Food Standards Agency
Sunday 5 July 2009
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Listen to this siteObjective: To conduct appropriate research in those areas of highest relevance to public health where scientific evidence is poorest, thereby providing the scientific basis for population-level guidelines as to the optimal level of intake of micronutrients from the UK diet.
The concept of optimal nutrition has widened over the past few decades from the prevention of overt nutritional deficiencies, such as scurvy and rickets, to include the maintenance of good health and reduction of risk of chronic disease. There is an increasing awareness of the physiological mechanisms by which appropriate levels of some micronutrients may mediate these secondary effects.
The overall aim of the optimal nutrition programme is to conduct appropriate research in those areas of highest relevance to public health where scientific evidence is poorest, thereby providing the scientific basis for population-level guidelines as to the optimal level of intake of micronutrients from the UK diet.
The N05 Programme covers a diverse range of issues which have been grouped into three key areas: micronutrient status; bone health; and cognitive health. A central theme is to determine the optimal dietary intake for specific groups of individuals as a consequence of special vulnerability, e.g. social, geographic, gender, ethnicity, environmental, stage-of-life and genetic factors.
Micronutrient Status
There is a need to improve understanding of the links between optimal nutrition status and the maintenance of good health. To achieve this, a number of issues need to be addressed: the need to quantify to the fraction of ingested nutrients required to meet the functional demands of the target tissues; the identification of functional markers of status for each micronutrient or group of nutrients; the development of accurate measures of the bioavailability of nutrients from food, particularly fruit and vegetables.
Bone Health
Diet plays an important role in bone health. Within this area, research funded by the Agency aims to achieve a better understanding of the mechanisms and limitations of the adaptive response to different diets and the effect on bone. Particular emphasis is placed on inter-individual variations, nutrient-gene interactions and the importance of the environment in early life. The interactions between the main micronutrients implicated in bone health (calcium, vitamin K and vitamin D) and other nutrients (such as zinc and vitamin A) during absorption and tissue distribution represents a further area of investigation.
Cognitive Health
Findings from a broad range of studies suggest that certain dietary factors can influence cognitive health. In 2002, the N05 Programme was expanded to address key questions regarding the link between diet and cognition. Research will be undertaken to improve understanding of the function of diet in CNS and brain development, in cognitive decline and impairment, and the possible protection offered by various nutrients against neurological or neuro-psychiatric conditions such as Alzheimers Disease and depression. Research will seek to find better functional markers of status in relation to neurological and neuro-pyschiatric dysfunction.
Name
: Dr Elaine Stone
Tel
: 020 7276 8996 (Intl. +44 20 7276 8996)
Email
:
elaine.stone@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
Information about Agency-funded research projects investigating bioavailablility and nutritional status.
Information about Agency-funded research projects investigating diet and bone health.
Information about Agency-funded research projects investigating diet and cognitive function.
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