Chapter 1 : Nature, purpose and implications of
nutrition research
1. Methodology of Nutrition Research
Aim :
• To know different types of research
o Fundamental = basic biological mechanisms without direct practical
application
o Translational = bench to bedside : converting basic findings into
clinical applications
o Interventional = actively introducing an intervention
o Observational = only observe natural variation without manipulation.
• To have insight in specific techniques and (methodological) challenges in
nutritional research
• To be able to critically read & interpret nutrition research + translate this to
lay audience
• To be able to propose own research protocols
Nutrition research
= Research to improve knowledge on the interrelation between nutritional status,
health and disease, and of possible determinants thereof.
Interrelation : disease and food are major determinants of nutrition states.
Comprises 4 major domains:
1. Biomedical and behavioural research
2. Nutritional monitoring and population-based research
3. Nutritional education and socio-economic aspects of nutrition
4. Nutritional sciences : for example : food safety and microbiology
Nutrition = the organic process of nourishing or being nourished, including the
processes by which an organism (humans) assimilates food and uses it for growth
and maintenance. Or states of life and health. Metabolizes it and uses it for growth
and maintenance.
Nutritional status = the result of the complex interaction between food intake,
overall health, and the social and physical environment, influencing and individual’s
survival, growth, health, and well-being. We need proper tools to describe
nutritional status.
For example : BMI has its own problem. Muscular people have a high BMI or Asian
have other threshold because of an understatement for adipose tissue. Or Africans
need higher threshold. Do we need another index like roundness : size of
belly/squared(weight) is a better index of adiposity.
2
,Relevance of nutrition research
1. Major modifiable health risk factor.
All living organisms are ‘exposed’ to and dependent on nutrition, starting from
(before?) conception until death
2. Rise in attention
Emergence of public and industrial awareness of the importance of nutritional
status in health & disease, food safety, food sustainability
3. Important changes
Important health-related domain challenged with important socio economic and
environmental changes
• Rapid scientific evolutions
o For example : GMO’s, cultured meat, functional foods, …
• Future/current challenges
o For example : population growth, climate change, invasive species, ...
• EU-regulation: food (supplement) claims need scientific proof!
o More scientific research in the field warranted
o Companies need health based scientific proof for their product
o Evidence based nutrition for the general population.
o For example : olive oil is better for the health than butter.
4. Nutritional industry
This industry is important in Flanders
• Growing economic sector with need for highly educated personnel (R&D,
trials, product managers and scientific staff)
• No specific education or training programmes available
5. Growing research domain
6. Media attention
A lot of attention in lay media. However, contrasting results and reporting thereof
might cause confusion and mistrust. But contrasting information still have some
source that may have been misinterpreted.
2. Major domains in nutrition research
Biomedical and behavioural research
• Nutrient metabolism and metabolic effects of food on (sub)cellular and
tissue levels
o In vitro & animal research
o Clinical human studies
o ….
3
, • Nutritional needs throughout life
o 1000 day concept : important period were a lot of issues later in life
can be caused like obesity.
For example : lower birth weight can cause a higher chance for
later life obesity. Exposure to bad nutrition or components that
are bad for our health.
o In utero, infancy, puberty, adulthood, senescence
o During health & disease
▪ Higher energy needs when we are ill so we are depending on
our reserve.
• Preventive and/or therapeutic effects of nutrition
o both in general health
For example : early vit D substitution to prevent osteomalacia
and osteoporosis
o as in disease-specific conditions
For example : dietary measures in renal failure
• Determinants of nutritional patterns at the individual level but also at the
level of society.
Nutritional monitoring and population-based research
How to measure and how good is our measure → development and validation of
our method. There are challenges and biases which make research harder.
Scope :
• Development of methods to evaluate nutritional status and nutritional habits
o Anthropometrics : measurements of the human body to determine
shape, size, growth and nutritional status.
