Apr 10, 2020
Assistant professor at the University of Copenhagen, Henrik
Munch Roager, PhD, discusses a number of interesting topics in his
area of expertise: the role of
gut microbiota in nutrition and health.
On this episode, you’ll discover:
When investigating the ways in which diet affects the
microbiome, most scientists analyze the composition of
microbes in the gut. Dr. Roager is moving beyond this by looking at
the activity of microbes in the gut through metabolomics, the study
of metabolites produced by the gut.
In Dr. Roager’s opinion, the study of these small molecules is key
to moving the whole microbiome research field forward. His work is
focused primarily on human intervention and cohort studies, where
his task is to use mass spectrometry to measure the metabolites in
stool, blood, and urine samples in order to detect changes or
patterns that occur in correlation with dietary interventions.
Dr. Roager shares the findings of past research, including a study that looked at the effect of a whole grain versus refined grain diet on the gut microbiome in overweight but otherwise relatively healthy Danish adults, as well as a Mediterranean diet intervention in which meats were largely replaced by nuts, fruits, and vegetables.
He explains the challenge inherent in human intervention studies looking at gut microbiota and nutrition, what type of work is being done by other researchers in an attempt to noninvasively collect samples for analysis from different places in the GI tract, the important role of short chain fatty acids and other groups of metabolites in the human body, and his research goals for the near future, which include looking at personalized responses to diet and nutrition, as well as the gut microbiome in infants.
Tune in for the full conversation and follow Dr. Roager on Twitter at @HRoager.