This study was undertaken to optimize preparation of sweet rice muffins using lotus (Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn) seed powder. The experimental conditions used in the preparation included lotus seed powder (X₁) and soybean oil (X₂). The muffin formulation was optimized using rheology. Lightness (P<0.01) displayed a quadratic model pattern, whereas yellowness (P<0.01) and redness (P<0.05) was presented a linear model. Texture properties significantly differed in cohesiveness (P<0.05). Evaluating the sensory characteristics of muffins, except for flavor and texture, the remaining properties of color (P<0.01), taste, overall quality, and appearance (P<0.05) were found to be significantly different. The overall quality was also affected by the proportion of lotus seed powder, rather than the amount of soybean oil. The optimal ratio for palatability of muffins was determined to be 47.80 g lotus seed powder and 95.28 g soybean oil. Taken together, our results indicate that sweet rice muffins prepared using lotus seed powder are sufficiently competitive in terms of function and quality.

Dietary nitrate supplementation from green leafy vegetables and beetroot is involved in the 'nitrate-nitrite-nitric oxide (NO) pathway' and is reported to have important vascular impacts. This study evaluated the blood parameters and blood flow change subsequent to a raw juice diet program. The 28 subjects who voluntarily participated in the raw juice diet program at Sahmyook University were instructed to drink the juice composed of fruits and vegetables instead of partaking the usual meal, at a scheduled time daily. The study was approved by the research ethics council of the Sahmyook University (SYUIRB 2014-043). Evaluation of the participants after the required duration revealed decreased levels of soft lean mass (P<0.05), skeletal muscle mass (P<0.001), body fat mass (P<0.001), body mass index (P<0.001) and circulating levels of total cholesterol (P<0.001), triglycerides (P<0.05), HDL-cholesterol (P<0.01), LDL-cholesterol (P<0.01), and blood urea nitrogen (P<0.001). Conversely, circulating levels of creatinine (P<0.001), hemoglobin (P<0.001), and hematocrit (P<0.01) were increased after the intervention. The blood flow levels were also increased after the program (P<0.001). Our results indicate that a short-term raw juice diet contributes to the improvement of vascular blood flow and blood lipid parameters, and decreases the lean muscle mass related to dehydration.

As the morbidity of chronic diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure has increased, the frequency of oral dryness upon taking drugs for a long time or several drugs at the same time has greatly increased. This study was conducted to investigate the status of oral dryness and utilize the data to develop treatment products. Surveys were assembled from October to December 2018, and a statistical analysis of the 144 responses was conducted. The surveyed consisted of 60 males and 84 females, with 31.3% of those in their 70s and older. Among them, 100 people took drugs for chronic diseases, while 27 people took drugs for more than 10 years and less than 20 years. Exactly 23 respondents who took drugs suffered from more than two types of chronic diseases, of which high blood pressure was the most cited, followed by hyperlipidemia and diabetes. Regarding complications, oral dryness (33.8%) was the most frequent, and there were significant differences in the degree of discomfort when taking medicine, especially for oral dryness depending on the age (P<0.05). Groups that took medicine showed severe symptoms of dry mouth, especially when waking up at night or in the morning (P<0.001) and eating food (P<0.01), and had difficulty in swallowing food (P<0.01) and speaking (P<0.01). Exactly 89.6% of the respondents didn't take lozenges (candy) for improvement of oral dryness, and the type of the product that they wanted to purchase the most was candy (45.1%). Respondents worried about rising blood sugar, dental caries, and calories when eating candy for relieving dryness (P<0.01).

The relationship of abdominal obesity ("AO") with co-morbidity and mortality is well established. This study assessed the factors associated with AO, which was defined as a waist circumference ≥90 cm for men and ≥85 cm for women, in the group aged over 65 years. A total of 1,435 subjects were analyzed among the participants of the 2014 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Statistical methods for a complex sample were applied by using a SPSS program (ver. 25.0). AO was more frequently found in females. The results of the logistic regression analysis showed that heavy drinking (OR: 1.53), no weight training (OR: 0.68), stressful mental status (OR: 0.61), bad health-related quality of life (by EQ_5D, OR: 1.45), hypertension (OR: 2.18), prediabetes (OR: 1.94), diabetes (OR: 1.63), low HDL-cholesterol (OR: 1.86), anemia (OR: 0.55), and heavy energy intake (OR: 1.41) were significantly related with the prevalence of AO after adjustment for gender. Heavy drinking (OR: 1.89), bad self-rating of health status (OR: 1.72), low HDL-cholesterol (OR: 1.85), heavy energy intake (OR: 1.79), low intake of riboflavin (OR: 1.60) were still significantly related with the prevalence of AO after adjustment for gender and body mass index (BMI), this study suggests that certain characteristics of health habits, mental health status, and chronic diseases may be associated with AO. This study did not establish the existence of relationship between nutrient intakes, except for riboflavin, and risk of AO, but this study suggests that prospective research is needed to establish causal connections among those factors.

This study examined the job satisfaction of nutritionists, and its effect on organizational commitment and turnover intention in public health centers. The response data of 174 nutritionists were analyzed. The overall average of job satisfaction was 3.94 out of 7 points, which was determined to be below 'normal'; however, the job suitability of sub-factors scored 5.26, which was more than 'normal'. The variables affecting job satisfaction that were provided by the respondents included job-related licenses (P<0.01) and co-nutritionists (P<0.01). Organizational commitment ranked 'normal' with a score of 4.35. Normative commitment (4.90) of the sub-factors was 'normal' or more, and differed when considering 'age' (P<0.01), 'employment status' (P<0.01), 'salary per year' (P<0.05), and 'working area' (P<0.05). The turnover intention was analyzed to be below 'normal' with 3.88 points, and the variables affecting turnover were significantly higher for subjects in their 20s (P<0.01), less than two job-related licenses (P<0.05), and less than two co-nutritionists (P<0.01). The four variables of job satisfaction, 'business discretion' (P<0.05), 'work environment' (P<0.01), 'job suitability' (P<0.01), and 'reward' (P<0.01), positively affected the organizational commitment. Moreover, organizational commitment had a mediating effect (P<0.01) on job satisfaction and turnover intention. Taken together, our results suggest that public health centers need to develop improvement plans for business discretion, work environment, job suitability and reward.