▪ Targeted outcome measure depending on outcome like for
muscles
For example : weight, height, BMI, …
o Clinical markers
o Food frequency questionnaires
For example : Recall questionnaires
• Monitoring of food consumption at population level, determinants thereof
o We need to know determinants of these patterns so we can engage it.
o For example : why do we consume so much salt. Well because of our
reward system in evolution, so we like the taste because these were
scares nutrition and our taste adapts.
• Monitoring of food consumption patterns at population levels, determinants
thereof
We are confronted with limitations on the methods we use.
For examples : with food diaries we can only have estimations of micronutrients.
4
, EPIC study
Monitored with questionnaires, biological samples such as blood and urine. They
identify 20 significant dietary factors. Trace minerals which were not measured =
indirect conclusions. Hard to back-translate to the general population → limitation
Nutritional education and socio-economic aspects of
nutrition
• Educational methods to improve nutritional knowledge (lay public, health
professionals, …)
o Importance of geography, cultural beliefs and concepts
• Study of (the impact) of food policy (or the lack thereof), socio-economic
causes & consequences of nutritional status at
o Microlevel : individual or family
o Mesolevel : community
o Macrolevel : national or regional structures
• Environmental aspects of food production
o Food safety
o Food sustainability
For example : Nutri-score = healthiness of food to inform and influence the
consumer/customers. Study about if we do change our behaviours with these scores.
For example : Malnutrition: sickness directly influence your nutritional status.
Longer length of stay in hospital or higher chance of dying and lower recovery rate.
For hospitals it is important to identify patients with malnutrition for their funding.
Nutritional sciences
• Food technology: production, preparation, conservation, …
o This can be important for economy but also food quality
• Nutritional analysis of food
o Methodological aspects
▪ How good are we in measure the content of a food
o Physicochemical properties of foods & nutrients
▪ The physical and chemical characteristics of foods and
nutrients that determine how they behave during digestion,
processing, storage, and absorption.
o Bioavailability of nutrients within foods
▪ Absorption of food is not the same as the presence of the
food/molecules
o Interaction among nutrients, drug-food interactions
▪ We do not eat in isolation like amino acids and etc.
• Microbiological aspects and food safety
5
nutrition research
1. Methodology of Nutrition Research
Aim :
• To know different types of research
o Fundamental = basic biological mechanisms without direct practical
application
o Translational = bench to bedside : converting basic findings into
clinical applications
o Interventional = actively introducing an intervention
o Observational = only observe natural variation without manipulation.
• To have insight in specific techniques and (methodological) challenges in
nutritional research
• To be able to critically read & interpret nutrition research + translate this to
lay audience
• To be able to propose own research protocols
Nutrition research
= Research to improve knowledge on the interrelation between nutritional status,
health and disease, and of possible determinants thereof.
Interrelation : disease and food are major determinants of nutrition states.
Comprises 4 major domains:
1. Biomedical and behavioural research
2. Nutritional monitoring and population-based research
3. Nutritional education and socio-economic aspects of nutrition
4. Nutritional sciences : for example : food safety and microbiology
Nutrition = the organic process of nourishing or being nourished, including the
processes by which an organism (humans) assimilates food and uses it for growth
and maintenance. Or states of life and health. Metabolizes it and uses it for growth
and maintenance.
Nutritional status = the result of the complex interaction between food intake,
overall health, and the social and physical environment, influencing and individual’s
survival, growth, health, and well-being. We need proper tools to describe
nutritional status.
For example : BMI has its own problem. Muscular people have a high BMI or Asian
have other threshold because of an understatement for adipose tissue. Or Africans
need higher threshold. Do we need another index like roundness : size of
belly/squared(weight) is a better index of adiposity.
2
,Relevance of nutrition research
1. Major modifiable health risk factor.
All living organisms are ‘exposed’ to and dependent on nutrition, starting from
(before?) conception until death
2. Rise in attention
Emergence of public and industrial awareness of the importance of nutritional
status in health & disease, food safety, food sustainability
3. Important changes
Important health-related domain challenged with important socio economic and
environmental changes
• Rapid scientific evolutions
o For example : GMO’s, cultured meat, functional foods, …
• Future/current challenges
o For example : population growth, climate change, invasive species, ...
