• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.161-170
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• 2010

We surveyed 837 students attending elementary schoolchildren in Korea for health functional foods (HFF) consumption and significant variables for their HFF consumption including demographic characteristics, parental health concern on offsprings, food eating frequency of subjects and beliefs on potential efficacy of HFF by subjects. The consumption prevalence of HFF was 45.9%, and among all types of HFF, nutritional supplements were taken most frequently, followed by apricot extract-fermented products > lactic acid bacteria containing products > EPA/DHA containing products > red ginseng products. HFF consumption was higher in subjects had parents of high education level (p < .05) and those from families with a high socioeconomic status (p < .01) in comparison to each corresponding group. Health concern on offsprings by parents (p < .001) and consumption ratio of HFF by family (p < .001) was higher in consumers than in nonconsumers of HFF. Total score of dietary assessment was higher in consumers than in nonconsumers of HFF (p < .01), and consumers had a more positive view concerning the potential efficacy of HFF than did nonconsumers (p < .001). Most consumers of HFF took HFF when they were healthy (42.5%), and they did not feel special effects through HFF consumption (47.7%). Most consumers of HFF got the information on HFF from family and relatives (24.8%), and most of them purchased HFF at pharmacy or oriental medicine clinics (53.9%). HFF consumers preferred multi-vitamins and Ca-supplements most among the vitamin mineral supplements belonged to HFF. Given the widespread consumption of HFF by elementary schoolchildren, the reasonable consumption of these products for the contribution to their overall health and well-being should be emphasized through nutrition education for them and their family.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.283-296
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• 2012

As a disease that reduces quality of life, functional dyspepsia (FD) is associated with foods that may worsen its symptoms or cause it. The purpose of this study was to examine the nutritional status and dietary behaviors of FD patients. We investigated food intake, food intake frequency, and dietary habits of 45 FD subjects according to the Rome III Diagnosis Criteria. Average age and body mass index (BMI) were 47.7 years and $22.6kg/m^2$ (males: $23.4kg/m^2$, females: $22.1kg/m^2$), respectively. Average energy intake was 77% of Korean Dietary Reference Intake (KDRI), and it was less than that of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (KNHANES). Other nutrient intake levels were similar to the KNHANES. Energy intake proportion of carbohydrates : protein : fat was 56 : 18 : 26, and the ratio of fat intake was higher than that of the KNHANES. Beans, laver, tomato, and yogurt were consumed very frequently. In the results of meal regularity, dietary behaviors and composition of diet were relatively good. It is likely that the patient controlled their diet by eating cautiously and by reducing alcohol drinking and smoking. Our results indicate that FD patients' nutritional status by consumption of nutrients was at a level of normal healthy people and that dietary habits were better than normal adults. However, their fat intake levels were somewhat higher than normal people. Therefore, further research is required to identify the relationship between dietary intakes and FD.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.150-159
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• 2010

We surveyed 848 university students, $21.4{\pm}2.5$ years of age, attending university in Seoul, Kongju, Chongyang-Gun in the Chungnam province of Korea, for their use of health functional foods (HFF) and for significant variables in this use, namely demographic characteristics, health related variables, dietary variables and nutritional beliefs. The prevalence of the use of HFF was 33.6%. Among all types of HFF, nutritional supplements were taken most frequently, followed by (in order) red ginseng products, apricot extract products and ginseng products. HFF use was higher in females (p<.05), in subjects living in a dormitory (p<.05) and those from families with a relative high socioeconomic status (p<.001). Self-health concern (p<.05) and usage ratio of HFF by family (p<.001) was higher in users than in nonusers of HFF. The total score of dietary assessment was higher in users than in nonusers of HFF (p<.001), and users had a more positive point of view concerning the potential health benefits of HFF than did nonusers (p<.001). Most users took HFF when they were healthy (37.2%) or when they were sick (27.4%). They did not feel special effects through the HFF use (49.8%). Most users got the information about the specifics of HFF from family and/or relatives (55.8%). Most of users confirmed nutrition facts when they purchased the HFF (70.9%), but a considerable number of users could not understand these nutrition facts (48.1%). Users preferred vitamin C- and Ca-supplements most among vitamin mineral supplements belonged to HFF. These results show that the use of HFF is common among university students. As well, the use of HFF by students is affected by various variables. Supplementary nutritional education should be undertaken among university students, in order to give them a reasonable guideline for the use of HFF, based upon influencing factors and usage behaviors that we learned from this survey.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.415-423
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to estimate the consumption prevalence of vitamin and mineral supplements as health functional foods (VM-HFF) and to examine the factors associated with VM-HFF consumption behaviors in adolescents. A total of 1,407 adolescents attending middle or high schools from various cities and rural communities in Korea participated in this study. The prevalence of VM-HFF consumption was 41.7%, with boys showing a higher consumption than girls (p<0.01). VM-HFF consumption was higher in families with higher socioeconomic status and for families with parents that exhibited higher concerns about their child's health, growth, and nutritional intake (p<0.001). Most consumers of VM-HFF consumed HFFs 'when healthy' (50.1%), and acquired nutritional information from 'their families & relatives' (50.9%). Most consumers responded that VM-HFF was 'a little effective' (54.3%), followed by 'no obvious effects' (37.1%), and 'very effective' (7.4%). The effectiveness of consuming VM-HFF was mainly for 'fatigue recovery' (39.0%) and 'health improvement' (28.2%). Most consumers purchased HFFs at 'pharmacies & oriental medicine clinics' (53.8%) and at 'health functional food stores' (18.8%). Most consumers 'occasionally' (51.1%) or 'seldom' (27.3%) checked nutrition facts when purchasing, with 58.9% of consumers understanding the nutritional label for 'the most part', but only 8.7% of them understanding it 'very well'. Among the VM-HFF, consumers preferred calcium- and vitamin C-supplements. Consumers' mini-dietary assessment scores were higher than those of non-consumers. The results above showed that VM-HFF consumption was widely spread among adolescents, but few consumers checked and understood the nutrition label when they purchased VM-HFF, and were highly dependent on the advice and information from non-professional nutritionists, such as families & relatives. Therefore, it is necessary to educate adolescents to help them read nutrition labels and select the proper VM-HFF.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Postharvest Science and Technology of Agricultural Products Conference
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.51-70
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• 2003

