHL project “SALIVAGES”. Her research interests are redox biology, stem cells and cell differentiation.

Abstract:

Introduction: In the last 40 years, diets composition has changed in developed countries and are nowadays characterized by an elevated glucose and fructose intake, mainly due to the increased consumption of processed sweetened foods and drinks. Fructose intake increases circulatory Advanced Glycation Endproducts (AGEs) and their tissue accumulation. These compounds are formed during the Maillard reaction initiated by a nucleophilic addition between the carbonyl group of a saccharide and the free amino group of a protein, aminophospholipid or nucleic acid. Protein glycation takes place both in vivo, in tissues and fluids under physiological conditions, and ex vivo, during food preparation such as baking, cooking or frying as well as during storage. AGEs are involved in the pathogenesis of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, insulin resistance, cardiovascular diseases, kidney injury or age-related and neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: We tested the toxicity of 2 independent compounds: 3-deoxygalactosone (3-DGal) and 3,4-dideoxyglucosone-3-ene (3,4-DGE) synthesized by SALIVAGES group. We incubated human keratinocytes (HaCaT) with several concentrations of each compound and/or well-known antioxidants for 48 hours. Furthermore, we treated HaCaT cells with ferrostatin-1, 3-methyladenine and necrostatin-1 to assay cell death performing a trypan-blue staining. Results: 3-DGal reduces cell viability to 80% and cell concentration to 22%. N-acetylcysteine reverts 3-DGal effect by increasing cell viability and concentration to 100% and 68% respectively. Interestingly, we found that neither ferrostatin-1, nor 3-methyladenine, nor necrostatin-1 prevented cell death, therefore these AGEs induce a form of cell death such as necrosis or apoptosis. Conclusions: N-acetylcysteine reverts the effect of 3-DGal. These AGEs could induce cell death through apoptosis or necrosis.

Biography:

Soyoka Yoshimi has completed her graduation ranking first in her class in the Department of Physical Therapy and Human Health Sciences from the Kyoto University. She has experience as a Physical Therapist not only in Japan but also in a foreign country. She has been to study abroad during her Master’s course of Human Health Sciences almost half of year, and has continued research with abroad graduate school by her own.

Abstract:

Introduction: Main treatment of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) which is more severe among young women is pharmacological therapy with high risk of adverse effects. In spite of demand of non-pharmacological therapy of PMS, the number of studies demonstrating the effectiveness of non-pharmacological therapy for PMS in young women is quite a few.

Aim: This study aimed to determine the adequate volume of physical activity on PMS in university students.

Materials & Methods: The study subjects included 435 female university students. Spearman rank correlation analysis was performed to analyze the exercise intensity of physical activity on PMS symptoms. Each statistical significance level was less than 5%. The mean age of subjects was 20.5±1.2 years. Spearman rank correlation analysis found a negative correlation (p=0.037, r=-0.161) between PMS symptoms and moderate physical activity, but a positive correlation (p=0.038, r=0.159) between PMS symptoms and inactivity.

Findings: These findings could help the young women preventing from or decreasing PMS symptoms at lower risk of adverse effects.

Results: Our results revealed that PMS symptoms had a negative relationship with moderate physical activity and a positive relationship with inactivity in university students.

Biography:

Helen Adamu is an Epidemiologist and is the focal person of Antimicrobial Consumption Surveillance representing her organization with the Nigerian Center for Disease Control. Her work created new interest in antimicrobial use surveillance for improved surveillance system. She is an avid Researcher with seven papers published in reputable journals.

Abstract:

Introduction: Several studies show that 80% of antibiotics are consumed in communities than in health facilities. The Nigeria Center for Disease Control (NCDC), University of Maryland (UMB) and Center for Clinical Care and Clinical Research (CCCRN) introduced national antimicrobial consumption surveillance (AMCS) system to provide information on community consumption of antibiotics. This abstract looks at the implementation phase of a novel mobile reporting system for antibiotic use adopted as a strategy for monitoring antibiotic consumption in the community.

Methodology: Fifteen (15) community pharmacists (CPs) were identified across four pilot states in Nigeria. This was later scaled up to 71 CPs across 14 States. Capacity building was held for the CPs on AMCS and use of the tool to collate sales record. This training was carried out in collaboration with the respective state epidemiology units who provide supervisory oversight to the CPs. Monitoring of reports (timeliness and antibiotic use) and quality indicators adapted from the European surveillance of antimicrobial consumption (ESAC) was conducted weekly.

Results: In the first 12 weeks post deployment in the pilot states, average weekly timeliness of report recorded was 40% from 15 CPs. Highest reporting was 58% in week 38 and lowest was 20% in week 42. Amoxicillin (J01GB06) was the most sold antibiotic (32.6%) of overall antibiotic sales in four states.

Conclusion: Implementation of AMCS tool for reporting antibiotic sale was successful. The need to expand the tool to other health settings should be considered to provide insight to antibiotic misuse and abuse and help seek appropriate interventions.

