289 articles
Obesity in children or adolescents
Pediatric obesity, excessive fat accumulation in children and adolescents defined by WHO growth references; 170 million affected aged 5-19 in 2024; treated with behavioral intervention, GLP-1 drugs, bariatric surgery.
Obesity Management
Obesity management, also called weight management, is the integrated professional screening, evaluation, and treatment of obesity as a chronic disease, using lifestyle intervention, GLP-1 pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery within multidisciplinary care.
Olive leaf extract
Olive leaf extract, from Olea europaea leaves, is a polyphenol-rich supplement and food ingredient standardized to oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol; FDA issued a no-questions GRAS letter (GRN 1119) in 2024.
Osteomalacia
Osteomalacia, or adult rickets, is softening of adult bones from impaired mineralization, usually due to vitamin D deficiency; causes bone pain, muscle weakness, pseudofractures, and is treated with vitamin D, calcium, and phosphate.
Overweight in adults
Overweight in adults: BMI 25–29.9 kg/m² (obesity ≥30) by WHO definition. 45% of adults (2.6 billion) were overweight in 2024, up from 25% in 1990; diagnosis now pairs BMI with waist measures.
Panthenol
Panthenol, also known as provitamin B5, is a vitamin B5 derivative converted to pantothenic acid in the body and used as a moisturizing ingredient in cosmetics.
Pantothenic acid
Pantothenic acid, or vitamin B5, is a water-soluble vitamin precursor of coenzyme A, found in nearly all foods; adults need 5 mg/day, deficiency is rare, and no toxic upper limit is set.
Paratha (पराठा)
Paratha (पराठा), also parantha or porota, is a South Asian unleavened layered whole-wheat flatbread pan-fried in ghee, often stuffed with potato, cauliflower, or dal; eaten across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the diaspora, and now widely sold frozen.
Paul Saladino
Paul Saladino, "Carnivore MD," is an American psychiatrist-turned-influencer, author of The Carnivore Code, promoter of the animal-based diet (meat, organs, fruit, honey, raw dairy), and co-founder of Heart & Soil and Lineage Provisions.
Pellagra
Pellagra, from Italian pelle agra, is niacin (vitamin B3) or tryptophan deficiency causing dermatitis, diarrhea, dementia, and death; proven dietary by Goldberger, treatable with nicotinamide.
Performance-enhancing substance
Performance-enhancing substance: drugs, hormones, and supplements (steroids, EPO, caffeine, creatine) used to boost athletic performance; regulated by WADA's annually updated Prohibited List under strict liability, with efficacy proven for only 5 of 23 classes.
Plumpy'nut
Plumpy'nut is the first ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), a peanut-based fortified paste created in 1996 by Nutriset and André Briend to treat severe acute malnutrition in children at home, with 500 kcal per 92 g sachet.
Pocari Sweat (ポカリスエット)
Pocari Sweat (ポカリスエット) is a Japanese rehydration beverage made by Otsuka Pharmaceutical and launched in 1980, formulated with water, sugar, and electrolytes to replace fluids lost through sweating.
Pomegranate extract
Pomegranate extract (Punica granatum), a punicalagin- and polyphenol-rich preparation from whole fruit or peel; GRAS as whole fruit extract (GRN 1064, FDA no questions, 2023); used in supplements and as natural food preservative.
Potato starch
Potato starch, starch extracted from Solanum tuberosum tubers; third-largest starch after maize and wheat. Raw form is type II resistant starch (B-type polymorph); used in food, paper, textiles, pharma.
Protandim
Protandim is LifeVantage's five-herb Nrf2-activating dietary supplement (675 mg daily), sold via multi-level marketing; it received a 2017 FDA warning letter for disease claims, and small trials show a TBARS marker reduction but no clinical benefit.
Protein (nutrient)
Protein (nutrient): dietary macronutrient of amino acid chains needed for cell repair and growth; essential amino acids must come from food; US guidance moved from 0.8 to 1.2–1.6 g/kg/day in 2026.
Protein deficiency
Protein deficiency: inadequate dietary protein causing impaired growth, immunity, and albumin synthesis; ICD-11 code 5B71. Severe form in children is kwashiorkor (edema, fatty liver), contrasted with marasmus; 42.8 million under-5s wasted in 2024.
Protein–energy malnutrition
Protein–energy malnutrition (PEM), or protein-energy undernutrition, is insufficient protein and energy intake to meet metabolic demand, spanning marasmus and kwashiorkor; childhood mortality 5–40%, treatable with therapeutic feeding and RUTF.
Pyridoxine
Pyridoxine, one of the six vitamin B6 vitamers, is the common supplement and medicinal form of vitamin B6, a coenzyme in over 100 enzyme reactions; high doses cause sensory neuropathy, and US and EU upper limits differ sharply.
RDNS trial
RDNS (Rang-Din Nutrition Study, NCT01715038): cluster-randomized effectiveness trial in northwest Bangladesh, 4,011 pregnant women, 64 clusters, testing LNS and MNP home fortification during the first 1,000 days; LNS improved growth, development, and iron status.
Ready-to-use therapeutic food
Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is an energy-dense, vitamin-enriched paste, typically peanut and milk based, used to treat severe acute malnutrition in children aged 6 to 59 months at home.
Recommended Dietary Allowances
Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) are U.S. nutrient intake standards, first issued in 1941 by the Food and Nutrition Board, set at EAR plus two standard deviations to cover 97–98% of healthy people, now within the DRI framework.
Refeeding syndrome
Refeeding syndrome, also called realimentation syndrome, is a potentially life-threatening fall in serum phosphorus, potassium, and magnesium within hours to days after feeding resumes in a substantially undernourished person.
Reference Daily Intake
The Reference Daily Intake (RDI) is a set of reference values from the US FDA for vitamins, minerals, and protein, used to calculate the % Daily Value on nutrition labels.
Resistant starch
Resistant starch is starch that escapes small-intestinal digestion and is fermented in the colon to short-chain fatty acids. Types RS1–RS5; sources include legumes, green bananas, and cooked-cooled starches; studied for glycemic, lipid, and bowel benefits.
Rethink Food
Rethink Food: chiefly Rethink Food NYC, Inc., a 501(c)(3) founded 2017 by Matt Jozwiak that pays minority- and women-owned restaurants to prepare rescued meals; also a UK school food nonprofit running the National School Pantry Network.
Retinoid
Retinoids are vitamin A (retinol) derivatives, natural and synthetic, that signal through RAR and RXR nuclear receptors; used in acne, psoriasis, and leukemia, and teratogenic.
Retinol
Retinol (all-trans-retinol) is preformed vitamin A, found in liver, fish, eggs, and dairy; absorbed at 75–100%, RDA 700–900 mcg RAE, EFSA upper limit 3,000 μg RE/day for adults.
Riboflavin
Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is a water-soluble B vitamin and precursor of the FAD and FMN coenzymes; RDA 1.3 mg men, 1.1 mg women; found in eggs, liver, milk; no UL set; used at 400 mg/day for migraine prevention.