In recent years, Korean rice must compete with the rice of advanced countries under Doha Development Agenda(DDA) and free Trade Agreement(FTA). Therefore we should find more active and positive solution in rice industry according to the inncreasing power of international pressure. Increasing rice production was the most important policy during the past food-deficient days, but recently, with overproduction of rice, various circulation system by the brand(price)-differentiation should be settled in a recent market of Korea. Nowadays, some advanced rice farmers and Rice Processing Complex(RPC) managers developed new brands of rice with high-quality, adding healthy materials and environment-friendly farming methods. Therefore, the future strategy of making a new brand rice should be planned including selection of rice variety, cultural and post-harvest techniques, circulation and processing methods to compete against foreign rice. And environment-friendly farming is also recommendable for food safety and differentiate from imported rice. For the purpose of successful brand-rice, the following points might be considered. Firstly, selection of good quality rice and continual development of good variety must be conducted for the differentiation of Korean rice from foreign rice. Secondly, a special contract between producer and consumer with functional-rice, organic filming-rice, specific-rice will be recommendable. Thirdly, improvement of post-harvest management and milling system are necessary for the production of differentiated-rice. Fortunately, standard of inspection, rules of description for brand-rice must be developed by a more scientific examination in order to settlement of trust for consumer. Finally, provincial or regional-representative brand rice must be settled and conducted for the development of agreement market system between producer and consumer.

• Journal of agriculture & life science
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.91-96
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• 2011

We investigated the inhibitory effects of solvent extracts from Ailanthus altissima in A549 human lung cancer cell. A. altissima has been recognized as a traditional healthy food due to its various biological activities against hypertension, strokes, fever, pain, neuralgia, inflammation, and cancer effects. Recently, it has been reported that the extracts of various wild vegetables show strong anti-cancer properties by induction of apoptosis. However, the mechanisms of their cytotoxicity in human lung cancer cells have been poorly understood. The present study was investigated the effects of solvent extracts from A. altissima on cell growth and apoptosis on A549 human lung cancer cells. A treatment of A. altissima inhibited the growth of A549 cells in a dose-dependent manner by inducing apoptosis. Especially, the chloroform fraction showed the highest anti-cancer effect among five kinds of fractions. And also, induction of apoptosis by chloroform fraction were associated with down-regulation of Bcl-2, and up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax expression. From these results, A. altissima may have a therapeutic potential in human lung cancer cells and as a functional food.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.533-545
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• 2013

