These values and information on the GI database are now online. To read more please click here

The Diogenes project is an Integrated Project of the EU Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (2005-2009)
Contract no. FP6-513946
Priority 5: Food Quality and Safety

Headline results from Years 1 and 2 (combined) of the Rolling Programme, 2008/9 – 2009/10. Supplementary Report: Blood analytes

The blood analytes for the combined results from Year 1 and 2 of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) have been released.

The NDNS is designed to assess the dietary habits and nutritional status of adults and children in the UK. The survey is unique in that it provides data on dietary intake and nutritional status in a representative sample of the population.

For information on the report please go to: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_130728

For more information on NDNS please read our webpages linked below.

National Diet and Nutrition Survey

Breast milk is often described as the perfect food for infants. The composition of breast milk not only changes according to the developmental stage of the infant, but even adjusts to the immature gut during a single feed. The extensive benefits of breastfeeding are well-known, ranging from improved immunity and higher IQ, to securing the mother-infant bond. There is also evidence suggesting that babies who are breastfed benefit from a ‘programming’ effect that leads to better health later in life, such as the reduced risk of obesity, type II diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease [1, 2].

There is a long history of lactation research in Cambridge. It is a topic that was close to the heart of Dr Elsie Widdowson, after whom the building that houses MRC Human Nutrition Research (HNR), is named. HNR continues with studies on lactating women and their infants in the UK and elsewhere in the world. Current research topics include developing new techniques to measure concentrations of micronutrients in breast-milk, such as vitamin D and its metabolites, and total fat content and the different fatty acids. We aim to relate these measurements to diet and lifestyle.

Work currently being undertaken at HNR includes the Diet and Nutrition Survey of Infants and Young Children (DNSIYC). Women who are breastfeeding an infant enrolled in DNSIYC are having the milk intake of their babies measured by the “dose-to-the-mother” method [3, 4]. This method requires the mother to drink harmless tracer water, which then mixes with her natural body water, including her breast milk. The tracer water then moves to her baby during normal breastfeeding routine. By measuring the dilution of the tracer water over a two-week period in the mother’s and infant’s saliva or urine, we are able to determine the total volume of breast milk that the baby consumes over that period, whether they are exclusively breastfed or not.

We have a good working relationship with the Donor Milk Bank at The Rosie Maternity Hospital in Cambridge. If any donated breast milk expires and the donor then consents, we are able to use this surplus to develop and improve our laboratory research methods related to breast milk and lactation.

We welcome any interest from lactating women who wish to donate a small breast milk sample for mother-infant nutritional research. If you would like to know more about our current breastfeeding studies and future plans in this area, please contact Miss Georgia Billing (Tel: 01223 426356 or Email: georgia.billing@mrc-hnr.cam.ac.uk)

1. Petherick, A., Mother’s milk: a rich opportunity. Nature, 2010. 468(23 (?)): p. S5-S7.

2. Goldberg, G.R., Prentice, A.M., Prentice, A., Filteau, S., and Simondon, K., Breast Feeding: Early Influences on Later Health. Advances in Experimental Medicine & Biology. Vol. vol 639. 2008: Springer.

3. da Costa, T.H., Haisma, H., Wells, J.C., Mander, A.P., Whitehead, R.G., and Bluck, L.J., How much human milk do infants consume? Data from 12 countries using a standardized stable isotope methodology. J Nutr, 2010. 140(12): p. 2227-32.

4. IAEA, Stable Isotope Technique to Assess Intake of Human Milk in Breastfed Infants. Human Health Series No.7. 2010, Vienna, Austria: International Atomic Energy Agency.

Headline results from Years 1 and 2 (combined) of the Rolling Programme, 2008/9 – 2009/10

Combined results from Year 1 and 2 of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) have been released.

The NDNS is designed to assess the dietary habits and nutritional status of adults and children in the UK. The survey is unique in that it provides data on dietary intake and nutritional status in a representative sample of the population.

For information on the results of the survey please go to: Department of Health – Headline Results from Year 1 and 2

For more information on NDNS please read our webpages linked below.

