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Researchers Pol Grootswagers and Iris Rijnaarts have just received the James Lind Prize 2021. Grootswagers received the science prize for the research ‘A new drinking food product, with whey proteins, free branched-chain amino acids and ursolic acid for undernourished elderly people’ .
Rijnaarts took the award for the application ‘Personalized Nutrition & Health Living Lab more Fiber: Vezel-Up studie’ . The award recognizes and supports scientific research into physiologically active (nutrient) substances and encourages practical applications that can bring health benefits to society.
Important next steps
The scientists of Wageningen University & Research owe the prize to the judgment of the expert jury and a vote of the public. Grootswagers is proud: ‘It is the crown on an enormous team effort. A very nice prize, which means that we can take important next steps in research into ursolic acid and improving the mitochondrial functioning of the elderly.’ Rijnaarts reacts with surprise: ‘Great, I didn’t expect this, but it is very nice to receive recognition for our work. I hope that this will enable us to follow up on applying personal nutritional advice in practice, in order to increase the fiber intake of the Dutch. For our gut health, but also for other applications.’
Research shows added value of ursolic acid and vitamin D in malnutrition in the elderly
The research by Grootswagers et al. showed that an important progress in physical functioning of the elderly can be achieved through the smart use of physiologically active nutrients in drinking food products. The members of the independent jury, consisting of five people, are full of praise for the research. They call it ‘a fascinating finding with great clinical potential’ and see that the ‘added value of supplementation with the amino acid ursolic acid and vitamin D is proven’. About the importance, they report ‘the research shows very important and relevant results for a major problem in today’s society, namely malnutrition in the elderly.’
Fiber intake relevant to health, personalized approach useful
The application of Rijnaarts et al. offers Dutch people a personal digital nutritional advice, using an algorithm, to eat more fiber. The expert jury is enthusiastic: ‘it may be very relevant because too low fiber intake is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease’ and ‘it fits perfectly into the patient-oriented treatments that we are increasingly moving towards.’ According to the jury, ‘fiber intake is also relevant with regard to other positive health effects and the personalized approach can also be useful for other applications’.
Recognition for the winners
The James Lind Prize is a science prize created by NPN, the industry association for dietary supplements. In addition to an award and a certificate, Grootswagers and Rijnaarts received a check worth € 10,000 to be spent on further research into the role of physiologically active (nutrient) substances. The winners are encouraged to continue with groundbreaking research and effective applications in everyday life.
More information about the winners , from nominations , the members of the expert jury and the James Lind Prize 2021: https://www.npninfo.nl/jameslindprijs/
Bron: NPN
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