What is the ketogenic diet and is it worth following it? We were looking for an answer to this question during the first educational meeting carried out as part of the ERA Chairs WELCOME2 project. Scientists from our Institute invited to a joint discussion representatives of the academic community, education, local politics, innovation, health care, as well as private individuals interested in the ketogenic diet in the context of health benefits.
Dr. Natalia Drabińska from the Department of Food Chemistry and Biodynamics of the IRZiBŻ PAS explained all the key aspects of this currently very popular diet and presented the NCN project she runs: „KETO-MINOX: The impact of an isocaloric, reducing ketogenic diet on metabolism, inflammation, selected nutritional parameters and stress of overweight and obese women. View the presentation
Dr. Piotr Kaczyński from the Department of Hormonal Action Mechanisms of the IAR&FR PAS presented facts and the latest research on the effect of ketogenic diet on human reproductive processes, especially in relation to fertility problems. View the presentation
Dr. Aleksandra Kocot from the University of Gdańsk gave a lecture on the impact of the ketogenic diet on sports performance.
Oliwia Czerniewska from BeKeto company talked about the products developed to diversify the keto diet, and explained in detail how (if necessary and recommended) to supplement while using the ketogenic menu. View the presentation
Dr. Marianna Raczyk from the WELCOME2 team introduced us to the concept of nutrigenomics and spoke about how our diet may affect various processes in the body. View the presentation
The meeting ended with a discussion panel, during which the participants of the meeting could share their questions and doubts. The experts were joined by dr hab. n. med. Elżbieta Jarocka-Cyrta, prof. UWM.
Building a network of contacts, developing leadership competences, planning and managing change, self-awareness and agency – these are just some of the topics raised by the participants of the EIT Food #WELead Polska workshop.
„We invited over 30 talented, creative and active women from our region to the #WELeadFood workshops. Women who carry out scientific research, manage their own business, create and implement regional policy, support the development of innovation, work in the education sector and non-governmental organizations or head departments in large corporations, especially in the agri-food industry. They are the leaders who manage, build R&D strategies, set goals for themselves and their teams, organize resources and take care of relations with partners”, say Iwona Kieda and Justyna Banasiak, organizers of the event from the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Is change a fundamental factor in achieving key leadership positions? Do contacts help break the glass ceiling? Should organizations invest in mentoring? How to run #impact #business? How to increase the participation of women in science? And finally, how to find a balance in an active professional life that will „ground” us at the moment when we need it most?
We answered these and other questions during a panel discussion with Anna Borys, Impact Director at McDonald’s Poland; Dr. Magdalena Weidner-Glunde, head of the Microbiology and Molecular Virology Laboratory at our Institute and Matilda Szyrle, CEO of Future Friendly Farm startup.
The training part of the workshop was about discovering our own resources, setting goals and planning their achievement with the trainers: Marzena Radzka-Wiśniewska and Lidia Willan.
The finale of the meeting was a networking session in the form of culinary workshops with elements of molecular gastronomy, led by scientists from our Institute, Dr. Marta Kopcewicz and Dr. Sylwia Machcińska-Zielińska.
The workshop took place on May 31 in Kuźnia Społeczna.
We are proud to announce the newest CiteScore of Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences provided by SCOPUS: CiteScore2022 = 4.7 and SNIP2022 = 0.849.
We greatly appreciate the support of all Editors, Advisory Board Members, Reviewers, Authors, and Readers in contributing to this great success!
The journal publishes original works in the field of food science and nutrition, promoting the achievements of Polish scientific centres in the world and supporting international cooperation by publishing works by non-Polish authors.
The scientific level of the journal is supervised by a group of outstanding national and international scientists with the editor-in-chief Dr. Magdalena Karamać and Joanna Molga, the Executive Editor.
At the end of May, the nutrigenomics team joined the 26th Science Picnic – Europe’s largest outdoor science-popularization event organized jointly by Polish Radio and the Copernicus Science Centre. It has been held every year since 1997.
Our team presented two original demonstrations:
Our team presented two original demonstrations?
