From the $200 million NIH study that will produce the definitive diet for health: Hundreds of Americans will live in laboratories for weeks, follow precise diets, and undergo hundreds of medical tests

Imagine being paid by the government to take six weeks off work and eat junk food.

That’s the reality for some Americans participating in one of the most comprehensive nutrition studies ever conducted.

The nearly $200 million project – run by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) – involves 500 participants who live in government laboratories across the country and are fed carefully formulated diets while undergoing hundreds of medical tests.

The goal is to identify how different people respond to a variety of diets, hopefully providing more personalized nutritional guidance and clearer recommendations for the American public amid an ever-evolving obesity epidemic that now means nearly half of Americans are overweight.

The NIH study, titled Nutrition for Precision Health Study, will involve a total of 10,000 participants and hopes to provide individualized nutritional advice based on people’s lifestyle, genes, environment, gut microbiome and culture – and study how these factors a person’s response to diet.

Registration for the study opened in April 2023 and will continue for four years.

Among the hundreds of people housed in a science facility is 29-year-old technology worker Kevin Elizabeth, who ate sugary breakfast cereal while connected to an IV during a study session.

As part of the study, Mr. Elizabeth wore a heart rate monitor and a glucose meter to take readings while he ate breakfast. He also had blood drawn nine times in four hours to measure how his body responded to the meal, writes The Wall Street Journal reported.

During their stay, the participant is given three different diets and undergoes full-body scans to measure fat and muscle mass and take urine and blood samples.

The Louisiana resident was nearing the end of the study’s processed food diet and said he felt more tired than usual

While on this diet, he said he “just didn’t feel good” and had more energy during the two weeks he followed the study’s vegetarian eating plan.

Mr Elizabeth, who works from home and can continue his work remotely while studying, told the publication: ‘I thought it would be nice if I could do something meaningful for example for science and, personally, just to learn more about nutrition. and how it affects me personally.’

The NIH said: ‘The goal of precision nutrition is to move from a ‘one-size-fits-most’ approach to more specific recommendations based on each individual’s unique characteristics and environments.’

Ultimately, the NIH hopes to build a nutrition database of 1 million people to reflect the diversity of the U.S. population, stimulate more medical research, and provide people with individualized health prevention strategies, treatment and care options.

Along with the 500 people living in scientific facilities, some will undergo more intensive study, which will include having people monitor them to ensure they follow the diet and do not eat illicit foods.

Others will wear special glasses to keep track of what they eat, writes The Wall Street Journal reported.

It is well documented that a poor diet can lead to a number of health problems and chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.

A September 2023 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that obesity rates are increasing in the U.S. — with states classifying 25 to 40 percent of residents as obese.

Overall, 42 percent of people aged 20 and older in the US are obese.

The numbers prompted CDC experts to declare that tackling the country’s obesity epidemic is an “urgent priority.”

Contributing to the problem are conflicting and unclear dietary guidelines, as well as diet culture and emerging nutritional advice.

The study’s website states: ‘Nutrition is not one-size-fits-all. Diet, or the food we eat, can help prevent and fight conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

‘But we all live in different environments and come from different cultures. Each of us starts our health in a different place. And everyone breaks down food differently.

‘The Nutrition for Precision Health study examines how nutrition can be tailored to a person’s genes, culture and environment to improve health.’

The hope of the study, Holly Nicastro, study coordinator, told WSJ, is that in a few years people will be able to take a few simple medical tests in their doctor’s office, take a health and lifestyle survey, answer and then receive personalized information. diet advice.

The NPH study uses 14 sites in Alabama, California, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts and North Carolina to conduct research. It will use artificial intelligence-based approaches to analyze information provided by subjects to develop algorithms that will predict responses to certain dietary patterns.

Nicastro said in an earlier press release: ‘Poor nutrition is one of the leading causes of preventable diseases and deaths around the world. If everyone were to follow the healthy eating guidelines we now have available, we may still not achieve optimal health because our bodies respond differently to food.

‘Through this study, we aim to better understand the differences in individual responses and pave the way for more tailored guidelines in the future.’

There are three parts to the NIH study. In the first case, all study participants are asked to complete surveys, report their daily diets and provide urine, blood and stool samples.

In the second part, a subgroup of people are given formulated diets and in the third part the participants live in the research facilities to be studied further.

According to the clinical trial of the study descriptionparticipants will each spend two weeks on three different diets: one high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low in sugar and moderate amounts of dairy, eggs, meat and fish.

Calorie intake ranges from 1,600 to 3,200.

The second diet will consist of large amounts of refined grains, meats, sugars, snacks, desserts and processed foods. It is low in fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains and fish.

Calories will range from 1,600 to 3,200.

The third diet will include moderate to high consumption of vegetables, meat, fats and oils and low amounts of dairy and fruit, as well as very low amounts of grains and sugars.

Calories will also range from 1,600 to 3,200.

NPH participants are chosen from the NIH’s larger All of Us research project, which hopes to build a million people’s nutritional database.

So far, the agency says the project has 535,000 biological samples from 515,000 fully enrolled participants, while another 240,000 potential participants are being evaluated for inclusion in the study.

Throughout the research process, participants will receive $25 for completing short surveys and up to $300 depending on how far along they are in the process.

Those who undergo more intensive research will receive additional compensation, the NIH said.