Food & Nutrition

• The National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods (NCEFF)
• Smart Foods Centre

The concern for public health is shifting from dietary deficiencies to excesses - the so-called diseases of affluence. This requires a sophisticated working knowledge of the health benefits of nutrients, how they act and how they can be assured in the contemporary food supply. Established in 1999 by the Australian Research Council and the University of Wollongong as a Key Centre of Teaching and Research, the Smart Foods Centre (SFC) forms an alliance between the University, the food industry and government. The Centre comprises collaborating scientists, principally within the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences and associated departments, working in conjunction with the food industry, Its aim is to benefit all Australians through nutrition-related research and education, and it plays a key role in training food industry personnel. In 2003, the Smart Foods Centre became the administrating centre for the National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods (NCEFF), an initiative of the National Food Industry Strategy (Ltd), in partnership with CSIRO-Health Sciences and Nutrition, Food Science Australia and the Department of Primary Industries, Victoria .

Food sector research areas at the SFC included proteins and protein-rich foods as fuels and cellular building blocks; fats and oils as fuels; fish and fish oils, with particular expertise in omega-3 research in obesity, heart and muscle function, insulin sensitivity, and blood pressure. With regard to human health and disease the SFC's strengths extend to nutrition in healthy heart function and muscle physiology, dietary change and energy balance for daily living, and healthy ageing. This basic research combines with translational studies in food habits, consumer issues, food labeling and maketing, where understanding nutrients as components of whole foods underpins the ability to apply research outcomes.

Here, translational research is required to ensure effective links between outcomes from one domain of science to another. Within the SFC, the University has established the first human Whole Room Calorimeter (WRC) in Australia which will enable researchers and members of the pharmaceutical and food industries working on understanding obesity diabetes and related disorders, to study human metabolism and accurately measures energy expenditure.

THE GOOD OIL ON WALNUTS

The nutritional benefits of walnuts have been understood for thousands of years. Excavations in France have uncovered petrified shells of walnuts roasted in the Neolithic period more than 8,000 years ago, and inscriptions on clay tablets show that walnut trees were an important feature of the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon around 4,000 years ago. The Romans considered the nut a food fit for the gods, and planted walnut trees throughout the Roman Empire from as early as 100 B.C.
Modern scientific analysis shows the Romans knew a good thing when they saw one, as walnuts are rich in polyunsaturated fats, Omega oils and vitamins.
Now researchers at the University of Wollongong 's Smart Foods Centre have shown how to harness the nutritional value of walnuts, especially the"good" oils, to help people manage their diet better in the early stages of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

National Centre of Excellence for Functional Foods and former Smart Foods Centre Director Professor Linda Tapsell said the research had demonstrated how a diet rich in walnuts delivered the right kinds of fats and fatty acids that might help the body address one of the problems associated with early stageType 2 Diabetes - insulin resistance- which hinders the absorption of glucose from the bloodstream into human cells.

"We understood the relationship between insulin resistance and fatty acids, and when we looked at the composition of walnuts we thought that they could be useful in delivering the right kinds of fatty acids. We knew walnuts contained substantial amounts of these fats, so our challenge was to prove that the theoretical benefits were real," Professor Tapsell said.

The team of dietitians from the Smart Foods Centre and the Illawarra Diabetes Service developed individualised diets for around 60 people with Type 2 Diabetes for the six-month study. The diets were based on the core food groups of cereals and breads, fruit and vegetables, lean meat, fish, low-fat dairy products, oils, avocadoes, peanut butter and nuts. Each diet in the treatment group included 30g of walnuts (equivalent to around 8-10 nuts) per day.
The diets were carefully modelled to balance all the other dietary factors such as carbohydrates, proteins, calories and fats from the other foods to ensure the benefit was correctly attributed to the walnuts.

"The walnuts took the guesswork out of getting the right fats into the diet. We knew walnuts would deliver," Professor Tapsell said. "People with type 2 diabetes could ask their doctor or dietitian about the benefits of including walnuts in their dietary management."
Professor Tapsell said the study had been important because it confirmed the theoretical benefits of a certain food. "Food companies need this kind of research because it assists them in making legitimate claims about the benefits of certain foods. This particular research finding is also useful for doctors and dietitians when they provide advice to people on how to get good fatty acids into their diets," she said.

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Last reviewed: 14 February, 2007