Vitamin d and its importance in our diet
We taught our youngest attendees about the impact of food on gene expression and explained that genetic differences play a role in how we respond to food. We also prepared our participants for the coming months by showing them how different barriers, such as clothing or UV filter creams, affect vitamin D synthesis during sun exposure. The Science Picnic was commended by the European Commission in 2005 as one of 10 model European projects in the “Science and Society” field.
The liver is an organ highly vulnerable to the effects of a high-fat diet. Research by scientists at the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn has shown that the best way to improve its functioning is to switch to an easy-to-digest diet together with chromium supplementation.
– All of us who eat very unhealthily will sooner or later suffer the negative consequences of our irresponsible eating behaviour, for example in the form of liver problems. The best way to improve your health is to change to a low-fat diet. In combination with new eating habits, the therapy should be supplemented with chromium supplementation, which, among other things, helps reduce fat and inflammation of the liver, emphasises Professor Jerzy Juśkiewicz from the Department of Biological Functions of Food at our Institute.
Chromium (trivalent) is a key micronutrient associated with carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism in humans and animals. Because of its ability to regulate carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and reduce body weight, this dietary micronutrient is a popular booster for diabetes therapy and an ingredient in supplements used for weight loss. – This is a well-known relationship, but there are still disputes among scientists about the effectiveness of therapy with such supplementation alone. Indeed, some scientific studies have indicated that chromium should be treated with caution as an anti-obesity supplement, as some experiments have reported a deterioration in the functioning of some internal organs,’ points out Professor Jerzy Juśkiewicz.
Currently, the most popular form of chromium used in dietary supplements is organic chromium picolinate (Cr-Pic). Its intake can help, among other things, to reduce body weight without loss of muscle mass. – However, due to the relatively low bioavailability (i.e. absorption from the gastrointestinal tract) of Cr-Pic, the search is on for other forms of chromium that will be better utilised in the body. For these reasons, scientists have become interested in chromium complexes with amino acids and the inorganic form of chromium in the form of nanoparticles; the possibility of their application in humans, however, still requires in-depth research, which is currently being conducted on animal models, explains the researcher.
Over the past few years, Prof. Juśkiewicz’s team, together with scientists from the University of Life Sciences in Lublin (Prof. Katarzyna Ognik’s team), have been researching the biological activity of various nanoparticles that enter the digestive tract with the diet. Their most recent research project, funded by the National Science Centre, focused on chromium.
– We wanted to test whether the negative effects associated with long-term consumption of a high-fat diet, observed at the intestinal, vascular and hepatic levels, could be sequentially alleviated by dietary supplementation with different forms of chromium and/or a change in eating habits by switching to a 'normal’ – low-fat diet, says the researcher.
An excerpt from the results of the study, which was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, focuses on liver function.
– The liver is the organ most exposed to the effects of eating a 'fatty’ diet and the presence of new dietary elements, namely chromium nanoparticles. Studies have clearly shown that the liver of rats fed a high-fat diet for long periods of time is simply unhealthy – fatty, 'stressed’ by free radicals and in a permanent state of inflammation. We have shown that abandoning a fatty diet in favour of a lower fat, higher fibre diet is the best solution to improve liver function. Our findings were supported by a range of assayed parameters, biochemical and molecular. Interestingly, the addition of chromium supported the therapy of changing to a 'healthier’ diet, and the chromium nanoparticles themselves were more 'helpful’ than chromium in picolinate form, says the researcher.
In the next stages of the project, the researchers will, among other things, focus on in-depth studies of chromium nanoparticles in other organs, in the context of their safety for future human consumption.
The research project entitled „Alleviation of adverse effects associated with high-fat diet through dietary patterns changes and/or supplementation of various forms of chromium” (2020/39/B/NZ9/00674) is funded by the National Science Centre (NCN). It is conducted by the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn in collaboration with the University of Life Sciences in Lublin.
The Institute’s director informs that the competition for the position of associate professor at the Department of Biodiversity Protection has been settled and the following were selected:
