This episode we speak with Sarah Shaw, Senior Research Assistant and PhD student, and Dr. Christina Vogel, Principal Research Fellow, at the MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit,  University of Southampton. Their paper is a systematic review aimed to determine how product placement strategies, availability, and positioning, in physical retail food stores located in high-income countries, influence dietary-related behaviors. Douglas Taren, host and Editor in Chief for Nutrition Reviews, asks the authors about their research, and their current and future endeavors.

Portion size is an essential component of dietary assessment. However, methods of quantifying portion size can differ between studies. This episode, we speak with Dr. Birdem Amoutzopoulos, Dietary and Nutrient Data Manager at The Medical Research Center Epidemiology, University of Cambridge. She is the lead author for the article "Portion size estimation in dietary assessment: a systematic review of existing tools, their strengths and limitations" featured in the November 2020 print issue of Nutrition Reviews.

The ability to measure the gut microbiome led to a surge in understanding and knowledge of its role in health and disease. The diet is a source of fuel for, and influencer of, composition of the microbiome. Join us for a discussion with authors Dr. Leigh A Frame and Dr. Scott A Jackson. Leigh A Frame, PhD, MHS, is the Director of The Office of Integrative Medicine and Health at  George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. Scott Jackson, PhD, currently serves as the leader Microbiology group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. 

Catch this month’s conversation with Dylan Mackay from University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Dr. Mackay is a nutritional biochemist, specializing in human clinical trials and inter-individual variability. I focus on how phenotype and genotype modulate an individual's response to dietary interventions. The lead author of the paper, Dr. Samar Ahmad was unable join the conversation from her clinic in Kuwait. However, you are still in for a treat with the topic of this month’s episode on "The effect of sucralose and aspartame on glucose metabolism and gut hormones."

Join the conversation with authors Diane Lees-Murdock and Sophia Amenyah with the Genomic Medicine Research Group at the University of Ulster, in Coleraine, North Ireland.  Dr. Lees-Murdock is a Researcher and Senior Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Ulster, and Dr. Amenyah is now a postdoctoral research fellow at Bournemouth University School of Health and Social Care. In our discussion, we find out more about the authors and the research that lead to their findings on associations between 1-carbon metabolism nutrients and DNA methylation.

Join the conversation with author Anu Alex, from the University of Newcastle in the State of New South Wales, Australia.  Anu is a doctoral student working in the laboratory of Dr. Manohar Garg who is one of the world’s leading researchers studying phytosterols, fatty acids, and other bioactive nutrients.