Purpose: To set up recommended dietary intakes of creatine across the life course, evaluate dietary intakes in various populations, recognize health consequences of low and high dietary intake of creatine, analyze the efficacy and safety of creatine intake across multiple health domains (including motor and cognitive development, age-related diseases and neurodegeneration, brain cancer, and mental health), characterize creatine content in food sources, and discover new creatine formulations for human health
Brief about method: NHANES database analyses and interventional trials with creatine.
Internal project staff: Erik Grasaas, Dagrun Engeset, Tonje H. Stea
External partners: University of Novi Sad (Serbia), University of Palermo (Italy), University of the Basque Country (Spain), University of Manitoba (Canada), Universidade de Sao Paulo (Brazil), Messiah University (USA), Brock University (Canada), University of Liverpool (UK), Imperial College London (UK), University of Regina (Canada).
Feeding the brain
Purpose: To recognize dietary patterns and individual nutrients associated with inferior brain health and performance, explore metabolic hurdles and assets to deliver nutrients to this hard-to-target organ, and develop and scrutinize nutritional interventions able to improve brain viability across the lifespan.
Brief about method: In the first phase of the project, we analyze big data available from NHANES database (U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey), and explore causal relationships between individual micronutrients and surrogate biomarkers of cognition in children, adults and elderly. In the second phase, we evalute the effects of various dietary interventions on brain metabolism and performance across various cohorts.
Financing: UiA, Industry (Natural Health Products Inc., New Westminster, Canada)
Project Manager: Sergej M. Ostojic
Internal project staff: Dagrun Engeset, Tonje H. Stea
External partners: University of Regina (Canada), Brandon University (Canada), Imperial College London (UK), University of Liverpool (UK), University of Athens (Greece), Nova Southeastern University (USA), University of Pecs (Hungary), University of Novi Sad (Serbia)
Healthy mitochondria
Purpose: To analyze how dietary patterns and specific nutrients and nutraceuticals affect mitochondrial health (and mitochondria-related biomarkers) in various conditions and across the lifespan, and develop educational tools to advance mitochondria as a target for molecular nutrition.
Brief about method: Cross-sectional studies and interventional trials.