The Evaluation of Biomarkers of Physical Activity on Stress Resistance and Wellness

Physical activity can improve health as well as reduce stress and the risk of developing several widespread diseases. However, there exists no accepted standard biomedical examination-method for stress evaluation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of regular physical activity on stress and wellness as well as the evaluation of potential biomarkers in this field. This study included 105 people (mean age = 36.57 ± 1.4 years) who were randomly assigned into the exercise group 1 (EG-1) (n = 41), the exercise group 2 (EG-2) (n = 30), and the control group (CG) (n = 34). Measurements of stress and wellness were obtained by Multiscan BC-OXI before and after experimental period. This device presents a multifrequency segmental body composition 3D analyser with digital pulse oximeter. The key indicators of stress as well as for wellness were significantly improved in the EG-1. Parasympathetic activity showed significant changes as potential stress biomarker. Statistically significant gender differences were not observed in the comparable groups. The results suggest that the stress resistance and well-being significantly improved in the EG-1 due to regular physical activity. However, further research is necessary to determine effects of physical activity on integral health indicators.

     

Pretreatment and Hydrolysis of Brewer's Spent Grains

Brewer's spent grains (BSG), the voluminous residue after mashing, contains on dry weight basis about 40–50 % polysaccharides. For the recovery of soluble carbohydrates from BSG different physical, thermal and enzymatic treatments were used to solubilize the polysaccharides in BSG. Heating by microwave radiation to 160 °C in the presence of 0.1 M HCl released 35 % of the material in the form of reducing sugar, indicating that about 80 % of the polysaccharides were hydrolyzed. Nevertheless, 0.1 M acetic acid will even solubilize 30 % of the material as oligosaccharides on a prolonged incubation when pretreating the spent grains by extrusion cooking. A combination of the enzymes Ceremix Plus MG and CelluPract AL 70 achieved an almost 25 % release of saccharides after 4 hrs of incubation at 50 °C. A combination of extrusion cooking and enzymatic hydrolysis seems to be a very promising procedure.