We validated a nutrient-estimation method using OPEN, a Slovenian platform for clinical nutrition. We performed a chemical analysis and a calculation for a representative set of daily meals (n = 20) and compared the data with a Student’s t test (0.01 significance level). No differences were observed in the mean contents of energy, total dietary fibre, water, macro-nutrients, and minerals: Ca, Fe, Mg, Zn, Na, P, Cu and I. There was significant difference in the mean calculated and analytical values of selenium. We noticed remarkable, but not significant, difference in the mean values of iodine (11%). OPEN is a useful and cost-effective tool for both dieticians and patients.
COBISS.SI-ID: 26568231
Although it is generally accepted that nutrition effects the gut microbiota, it is very difficult to establish the association of particular food ingredients or dietary patterns with microbiota composition. In this work we succeeded to establish the differences in the fecal microbiota composition in vegetarians and omnivores in Slovenia. Vegetarian diet was associated with higher ratio of Bacteroides-Prevotella, Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, Clostridium clostridioforme and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and lower ratio of Clostridium cluster XIVa. Consumption of foods of animal origin and vegetarian type of diet explained the largest share of variance in microbiota structure. As among pregnant women included in the project My-milk were also vegetarians the results are important part for comparison and interpretation of results.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3303048
We compared the existing anthropometric methods for the evaluation of body composition, in pregnant women. 147 volunteers aged [average (SD)] 31 years (±4) in gestational week 32 (±3) provided information on age and pre-pregnancy body mass. Their height, current mass, skinfold thicknesses, and limb circumferences were measured. The body density and fat percentage were calculated according to 17 anthropometric equations. The body fat percentages obtained using the existing anthropometric methods varied greatly (p ( 0.0001), from 16% (±5) to 38% (±4); methods developed specifically for pregnant women yielded disturbingly large differences, with body fat values ranging from 16% (±5) to 36% (±6). This study revealed discrepancies among anthropometric methods for body composition assessment in pregnant women.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3067727
Since probiotic characteristics are strain-specific, the tools which enables to distinguish a particular probiotic strain from the other strains are crucial in functional studies. In the article, we presented a specific detection and quantification of a probiotic strain Lactobacillus gasseri K7 based on PCR targeting bacteriocin genes clusters (gassericins K7 A and B), which presents an original approach in the probiotic studies. The method was used in the project for studying the mechanisms of endogenous transfer of strain K7 from intestine to the mammary gland on a mouse model and in clinical study.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3222664
We aimed to evaluate vitamin and mineral status of pregnant women (n = 69) by programme Prodi 5.7 Expert Plus and IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0. Nutrient intake of vitamins C, D, E, folic acid and minerals iron, iodine, calcium and sodium were compared with Reference values for nutrient intake (2004). The most problematic nutrients are folate, iron and vitamin D. 46.4 % of all participants are indicated as women with poor nutritional status, none of them met the demand for six out of seven studied nutrients. Among participants who decided to take supplements, the vast majority of them improved their vitamin-mineral status moreover few of them improved their status significantly.
COBISS.SI-ID: 3325064