A type of Korean traditional cookies, yackwa is composed of ingredients which serve as good medicine to people. Further, it has a priceless value and possibility to be a healthy functional dessert. For this study, we developed variable yackwa, containing red-ginseng powder and green tea powder, in order to target the foreign market as well as to investigate the perception and preference of yackwa. The test sample for the control group, yackwa is made of flour, sugar, baking powder, sesame oil and alcohol. For the experimental group, yackwa contains red-ginseng and green tea powder (3, 6, 9, 12%). The investigation period was May 14th, 2013 and the total number of participants was 100. The investigation applied a consumer survey method by filling out a questionnaire while tasting 9 kinds of yackwa samples. They were used for frequency, one-way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation analysis with SPSS 19.0. In the yackwa perception survey, the result indicated that 52.0% of the customers replied 'Do not know well' and 'Do not know at all' which conveys that the perception of yackwa is very low. In contrast, the perception of the red-ginseng and green tea which are functional ingredients is high and the customers tend to prefer the taste and flavor of green tea than red-ginseng. And they prefer the yackwa containing 3% of red-ginseng and green tea powder compared to other ratio contents in the overall preference, color, taste, flavor, odor, degree of greasiness and texture. When people who have a higher perception of yackwa, they tended to prefer the color of red-ginseng yackwa and dislike the color of green tea yackwa. And the more people prefer the taste of green tea, the higher in overall preference, color, taste, flavor, and odor preference.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Culture
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.163-177
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• 2014

This study aimed to investigate the perception, consumption, and acceptability of convenience mealsin low-income female elderly attending a lunch program at a community well fare center. Using in-depth interviews, qualitative data were collected 11 elderly females ($62.5{\pm}11.2y$) living in Seoul. Participants tried to eat various foods in small-portionsat home, although they ate out what they were offered. Elderly females preferred lunch box-type meals containing a bowl of rice served with toppings, gruel, or Bibimbop due to the growing unavailability of cooking or preparing a meal. Side-dish type convenience mealswere also preferred among elderly females since boiled rice can be easily prepared according to individual preferences. In addition, participants preferred healthy foods. Convenience meal planning and production, appropriate kinds of foods, cooking methods, menus, and packaging should be selected based on the elderly's functional atrophy in chewing, swallowing, digestion, and metabolic diseases. Furthermore, food preferences and comfort foods among the elderlyneed to be identified and characterized. Therefore, more information, including bite size, cutting size, and food texture, should be provided to understand and develop convenience meals for the elderly.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.570-591
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• 2018

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the correlation between gastric emptying measurement by ultrasonography and the findings of various questionnaires of functional dyspepsia (FD) or in Korean medicine to explore the possibility of quantification of questionnaires. Methods: Eighty-eight patients (44 patients with FD and 44 healthy controls) were recruited from October 2016 to November 2017. Gastric emptying half-time (T1/2) was measured by ultrasonography at fasting, and at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min after meals (apple juice, 500 ml, 224 kcal). The average half-time (average T1/2) was calculated by averaging all measured half-times. A visual analogue scale (VAS), food retention questionnaire (FRQ), damum questionnaire (DQ), cold and heat questionnaire (CHQ), deficiency and excess questionnaire (DEQ), spleen-qi deficiency questionnaire (SQDQ), Nepean dyspepsia index-Korean version (NDI-K), and quality of life of NDI (NDI-QoL) were filled out by all participants. Correlation between the average T1/2 and questionnaires were analyzed for 79 patients (37 patients with FD and 42 healthy controls) after excluding missing and erroneous data. Results: The FRQ, DEQ, SQDQ, NDI-K, and NDI-QoL scores, especially for some gastrointestinal symptoms and general weakness-related symptoms, showed statistically significant correlations with average T1/2. Conclusions: Our results suggest that gastric emptying measurement by ultrasonography may be a quantitative substitute method for some Korean medical questionnaires or for some dyspepsia-related and deficiency-related items among them. However, further studies using various measurements of gastric emptying will be needed.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.517-526
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• 2019

Background: The root of Panax ginseng, a member of Araliaceae family, has been used as herbal medicine and functional food in Asia for thousands of years. According to Traditional Chinese medicine, ginseng is the most widely used "Qi-invigorating" herbs, which provides tonic and preventive effects by resisting oxidative stress, influencing energy metabolism, and improving mitochondrial function. Very few reports have systematically measured cell mitochondrial bioenergetics after ginseng treatment. Methods: Here, H9C2 cell line, a rat cardiomyoblast, was treated with ginseng extracts having extracted using solvents of different polarity, i.e., water, 50% ethanol, and 90% ethanol, and subsequently, the oxygen consumption rate in healthy and tert-butyl hydroperoxideetreated live cultures was determined by Seahorse extracellular flux analyzer. Results: The 90% ethanol extracts of ginseng possessed the strongest antioxidative and tonic activities to mitochondrial respiration and therefore provided the best protective effects to H9C2 cardiomyocytes. By increasing the spare respiratory capacity of stressed H9C2 cells up to three-folds of that of healthy cells, the 90% ethanol extracts of ginseng greatly improved the tolerance of myocardial cells to oxidative damage. Conclusion: These results demonstrated that the low polarity extracts of ginseng could be the best extract, as compared with others, in regulating the oxygen consumption rate of cultured cardiomyocytes during mitochondrial respiration.