Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is prevalent in 25–30% of British and European populations, representing a potential global public health crisis. Marine omega-3 (n-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids offer well-evidenced benefits to NAFLD biomarkers; however, the effect of plant-based n-3 has not been evaluated with a systematic review and meta-analysis. Join us for this episode where Douglas Taren speaks with Katie Lane, co-author of this featured article, a review aimed to systematically evaluate the effect of plant-based n-3 supplementation on NAFLD surrogate biomarkers and parameters.

Food labelling is a global strategy recommended to reduce noncommunicable diseases. Few reviews, however, have focused on food label use in sub-Saharan Africa. In this episode, lead author Dumisani Nkhoma from the Nkhata Bay District Hospital, Nkhata Bay District Health Office, Malawi, discusses with Douglas Taren the finding of his systemic review and meta-analysis of food label use and comprehension in sub-Saharan Africa.

Telehealth-delivered nutrition interventions are effective in practice; however, limited evidence exists regarding their cost-effectiveness. In this episode, lead author Jaimon Kelly from the Centre for Online Health, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, discusses with Douglas Taren his evaluation of twelve randomized controlled trials on the cost-effectiveness of telehealth-delivered nutrition interventions for improving health outcomes in adults with chronic disease.

Intermittent energy restriction (IER) and periodic fasting (PF) has become a popular dietary trend and topic of research for metabolic outcomes and weight loss. This episode, editor-in-chief Dr. Douglas Taren speaks with featured article authors Elske van den Burg and Marjolein Schoonakker on their systematic review summarizing current knowledge of the effects of IER and PF in patients with T2D on markers of metabolic control and the need for glucose-lowering medication.

Retirement is an opportune time for people to establish new healthy routines. Exercise and nutritional interventions are promising in the prevention and treatment of sarcopenic obesity. The authors of this featured article conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effectiveness of nutritional and exercise interventions for the treatment of sarcopenic obesity in persons of retirement age. Join us this episode as editor-in-chief Dr. Douglas Taren speaks with Doris Eglseer and Lea Reiter from Institute of Nursing Science, Medical University of Graz, about their thoughts on their findings.

Middle childhood and early adolescence have received disproportionately low levels of scientific attention relative to other life stages, especially as related to nutrition and health. Nevertheless, this age bracket, which encompasses most of the primary education and basic schooling years for most individuals, is marked by significant changes, inflection points, and sexually driven divergence in somatic and brain growth and development trajectories. Join us for this episode where Douglas Taren speaks with Jose Saavedra, co-author of this featured article, on their review highlighting the specificities of growth and development in middle childhood and early adolescence, the role of nutrition, the short- and long-term consequences of inadequate nutrition, and the current global status of nutrition in this age group.

Portion size norm is described as the perception of how much of a given food people choose to eat. The authors of this featured article conducted a systematic review to examine the portion size norm of discretionary foods and assess the methodologies used to investigate the norm. Join us this episode as editor-in-chief Dr. Douglas Taren speaks with Qingzhou (Monica) Liu and Anna Rangan from The University of Sydney about their thoughts on their findings.

Diet quality is a multidimensional concept that incorporates healthy food choices, nutrient adequacy, food variety, moderation/excess, and overall balance. The authors of this episode's featured article conducted a review to examine the consumption of both nutrients and foods or food groups in recognition of the importance of the relationships between nutrients, foods, and dietary patterns that underpin diet quality. Join us for a conversation with article co-author Erynn McAuley from the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia.

Poor sleep is increasingly seen as an issue of public health concern. In recent years, there has been growing interest in protein as a route to improve sleep outcomes; however, the evidence is limited and inconclusive. Join us this episode as Dr. Douglas Taren speaks with authors Janine Wirth and Lorraine Brennan from the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, University College Dublin, for this episode's featured article.

Aging is an essential milestone that governments worldwide must plan for. At a global level, Japan currently has the highest share of population older than 65 years. Elderly individuals living alone encounter many challenges typically not faced by those living in a multiperson household. Nutrition status and diet are 2 such challenges, both of which are crucial determinants of health and well-being. Join us this episode as Dr. Douglas Taren speaks with the authors from this episode's featured article, Midori Ishikawa and Tetsuji Yokoyama from the National Institute of Public Health, Wako, Saitama, Japan.

To mitigate the age-related decline in skeletal muscle quantity and quality, and the associated negative health outcomes, it has been proposed that dietary protein recommendations for older adults should be increased alongside an active lifestyle and/or structured exercise training. The question therefore arises as to where this dietary protein required for meeting the protein demands of the rapidly aging global population should (or could) be obtained. Join us this episode as Douglas Taren speaks with co-authors Ino van der Heijden and Benjamin Wall from the Department of Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, United Kingdom, to hear more from them on their research and findings. 

