TNO Study Demonstrates Subtle Health Effects of Vegetables

23 May 2013 --- Researchers at TNO have demonstrated, for the first time, the subtle health effects of vegetables. The study outcomes support the Dutch Health Council’s recommendation to consume 150-200 grams vegetables per day. The study used an innovative nutrigenomics approach and was published in May 2013 in the peer-reviewed journal Genes and Nutrition.

Eating vegetables is healthy, as has been shown in large-scale epidemiological research. How, and to what degree, vegetable consumption can help prevent conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, is, however, still under discussion. Vegetables contain a range of ingredients, each with their own subtle healthy effects. This situation makes it difficult to determine which component is responsible for which effect. Moreover, many epidemiological studies fail to accurately identify the cause of the health effects. Is it the consumption of vegetables or (also) a healthy lifestyle?

TNO researchers are working on an innovative nutrigenomics-approach that enables accurate assessment of the subtle health effects of foods. To evaluate this method, TNO conducted an intervention study with 30 males. Two times four weeks, following a randomized schedule, the participants ate either 50 grams (low consumption) or 200 grams (high consumption) of vegetables per day. They received weekly rations of fresh and canned vegetables to prepare and consume at home and could decide for themselves what they consumed on which day of the week. Every four weeks they donated blood samples and fat tissue. The researchers analyzed the samples not only via classical biomarkers, but also determined the levels of large numbers of metabolites and genes. For data interpretation they used advanced software for bioinformatics and network analysis. This software allowed them to find, based on current scientific insights, connections between molecular and classical biomarkers. Thanks to the new approach the researchers were able to demonstrate the effects of vegetable consumption on energy metabolism, inflammatory processes and the level of oxidative stress (the formation of harmful peroxides and free radicals) in the body.
 
This TNO-led intervention study is part of the question-driven research program Healthy Nutrition, financed by the Dutch government. This program focuses on the assessment of health effects through nutrigenomics-techniques and ‘challenge’ tests. TNO research in this field has an international reach via TNO’s coordinating role in the NutriTech project. This initiative aims to embed innovative methods into research on the health effects of nutrition. Receiving €6m in funding from the European Commission, the project begun in January 2102 and has 23 participants: knowledge institutes and universities from all over the world. (www.nutritech.nl).