Erin E. Quann

Background: A large portion of Americans are not meeting the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for several essential vitamins and minerals due to poor dietary choices. Dairy products are a key source of many of the nutrients that are under consumed, but children and adults do not consume the recommended amounts from this food group. This study modelled the impact of meeting daily recommended amounts of dairy products on population-based nutrient intakes. Methods: Two-day 24-h dietary recalls collected from participants ≥2 years (n = 8944) from the 2007–2010 What We Eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were analysed. Databases available from the WWEIA/NHANES and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were used to determine nutrient, food group, and dietary supplement intakes. Modelling was performed by adding the necessary number of dairy servings, using the dairy composite designed by USDA, to each participant’s diet to meet the dairy recommendations outlined by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. All analyses included sample weights to account for the NHANES survey design. Results: The majority of children 4 years and older (67.4–88.8 %) and nearly all adults (99.0–99.6 %) fall below the recommended 2.5–3 daily servings of dairy products. Increasing dairy consumption to recommended amounts would result in a significant reduction in the percent of adults with calcium, magnesium, and vitamin A intakes below the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) when considering food intake alone (0–2.0 vs. 9.9–91.1 %; 17.3–75.0 vs. 44.7–88.5 %; 0.1–15.1 vs. 15.3–48.0 %, respectively), as well as food and dietary supplement intake. Minimal, but significant, improvements were observed for the percent of people below the EAR for vitamin D (91.7–99.9 vs. 91.8–99.9 %), and little change was achieved for the large percentage of people below the Adequate Intake for potassium. Conclusions: Increasing dairy food consumption to recommended amounts is one practical dietary change that could significantly improve the population’s adequacy for certain vitamins and minerals that are currently under-consumed, as well as have a positive impact on health.

A large portion of Americans are not meeting the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) for several essential vitamins and minerals due to poor dietary choices. Dairy products are a key source of many of the nutrients that are under consumed, but children and adults do not consume the recommended amounts from this food group. This study modeled the impact of meeting daily recommended amounts of dairy products on population-based nutrient intakes. Two-day 24-h dietary recalls collected from participants ≥2 years (n = 8944) from the 2007–2010 What We Eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were analyzed. Databases available from the WWEIA/NHANES and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) were used to determine nutrient, food group, and dietary supplement intakes. Modeling was performed by adding the necessary number of dairy servings, using the dairy composite designed by USDA, to each participant’s diet to meet the dairy recommendations outlined by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. All analyses included sample weights to account for the NHANES survey design. The majority of children 4 years and older (67.4–88.8 %) and nearly all adults (99.0–99.6 %) fall below the recommended 2.5-3 daily servings of dairy products. Increasing dairy consumption to recommended amounts would result in a significant reduction in the percent of adults with calcium, magnesium, and vitamin A intakes below the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) when considering food intake alone (0–2.0 vs. 9.9–91.1 %; 17.3–75.0 vs. 44.7–88.5 %; 0.1–15.1 vs. 15.3–48.0 %, respectively), as well as food and dietary supplement intake. Minimal, but significant, improvements were observed for the percent of people below the EAR for vitamin D (91.7–99.9 vs. 91.8–99.9 %), and little change was achieved for the large percentage of people below the Adequate Intake for potassium. Increasing dairy food consumption to recommended amounts is one practical dietary change that could significantly improve the population’s adequacy for certain vitamins and minerals that are currently under-consumed, as well as have a positive impact on health.

Background: Whey protein is a potential source of bioactive peptides. Based on findings from in vitro experiments indicating a novel whey derived peptide (NOP-47) increased endothelial nitric oxide synthesis, we tested its effects on vascular function in humans. Methods: A randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study design was used. Healthy men (n = 10) and women (n = 10) (25 ± 5 y, BMI = 24.3 ± 2.3 kg/m²) participated in two vascular testing days each preceded by 2 wk of supplementation with a single dose of 5 g/day of a novel whey-derived peptide (NOP-47) or placebo. There was a 2 wk washout period between trials. After 2 wk of supplementation, vascular function in the forearm and circulating oxidative stress and inflammatory related biomarkers were measured serially for 2 h after ingestion of 5 g of NOP-47 or placebo. Macrovascular and microvascular function were assessed using brachial artery flow mediated dilation (FMD) and venous occlusion strain gauge plethysmography. Results: Baseline peak FMD was not different for Placebo (7.7%) and NOP-47 (7.8%). Placebo had no effect on FMD at 30, 60, and 90 min post-ingestion (7.5%, 7.2%, and 7.6%, respectively) whereas NOP-47 significantly improved FMD responses at these respective postprandial time points compared to baseline (8.9%, 9.9%, and 9.0%; P < 0.0001 for time × trial interaction). Baseline reactive hyperemia forearm blood flow was not different for placebo (27.2 ± 7.2%/min) and NOP-47 (27.3 ± 7.6%/min). Hyperemia blood flow measured 120 min post-ingestion (27.2 ± 7.8%/min) was unaffected by placebo whereas NOP-47 significantly increased hyperemia compared to baseline (29.9 ± 7.8%/min; P = 0.008 for time × trial interaction). Plasma myeloperoxidase was increased transiently by both NOP-47 and placebo, but there were no changes in markers inflammation. Plasma total nitrites/nitrates significantly decreased over the 2 hr post-ingestion period and were lower at 120 min after placebo (-25%) compared to NOP-47 (-18%). Conclusion: These findings indicate that supplementation with a novel whey-derived peptide in healthy individuals improves vascular function.