A whole-diet approach for the elderly

The project NU-AGE aims to improve the quality of life of the elderly through a whole-diet approach. It is also striving to add to the knowledge base about how different nutrients can impact and counteract age-related decline. To accomplish these goals, the project has brought in research centres with diverse areas of expertise as well as multinational food industries interested in functional foods for the elderly.

Objectives of the project include demonstrating that diet can impact inflammaging, identify cellular and molecular markers responsible for the beneficial effects of the diet, produce a series of functional food prototypes, and produce tools to translate NU-AGE findings into dietary recommendations for the elderly.

To date, the project has recruited 2 496 volunteers, of which 1 453 were screened for inclusion criteria. Biological samples (blood, urine and faeces) were then collected. To increase compliance, volunteers in the intervention group received whole meal pasta, olive oil, margarine, frozen vegetable soup, low-salt/low-fat cheese and vitamin D supplements for free.

As a way to store, manage and analyse collected samples, the project has created a phenotype database, and a well-tested pipeline including computer-aided data entry, data validation, database modelling and testing has been developed. Data entry is in progress in all the recruiting centres. On the industry side, the project has established a task force, and a list of products to be developed has been defined.

NU-AGE has found that the diet of the elderly is generally not good, although those with more education, those who live with someone and women tend to eat better.

Interestingly, the project also discovered a bi-directional relationship between health and diet: diet influences health and health influences diet. Thus, feedback mechanisms should be considered when analysing the benefits of promoting healthy eating to the elderly.

The project has potential to improve the overall diet of the elderly by developing a feasible dietary solution, proving its efficacy and developing foods with healthier traits.