Living

Food components beyond the gut wall

“Let food be your medicine” Hippocrates 400BC

Understanding how our diet influences our long term health

Phytochemicals have potential as health-promoting components of our diet. The focus of research at IFR is on flavonoids, folates and glucosinolates and their potential to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer in healthy individuals and high risk groups. The provision of dietary advice to policy makers and the development of foods with enhanced levels of protective phytochemicals provide practical applications of the research.

IFR studies the relationship between micronutrient intake and optimal health, including research on iron and selenium, reflecting UK public health concerns. A combination of cell/molecular biology and human studies are used to study bioavailability, bioactivity, and reasons for individual variability, and biomarkers of exposure, status and risk of chronic disease are being developed using –omics approaches.