• EU-regulation: food (supplement) claims need scientific proof!
o More scientific research in the field warranted
o Companies need health based scientific proof for their product
o Evidence based nutrition for the general population.
o For example : olive oil is better for the health than butter.
4. Nutritional industry
This industry is important in Flanders
• Growing economic sector with need for highly educated personnel (R&D,
trials, product managers and scientific staff)
• No specific education or training programmes available
5. Growing research domain
6. Media attention
A lot of attention in lay media. However, contrasting results and reporting thereof
might cause confusion and mistrust. But contrasting information still have some
source that may have been misinterpreted.
2. Major domains in nutrition research
Biomedical and behavioural research
• Nutrient metabolism and metabolic effects of food on (sub)cellular and
tissue levels
o In vitro & animal research
o Clinical human studies
o ….
3
, • Nutritional needs throughout life
o 1000 day concept : important period were a lot of issues later in life
can be caused like obesity.
For example : lower birth weight can cause a higher chance for
later life obesity. Exposure to bad nutrition or components that
are bad for our health.
o In utero, infancy, puberty, adulthood, senescence
o During health & disease
▪ Higher energy needs when we are ill so we are depending on
our reserve.
• Preventive and/or therapeutic effects of nutrition
o both in general health
For example : early vit D substitution to prevent osteomalacia
and osteoporosis
o as in disease-specific conditions
For example : dietary measures in renal failure
• Determinants of nutritional patterns at the individual level but also at the
level of society.
Nutritional monitoring and population-based research
How to measure and how good is our measure → development and validation of
our method. There are challenges and biases which make research harder.
Scope :
• Development of methods to evaluate nutritional status and nutritional habits
o Anthropometrics : measurements of the human body to determine
shape, size, growth and nutritional status.
▪ Targeted outcome measure depending on outcome like for
muscles
For example : weight, height, BMI, …
o Clinical markers
o Food frequency questionnaires
For example : Recall questionnaires
• Monitoring of food consumption at population level, determinants thereof
o We need to know determinants of these patterns so we can engage it.
o For example : why do we consume so much salt. Well because of our
reward system in evolution, so we like the taste because these were
scares nutrition and our taste adapts.
• Monitoring of food consumption patterns at population levels, determinants
thereof
We are confronted with limitations on the methods we use.
For examples : with food diaries we can only have estimations of micronutrients.
4
, EPIC study
Monitored with questionnaires, biological samples such as blood and urine. They
identify 20 significant dietary factors. Trace minerals which were not measured =
indirect conclusions. Hard to back-translate to the general population → limitation
Nutritional education and socio-economic aspects of
nutrition
• Educational methods to improve nutritional knowledge (lay public, health
professionals, …)
o Importance of geography, cultural beliefs and concepts
• Study of (the impact) of food policy (or the lack thereof), socio-economic
causes & consequences of nutritional status at
o Microlevel : individual or family
o Mesolevel : community
o Macrolevel : national or regional structures
• Environmental aspects of food production
o Food safety
o Food sustainability
For example : Nutri-score = healthiness of food to inform and influence the
consumer/customers. Study about if we do change our behaviours with these scores.
For example : Malnutrition: sickness directly influence your nutritional status.
Longer length of stay in hospital or higher chance of dying and lower recovery rate.
For hospitals it is important to identify patients with malnutrition for their funding.
Nutritional sciences
• Food technology: production, preparation, conservation, …
o This can be important for economy but also food quality
• Nutritional analysis of food
o Methodological aspects
▪ How good are we in measure the content of a food
o Physicochemical properties of foods & nutrients
▪ The physical and chemical characteristics of foods and
nutrients that determine how they behave during digestion,
processing, storage, and absorption.
o Bioavailability of nutrients within foods
▪ Absorption of food is not the same as the presence of the
food/molecules
o Interaction among nutrients, drug-food interactions
▪ We do not eat in isolation like amino acids and etc.
• Microbiological aspects and food safety
5