• National Diet and Nutrition Survey

MRC HNR’s Sizzling Science was invited to attended the Festival to deliver a nutrition & cookery demonstration titled ‘Sizzling Science With Added Spice’. This event provided an opportunity for us to deliver key nutrition and health messages directly to the South Asian community, and to show that healthy food can be tasty food. For our nutrition & cookery demonstration HNR teamed up with colleagues from the University of Cambridge (Minha Rajput-Ray), Masterchef India Winner Pankaj Bhadouria and Newham Tutor Rama Rajput to provide a presentation and demonstration similar to that successfully held in Cambridge on 6^th July. This event enabled Sizzling Science to deliver the nutrition and health messages in our demonstration in a number of languages, and in a manner that is suitable for a culturally diverse audience.

In order for the Festival to encourage healthy cooking practices in the community, local businesses participated in a ‘healthy platter’ competition. This was judged against an agreed scoring criteria by HNR nutritionist Glenys Jones, Masterchef Pankaj and Cllr Rahman, with participants agreeing to incorporate healthier cooking practices into their restaurant menus.

We are very pleased to be able to report that the Festival and the ‘Sizzling Science with Added Spice’ show received extremely positive press coverage by the British-South Asian media, including Radio and TV channels. This therefore provides far reaching dissemination of health messages to members of the UK South Asian community.

Our thanks go to the Newham Healthy Food Festival for inviting Sizzling Science to partake in their event and to all those who supported the Festival and made it a success. The evening was made possible due to the help of a large number of volunteers from MRC HNR, and through the Cambridge-India Partnership funding Pankaj’s travel to the UK.

To read more about MRC HNR, Pankaj and the Cambridge-India Partnership please visit their websites at:

MRC Human Nutrition Research

Pankaj Bhadouria website

Cambridge-India Partnership 

Recipes:

Egg Kebab

Chicken (No) Butter Masala

Fish Moily Not Oily 

Gatte ki Subzi

Rainbow Poshto (Vegetables in Poppy Paste)

Fruit Sandesh with No Added Sugar

Sizzling Science with Added Spice also presented in Cambridge. To read about this event please click here.

Sizzling Science is a Knowledge Exchange and Transfer (KET) activity devised by the Communications team at MRC HNR and started in 2009. Since then we have teamed up with different chefs and partners to deliver this format to a wide range of audiences.

For Sizzling Science with Added Spice we had the pleasure of joining forces with Chef Pankaj Bhadouria to help communicate our messages to the South Asian community in particular. This event was co-ordinated by Glenys Jones at MRC HNR, with Sumantra Ray from MRC HNR/University of Cambridge and his wife Minha Rajput-Ray (University of Cambridge) having conceived the idea of bringing Pankaj to the UK during a recent trip to India, and then being fortunate enough to obtain a grant from the Cambridge-India Partnership fund to make her travel to the UK a possibility.

An evening of science, cookery and history all rolled into one!

A fantastic evening was had by all in Cambridge when Pankaj Bhadouria told all about her love of food and her rise to victory, as well as performing a demonstration of the skills that resulted in her being announced as the very first Winner of Master Chef India.

To compliment this Dr Susan Jebb explained the science behind how our diet affects our health and Dr Sumantra Ray guided the audience through some of the science behind the ingredients being used, along with a few facts on the history of the spice trade.

The evening showed how South Asian food can not only be healthy, but that it is also very easy to prepare and is absolutely delicious! Pankaj (assisted by HNR’s Kirsty Trigg) showed the audience how to make Egg Kebabs (patties) with a mint sauce for starter, followed by mains from 4 different regions and finished with a Fruit Sandesh with no added sugar for a sweet.

The evening was made possible due to the help of a large number of volunteers from MRC HNR, and through the Cambridge-India Partnership funding Pankaj’s travel to the UK. We were also pleased to be able to use this evening as an opportuntity to invite the Arthur Rank Hospice along to promote their work and hold a raffle, with some wonderful healthy prizes.

The audience also all took away with them a goody bag, with a taster pack inside, which included a wholemeal baked samosa and a baked spicy corn fritter kindly made by a team at HNR. Recipes for these and all the dishes demonstrated are at the bottom of this page, underneath photographs from the evening.

To read more about Pankaj, the Cambridge-India Partnership and the Arthur Rank Hospice please visit their websites at:

• Pankaj Bhadouria website
• Cambridge-India Partnership 
• Arthur Rank Hospice

Recipes:

• Egg Kebab
• Chicken (No) Butter Masala
• Fish Moily Not Oily
• Gatte ki Subzi
• Rainbow Poshto (Vegetables in Poppy Paste)
• Fruit Sandesh with No Added Sugar
• Wholemeal Baked Samosa
• Baked Spicy Corn Fritter

Sizzling Science with Added Spice also took part in Newham Healthy Food Festival. To read about this event please click here.

