{"title":"Biomarkers of food intake: current status and future opportunities.","authors":"Lorraine Brennan","doi":"10.1017/S0029665125000084","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0029665125000084","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current review will examine the field of food intake biomarkers and the potential use of such biomarkers. Biomarkers of food intake have the potential to be objective measures of intake thus addressing some of the limitations associated with self-reported dietary assessment methods. They are typically food-derived biomarkers present in biological samples and distinct from endogenous metabolites. To date, metabolomic profiling has been successful in identifying several putative food intake biomarkers. With respect to food intake biomarkers, there has been a proliferation of publications in this field. However, caution is needed when interpreting these as food intake biomarkers. Many have not been validated thus hampering their use. While much of the focus to date is on discovery of food intake biomarkers there are excellent examples of how to utilise these biomarkers in nutrition research. Applications include but are not limited to: (1) measurement of adherence to diets in intervention studies (2) objectively predicting intake with no reliance on self-reported data and (3) calibrating self-reported data in large epidemiological studies. Examples of these applications will be covered in this review. While significant progress is achieved to date in the food intake biomarkers field there are a number of key challenges that remain. Examples include lack of databases focused on food-derived metabolites thus hindering the discovery of new biomarkers and the need for new statistical approaches to deal with multiple biomarkers for single foods. Addressing these and other key challenges will be key to development of future opportunities.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"121-125"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143365655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katie Nicol, Anne P Nugent, Jayne V Woodside, Kathryn H Hart, Sarah C Bath
{"title":"Plant-based milk alternatives: can they replace the iodine from UK cow's milk?","authors":"Katie Nicol, Anne P Nugent, Jayne V Woodside, Kathryn H Hart, Sarah C Bath","doi":"10.1017/S002966512510058X","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S002966512510058X","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Current food systems pose risks to both population and environmental health. Reducing the intake of animal-based foods, such as dairy products, and increasing consumption of plant-based foods align with priorities for addressing climate change and promoting overall health. Plant-based alternatives to cow's milk can be readily substituted for cow's milk without altering meal patterns and food habits, making them a popular choice among those reducing animal-product consumption. However, plant-based milk alternatives do not necessarily provide the same nutrients as cow's milk, particularly essential micronutrients like iodine. While national data indicate that the UK is iodine-replete, certain population subgroups (such as pregnant women, women of reproductive age, and vegans) remain at risk of iodine deficiency. Young women are more likely than other age groups to consume plant-based milk alternatives, heightening public health concerns about iodine insufficiency in this demographic. Current consumers of plant-based milk alternatives in the UK have lower iodine intake and status compared to consumers of cow's milk. Population-level effects of replacing milk with plant-based alternatives vary and depend on factors such as the role of plant-based milk alternatives in the diet (i.e. in addition to, or as a replacement for milk), the presence of other iodine sources in the diet, the consumer's life stage, and whether the alternatives are fortified with iodine. This review examines the literature on plant-based milk alternatives and iodine intake, focusing on implications of this dietary shift and strategies to improve iodine intake in those opting for plant-based milk alternatives in the UK population.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"154-161"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144317792","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katie P Davies, Eileen R Gibney, Aifric M O'Sullivan
{"title":"Can metabolic phenotyping and personalised nutrition help make our diets more sustainable?","authors":"Katie P Davies, Eileen R Gibney, Aifric M O'Sullivan","doi":"10.1017/S0029665125100074","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0029665125100074","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sustainable diets should promote good health for both the planet and the individual. While there is a clear association between lower environmental impact diets and better health outcomes, intervention studies are needed to determine the range of dietary changes and to understand inter-individual differences in response. Individuals having different responses to dietary interventions are underpinned by a variety of genetic, phenotypic and behavioural factors. The aim of this review is to apply the findings from previous literature examining inter-individual variation and phenotypic response to the future of sustainable healthy diets. Despite changing diets or improving diet quality, physiological responses are varied in randomised controlled trials. To better understand response, individuals can be grouped based on shared baseline characteristics or by their shared response to an intervention. Studies grouping individuals by shared characteristics use a metabolic phenotyping or metabotyping approach which demonstrates that some phenotypes are more predisposed to respond to a particular intervention. Tailoring dietary advice to metabolic phenotype shows promise for improving health and diet quality. However, more evidence is needed to understand the complexity that will come with whole dietary change in the context of sustainable healthy diets. We envisage a future where metabolic phenotyping is an integral element for prescribing personalised nutrition advice for sustainable healthy diets.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"148-153"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144554318","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Rachel Gibson, Georgia A F Rogerson, Hannah E Theobald, Jumanah S Alawfi, Elena Philippou, Deborah David, Kiu Sum, Louise R Durrant
