Food, Nutrition and the Nitric Oxide Pathway

   Biochemistry and Bioactivity

   Edited by: Nathan S. Bryan, Ph.D.

   University of Texas, Houston

ISBN: 978-1-932078-84-8, September 2009, 238 pages, 6x9, hardcover

Price: $149.50

·    Offers evidence-based nutritional interventions

·    Practical source for specialists investigating food and health

This book provides a scientific analysis of the effects of foods and nutrients on the NO pathway in humans. Contributors to the book clarify novel chemical and biochemical connections between dietary intake and nitric oxide, particularly in cases of NO deficiency. In this context, the book addresses how specific foods can restore nitric oxide production and bioactivity—without medical interventions. A variety of evidential data is presented showing how NO-rich dietary elements are implicated in disease prevention and modulation. The book offers new knowledge for food technologists, food manufacturers, nutrition researchers, and healthcare practitioners.

From the Foreword by Louis J. Ignarro, Nobel Laureate in Physiology/Medicine

"The body of work contained in this volume, linking NO to food and nutrition, may have revolutionary implications in terms of developing strategies to combat heart disease and many other contemporary diseases associated with NO deficiency. Proving that a natural and inexpensive regimen of foods rich in nitric oxide activity does restore NO homeostasis can have profound effects on human health…The research presented in this text provides an important expansion of NO work…(and) Dr. Nathan Bryan, the editor…is to be congratulated for…communicating new knowledge and assembling the world's experts in their fields."

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

1. What is Nitric Oxide?

NATHAN S. BRYAN and FERID MURAD

·    Discovery of NO

·    NO Generation and NO Synthase

·    The Evolution of NO Formation

·    About the Authors

·    References

2. Mechanisms and Physiological Implications for Nitric Oxide Insufficiency

MATTHEW B. GRISHAM and NATHAN S. BRYAN

·    L-Arginine Metabolism

·    Increased Inactivation of NO

·    Endothelial Dysfunction and Cardiovascular Risk Factors

·    Assessment of Nitric Oxide Availability

·    Clinical Consequences of NO Insufficiency

·    About the Authors

·    References

3. The Nitrate-Nitrite-Nitric Oxide Pathway

JON O. LUNDBERG and EDDIE WEITZBERG

·    NO Generation Without NO Synthase

·    What Is NO Doing in the Stomach?

·    Interactions Between Nitrite and Other Dietary Compounds

·    Nitrite Reduction to NO in Blood and Tissue

·    Systemic Effect of Inorganic Nitrate

·    Dietary Nitrate and Cardiovascular Disease

·    About the Authors

·    References

4. Dietary Nitrates and Nitrites: The Physiological Context for Potential Health Benefits

NATHAN S. BRYAN and NORMAN G. HORD

·    Dietary Sources of Nitrate and Nitrite

·    Dietary Nitrate and Nitrite Intake Estimates

·    A Case Study in Nitrate and Nitrite Intake Estimates Based on a Convenience Sample

·    Modeling Nitrate and Nitrite Intakes Based on the Vegetable and Fruit Content in the DASH Diet Pattern

·    Mediterranean Diet vs. Western Diet: A Proof of Principle Comparison in Nitrite/Nitrate Consumption

·    About the Authors

·    References

5. Nitrite and Nitrate in the Meat Industry

RANDY HUFFMAN and NATHAN S. BRYAN

·    History of Nitrite

·    The Chemistry of Curing Meat

·    Antibacterial Properties of Nitrite

·    Antibacterial Properties of Nitrite—An Ingredient Critical to Food Safety

·    Nitrosamine Formation

·    Nitrite and Nitrate in Context

·    About the Authors

·    References

6. Physiological Effects and Mechanism of Action of Nitrite and Nitrate in Human Physiology

SRUTI SHIVA and MARK T. GLADWIN

·    The Formation of Nitrite In Vivo

·    Nitrite—From Inert Metabolite to Physiological Vasodilator

·    Hemoglobin as a Regulator of Hypoxic Vasodilation

·    Nitrite as a Mediator of Hypoxic Vasodilation

·    Other Nitrite Reductases

·    Nitrite as a Cell Signaling Molecule

·    Nitrite Mediates Cytoprotection during Ischemia/Reperfusion

·    The Mechanism of Nitrite-Dependent Cytoprotection

·    Conclusions

·    About the Authors

·    References

7. Polyphenols and Flavanols as Modulators of NO Activity

TIENUSH RASSAF and MALTE KELM

·    Endothelial Function and Nitric Oxide

·    Dietary Polyphenols and Health

·    What are Polyphenols?

·    Flavanols and Nutrition

·    Flavanols and Cardiovascular Function

·    Flavanols: Mechanisms of Action

·    Flavanols and Functional Food

·    Conclusions

·    About the Authors

·    References

8. Nutritional Epidemiology

ANDREW L. MILKOWSKI and JAMES R. COUGHLIN

·    Epidemiology as a Scientific Discipline

·    Interpretation of Epidemiological Studies Demand Causation Criteria

·    Diet and Cardiovascular Disease

·    Diet and Cancer

·    Conclusion

·    About the Authors

·    References

9. Regulations Gone Awry: Addressing Public Health Concerns

NATHAN S. BRYAN and NORMAN G. HORD

·    Potential Health Risks of Excessive Nitrate and Nitrite Exposure: Regulations Gone Awry

·    Potential Contexts for Nitrate- and Nitrite-Associated Toxicities

·    Dietary Consumption Levels of Nitrates and Nitrites Relative to the WHO ADI

·    About the Authors

·    References

10. Diet and Endothelium: Two Systems, Redundant Functions

NATHAN S. BRYAN and NORMAN G. HORD

·    Regulation of the Nitrite Economy: Role of Diet, Tissue Nitrate Reductases and Disease States

·    Sources of Endogenous and Diet-Derived NO Generation

·    Quantifying the Nitrite Economy

·    About the Authors

·    References

11. Nutrition and General Health

SAMUEL GRIEF and BRAZOS MINSHEW

·    Heart Health and Nutrition

·    Cancer and Nutrition

·    Antioxidants and Nutrition

·    Whole Grains and Health Effects

·    Obesity and Nutrition

·    Aging and Nutrition

·    Conclusion

·    About the Authors

·    References

12. Paradigm Shift: From Toxic Food Additive to Indispensable Nutrient

NATHAN S. BRYAN

·    About the Author

·    References

Index