This episode, Dr. Douglas Taren speaks with Mateus de Lima Macena and Dr. Nassib Bezerra Bueno from Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil. Their article assesses effects of dietary polyphenols, from food sources or supplements, on the anthropometric, glycemic, renal, inflammatory, and oxidative stress markers in adults with diabetic nephropathy (DN). Join us for this conversation with this month's featured authors. 

In North American countries, synthetic folic acid (FA) is overconsumed by pregnant women, and uncertainty exists about its potential unintended health effects. Because the metabolism of FA is different than that of other folate forms, it may modulate disease risk differently. In this episode, Dr. Taren speaks with Dr. Emanuela Pannia and Dr. Rola Hammoud, authors from this month's featured article on their examination of role folate, in its synthetic and bioactive form, as an in utero modifier of metabolic outcomes in mothers and offspring.

This episode, Dr. Taren speaks with Dr. Maiara Cristina Lima and Dr. Débora Kurrle Venske from University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Their article is a systematic review on the effects of the ketogenic diet (KD) in children and adults with pharmacoresistant epilepsy on cognitive function. Join us for this conversation.

Dietary carotenoid intake is associated with vitamin A status and healthy visual and cognitive function in early life. To date, however, only limited population-level data on the concentrations of carotenoids in human milk or infant blood have been available to assess the dietary exposure of infants to carotenoids. This episode, Nutrition Reviews Editor in Chief, Dr. Douglas Taren, speaks with Dr. Nancy Moran who with her co-authors conducted a systematic review that seeks to define worldwide carotenoid concentrations in human milk and infant blood. Join us for this conversation.

Despite producing sufficient food for the global population, the growing prevalence of food insecurity in developed countries is cause for concern. The millions of metric tons of food wasted each year could be used instead to drastically lower rates of food insecurity and address food sustainability. This episode, we speak with Amanda Grech from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, The University of Sydney. She, and her co-authors, conducted a scoping review, aimed to identify barriers to and enablers of harnessing food waste across food sectors, including food retail, households, and food rescue organizations, to address food insecurity in a developed country, Australia.

Previous epidemiological studies have shown an association between racial discrimination and health outcomes in specific populations, such as Black, Asian, and Indigenous individuals living in the United States, Australia, and Canada as well as in Latin American and European countries. Most of these studies have a focus on interpersonal racial discrimination, which is mainly investigated by measuring perceived racial discrimination and evaluating chronic stress caused by unfair treatment experiences over an individual’s lifetime. Several studies have demonstrated an association between lifelong racial discrimination experiences and poor eating habits in the last decade of life. Our guest, Raquel Canuto, along with her co-authors, conducted a systematic review to examine the association between PRD and eating habits and to analyze the pathways of this association presented in the primary studies. Join us this episode as we speak with Dr. Canuto about the groups findings.

Diet influences the aetiology of 7 of the 10 most globally prevalent Non-Communicable Diseases. Most individuals do not have a diet that adheres to guidelines for the prevention of disease. Nutrition care has been shown to be an effective way of reducing biomarkers of diabetes, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and excess body weight. However, the cost-effectiveness of nutrition care within primary care settings remains unknown. As such, this review aims to synthesize and evaluate the findings of CEAs of nutrition care interventions provided in primary care settings. Join us this episode as we speak to Dr. Katelyn Barnes and Dr. Lauren Ball from Griffith University, Nathan, QLD, Australia.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) manifests with systemic inflammation, oxidative stress, and gut dysbiosis, resulting in metabolic disorders and elevated rates of cardiovascular disease–associated death. The root vegetable beetroot (Beta vulgaris rubra) deserves special attention because it is a source of several bioactive compounds, such as nitrate, betaine, and betalain, and has shown beneficial effects in CKD, including reduction of blood pressure, anti-inflammatory effects, and antioxidant actions by scavenging radical oxidative species, as observed in preclinical studies. In this episode, we speak with Laís de Souza Gouveia Moreira and Denise Mafra from Fluminense Federal University, Niterói, Rio de Janiero, Brazil, co-authors of this month's featured paper.

Children in care (CiC) have often experienced trauma and, as a result, are at high risk for poor health outcomes. It is imperative that human-service stakeholders provide trauma-informed health services and interventions. However, little is known about how health promotion is addressed in the standards and guidelines for CiC. Join us this episode where we speak with Rachael Green, co-author of this month's featured paper.