The field of nutritional metabolomics is rapidly expanding as it provides new insight toward a better understanding and integration of diet and nutrition in life sciences R&D. Such evolutions are important to promote transition from population-based nutritional sciences to personalised nutrition, knowledge-based intervention approaches.
Aims
- Enhancing the understanding of the relationship between diet, health and wellbeing in relation to agricultural food products and ingredients.
- Assessment of the nutritional value of Greek food.
- The role of traditional Greek nutrition and indigenous foods in the enhancement of the health of the Greek population.
- The role of traditional food and Greek native functional foods in the prevention and treatment of diseases with emphasis on chronic diseases such as obesity, especially childhood obesity and related metabolic diseases.
- Creating food products with reduced concentration in undesired food ingredients either for the whole population or food for consumers with special dietary requirements, such as allergens, gluten etc.
- Investigation of the relationship between nutrition, health and wellness: Consumer issues, socially, culturally, technologically as well as traditional aspects of food, including issues related to nutritional disorders, with the aim to develop foods and diets appropriate to meet the particular needs of special consumer groups (people with allergies, pregnant women, infants, children, elderly, etc.).
- Study of genetic variations in the metabolism of essential nutrients (Nutrigenetics), and the role of nutrients in gene expression (Nutrigenomics).
- Recording and promoting health claims of Greek products with an emphasis on traditional products.