Mei Chung

• Tufts Medical Center

Background: Pork meat is a widely consumed protein food with the potential to differentially affect health and nutritional status across social and cultural contexts. Objectives: We evaluated the association between pork meat consumption and nutrient intake, diet quality, and biomarkers of health among older adults (age ≥ 65 years) in Korea. Method...

Objectives: Diet is a risk factor for later life cognitive decline and dementia, so most studies assess these factors in older populations. Uncovering how diet quality and cognitive function relate over time and stages of life could inform cohort age selection and intervention timing. This study aimed to investigate associations between dietary pat...

Objectives: Dietary guidelines promote nutrient-dense foods and limited intake of added and free sugars. Understanding the relationship between sugar intake and diet quality can inform public health recommendations for healthy food choices and reduced chronic disease risk. This systematic review aimed to synthesize recent literature on associations...

Objectives: Cognitive reserve (CR) is the brain’s ability to compensate for brain changes, injury, and disease. CR is represented by crystallized intelligence (acquired knowledge/experience) and influenced by genes and environmental factors like education, occupational complexity, and lifestyle. Yet, the role of diet in CR is not clear. This study...

Understanding the relationship between the intake of sugars and diet quality can inform public health recommendations. This systematic review synthesized recent literature on associations between sugar intake and diet quality in generally healthy populations aged 2 years or older. We searched databases from 2010 to 2022 for studies of any design ex...

There remains a lack of scientific consensus on what level of carbohydrate intake constitutes low-carbohydrate diets. we conducted a scoping review to understand how low-carbohydrate diets were defined in the peer-reviewed literature. We followed the Preferred Reporting items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement scoping review extensi...

Objective Human error estimating food intake is a major source of bias in nutrition research. Artificial intelligence (AI) methods may reduce bias, but the overall accuracy of AI estimates is unknown. This study was a systematic review of peer-reviewed journal articles comparing fully automated AI-based (e.g. deep learning) methods of dietary asses...

Choline is essential for proper liver, muscle, brain, lipid metabolism, cellular membrane composition, and repair. Understanding genetic determinants of circulating choline metabolites can help identify new determinants of choline metabolism, requirements, and their link to disease endpoints. We conducted a scoping review to identify studies assess...

Background: There is a lack of consensus on a reference range for ionized magnesium (iMg2+) in blood as a measure of status of circulating iMg2+ for screening populations. Objectives: We estimated the reference range of iMg2+ levels for healthy adult populations and the ranges for populations with cardiovascular disease (CVD), type 2 diabetes, hyp...

Contested racial identity-the discrepancy between one's self-identified race and socially assigned race-is a social determinant of health and may contribute to overweight and obesity. Obesity is associated with a host of short- and long-term health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, a leading cause of death. Individuals racialized as Bla...

The World Health Organization and Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend reduced intake of free or added sugars to lower risk of noncommunicable diseases and prevent chronic diseases, yet the impact of sugar intake on diet quality is unclear. We aimed to conduct a scoping review on the effect of different intake levels of sugar (free, added, or...

Background: Although gut fungi have been implicated in the immunopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, the fungal microbiome has not been deeply explored across endohistologic activity and treatment exposure in ulcerative colitis. Methods: We analyzed data from the SPARC IBD (Study of a Prospective Adult Research Cohort with Inflammatory B...

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Although gut fungi have been implicated in the immunopathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease, the fungal microbiome has not been deeply explored across endo-histologic activity and treatment-exposure in ulcerative colitis. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: Our retrospective cohort was derived from the Study of a Prospective Adult Resea...

Greater intake of whole grains, compared to refined grains, is consistently associated with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, both of which are associated with cognitive decline. To better understand the relationship between whole-grain intake, cognition, mood and anxiety, a systematic review was conducted to synthesize...

Background A systematic review was commissioned to support an international expert group charged to update the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)/World Health Organisation (WHO)’s vitamin D intake recommendations for children aged 0–4 years. Materials and methods Multiple electronic databases were searched to capture stu...

