About
The NUTRIOME meal-study is a multi-center study conducted at the University of Oslo, Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. The study examines why and to what degree metabolic and immune markers vary between individuals in response to meals with different nutrient composition and the effectiveness of a personalized diet in improving postprandial metabolic and immune response. The NUTRIOME meal-study is divided into two phases. In Phase 1, the individual variation in metabolic and immunological responses to acute meal challenges with different macronutrient compositions is assessed. The meals will consist of regular foods with either plant-based protein, meat, or fish as the protein source and will vary in carbohydrate and fat content. Data collected from Phase 1 will be used to develop personalized dietary advice using an algorithm with the aim of improving postprandial (the hours after intake of a meal) metabolic and immunologic response. These personalized recommendations will be assessed against general dietary recommendations for a healthy diet, with a focus on glucose, lipids, and inflammation markers in response to a high-energy meal.
Background
Suboptimal diet is an important risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes type 2 (conditions often related to metabolic disturbance and low-grade inflammation). Although nutrition plays a critical role in disease prevention, individuals do not necessarily respond in the same way to dietary changes. Precision nutrition – i.e. tailoring diet to the right individual at the right time, based on individual factors (e.g., genes, metabolic profile, environmental factors or gut microbiota) – could potentially lead to the development of more effective diet-based disease prevention strategies. Since most individuals spend a substantial portion of each day in a postprandial state, individual metabolic and inflammatory responses to meals are likely to play a role in the pathophysiology of diet-related diseases. This highlights the need for better understanding of the determinants of inter-individual differences in response to food.
Objective
The overall objective of this randomized controlled study is to use dietary challenge meals and collect data on metabolic and immunologic postprandial responses to develop personalized dietary advice based on an algorithm, and to then test the effectiveness of these personalized dietary recommendations compared to general healthy dietary recommendations based on national dietary guidelines on markers related to cardiometabolic health.
Additionally, we will examine the role of individuals' habitual diets, physical activity, gut microbiota, and other biological factors in driving the interindividual variation in metabolic and immunological markers in response to the three different meals.
