Study: Tasting no-calorie sweetener may affect insulin response on glucose tolerance test
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Artificial sweeteners such as sucralose provide the seductive taste of sweetness without the calories contained in sugar – a seeming win-win for people who need to control their blood sugar and insulin levels or weight.
However, simply tasting or consuming sucralose may affect blood glucose and insulin levels on glucose tolerance tests, scientists at the University of Illinois found in a new study.
BRIDGE-ing the gap between diagnostics and gestational diabetes
As a result of intersecting research interests in women’s health, a new collaboration was forged between Zeynep Madak-Erdogan (GSP/ONC-PM), Assistant Professor in Food Science and Human Nutrition, and Justina Zurauskiene (ONC-PM), Birmingham-Illinois Partnership for Discovery, Engagement and Education (BRIDGE) fellow and fellow at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences in Birmingham, England.
Caffeine may offset some health risks of diets high in fat, sugar
URBANA, Ill. — A new study in rats suggests that caffeine may offset some of the negative effects of an obesogenic diet by reducing the storage of lipids in fat cells and limiting weight gain and the production of triglycerides. Read more from the Illinois News Bureau.
Study: Healthy diet may avert nutritional problems in head, neck cancer patients
URBANA, Ill. — At least 90% of head and neck cancer patients develop symptoms that affect their ability or desire to eat, because of either the tumor itself or the surgery or radiation used to treat it. These problems, called nutrition impact symptoms, have wide-ranging negative effects on patients’ physical and mental health and quality of life.
ACES hosts director of new USAID Feed the Future Food Safety Innovation Lab (FSIL)
The newly named director of the first ever Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Food Safety (FSIL), Haley Oliver, engaged her audience by asking a question everyone had to answer in the affirmative: “Have you ever had diarrhea?”
Usually an uncomfortable inconvenience for most of us in the developed world, foodborne illnesses such as Norovirus, salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, and toxoplasmosis kill 420,000 people annually. Thus, Oliver’s work puts food safety at the core of food security.
New paper-based technology allows reliable, low-cost sensing of iron levels in fortified foods
URBANA, Ill. – Many low-income countries have turned to mass food fortification programs to address nutrient deficiencies in their populations. But many of these programs lack the resources needed to determine if the appropriate amount of nutrients is consistently present in those food products.
A team of University of Illinois researchers has developed an affordable, reliable paper-based sensor that works with a cellphone app – also developed at U of I – to detect levels of iron in fortified food products.
Extracts from coffee bean skins alleviate obesity-related inflammation, insulin resistance in mouse cells, study shows
URBANA, Ill. – When coffee beans are processed and roasted the husk and silverskin of the bean are removed and unused, and often are left behind in fields by coffee producers.
Food science and human nutrition researchers at the University of Illinois are interested in the potential of inflammation-fighting compounds found in the silverskin and husk of coffee beans, not only for their benefits in alleviating chronic disease, but also in adding value to would-be “waste” products from the coffee processing industry.
New IBRL extrusion equipment allows for more research opportunities, industry partners
URBANA, Ill. – A new extrusion line installation at the University of Illinois will usher in new research capabilities and industry partnerships. The equipment is housed in the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL), in partnership with the Food Science and Human Nutrition Pilot Processing Plant (FSHN-PPP) in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES).
Family Resiliency Center at U of I hosting Food & Family Conference Sept. 26 in Chicago
URBANA, Ill. - Join the nation's foremost experts in human nutrition, obesity research, and child and family health at the Food and Family Conference 2019 on Sept. 26, at the University Club of Chicago.
The conference is hosted by the Family Resiliency Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in partnership with the Christopher Family Foundation.
Fifteen new faculty members join ACES
URBANA, Ill. – This fall, 15 new faculty members join the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois. Their expertise will add to the existing strengths in six academic departments, college administrative units, and University of Illinois Extension, which is housed in the college.