Optimising Exercise and Nutrition Throughout the Life Cycle. During the past decade the proportion of Australia's population aged 65 years and over has increased to 13% (2.7 million). During the same period, the proportion of the population aged 85 years and over has more than doubled and is now the fastest growing subpopulation in Australia. As the number of elderly persons continues to grow, sarcopenia-related conditions will have a dramatic and inevitable impact on the lives of all Australian ....Optimising Exercise and Nutrition Throughout the Life Cycle. During the past decade the proportion of Australia's population aged 65 years and over has increased to 13% (2.7 million). During the same period, the proportion of the population aged 85 years and over has more than doubled and is now the fastest growing subpopulation in Australia. As the number of elderly persons continues to grow, sarcopenia-related conditions will have a dramatic and inevitable impact on the lives of all Australians. The novel dietary protocols developed from the results of the studies undertaken in this proposal will translate into better treatment options for reversing age-dependent muscle degeneration. This is a critical first step for improving the standard of living for a large portion of Australian society.Read moreRead less
"Smart Food" - The fulcrum in the energy balance equation. The overall aim of the project is to establish how nutrients best promote an increase in energy expenditure and therefore weight loss. The experiments will be performed in rats using sophisticated technologies to introduce specific combinations of fats, carbohydrates or proteins directly into the stomach and then measure energy expenditure in a specialised type of energy burning rather than energy storing fat called brown adipose tissue. ...."Smart Food" - The fulcrum in the energy balance equation. The overall aim of the project is to establish how nutrients best promote an increase in energy expenditure and therefore weight loss. The experiments will be performed in rats using sophisticated technologies to introduce specific combinations of fats, carbohydrates or proteins directly into the stomach and then measure energy expenditure in a specialised type of energy burning rather than energy storing fat called brown adipose tissue. These experiments will uncover the mechanisms that relate nutrients in the stomach and activation of brown adipose tissue. They will provide a framework on which this project can build a knowledge of smart diets that will allow the effective control of body weight through modulation of energy expenditure. Read moreRead less
Developmental programming of adult stress responses: early life nutrition permanently alters stress and immune function. Obese children are more likely to grow up to be obese adults than normal-weight children are. Their early life diet may be at least partly to blame. Early life nutrition can also compromise ability to respond to stress or inflammation. This project will investigate how this occurs and if these effects are specific to the developmental period.
Central Neural Circuits Subserving Nutrient–activated Thermogenesis - The Basis Of Post Prandial Energy Expenditure
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$766,207.00
Summary
Studies of “energy burning” brown fat, including its importance in the determination of obesity in humans and the potential to increase its capacity by turning white fat into brown-like fat are currently foremost in obesity research. Here we study the detail of brain pathways that dictate brown fat activity after a meal resulting in the burning of ingested calories and reduction of body weight. The results will give us a better idea of how we can harness brown fat to combat obesity.