Food scientist turned human health researcher studies foods that do a body good
BY ANDREW VOWLES
She bakes a mean carrot cake. And now she hopes to find new ways to make the “goodness” of carrots — a kind of metaphorical shorthand for the nutritional and health benefits of various food components — more readily available to consumers.
In bringing a food scientist's background to her new faculty position in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences (HHNS), Prof. Amanda Wright embodies recently forged ties between HHNS and the Department of Food Science that further strengthen the University's research and teaching roles in food, nutrition and human health.
Wright plans to study how fats and oils in foods may be used to deliver nutraceuticals - the compounds contained in so-called functional foods that promote health or prevent disease. Ultimately, she hopes to develop ways to “bake” nutraceuticals into foods in ways that people will find them easy to eat and use — a key consideration for a faculty member and U of G graduate who has also been named to head the Human Nutraceutical Research Unit (HNRU) on campus.
Structure and properties of foods and how nutrients are delivered have a huge impact on food digestion, absorption, metabolism and ultimately health, says Wright. Although there's no substitute for a balanced diet, she says, functional foods and nutraceuticals show great potential in promoting health and preventing disease.
“The prevalence of diet-related disease has reached epidemic proportions. Food-based approaches will be an important strategy to combat this.”
Wright is setting up a lab to study methods of delivering nutraceuticals in both supplements and various foods. In particular, she's interested in how best to encapsulate nutraceutical ingredients so they survive during processing and are optimally released and absorbed during digestion.
Take carotenoids such as beta-carotene in that carrot or lycopene in a tomato. Depending on how these compounds are encapsulated or how vegetables are processed, only a small portion of the active ingredients may survive or be accessible to the body. Scientists need to find ways to ensure optimal delivery of nutraceuticals, particularly those such as carotenoids that have limited water solubility, she says.
“It's a huge problem in the supplements and functional foods industry. Are we promoting nutrients that are stable, active and accessible?”
Her lab will investigate ways to encapsulate water-soluble nutraceuticals in liposomes, emulsions and lipid particles. Although other researchers are interested in similar ideas for delivering drugs, she says, few scientists nearby are working in this field specifically with nutraceutical delivery in mind.
More generally, she's also interested in investigating claims about various products. For instance, echinacea, a popular herbal product found in coneflower and used for enhancing the body's immune system, may be processed and sold in various forms. Wright says one market survey found that only one out of 14 products studied actually contained enough of the active ingredient to deliver the desired health benefits.
“That kind of finding undermines the entire industry. We need more science to help ensure we are providing safe and efficacious products to consumers.”
Wright's interests made her an ideal candidate to lead the HNRU, a research and teaching unit within her department. It performs clinical trials on natural health products for contracting companies to validate health claims. She now works with Maggie Laidlaw, manager and associate director, as well as two other associate directors: HHNS professors Bill Bettger and Alison Duncan.
As director, Wright will work to integrate the unit more closely with her department and other local food groups, including researchers in the Department of Food Science and the Guelph Food Technology Centre. She'll also teach on nutraceuticals and functional foods. She's developing a novel course with HHNS colleague Prof. Jim Kirkland that will teach students how to conduct clinical trials and obtain regulatory approval for these products.
Straddling borders is becoming more common for researchers in her department and her former colleagues next door in the Department of Food Science. Wright points to two current projects involving members of both departments in developing fat tolerance tests and breads as biomarkers for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Both collaborations have received funding from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs as projects at the interface between food and health, she says.
“It's exciting for me to be a part of this move toward making the food-health connection.”
Originally from Brantford, she studied food science at Guelph and completed a doctorate with Prof. Alejandro Marangoni on butter crystallization and physical properties. As a post-doc at the University of Toronto, she studied ways to reduce trans fat production during oil hydrogenation, the process behind the trans fat controversy.
During her undergraduate years, food was often the dinner-table topic at home. That's still the case: her twin brother, Geoff, who completed a B.Comm. at U of G the same year she earned her undergraduate degree, is now a baker and sells bulk flour for a leading flour mill. No word on which sibling makes the carrot cake for the family.
