The Eurecat technology centre’s Reus-based Biotechnology Division is calling for volunteers to take part in a new study with post-menopausal women to better shape future nutritional strategies and prevent associated symptoms and illnesses.
The study is to examine a number of metabolic, hormonal and gut microbiota parameters in 200 post-menopausal women in order to identify by means of algorithms “groups with similar metabolic traits so we can devise and lay the scientific foundations for innovative, precision nutritional interventions targeting each of these groups,” says Dr Antoni Caimari, director of Eurecat’s Biotechnology Division.
This study “is part of Eurecat’s commitment to the food transition towards precision nutrition for the purpose of generating knowledge and innovative technologies that allow people to manage their wellbeing with increasing self-sufficiency grounded in a preventive approach,” notes Dr Francesc Puiggròs, scientific director in Eurecat’s Biotechnology Division.
“It is especially important to factor in both hormonal and metabolic changes which impact the health and quality of life of postmenopausal women and can be detected as early as four years before menopause,” adds Puiggròs. “This will enable us to come up with innovative nutritional strategies anchored in precision nutrition by drawing on omic sciences and bioinformatics tools to characterise women’s metabolism and successfully prevent these associated disorders.”
The study is to be run at Eurecat’s Biotechnology Division facilities opposite Sant Joan de Reus University Hospital. The email address estudis@eurecat.org and 636 944 723 helpline have been set up so that people who would like to take part in the study can register as volunteers or ask any questions they may have.
The volunteers will be given specific dietary and nutritional recommendations for the post-menopausal stage rooted in the healthy Mediterranean diet pattern which will be drawn up by dieticians and nutritionists in the Nutrition and Health Unit in Eurecat’s Biotechnology Division. Also participating in the study is the Omic Sciences Unit, a joint R&D team made up of specialists from Eurecat’s Biotechnology Division and Rovira i Virgili University (URV), which will conduct the omic tests (metabolic and gut microbiota).