Sizzling Science is a Knowledge Exchange and Transfer (KET) activity devised by the Nutrition and Health Communications team at MRC HNR and started in 2009. Since then we have teamed up with different chefs and partners to deliver this format to a wide range of audiences.

For Sizzling Science with Added Spice we had the pleasure of joining forces with Chef Pankaj Bhadouria to help communicate our messages to the South Asian community in particular. This event was co-ordinated by Dr Glenys Jones at MRC HNR, with Dr Sumantra Ray from MRC HNR/University of Cambridge and his wife Dr Minha Rajput-Ray (University of Cambridge) having conceived the idea of bringing Pankaj to the UK during a recent trip to India, and then being fortunate enough to obtain a grant from the Cambridge-India Partnership fund to make her travel to the UK a possibility. 

To celebrate nutrition research and the contribution made by Elsie Widdowson, who our laboratory is named after, we are pleased to be hosting the 2011 Elsie Widdowson Lecture given by Prof Sir Richard Thompson, on zinc deficiency and homeostasis.

Sir Richard is the President of the Royal College of Physicians and is an Emeritus Consultant Gastroenterologist at Guy’s and St. Thomas’ Hospital in London.

Sir Richard trained in natural sciences and medicine at Oxford and St Thomas’ Hospital Medical School, and at the Mayo Clinic. In 1972 he was appointed physician and gastroenterologist at St Thomas’ Hospital. Until his retirement in 2005, he led an active clinical research laboratory for over 30 years, chiefly studying various aspects of nutritional gastroenterology and publishing over 200 papers. Sir Richard was also physician to HM The Queen for 21 years.

The lecture this year is particularly special as it is being held in conjunction with the 11th International Symposium on Metal Ions in Biology and Medicine. The conference is being hosted and organised by the MRC HNR Biomineral Research Group and more information about the conference can be found at: www.metal-ions2011.com

MRC Human Nutrition Research exists to develop the evidence underpinning public health nutrition strategies and is a national centre of excellence for the measurement and interpretation of biochemical, functional and dietary indicators of nutritional status and health.

The lecture will be held at 6pm on Thursday 23rd June, Homerton College, Cambridge and followed by a reception.

Directions and parking information for Homerton College can be found via this link

Dr. Elsie Widdowson CH, CBE, FRS

Satellite of the 11th International Symposium on Metal Ions in Biology & Medicine

 www.metal-ions2011.com/silicon

Related Article: 11th International Symposium on Metal Ions in Biology & Medicine

www.metal-ions2011.com

Related Article:4th Workshop on the Aqueous Chemistry and Biochemistry of Silicon

Investigations of diet-disease relationships can be strengthened by increasing numbers of subjects.  Combining or pooling existing cohorts is one way to achieve these larger numbers.  Trying to combine the dietary data from these cohorts when the dietary assessment instruments used are different provides challenges to dietary analysts.

MRC Human Nutrition Research in Cambridge is part of such a project, lead by the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, called HALCyon (http://www.halcyon.ac.uk), which was set up to bring together a number of life course cohorts to examine effects of lifestyle factors, including diet, on physical and cognitive capability in ageing. The dietary analysis team on the project has been consolidating the differing dietary assessments instruments used by the cohorts to find uniform measures for use in diet outcome investigations.  Their experiences have stimulated investigation of the experiences of others and interest in the problem in general.

This workshop will provide an opportunity to hear from experts in the field about their experiences of different methods for pooling cohorts with different dietary assessment instruments. The workshop will also enable delegates to explore potential solutions for scenarios submitted during the registration period.

Speakers include:

Dr Alison Lennox, MRC Human Nutrition Research – Healthy Ageing Across the Life Course (HALCyon)

Dr Stephanie Smith-Warner, Harvard School of Public Health – Pooling Project of Prospective Studies of Diet and Cancer

Prof Heiner Boeing, German Institute of Human Nutrition – European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC-Potsdam)

Dr Ruth Keogh and Marleen Lentjes, MRC Centre for Nutritional Epidemiology in Cancer Prevention and Survival – European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC-Cambridge)

Attendance of this workshop is free of charge, but spaces are limited and therefore attendance is by ticket only.