Objective: The present study aimed to determine the effects of diet of negative calorie foods (NCF) on weight, atherogenic lipids, and atherogenic ratio and compare its efficiency with diet of low calorie foods (LCF). Materials and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, the participants were randomly selected from inactive overweight females (age 45-75 years) by parallel assignment were distributed randomly into two groups: NCF group that received a highcarbohydrate (75%), and low-fat (10%) diet, and LCF group had a dietary recipe with 55% of carbohydrate and a little fat (30%) content. Both groups had a healthy calorie restriction (15%) from their daily caloric requirements within three months. Evaluation of body weight, atherogenic lipids (total-C, HDL-C and LDL-C), and atherogenic ratio (total-C to HDL-C) were performed pre-and postintervention for all subjects and compared to each other. Results: The results of the within-group comparison of NCF and LCF on weight (respectively, P-value= 0. 04; P-value= 0. 03), total-C (respectively, P-value= 0. 02; P-value= 0. 03), HDL-C (respectively, P-value= 0. 04; P-value= 0. 01) and LDL-C (respectively, P-value= 0. 01; P-value= 0. 03) revealed significant effects. Also, significant differences were observed between groups in atherogenic lipid profile, total-C (P-value: 0. 03), HDL-C (P-value: 0. 001), and LDL-C (P-value: 0. 03). The result of the between-group comparison was also significant in atherogenic ratio (P-value: 0. 04). Conclusion: Contrary to expectation, dietary regimen demonstrated a similar pattern of weight loss in females. The NCF when compared to the LCF, is not a healthy choice for weight loss in sedentary females with overweight.

Background: Limited data are available on the habitual consumption of spicy foods in relation to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The traditional Iranian diet contains high amounts of spicy foods, which provides an opportunity to assess consumption of spicy foods in relation to health.Objective: The current study aimed to explore the association between consumption of spicy foods and prevalence of IBS among Iranian adults.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data from 4763 Iranian adult participants were used. Consumption of spicy foods was estimated using a dietary habits questionnaire that included a question on spicy foods consumption: How frequently do you use spicy foods (pepper, curry, ginger, cinnamon and turmeric) during a week? Participants could respond to the question by choosing one of these choices: “never”, “1-3 times”, “4-6 times”, “7-9 times” or “more than 10 times” per week. A modified Persian version of the Rome III questionnaire was used to determine the prevalence of IBS.Results: IBS was prevalent in 21.7% (18.6% of men and 24.1% of women) of the study population. After controlling for potential confounders including dietary behaviors, those consuming spicy foods ≥10 times/week were 92% more likely to have IBS compared with those who never consumed spicy foods (OR: 1.92; 95% CI: 1.23-3.01, Ptrend<0.01). The association remained significant even after taking lactose intolerance into account (1.85; 1.18-2.90, Ptrend<0.01). Stratified analysis by gender revealed that the association between consumption of spicy foods and IBS was not significant in men; however, a significant association was found among women after taking potential cofounders, including meal regularity and lactose intolerance, into account. Those who consumed spicy foods ≥10 times/week were 103% more likely to have IBS compared with those who never consumed spicy foods (2.03; 1.09-3.77, Ptrend=0.02).Conclusion: Consumption of spicy foods is directly associated with IBS, particularly in women. Further studies, in particular of prospective nature, are required to examine this association in other populations.

Background: Salmonella is the most important source of food-borne infections around the world. Human salmonellosis is also caused by the consumption of fresh fruit and vegetable salads contaminated with Salmonella spp. We aimed to detect Salmonella spp. in hamburgers, vegetable salads, and cream-filled pastries from various sources in Mazandaran and assess their pathogenicity and antimicrobial resistance. Materials and Methods: A total of 90 samples, eg, hamburgers, vegetable salads, and creamfilled pastries (30 samples of each), were randomly collected. Biochemical and serological tests were performed to detect the Salmonella spp. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were performed by the disc diffusion method and the virulent genes were examined using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). All the examined Salmonella serovars in this study showed positive amplification for the virulence genes invA, spv, and viaB. Results: Salmonella spp. were detected in 54 of the 90 samples based on biochemical tests. Of these, 46 isolates (85. 2%) were recovered by the 16S-23S rRNA PCR test, of which 19 (41. 4%) represented the S. typhimurium serotype, 15 (32. 7%) represented the S. enteritidis serotype, and 2 (4. 4%) represented the S. typhi serotype. These Salmonella serotypes (19 S. typhimurium, 15 S. enteritidis, and 2 S. typhi; 36 in total) were sensitive to all the tested antibiotics: Ampicillin, 22/36 (61. 11%); Streptomycin 22/36 (61. 11%); Cefotaxime 23/36 (63. 88); Gentamycin 36/36 (100%), and Tetracycline 36/36 (100%). However, a few of these serotypes exhibited slight resistance to ampicillin (4/36; 11. 11%) and cefotaxime 2/36 (5. 55%). Conclusion: These results would greatly help in understanding the prevalence of virulence genes and antibiotic sensitivity among Salmonella serovars in hamburgers, vegetable salads, and cream-filled pastries.