{"title":"The Nutrition Society Satellite Symposium, Nutrition Congress: workplace diet and health.","authors":"Rachel Gibson, Georgia A F Rogerson, Hannah E Theobald, Jumanah S Alawfi, Elena Philippou, Deborah David, Kiu Sum, Louise R Durrant","doi":"10.1017/S0029665124007614","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0029665124007614","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The workplace is a key environmental determinant of health and well-being. Food choices can be influenced by several workplace-related factors including, but not limited to, working hours, the workplace food environment, job roles and workplace culture. Therefore, the workplace is increasingly viewed as an important place for public health nutrition interventions. However, research in this area is fragmented and heterogeneous due to the wide range of workplace settings and occupational groups. This editorial summarises the research presented at The Nutrition Society Workplace Diet and Health Special Interest Group Satellite Symposium in July 2024 as part of the inaugural Nutrition Society Congress.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"117-120"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142786775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Complex, contradictory and confusing: exploring consumer dilemmas in navigating sustainable healthy nutrition knowledge.","authors":"Bríd C Bourke, Sinéad N McCarthy, Mary B McCarthy","doi":"10.1017/S0029665125001697","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0029665125001697","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nations are revising dietary guidelines to include sustainability recommendations in response to climate change concerns. Given low adherence to current guidelines, consumer inertia is a challenge. A proliferation of nutrition information providers and dietary messages contributes to confusion. All this suggests that health professionals will face considerable obstacles in facilitating a population shift towards sustainable and healthy (SuHe) diets. This review explores the role of nutrition science in shaping dietary behaviour and the challenges of shifting the nutrition narrative to encompass both health and sustainability. Societal transformation towards the 'asks' of a SuHe diet will rely on consumer-level transformation of food acquisition, preparation, consumption, storage and disposal behaviours. Acceptance of a higher share of plant-based food and a reduction in animal protein in the diet is likely to provoke disorientations as consumers' previously unexamined beliefs are challenged. The challenges presented by portion size distortion, protein reduction and replacement, and the role of ultra-processed food are discussed here in terms of sources of confusion. The routes to change involve deeper understanding of responses to disorientations through processes of belief formation and transformation, which are the foundations of subjective knowledge and attitudes, likely mediated through affective factors. In tandem with introducing new potentially disorienting-to-consumers information, health professionals need to consider the environments where this information is presenting and consider how these environments are designed to support action. In doing so, reactance and backlash through belief rejection and behavioural non-adherence could be reduced.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"198-209"},"PeriodicalIF":7.1,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143796043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jessica R Biesiekierski, Alison M Hill, Vinicius Cruzat, Timothy P Gill
{"title":"Conference on 'Nourishing Generations: 50 Years of the Nutrition Society of Australia'.","authors":"Jessica R Biesiekierski, Alison M Hill, Vinicius Cruzat, Timothy P Gill","doi":"10.1017/S0029665126102997","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665126102997","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Nutrition Society of Australia's 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting was held at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Queensland, Australia, from 3 to 5 December. Centred on the theme '<i>Nourishing Generations: 50 Years of the Nutrition Society of Australia</i>', the meeting marked a milestone in the Society's history and celebrated its enduring contribution to nutrition science. The conference featured a public symposium, pre-conference workshops, plenary lectures, thematic oral and poster sessions, and dedicated sessions for early career researchers. A highlight of the meeting was the recognition of four outstanding researchers who received Awards of Excellence for their significant contributions to the field. Together, these elements created a vibrant and forward-looking scientific meeting that honoured the past while showcasing cutting-edge research and innovation across diverse fields of nutrition, reflecting a shared commitment to advancing health equity through evidence-based practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147779450","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tak Ying Louise Ko, Ricardo V Cohen, Carel W Le Roux
{"title":"Can obesity medications replace metabolic and bariatric surgery? A comprehensive review.","authors":"Tak Ying Louise Ko, Ricardo V Cohen, Carel W Le Roux","doi":"10.1017/S0029665126102973","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0029665126102973","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The potential of obesity medications to serve as viable alternatives to bariatric surgery to treat obesity remains an open question. This review examines whether contemporary anti-obesity pharmacotherapy can replace metabolic and bariatric surgery in the management of obesity, by critically comparing their mechanisms of action, weight loss outcomes, durability, safety profiles and roles in long-term disease control. While metabolic/bariatric surgery has been the gold standard for substantial and sustained weight loss, advancements in pharmacotherapy are producing weight loss approaching surgical outcomes without associated risks, complications and recovery time. New drug therapies demonstrate previously unattainable efficacy and long-term control of obesity. Surgery, however, induces superior short- and long-term weight loss via profound hormonal, neurological and metabolic shifts, resulting in durable outcomes without ongoing intervention, though it remains difficult to scale. Pharmacotherapy is scalable and increasingly effective but requires sustained adherence, with loss of treatment-mediated control and weight regain upon cessation. It also does not have as extensive established research on safety as surgery. While obesity medications cannot fully replicate the multifactorial physiological impacts of metabolic/bariatric surgery, they offer a scalable, less invasive treatment path that broadens patient options. So far, pharmacotherapy will not replace surgery, as there are patients who will respond better to it, while others to medication only. However, combining both surgical and pharmacological options can increase the penetrance of treatments to manage the chronic complexities of obesity.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147729819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Lessons learned from digital dietary interventions targeting the preconception population.","authors":"Nina Cecilie Øverby, Anine Medin, Erlend Nuland Valen, Lorentz Salvesen, Frøydis Nordgård Vik, Elisabet Rudjord Hillesund","doi":"10.1017/S0029665126102286","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0029665126102286","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Within Public Health Nutrition, the preconception phase, has emerged as a particularly important window for promoting a healthy diet, as it affects both current and future health as well as health in the next generation. Different approaches are used to support dietary change in this phase, and digital interventions are viewed as particularly promising. In this review, we describe digital interventions addressing preconception diet, discuss challenges in targeting the preconception population and highlight issues related to digital designs and measuring intervention effects. We draw upon six digital interventions with dietary outcomes, in different target populations. Only two of the interventions were found to be effective in improving relevant aspects of the participants' diet, and these targeted specific and narrow groups or a single dietary component. Most of the intervention studies faced considerable challenges with recruitment. High attrition further complicated evaluation. In addition, there were difficulties related to participant engagement with the digital interventions. Challenges with lack of engagement, recruitment and attrition are not new insights within public health research, and we need to acknowledge the need for new approaches to recruitment, intervention development and evaluation. Alternative approaches such as citizen science and participatory action research in which the researchers work closely with the target population and other stakeholders during the whole process, should be explored. Moreover, as the current behavioural interventions that rely heavily on individual agency seem largely unsuccessful, future interventions should consider targeting more upstream and structural determinants of diet, rather than individual behaviour alone.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"1-8"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147628332","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Weight gain during pregnancy: an update on current challenges and practical considerations.","authors":"Rachel Nolan, Alyson J Hill, Alison M Gallagher","doi":"10.1017/S0029665126102274","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0029665126102274","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gestational weight gain (GWG) can be defined as the total weight gained throughout pregnancy and is required for healthy fetal growth; however, gaining excessive weight during pregnancy has been linked with several adverse effects. This review aims to consider the evidence on weight management during pregnancy, with a focus on the key challenges surrounding GWG and the practical considerations related to assessing weight changes. It is estimated that nearly 50% of women gain excessive weight during pregnancy; nevertheless, this can be difficult to quantify due to the lack of global consensus on recommended GWG guidelines. Currently, there are no GWG guidelines in the UK and Ireland, as reiterated in the recent National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines, due to the lack of evidence about what the optimal total weight change in pregnancy should be. This is further complicated by the conflicting results of interventions aimed at preventing excessive GWG and their resultant inconsistent effects on adverse pregnancy outcomes. Accurate calculation of GWG requires measurement of pre-pregnancy weight and weight prior to the onset of labour. However, several practical considerations are associated with obtaining these weights, as in practice, estimated or self-recalled weights are often used as an alternate, thereby introducing variability into the measurement of GWG and the potential for inaccuracies in analysis. These limitations highlight the need for a more uniform approach in assessing GWG. The WHO is in the process of developing global GWG standards, and this could potentially establish a uniform gold standard for assessing GWG and reintroduce routine weighing.</p>","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"1-10"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147628394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Budgetary tracking of food and nutrition security funding in selected Sahel and West Africa regions from 2017 to 2019 - EXPRESSION OF CONCERN.","authors":"Isaac Agbemafle, Francis B Zotor","doi":"10.1017/S0029665126102262","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S0029665126102262","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":20751,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the Nutrition Society","volume":" ","pages":"1"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2026-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147309410","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}