Biography:

Abstract:

Traditionally, dietary recommendations have been set at the average population level. However, current research is increasingly showing that the risks, benefits and nutritional requirements strongly vary between different population groups and even individuals, depending on their genetic or other characteristics. For example,  European citizens generally consume too high levels of salt, sugar and saturated fat. However, there are significant individual differences in tolerance levels of these food constituents among consumers. More research is needed to better define these individual differences in health responses to diets by validated, nutrition and health-related biomarkers. There is a need for biomarkers determining the intake of specific nutrients or food components (for example by using food metabolomics) and to complement the more traditional dietary assessment methodologies. Further, biomarkers that reflect the nutrition-related health status at both individual and group levels are crucial to demonstrate the health effects of certain foods. The workshop will describe few recent projects granted by European ERA HDHL Cofunded Call Biomarkers in Nutrition and Health, within the Joint Programming Initiative “A Healthy Diet for a Healthy Life” (http://www.healthydietforhealthylife.eu/, JPI HDHL), which has been established to coordinate research in the areas of food, diet, physical activity and health in order to achieve tangible societal and health impact and to strengthen European leadership and competitiveness in this field.

Biography:

Seong Wu Yang is MD, currently training internal medicine residency in Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, South Korea. He pursued his graduation from Yonsei University, College of Medicine. He completed his Bachelor's degree of Business Administration from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.

Abstract:

One person is diagnosed with dementia in Korea every 12 minutes. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of patients with dementia in 2017 was estimated to be about 700,000 and is expected to increase rapidly to 1 million by 2024. According to the OECD report, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia, accounting for approximately 60–80% of cases of dementia. AD is more common in aging populations. There has been a growing interest in AD and its modifiable risk factors, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), hypertension, Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), depression, obesity, smoking, low physical activity, and drinking. Reducing these modifiable risk factors can prevent AD. Recently, an association between sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and AD has been suggested. According to a previous study, the prevalence of SDB is estimated to be 27% and 16% in middle-aged Korean men and women, respectively. Recent studies have shown a direct association between SDB and cognitive impairment. However, the association between SDB and AD remains controversial, and only few longitudinal studies have been performed in an Asian population. Therefore, the present study was conducted to investigate whether SDB is associated with AD onset, using representative nationwide cohort data with a 14-year follow-up. The present study used the health check-up cohort data from the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) claims between 2002 and 2015. The study population comprised about 10% of the 5.15 million subjects aged 40–79 years who participated in the national medical check-up between 2002 and 2003. The NHIS cohort data includes all claims data; general health examination results, which are updated every 2 years; and health examination results specified for life-turning points, such as reaching the age of 40 or 66 years between 2002 and 2015. Subjects who were diagnosed with AD (N=1,489) or died (N=5,489) between 2002 and 2005 were excluded from the cohort sample. The study population comprised individuals who were diagnosed with SDB and those without SDB who were matched by using propensity score. The matched cohort was followed up until the onset of AD, death, or end of 2015. The study groups comprised the SDB group (N=727) and the control group (N=3,635). The SDB group comprised patients who were diagnosed with SDB between 2002 and 2005. On the other hand, subjects without SDB were randomly selected to form the control group. Subjects without SDB were matched to subjects with SDB at a ratio of 5:1 by sex, age, index date (the date of first diagnosis), CVD, hypertension, type 2 DM, depression, body mass index (BMI), smoking status, physical activity, and drinking by using propensity scoring and the stepwise algorithm. The matched cohort was followed up until onset of AD, death, or end of 2015. The cohort data included information on demographic characteristics, medical utilization, medical check-up, and health behavior. After PSM, the chisquare test was used to assess differences in the proportions between the SDB and control groups. To estimate the influence of SDB on AD onset, Kaplan–Meier survival curves and multivariate Cox proportional hazard models were used. Kaplan–Meier curves of the incidence of AD based on the presence of SDB showed differences. The log-rank test showed that the SDB group had a higher risk of AD than the non-SDB group (log-rank test p < 0.0422). After adjusting for the possible confounding variables, patients with SDB were almost 1.58 times more likely to develop AD than those without SDB. The present study showed that SDB was associated with an onset of AD. The findings of this study highlight the importance of the interventions to raise awareness of SDB and the need for the government's support to reduce the barrier in accessing appropriate SDB treatment.

Biography:

Amna Elgaali Dietitian Based in Qatar, she received her Honour Bachelor’s degree in Science in Dietetics from Ahfad university for women and completed her Dietetic Internship at Military Hospital- Omdurman., she also completed Nutrition & Health Course at UK open college. After working as a clinical dietitian for close to two years. Today, Amna uses her skills in nutrition and Diet therapy to run her practice in private sector, where she helps people to understand the relationship between the food and their bodies so they can show up for what matters most in their life, and improve their wellness.