Determining calcium requirements for infants and children is vital due to high calcium needs for growth. Balance studies enable comprehensive measurement of calcium metabolism and can support nutrient requirement development. This systematic review summarizes evidence from mass balance and isotopic studies in children aged 0–4 y to address key ques...

Objectives Human error when estimating food intake is a major source of bias in nutrition research. This study provides an overview of literature on the accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI) methods used to analyze digital images of food compared to human coders and ground truth. Methods This scoping review included peer-reviewed journal articl...

Background Epigenetic age, a robust marker of biological aging, has been associated with obesity, low-grade inflammation and metabolic diseases. However, few studies have examined associations between different epigenetic age measures and risk of lung cancer, despite great interest in finding biomarkers to assist in risk stratification for lung can...

Determining calcium requirements for infants and children is vital due to high calcium needs for growth. Balance studies enable comprehensive measurement of calcium metabolism and can support nutrient requirements development. This systematic review summarized evidence from mass balance and isotopic studies in children aged 0-4 years to address key...

Objective: To determine whether surgical opioid prescriptions are associated with increased risk of opioid initiation by operative patients' spouses. Summary background data: Adverse effects of surgical opioids on operative patients have been well described. Whether risks of surgical opioids extend to operative patients' family members is unknow...

Background/objectives: Due to the rapid increase of global cancer incidence and mortality and a high level of interest in cancer prevention, a systematic review of garlic intake and cancer risk is needed. Subjects/methods: We implemented a systematic review to examine the effects of varying levels of garlic intake on cancer. We conducted compreh...

One hundred percent orange juice (OJ) has no added sugar, naturally contains flavonoids and ascorbic acid, and can modulate the body's oxidative and inflammatory systems. This scoping review, systematic review, and meta-analysis investigated associations between 100% OJ and markers of inflammation or oxidation in healthy adults and those at risk fo...

Enteral nutrition (EN) is the preferred route of nutritional support for critically ill patients undergoing intensive care. Consensus from experts in the field caution against using fiber during EN due to perceived adverse patient outcomes; however, a quantitative assessment of data on this topic is not evident to date. In this systematic review an...

Enteral nutrition (EN) is the preferred route of nutrition support for patients with critical illness undergoing intensive care. Experts in the field cautions against using fiber during EN because of perceived adverse patient outcomes; however, a comprehensive assessment of this topic is not evident to date. In this systematic review and meta‐analy...

Objectives The objective is to conduct a systematic review on the safety of using enteral nutrition formulations containing dietary fiber in hospitalized critical care patients. Methods This systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions (Version 6.1,2020). Searches were implemented...

Background: Oral microbiota is believed to play important roles in systemic diseases, including cancer. Methods: We collected oral samples (tongue, buccal, supragingival, and saliva) and pancreatic tissue or intestinal samples from 52 subjects, and characterized 16S rRNA genes using high-throughput DNA sequencing. Results: Bray–Curtis plot showed c...

Background Walnuts contain nutrients that are associated with improved cognitive health. To our knowledge, no review has systematically examined the effects of walnuts on cognitive function and risk for cognitive decline. Objective To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effects of walnut intake on cognition-related outcome...

Background In 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) published a revision to its 1990 recommendations on gestational weight gain (GWG). The objective of this review is to update a previous systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of nutrition interventions in achieving recommended GWG. Methods We conducted updated literatur...

DNA methylation (DNAm) age may reflect age-related variations in biological changes and abnormalities related to aging. DNAm age acceleration measures have been associated with a number of cancers, but to our knowledge, have not been examined in relation to pancreatic cancer risk or survival. DNAm levels in leukocytes of prediagnostic blood samples...

Background A recent systematic review of epidemiological evidence suggests that higher amounts of tea intake are associated with lower risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and mortality. Objectives Our study objective was to assess mechanisms by which tea consumption may influence CVD risks. Methods A systematic review and meta-analysi...

