Lallemand Health Solutions collaborates with The French Gut Project for personalized nutrition
19 Sep 2022 --- Lallemand is partnering with the French Gut Project to innovate in health and science by driving microbiota science forward. The project aims to collect and analyze 100,000 intestinal metagenomes and is initiated by INRAE’s (the French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment) MetaGenoPolis unit.
“Describing and understanding the key role microorganisms play for human health is at the heart of Lallemand Health Solutions’ DNA. On this ground, we joined this ambitious project to map the intestinal microbiota of French people,” says Sylvie Binda, VP for research and development at Lallemand Health Solutions.
“By 2027, 100,000 volunteers associated nutritional and clinical data will have been collected to deepen knowledge of the links between microbiota, diet, and lifestyle,” says Joël Doré, research and scientific director of MetaGenoPolis-INRAE.
“This new ‘encyclopedia’ will open up a huge field of exploration of the potential of the microbiota to help international research on new health solutions.”
Innovating therapies
The main aim of the project is to move toward personalized nutrition, through gathering a large set of data on a large population group.
The project includes several scientific axes, such as describing variations in the gut microbiota among healthy individuals and the links to diseases. Especially the link between the gut microbiota and irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, cancer, obesity, Parkinson's, autism and bipolarity.
Furthermore, the project also aims to model and predict changes in the gut microbiota associated with chronic diseases and be able to describe the gut microbiota of 100,000 people living in France and develop knowledge of gut diversity.
“The French Gut will make it possible, based on the scientific knowledge generated, to move toward personalized preventive nutrition. It will open the way to innovative therapies, particularly in the context of chronic diseases which have been increasing steadily and uncontrollably for three generations,” says the Microbiome Foundation.
Moving forward in gut health
A recent clinical study on prebiotic ingredients showed an anxiolytic influence on highly anxious adult women, strengthening the gut-brain axis.
“Although this interrelationship was originally acknowledged primarily with respect to digestive functions like satiety, we now know it’s true for brain function, behavior and mental well-being,” Linda Peek, Biotis’s global segment marketing manager at FrieslandCampina Ingredients, previously told NutritionInsight.
“The French Gut will make it possible to move toward personalized preventive nutrition from the scientific knowledge generated. It will also pave the way for innovative diagnostics and therapies, particularly in the context of chronic diseases which have been increasing steadily and uncontrollably for three generations,” explains Doré.
He continues to explain that the research will also raise awareness among the public, adults, and children, about the microbiota and its link with health and food.
The COVID-19 pandemic increased consumers’ health awareness “beyond digestive troubles” as “the gut microbiome impacts several parts of the body,” Peek previously said.
Edited by Beatrice Wihlander
