Grant: Joint Canada-Israel Health Research Program

Everyone is aware of the impact diabetes, a metabolic disease, has on peoples quality of life, and ultimately mortality. Heart disease is also commonly caused by changes in metabolism. It is also clear that iron is a very common component of everyday life, present in many foods and often consumed as a supplement. Previous studies show that both too much and too little iron can cause metabolic disease. Therefore iron balance is critical for good health. Here we investigate ways in which iron is needed for good health and also ways in which too much iron can cause detrimental effects on metabolism. One of the main focus for this research is on the gut microbiome. The concept that bacteria in our gut influence our health is a rapidly developing. This has attracted a high level of media attention and excellent research data means we now appreciate just how important and widespread is the influence of the gut microbiome on our health. Many people are now attempting to regulate this via nutritional approaches (such as probiotics). We have evidence that altered iron levels can shape the composition of bacteria in our gut and via this research project will fully characterize the effects of iron and investigate the consequent metabolic changes and their impact on health.