Projects
Enhancing food and nutrition security through promotion of edible insects value chain in Eastern Africa KU Leuven
This project aims to contribute to addressing malnutrition in general through ‘developing sustainable insect-based value chains for improved food and nutrition security in Kenya and Uganda. Insects contribute to the human food chain either by direct consumption or indirectly as feed for domestic animals when farmed as mini-livestock. Cricket and grasshopper farming models have been successfully established in Kenya and Uganda with farmers ...
Zinc homeostasis in ectomycorrhizal symbiosis: nutrition and beyond Vrije Universiteit Brussel
ectomycorrhizas (ECMs), are ubiquitous. Through these
associations, trees can colonize, establish and survive in a wide
range of soils. Underground hyphal networks regulate nutrient access
and limit translocation of pollutants in exchange for plant derived
sugars. Traditionally, transport of macronutrients throughout the
fungal mycelium and towards ...
Agriculture, diet and nutrition in Greco-Roman Egypt. Reassessing ancient sustenance, food processing and (mal)nutrition. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
paradigms of ancient diet and nutrition. It has long been held that one-sided and low-quality diets, largely
comprised of foodstuffs with high levels of anti-nutrients and poor in micronutrients, resulted in chronic
malnutrition. Recently, these views have been challenged on the grounds of being anachronistic since the
...
Agriculture, diet and nutrition in Greco-Roman Egypt. Reassessing ancient sustenance, food processing and (mal)nutrition. KU Leuven
The AGROS project challenges the main assumptions underlying the current historical and archaeological
paradigms of ancient diet and nutrition. It has long been held that one-sided and low-quality diets, largely
comprised of foodstuffs with high levels of anti-nutrients and poor in micronutrients, resulted in chronic
malnutrition. Recently, these views have been challenged on the grounds of being anachronistic since the ...
The Exercise and Nutrition for Healthy AgeiNg (ENHANce) project: optimized and individualized anabolic interventions to improve physical performance in sarcopenic community-dwelling older persons. KU Leuven
Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass and function with ageing. It is a hot topic in geriatric medicine due to its increasing prevalence and far-reaching consequences such as immobility, falls, fractures and death. To treat sarcopenia, we developed the Exercise and Nutrition for Healthy AgeiNg (ENHANce) project, in which we examine the effect of proteins with or without omega-3 fatty-acid supplements on top of a physical exercise program. The ...
The stress-obesity axis: a metabolomics approach towards personalized nutrition in adolescents Ghent University
One alarming trend with respect to the obesity epidemic concerns the progressive rise of this chronic disease and its co-morbidities in children. Currently, up to 18% of this population is assigned an unhealthy weight condition, which is accompanied by adverse effects on the psychosocial and metabolic development, while simultaneously negatively affecting future adult health and functionality. Moreover, as childhood obesity proves highly ...
Fibre as important macronutrient in carnivore nutrition Ghent University
When cats, as strict carnivores, catch their prey, they often eat them with skin, bones, etc. These tissues behave as U+201Canimal fibreU+201D. The current methods to analyse fibre in a diet only detects fibre from plant origin and not from animal origin, mainly because the latter consists of protein. Therefore, the high protein intake in the wild may be incorrectly translated to petfood requirements, whereas the fibre requirement may be ...
The 'Maternal Nutrition and Offspring’s Epigenome' (MANOE) study: link with childhood obesity KU Leuven
Obesity is increasing exponentially. Today, 20% of the school-aged children are overweight. The risk of becoming obese is influenced not only by genetic and adult life-style factors, but also by nutrition during pregnancy and infancy. This phenomenon is called metabolic programming. Animal studies have shown that a diet rich in methyl-group donors (e.g. folic-acid, folate, methionine, betaine, and choline) during pregnancy can reduce the risk ...