Abstract:

There is no universally accepted definition of functional foods; however, there’s several organizations have defined this emerging food category. The International Food Information Council (IFIC) defines functional foods as foods that provide health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Health Canada defines it as “similar in appearance to a conventional food, but with benefits, and/or to reduce the risk of chronic disease beyond basic nutritional functions”. According to these definitions, unmodified whole foods such as fruits and vegetables represent the simplest form of a functional food. Africa has an abundant plant species which are known to be rich in health promoting compounds, many of which remain undiscovered or unused by the western society, Such as Guddaim, the chemical analysis and nutritional properties of this fruits investigationshowed this fruit contained a lot of important nutrients and nutritional value, beneficial to human health, Generally, the present study indicated that guddaim fruits possess good nutritional value, as they contains reasonable amount of iron this is explain why Sudanese population consume it to treat anaemia. Hibiscus also is used to treat high blood pressure. Gum Arabic, this generous plant has been reported to be used internally for the treatment of inflammation of the intestinal mucosa. Recently, a report from Sudan assessed that serum creatinine, urea, phosphate and uric acid concentrations were reported to be significantly reduced on the patients with Chronic Renal Failure on a low-protein diet. Baobab (Adansonia digitata L.) which provides a variety of important nutrients including vitamins, minerals and amino acids, and has many uses, such as medicine, food, and beverages, due to its content of rich in pectin and vitamin C. Further researches show potent nutritional value of traditional plant, such as Tamarind,
Doum, and okra.

Biography:

Naheed Mojgani has completed her PhD in Microbiology, is an Associate Professor at Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute (RVSRI), Iran. She is the Head of the Human and Animal Probiotic Research Lab at RVSRI and is a Senior Scientific Advisor at a probiotic manufacturing company (Biorun.Co Iran). She has commercialized several local probiotic isolates and also transferred the technology which she knows about probiotic supplement production. She has supervised several PhD and MSc students and has published more than 40 scientific papers and has presented her research work at several international and national conferences.

Abstract:

P larvae subsp. larvae, the agent of American foulbrood and Melissococcus plutonius, the agent of European foulbrood in honeybees are leading factors afflicting honey bee health and causing huge colony losses. To control this diseases antibiotics are used, which pose risks not only to honey bee health but is also a threat to humans. A number of biological controls methods are investigated in this regard for the control and prevention of these diseases. In this respect, probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are highly investigated. Propolis, a non-toxic wax like resinous substance found is bee hives is reported to be highly antibacterial and eco-friendly. In this study, we aimed to determine the synergistic antibacterial effect of probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) isolated from honey bee (Apis mellifera) intestinal specimens, and different concentrations of ethanolic extracts of Propolis, against Paenibacillus larvae and Melissococcus plutonius. Initially, a number of LAB were isolated from honey bees by culturing the intestinal specimens on MRS and M17 media under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The isolates were identified by biochemical and 16SrRNA sequencing. Four different concentrations of propolis collected from beehives of Alborz, Kurdistan and Tehran province, and the identified LAB isolates were tested for their antibacterial spectrum against Paenibacillus larvae and Melissococcus plutonius. Chlorhexidine (0.2%) and sterile saline were used as positive and negative control, respectively. The survival and growth of the L. casei TA0053, L. lactis NM00126, P. acidilactici TA0300 and E. faecium TA0312 (108 CFU/ml) in the presence of different propolis concentrations at different time intervals were investigated and their MIC determined. Synergistic effect of propolis and LAB bacterial strain against different cell concentrations of Paenibacillus larvae and Melissococcus plutonius was evaluated and their MIC recorded.

Biography:

Madeleine Karlsson has completed her studies in Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is a certified Holistic Health and Nutrition Coach. In her work, she helps her clients mend their relationship with food, improve their physical and mental health; and optimize their weight by teaching how to eat intuitively. She is also an International Speaker, Corporate Consultant and Natural Food Chef.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: Mental health disorders are on the rise, from ADHD and anxiety to depression and dementia, the number of people who are suffering from the mental health issues is at an all-time high. In 2001, the World Health Organization predicted that one out of four people would be affected by a mental disorder at some point in their life. Today, antidepressants are some of the most popular drugs in the United States, and their usage shows no signs of waning. In Germany, antidepressant use has risen 46% in just four years. In Spain and Portugal, it rose about 20% during the same period.

Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: An inter subjective experiment instructing subjects to eliminate sugar and all processed foods, to eat a whole foods diet high in antioxidants and healthy fats over a period of three months. The subjects were also instructed to incorporate daily movement and to start practicing meditation as a form of relaxation and to reduce stress.

Findings: The subjects of the study reported an elevated mood within a few days to a couple of weeks. They also reported higher energy levels, better productivity, less brain fog and higher resistance to stress. Other results included better digestion, less bloating and weight loss between 1 to 6 kgs in the first four weeks. One subject was on mood stabilizing medication at the beginning of the study and was gradually coming off it
with the assistance of her psychiatrist at the end. She had been on medication for 10 years.

Conclusion & Significance: Our mental health is affected by our diet and more and more scientific evidence is emerging to confirm this. Stress and what we eat can alter the composition and products of the gut flora. Subjects who are transferred from a traditional Western diet that is high in trans-fat, additives and  carbohydrates to a diet that is high in antioxidants, fiber and healthy fats change the composition of the
microbiota and as a result, their mental health improves.