(Press-News.org) A new study, published today in the journal in PLOS ONE, shows which plant food supplements are most popular across Europe, with consumers using them to complement their diets or to maintain health.
The team of researchers from the Fundación para la Investigación Nutricional and the University of Surrey found that these products are taken in many different forms, including in tea, juice or by tablet. They analysed data from six European countries, collecting information from 2359 adult consumers of plant food supplements in Finland, Germany, Italy, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom.
The main findings include:
A total of 1288 different products were reported across the six countries with the highest proportion of different plant food supplements being used in Italy and Spain. In the United Kingdom, the number of different products was approximately half that of the other countries
In the United Kingdom, evening primrose was by far the most frequently used botanical ingredient, followed by ginseng and St. John's Wort
22.2% of participants said that they use plant food supplements when experiencing a 'flare up or worsening of a condition'
The most common dose forms were capsules and pills/tablets/lozenges
"The popularity of food supplements is on the rise in Europe, but currently, there is a lack of data on the use of these products. The marketing of these supplements depends on national legislation, which differs widely across European Member States," said Professor Monique Raats, co-author of the study from the University of Surrey.
"Our research will be useful in informing authorities and food businesses of the popularity of specific products in their country, so that they can make more useful judgements on legislation and marketing. It will also help to ensure that the appropriate guidance and policies can be put in place for products that are being widely used."
Alicia García-Álvarez, Researcher at the Fundación para la Investigación Nutricional, comments: "The survey was carried out using the same methodology in the six countries. We now know that in these countries a wide variety of plant food supplements are consumed. 83.7% of respondents consume only one product, and 51.5% of products usually contain a single botanical ingredient. "
INFORMATION: END
Trends in food supplements differ from country to country, new study finds
2014-03-18
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Risk of psychiatric diagnoses, medication use increases after critical illness
2014-03-18
Critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation had a higher prevalence of prior psychiatric diagnoses and an increased risk of a new psychiatric diagnosis and medication use after hospital discharge, according to a study in the March 19 issue of JAMA.
With recent advances in medical care, more patients are surviving critical illness. Critically ill patients are exposed to stress, including pain, respiratory distress, and delirium, all of which may impact subsequent mental health. The extent of psychiatric illness prior to critical illness, as well as the magnitude ...
Pregnancy associated with greater risk of certain bacterial infection; may worsen outcomes
2014-03-18
In a surveillance study of infection with the bacterium Haemophilus influenzae among women of reproductive age in England and Wales from 2009-2012, pregnancy was associated with a greater risk of this infection, which was associated with poor pregnancy outcomes such as premature birth and stillbirth, according to a study in the March 19 issue of JAMA.
Haemophilus influenzae can cause illnesses that include respiratory infections. Some studies have suggested an increased risk of invasive H influenzae disease during pregnancy, although these were based on a small number ...
Study examines use of age-adjusted D-dimer levels to exclude lung blood clots
2014-03-18
Using a patient's age to raise the threshold for an abnormal result of a blood test used to assess patients with a suspected pulmonary embolism (blood clot in lungs) appeared to be safe and led to fewer healthy patients with the diagnosis, according to a study in the March 19 issue of JAMA.
D-dimer is a breakdown product of a blood clot, and measuring D-dimer levels is one way doctors exclude a diagnosis of pulmonary embolism (PE). Several studies have shown that D-dimer levels increase with age. As a result, the proportion of healthy patients with abnormal test results ...
Children with glomerular kidney disease more likely to have hypertension as adults
2014-03-18
Men who as children had glomerular disease, a disorder of the portion of the kidney that filters blood and one that usually resolves with time, were more likely than men without childhood glomerular disease to have high blood pressure as an adult, according to a study in the March 19 issue of JAMA.
Glomerular disease was defined for this study as glomerulonephritis or nephrotic syndrome (both are kidney disorders). Most children who develop glomerular disease have a favorable prognosis with complete resolution of all signs and symptoms. Yet the long-term complications ...
Study finds no evidence that vitamin D supplements reduce depression
2014-03-18
NEW YORK, NY (March 18, 2014) — Vitamin D deficiency has been implicated in numerous health conditions in recent years, including depressed mood and major depressive disorder. Recent observational studies provide some support for an association of vitamin D levels with depression, but the data do not indicate whether vitamin D deficiency causes depression or vice versa. These studies also do not examine whether vitamin D supplementation improves depression.
A systematic review of clinical trials that have examined the effect of vitamin D supplementation on depression ...
JCI online ahead of print table of contents for March 18, 2014
2014-03-18
Cardiac conduction altered by intragenic enhancer
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have determined a surprising link between dysfunctional cardiac conduction and variants within SCN10A, which encodes nociceptor-associated sodium-gated ion channel subunit NaV1.8. Follow-up functional studies targeting NaV1.8 revealed only a minor contribution to cardiac physiology; therefore, it was unclear how SCN10A mutations promoted the development of cardiac conduction disease. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the research groups of Vincent Christoffels, ...
New from Geology: Fossils, earthquakes, gold, and sea-bed landslides
2014-03-18
Boulder, Colo., USA – Geology papers published 17 Mar. 2014 cover (1) modeling of seabed turbidity currents; (2) a large earthquake at Lake Vättern, Switzerland, about 11,500 years ago; (3) genesis of high-grade gold at the Porgera gold deposit, Papua New Guinea; (4) discovery of the Ediacaran guide fossil Cloudina sp. and the depositional age of the Bambuí Group; (5) earthquakes along the fossil Moho in Alpine Corsica; and (6) using LiDAR to better understand New Zealand's Alpine Fault.
Highlights are provided below. Geology articles published ahead of print can be accessed ...
NASA releases first interactive mosaic of lunar north pole
2014-03-18
Scientists, using cameras aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), have created the largest high resolution mosaic of our moon's north polar region. The six-and-a-half feet (two-meters)-per-pixel images cover an area equal to more than one-quarter of the United States.
Web viewers can zoom in and out, and pan around an area. Constructed from 10,581 pictures, the mosaic provides enough detail to see textures and subtle shading of the lunar terrain. Consistent lighting throughout the images makes it easy to compare different regions.
"This unique image is a tremendous ...
Fierce 2012 magnetic storm barely missed Earth
2014-03-18
Earth dodged a huge magnetic bullet from the sun on July 23, 2012.
According to University of California, Berkeley, and Chinese researchers, a rapid succession of coronal mass ejections – the most intense eruptions on the sun – sent a pulse of magnetized plasma barreling into space and through Earth's orbit. Had the eruption come nine days earlier, it would have hit Earth, potentially wreaking havoc with the electrical grid, disabling satellites and GPS, and disrupting our increasingly electronic lives.
The solar bursts would have enveloped Earth in magnetic fireworks ...
New statistical models could lead to better predictions of ocean patterns
2014-03-18
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The world's oceans cover more than 72 percent of the earth's surface, impact a major part of the carbon cycle, and contribute to variability in global climate and weather patterns. However, accurately predicting the condition of the ocean is limited by current methods. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have applied complex statistical models to increase the accuracy of ocean forecasting that can influence the ways in which forecasters predict long-range events such as El Nińo and the lower levels of the ocean food chain—one of the world's ...