The Eurecat Reus technology centre is a pioneer in research into the benefits of ingredients, foods and dietary habits for people’s health through the nutritional intervention and precision nutrition studies it conducts with volunteers. These projects contribute to research while also allowing the volunteers to gain skills for managing their diet and healthy habits.

Led by the team of researchers, dieticians and nutritionists who are experts in fostering healthy habits at Eurecat’s Nutrition and Health Technology Unit, which is licensed as a health centre, the technology centre runs clinical studies in which knowhow in nutrition, metabolism, molecular biology and data analysis is pooled with the analytical capabilities of the Omic Sciences Centre, a joint URV and Eurecat unit.

“There is a growing global trend nowadays to eat foods which provide health benefits, and strategies involve exploring personalisation and tailoring products to the rhythm of daily life and the specific nutritional needs of some population segments,” points out Nàdia Ortega, director of the Nutrition and Health Technology Unit at Eurecat. This means “it’s crucial to have scientific evidence from studies to validate all the health effects.”

Leading precision nutrition studies have also been undertaken for the general public and specific population groups such as post-menopausal women in terms of nutrition and health promotion coupled with studies to promote healthy ageing or improve adherence to the Mediterranean diet.

These innovative projects “are part of Eurecat’s commitment to precision nutrition which in addition to the person’s genes also factors in their metabolism, gut microbiota and lifestyle to get a more complete picture and furnish more precise nutritional recommendations,” says Antoni Caimari, director of Eurecat’s Biotechnology Division. “This allows people to manage their diet, habits and wellbeing to prevent the onset of diet-related diseases more effectively.”

Call for volunteers to evaluate supplementation with different forms of vitamin B12 for people on vegetarian diets

Eurecat Reus is looking for 54 people for its studies currently underway who follow a vegetarian diet to evaluate the effect of supplementation of different forms of vitamin B12, not from animal sources, in a study which addresses the higher risk of deficiency among this group.

To conduct this study, called NORMB12, researchers are seeking volunteers who adhere to a vegetarian diet, do not eat meat or fish but can eat dairy products and eggs, do not take vitamin B12 supplements and are marginally deficient in this vitamin, which will be assessed on the basis of the testing carried out during the volunteers’ pre-selection visit.

“The number of people who are adopting a vegetarian diet as part of a healthy eating pattern is growing,” points out Anna Crescenti, a researcher in Eurecat’s Nutrition and Health Technology Unit and the project’s director. “However, unless they do this in a balanced way it can lead to inadequate vitamin B12 intake and hence to nutritional deficits.”

Call for volunteers to assess mitigation of persistent allergic rhinitis symptoms

Eurecat is also working on the MICRORIN2 study which is assessing the effects of probiotic supplementation on the symptoms of persistent allergic rhinitis and quality of life of those affected, who account for 21.5 percent of the population with a greater impact on toddlers and young people.

Volunteers have to meet a number of requirements in order to take part, including being aged between 18 and 60 and free of gastrointestinal or autoimmune diseases and anaemia.

Eurecat’s Nutrition and Health Technology Unit runs its studies at its facilities in Reus. Anyone who would like to take part in them can register as a volunteer or make enquiries by emailing estudis@eurecat.org or calling 636 944 723.

Full information about Eurecat’s clinical and nutritional intervention studies can be found here: https://eurecat.org/ambits-de-coneixement/nutricio-i-salut/estudis/