Obesity is a looming health crisis for Australians; it increases the chances of many serious diseases including diabetes, cancer, stroke and heart disease. Obesity occurs when the amount of energy consumed in food is greater than the energy used over an extended period. Because human beings usually get most of their food in a few meals each day, the size of those meals is very important. Deciding when to stop eating can exert a powerful control on energy intake. It is well known that nutrients r ....Obesity is a looming health crisis for Australians; it increases the chances of many serious diseases including diabetes, cancer, stroke and heart disease. Obesity occurs when the amount of energy consumed in food is greater than the energy used over an extended period. Because human beings usually get most of their food in a few meals each day, the size of those meals is very important. Deciding when to stop eating can exert a powerful control on energy intake. It is well known that nutrients reaching the gut cause the release of hormones from cells in the lining of the stomach and intestine. These hormones tell the brain when enough food has been consumed. It used to be thought that the hormones travelled in the blood stream to affect the brain directly. Recently, it has become clear that much of their effect is actually carried by sensory neurons with endings in the lining of the gut. The hormones have a powerful effect the sensory nerve fibres which then send electrical signals in nerve fibres running in the vagus nerve to the brain. Here they make connections which eventually influence the centres that control feeding. There is much to understand about how hormones affect the sensory nerve endings in the wall of the gut, whether all nerve fibres are affected the same way and what sort of information is conveyed to the brain. This project will use electrophysiological methods to identify which nerve fibres are activated by hormones, whether different hormones affect different nerve fibres, which nutrients activate particular nerve fibres and whether nerve fibres make selective contacts with particular hormone-releasing cells. These questions are important for understanding how we normally stop feeding and how drugs might be designed to cause feelings of fullness earlier in each meal.Read moreRead less
Interactions Between Protein Leverage, Variety, And Dietary Carbohydrate And Fat Content In The Control Of Energy Intake In Humans
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$580,950.00
Summary
Most attempts to understand human vulnerability to obesity have focussed on fat and carbohydrate, yet recent studies have shown a powerful role for protein: we eat more calories when dietary protein concentration is low. But how does protein interact with other aspects of the diet, notably the prodigious variety of foods available in modern environments and the balance of fat to carbohydrate? We will use controlled trials to investigate how these factors contribute to excess energy intake.
I am a physiologist focused on the role of dietary protein on excess weight gain. In the proposed study, I will examine energy balance in lean and overweight individuals in response to a 4-day covertly manipulated 10, 15 or 25% protein diet. We will measure effects on hunger using subjective ratings and hormone levels and the affects on energy expenditure including resting metabolic rate, the energy it takes to digest food and physical activity levels.
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.
Investigating Dietary Vitamin D In The Australian Population
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$386,476.00
Summary
Vitamin D deficiency is a significant public health issue in Australia: almost one in four adults, and one in five adolescents, are vitamin D deficient. Although vitamin D can be obtained from sun exposure and diet, we know very little about dietary vitamin D in Australia. This project will determine how much vitamin D is in Australian foods, how much people get from their usual diets, and whether increasing vitamin D in foods would be a safe and effective way to reduce vitamin D deficiency.
Targeted Nutrition To Improve Maternal And Child Health Outcomes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,500,000.00
Summary
Nutrition is vitally important to support the rapid growth and development occurring from conception to a child’s second birthday – the first 1000 days. Failure to meet nutritional needs during this critical period can have profound consequences for lifelong health. Through our CRE in Targeted Nutrition to Improve Maternal and Child Health Outcomes, we will provide nutritional interventions which optimise a mother’s health outcomes and ensure her children achieve their full potential.
Providing Real-time Feedback On Diet Quality In Remote Indigenous Communities To Support Policy Makers And Other Key Stakeholders In Making Decisions To Improve Food Supply And Access In Remote Indigenous Communities.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$318,768.00
Summary
Community leaders and other decision makers have indicated that real-time feedback on diet quality in their communities is fundamental to support them in improving the food supply. This project will provide critical evidence to support this. I will consult with local stakeholders to develop visual reports that have evidence-based information on diet quality and strategies to improve the food supply, and will test whether the provision of this information is effective in improving diet quality.
Ageing And Latelife Health: Calories, Macronutrients Or Branched Chain Amino Acids?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$746,459.00
Summary
The prevailing dogma of ageing research has been that a substantive reduction in caloric intake maintained over a lifetime will delay ageing and age-related pathologies (caloric restriction - CR). Yet CR does not differentiate between the effects of reduced intake of calories versus specific macronutrients, nor can it assess the impact of balance of macronutrients. This application seeks to disentangle the role of CR and macronutrients on their effects on healthspan and lifespan in mice.
Effects Of Dietary Amino And Fatty Acids On Energy Intake And Glycaemia - Implications For Novel Approaches To The Management Of Obesity And Type 2 Diabetes
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$584,032.00
Summary
Current obesity treatments are limited in efficacy or have adverse effects. Our research has shown that specific fatty acids and amino acids markedly suppress energy intake and reduce blood glucose, without adverse effects. The goal of the proposed work is to evaluate the translational potential of these discoveries in obese diabetic patients. Ultimately, we hope to develop the findings from this research into novel, nutrient-based strategies for the management/prevention of obesity/diabetes.