Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

In today's world, the increasing trends of obesity, overweight and weight-related health issues are becoming a significant concern for our future generations. As stated by a report from the World Health Organization, in 2016, more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight worldwide, of which approx. 650 million were obese, while in 2019, an estimated 38.2 million children under five years were overweight or obese. Although it is not the only reason, high fat intake has been one of the factors linked with obesity and other diet-related health problems. Nevertheless, we need a certain amount of fat (recommended total daily energy intake from triglycerides is 15-30%) in our diet to provide energy, promote better health, and increase the intestinal absorption of lipophilic (fat-soluble) nutrients. As fats are present in many food emulsions as a dispersed phase, it's essential to understand fat digestion 1) to control food intake by triggering a satiety response and 2) for efficient absorption of lipophilic nutrients. The current NSERC Discovery research program is proposed to study the digestion of various food emulsions to discover the effect of fat digestion on human satiety responses and delivery of fat-soluble nutrients (such as Vitamin A, D, E,) via those emulsions. In the next five years, I will investigate the impact of emulsion parameters on fat digestion and its metabolism in the human gastrointestinal tract (GIT). The study is designed under the following primary objectives: Objective 1: Investigating the impact of emulsion composition, preparation technologies and gastric enzymes/salts on the mixed micelles produced after GI digestion. Objective 2: Exploring the gastrointestinal fate of lipophilic bioactives in oil-in-water & water-in-oil emulsions via in-vitro digestion and Caco-2 enterocytic cell lines. Objective 3: Understanding the satiety response of different lipids and emulsions using sensory studies and STC-1 enteroendocrine cell lines. The successful completion of this DG program will establish new knowledge for lipid digestion and its relation to human satiety. New lipophilic drug formulations and low-fat high-satiety ingredients produced as a result of this new knowledge shall help improve public health, as well as create Canadian intellectual property and provide leadership to the Canadian food and drug industry. Progress in the program will also provide the scientific literature required for the animal and human trials necessary for lipid digestion and satiety studies. This will lay the foundation for future research into other products and technologies that can enhance the quality of processed food in the market, thus improving the quality of life of all Canadians. Finally, the proposed research program will support mentoring and training of at least 13 HQPs who will serve the Canadian food & drug industry, government and academia.