Archives-January 2025

Stress has become a pervasive issue in modern life, significantly affecting both mental and physical health. Behavioural, hormonal, immunological, and physiological responses to stressors lead to physical expressions of fatigue and psychological expressions of tension or irritation. If not treated, it can lead to chronic problems like despair, therefore requiring effective evidence-based treatments. Current medications mainly target psychological or physical symptoms, and they often have side effects, including overuse risks. An emerging approach includes the use of functional foods, nutraceuticals, or products that are a combination of nutrition and therapy. These include dietary fiber, prebiotics, probiotics, antioxidants, and natural foods, which significantly affect stress management. This review explores the impact of nutrients and diets on managing stress. The release of cortisol during stress serves a purpose but can become harmful when elevated over time. Although practices like meditation and exercise are often recommended for stress relief, the role of functional foods is frequently overlooked. These foods offer more than basic nutrition; they contain bioactive compounds that support brain function, regulate hormones, and enhance overall well-being. By nourishing the body and mind with essential nutrients, functional foods serve as natural allies in managing stress. This literature review examines various types of functional foods and their health implications, particularly in stress management. Understanding their mechanisms and benefits can provide a path to optimal use in promoting health and resilience in our increasingly stressful world. Although the present body of research is promising in showing the potential of functional foods in managing stress, there is a need for holistic studies that consider both psychological and physiological outcomes. Future human trials to study the efficacy of nutritional interventions to reduce acute responses to stress need to pay attention to several critical aspects of study design.

The present research work was carried out in Talwara Block, District Hoshiarpur, Punjab, India to identify and to understand the uses of medicinal plants for the treatment of various ailments. The study was undertaken with the help of questionnaire and discussion method. About 100 medicinal plant species belonging to 52 families were documented. Out of 100 medicinal plants, 40 species were herbs, 13 species were shrubs, 40 species were trees, 5 species were climbers and 2 species were grasses. Leaves were the most useful part as compared to other plant parts for the treatment of various ailments. Different parts of plants such as roots, bark, leaves, seeds, flowers etc. were used in various forms like paste, decoction, powder, oil etc. to treat various ailments. 15 key informants were selected to collect the information. During research, it has been observed that the villagers were chiefly dependent on the plants as they were familiar with their use for different ailments.

Feeding piglets in the maternity ward is essential for late weaning at 45 days. The objective of this study was to verify the hypothesis according to which the ration and the breed can improve the zootechnical performances on the increase of the breeds of piglets at weaning. A sample of 45 piglets (15 piglets of the local breed, 15 crossbreeds and 15 Large white) were distributed between three batches: piglets fed only the local ration (lot 1, control), piglets having consumed an unbalanced local ration (lot 2), piglets receiving a balanced ration (lot 3). Individual weighings were carried out upon entry to the piglets to know the live weights and finally to find their growth weights. Piglets receiving the types of food gave better performances (p < 0.05) on live weight at 45 days of age (±8 kg to select a piglet) the daily feed consumption was (1.5 kg/d) and the average weight gain was (2.592 kg). In conclusion, the distribution of solid foods significantly (p < 0.05) improves feed intake and growth rate of piglets on the 45th day at 9 weeks. This study showed the need to distribute 1st and 2nd age foods in farms practicing late weaning. This practice opens up prospects for improving zootechnical performance on increasing weight in pig farming in the City of Kindu.