Functional Food

Increasingly, illnesses are being caused by diet. As a consequence, quality of life falls and health costs rise. Improved understanding of food intake and regulation of the system of ingestion and subsequent processing of food in the body can lead to new solutions. The project will develop functional foods such as emulsions that prolong the feeling of fullnes​s and that can specifically affect digestion and eating habits.

The project aims to develop a process through which functional foods such as emulsions can be created, validated in humans and subsequently improved. The emulsions will have a targeted effect on the gastrointestinal function and on the mechanisms of hormonal regulation during digestion. The project will investigate the feeling of fullness and associated eating habits. The first stage aims to use the latest food technology and studies on animal models to develop effective emulsions. In a second stage, these emulsions will be validated in humans and further improved. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans will be used to create images of the digestive tract at various stages of the digestion process and analyse which hormones are responsible for regulation of this system. This knowledge will be used in the development of tailored food emulsions that support the treatment of obesity and type II diabetes. The objective of the project is to produce emulsions that prolong the feeling of fullness after a meal thus lowering fat intake and triggering weight loss.

This innovative project is an interdisciplinary venture bringing together previously separate areas of research and technologies. It will create a new impetus for food research. The findings should be particularly promising in the area of obesity, for healthcare and preventive medicine. They are therefore of great interest for the entire healthcare sector and for the Swiss food industry.

In Vivo Validation of Functional Food Emulsion Systems