PhenFlex-2 (PhenFlex, phase 2)
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death worldwide, accounting for 71% of deaths each year. Adopting a healthy diet may support preventing the onset and progress of NCDs. Observational studies have shown a clear link between nutrition and morbidity, mortality, and disability of NCDs, however causal relationships often have not been established. This is hindering development and acceptance of novel foods, functional foods and healthy dietary intervention in the prevention of NCDs. Therefore, there is an urgent need for novel approaches to investigate the health promoting effects of food and nutrition.
Phenotypic flexibility is a concept that captures the intrinsic ability of the body to adapt to changing situations and return to homeostasis. In research, this capability is demonstrated by the application of a standardized challenge test in nutritional intervention studies, i.e. a high caloric drink enriched in sugar, protein and fat, to actively perturb homeostasis and evaluate the coping capacity of physiological control as a way to evaluate diet-related health. This is done by the dynamic evaluation of multiple biomarker measurements in response to this PhenFlex drink before and after a nutritional intervention study to evaluate health benefits and establish causal relationships.
In the PhenFlex-2 project this novel phenotypic flexibility approach was further tested and evaluated in different nutritional intervention studies to highlight the added value of such methodology in demonstrating subtle health benefits of food and nutrition.
Results are published in scientific literature and a novel composite standardized readout is established to stimulate the acceptance of this methodology by the scientific community as well as by the authorities that evaluate health benefits from food and nutrition (EFSA). Once challenge testing is validated and implemented, accompanied by scientific evidence , future claims on healthy food and nutrition are within reach.