Objectives To review and describe available Knowledge Translation (KT) strategies that are designed for or applied in public health decision-making settings.IntroductionKT is the exchange, synthesis, and ethically sound application of knowledge. This review proposes that KT strategies in public health settings should be understood as action plans t...

Objective: Knowledge Translation (KT) is the exchange, synthesis, and ethically-sound application of knowledge. A case study methodology is used to examine KT at the organizational level of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Method: The study used purposeful sampling to select WIC informant...

Objective A scoping review of recent studies published on calcium and vitamin D intake (from foods or supplements) was commissioned to inform the work of updating Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)/World Health Organization (WHO) nutrient requirements for children aged 0 – 36 months. Methods Updated literature searches were conducted across 5...

There is increasing evidence that both black and green tea are beneficial for prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effects of tea flavonoids on cardiovascular (CVD) and all-cause mortality outcomes.Searches across five databases including PubMed and Embase were conducted throu...

Background High body mass index (BMI) has long been recognized as a risk factor for post-operative complication among total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients. However, recent studies showed mixed results in the effect of high BMI on surgical outcomes. Our study is to examine the association of pre-operative BMI with complication incidence, stratified...

Growing research has examined the association of oral microbiome with pancreatic cancer risk, but results have been inconsistent. Our previous study showed that bacterial taxa known to inhabit the oral cavity were common in the pancreas microbiome, and that bacterial DNA profiles in the pancreas were similar to those in the duodenum tissue of the s...

Tea flavonoids have been suggested to offer potential benefits to cardiovascular health. This review synthesized the evidence on the relation between tea consumption and risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality among generally healthy adults. PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Food S...

Oral microbiota are believed to play important roles in systemic diseases, including cancer. We collected oral swabs and at least one pancreatic tissue or intestinal samples from 52 subjects, and characterized 16S ribosomal RNA genes using high-throughput DNA sequencing in a total 324 samples. We identified a total of 73 unique Amplicon Sequence Va...

Background: Pancreatic cancer is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death by 2030 in the United States. DNA methylation (DNAm) age may reflect age-related variations in the biological changes and abnormalities related to cancer development. Methods: We conducted a pooled analysis using prediagnostic blood samples of panc...

Background: It has been hypothesized that Irvingia gabonensis can promote weight loss by increasing fatty acid breakdown and inhibiting fatty acid synthesis. Objective: We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Irvingia gabonensis seed extract supplementation on weight-related health outcomes. Methods...

Recent studies have found that the microbiome in both gut and mouth are associated with diseases of the gut, including cancer. If resident microbes could be found to exhibit consistent patterns between the mouth and gut, disease status could potentially be assessed non-invasively through profiling of oral samples. Currently, there exists no general...

Recent studies have found that the microbiome in both gut and mouth are associated with diseases of the gut, including cancer. If resident microbes could be found to exhibit consistent patterns between the mouth and gut, disease status could potentially be assessed non-invasively through profiling of oral samples. Currently, there exists no general...

Purpose of Review Recently published studies have provided new evidence for a role of oral health on risk of cancer. This review summarizes the latest research on this topic, including several new cohort studies that have examined associations on periodontal disease and cancer risk. Recent Findings The most consistent findings for associations wit...

Objectives: To characterize strength of evidence (SOE) tools in recent use, identify their application to lifestyle medicine, and to assess implications of the findings. Methods: The search strategy was created in PubMed and modified as needed for four additional databases: Embase, AnthropologyPlus, PsycINFO, and Ageline. Systematic reviews and...

Objectives: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effects of tea flavonoids on cardiovascular (CVD) and all-cause mortality outcomes. Methods: Searches across five databases including PubMed and Embase were conducted through November 2018 to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective cohort studies rep...

Objective To systematically review and synthesize published clinical trials examining effects of breakfast composition on weight outcomes among children and adolescents. Methods A comprehensive literature search on Pubmed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science (date of inception to February, 2016) was performed to iden...

Objective Cranberry ( Vaccinium microcarpum ) has been advocated for urinary tract infection (UTI); however, its efficacy is controversial. UTIs account for an annual cost of more than $2.6 billion in healthcare expenditures and are common in otherwise healthy women. In fact, a woman has a 50% risk of UTI over her lifetime, with an estimated 20–30%...

Objective To conduct a systematic review and meta‐analysis evaluating the effects of animal versus plant protein intake on bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content (BMC) and select bone biomarkers in healthy adults. [Registered on International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews: PROSPERO CRD42015017751]. Methods This study is a su...

Background: As aging populations increase across the globe, research on lifestyle factors that prevent cognitive decline and dementia is urgently needed. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted to examine the effects of varying levels of milk intake alone or in combination with other dairy products on the outcomes of cognitive function and di...

Background Evidence mapping is an emerging tool used to systematically identify, organize and summarize the quantity, distribution, and characteristics of published studies with the goal of identifying knowledge gaps and future research needs. Objective To present an evidence-map database of all published studies that investigated dietary sugars a...

Background Protein may have both beneficial and detrimental effects on bone health depending on a variety of factors, including protein source. Objective The aim was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effects of animal versus plant protein intake on bone mineral density (BMD), bone mineral content (BMC) and select bone...

Search strategy: Ovid MEDLINE®, 1946-October week 4 2016. The following search strategy was modified as needed for each database and conducted in: MEDLINE®, Scopus (including EMBASE from 1974), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Global Health, and Web-of-Science databases. (DOCX)

Sensitivity analysis1. 1BMD, bone mineral density; FN, femoral neck; CI, confidence interval; LS, lumbar spine. (DOCX)

Study characteristics summary table, cohort studies (N = 10)1. 1BMC, bone mineral content; BMD, bone mineral density; BMI, body mass index; CTX, C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen; F%, percent female participants; FFQ, food frequency questionnaire; FN, femoral neck; gov, government; ind, industry; LS, lumbar spine; M, male; NA, not applicabl...

Cohort studies’ results, by study (N = 10)1. 1BMC, bone mineral content; BMD, bone mineral density; BL, baseline; CI, confidence interval; E3N MGEN, Etude Epidémiologique de femmes de la Mutuelle Générale de l’Education Nationale; FN, femoral neck; HR, hazard ratio; IQR, interquartile range; IR, rate ratio; kcal, kilocalorie; LS, lumbar spine; ref,...

Analytical datasets. (XLSX)

RCT ROB assessments, by study (N = 7)1. 1H, high; L, low; NA, not applicable; RCT, randomized controlled trial; ROB, risk of bias; U, unclear. (DOCX)

Background: Cranberry (Vaccinium spp.) has been advocated for treatment of urinary tract infection (UTI); however, its efficacy is controversial. Women have a 50% risk of UTI over their lifetime, and ∼20–30% experience a subsequent UTI recurrence. Objective: We conducted this meta-analysis to assess the effect of cranberry on the risk of UTI recurr...

Background: Night eating syndrome (NES) is characterized by evening hyperphagia and/or nocturnal ingestion. Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess the percentage of students complying with symptoms and behaviors consistent with the diagnostic criteria for NES, and explore its association with body mass index (BMI), dietary hab...

Background: In a world of finite research funding, efforts to prioritize future research topics are increasingly necessary. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify and prioritize the direction of future research in the broad area of low-calorie sweetener (LCS) intake and potentially related health outcomes by using a novel method that inco...

Periodontal disease, which includes gingivitis and periodontitis, is highly prevalent in adults and disease severity increases with age. The relationship between periodontal disease and oral cancer has been examined for several decades, but there is increasing interest in the link between periodontal disease and overall cancer risk, with systemic i...

Background: Considerable attention has recently focused on dietary protein’s role in the mature skeleton, prompted partly by an interest in nonpharmacologic approaches to maintain skeletal health in adult life. Objective: The aim was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effects of dietary protein intake alone and with cal...

Interest is rapidly growing around the role of the human gut microbiota in facilitating beneficial health effects associated with consumption of dietary fiber. An evidence map of current research activity in this area was created using a newly developed database of dietary fiber intervention studies in humans to identify studies with the following...

Background Relationships among dietary sugars and a variety of chronic diseases have spawned interest in investigating the metabolic effects of dietary sugars. An approach developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for assessing Future Research Needs (FRN) was implemented with modifications that integrated an evidence mappin...

Background: Conflicting evidence exists regarding potential cardiovascular risks associated with high levels of calcium intake. Purpose: To update and reanalyze 2 systematic reviews to examine the effects of calcium intake on cardiovascular disease (CVD) among generally healthy adults. Data sources: MEDLINE; Cochrane Central Register of Contro...

Objectives: To update a prior systematic review on the effects of omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FA) on maternal and child health and to assess the evidence for their effects on, and associations with, additional outcomes. Data sources: MEDLINE®, Embase®, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and...

Background: The effect and association of omega-3 fatty acids (n-3 FA) intake and biomarker levels with cardiovascular (CV) clinical and intermediate outcomes remains controversial. We update prior Evidence Reports of n-3 FA and clinical and intermediate CV disease (CVD) outcomes. Objectives: Evaluate the effect of n-3 FA on clinical and selecte...

Background: Dietary fiber is a broad category of compounds historically defined as partially or completely indigestible plant-based carbohydrates and lignin with, more recently, the additional criteria that fibers incorporated into foods as additives should demonstrate functional human health outcomes to receive a fiber classification. Thousands o...

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). (DOCX)

OVID Medline Search Stategy for Fiber Database. (PDF)

Objective To summarize published evidence on dietary interventions for weight management in adolescents using evidence mapping, an emerging method that aims to identify relevant literature on a broad field in order to assess both the existing evidence and the remaining gaps. Methods A comprehensive literature search on Ovid MEDLINE® (from 1994 to...

Objective To conduct a systematic review and meta‐analysis evaluating the effects of protein intake on bone mineral density (BMD) in healthy adults, as well as its synergistic effects with calcium or vitamin D. [Registered on International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews: PROSPERO CRD42015017751]. Methods This study is a sub‐analysis of...

Resistant starch has potential health benefits including improving glycemic control, increasing satiety, and gut health. The aim of this project was to use evidence mapping methodology to summarize published data on the relationship between resistant starch consumption and several physiological health outcomes. A newly developed fiber database, com...

The aim of the present meta‐analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of cranberry on the recurrence of uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) among otherwise healthy women. [Registered on International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews: PROSPERO 2015:CRD42015024439 ] Two scientists independently conducted the literature search and extr...

The term dietary fiber captures a broad category of compounds, from intrinsic fiber in plants defined as non‐digestible carbohydrate and lignin to isolated non‐digestible carbohydrates (functional fibers) added to foods. Functional fibers must have a physiological benefit on health to receive a fiber classification. Our objective is to present the...

Context: The effect of added sugar intake on ectopic fat accumulation is a subject of debate. Objective: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was conducted to examine the potential effect of added sugar intake on ectopic fat depots. Data sources: MEDLINE, CAB Abstracts, CAB Global Health, and EBM (Eviden...

Background: In 2009, the Institute of Medicine/Food and Nutrition Board constituted a Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) committee to undertake a review of the evidence that had emerged (since the 1997 DRI report) on the relationship of vitamin D and calcium, both individually and combined, to a wide range of health outcomes, and potential revision o...

Background: Concerns have been raised about the concurrent temporal trend between simple sugar intakes, especially of fructose or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), and rates of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in the United States. Objective: We examined the effect of different amounts and forms of dietary fructose on the incidence or preval...