phytoestrogens and diallyl-disulfide

This chapter is a comprehensive review of the health promotingphytochemicals commonly found in our daily food. These include carotenoids, phenolics, phytoestrogenes, polyunsaturated fatty acids, conjugated linoleic acids, tocols, allicin, glucosinolates, limonene and capsaicinoids. The review encompasses the main food sources of these chemicals in the diet, the possible mechanisms of their activity, evidence for potential health promoting activity and possible harmful effects. The newly emerged interest in these phytochemicals in animal nutrition as substitutes for synthetic antibiotic growth promoters has also been addressed.

Topics: Allyl Compounds; Animals; Capsaicin; Carotenoids; Cyclohexenes; Diet; Disulfides; Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; Food; Glucosinolates; Health; Humans; Limonene; Linoleic Acids, Conjugated; Phenols; Phytoestrogens; Plant Extracts; Plants; Sulfinic Acids; Terpenes; Tocopherols

This Review covers the sources and the main effects on human health of well-known micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins and also of microconstituents contained in the Mediterranean diet. Vitamins were first identified because of deficiency diseases still present in certain parts of the world. Hydrosoluble vitamins, among them folic acid and vitamin C, also play a role in chronic degenerative diseases, not only the main cause of mortality in the Western world but also increasingly common in developing countries. Hydrosoluble vitamins are well represented in the Mediterranean diet, more so than vitamin A, a liposoluble vitamin obtained primarily from animal foods. Vitamin E is important for antioxidant and cellular functions. The Mediterranean diet is also rich in provitamins A, such as alpha- and beta-carotene and beta-cryptoxanthine. Microconstituents are non-nutritional compounds known to protect plants and more recently suspected to have a protective effect in humans. They play a role in the antioxidant defense of the organism, but their effect on various enzyme activities appears even more promising and is still under investigation. It is nevertheless difficult to isolate the effect of the numerous biofactors present in the Mediterranean diet from the foods themselves, especially because of the possible synergy between the various biofactors.

Topics: Allyl Compounds; Cardiovascular Diseases; Carotenoids; Diet, Mediterranean; Disulfides; Glucosinolates; Humans; Isoflavones; Micronutrients; Minerals; Models, Biological; Neoplasms; Phenols; Phytoestrogens; Plant Preparations; Terpenes; Vitamins

This study was to examine whether skeletal health deterioration in the hypogonadal situation is a consequence of an alteration in the functional status of peripheral mononuclear cells and its amelioration, if any, by an oil extract of garlic. The results suggest that hypogonadism-induced oxidative stress of peritoneal macrophages and lymphocytes could be reduced by supplementation with an oil extract of garlic. However, estrogen deficiency did not cause any significant change in DNA fragmentation of peritoneal macrophages. The hypogonadism-induced increase in the serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-alpha were significantly reduced by an oil extract of garlic. Further, such supplementation could revive the hypogonadism-induced decrease in serum estrogen titer and counter-balance the increase in bone turnover as determined by low bone tensile strength and alterations in bone related biochemical variables such as urinary calcium, hydroxyproline, calcium to creatinine ratio and serum tartrate resistant acid phosphatase activity (TRAP). The garlic oil supplemented partial recovery of the serum estrogen titer in hypogonadal rats was found to be persistently associated with reduced oxidative stress of peritoneal macrophages and lymphocytes, reduced serum interleukins and better preservation of bone mass. This study proposes that the hypogonadism-induced bone loss has a direct correlation with the functional status of lymphocytes and peritoneal macrophages, and garlic can prevent this.

Topics: Acid Phosphatase; Allyl Compounds; Animals; Catalase; Disulfides; DNA Fragmentation; Estradiol; Female; Femur; Garlic; Interleukin-6; Lipid Peroxidation; Lymphocytes; Macrophages, Peritoneal; Nitrites; Osteoporosis; Ovariectomy; Phytoestrogens; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Superoxide Dismutase; Tensile Strength; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha