A European research consortium has
launched a major project to investigate the prevention of heart disease and
stroke through food.
The Bacchus collaboration project will receive €6 million in funding from the EU’s Seventh
Framework Programme to study the beneficial effects of bioactive compounds in
humans.
Bacchus aims
to generate robust scientific evidence supporting a beneficial effect of
bioactive compounds in foods on cardiovascular health, for example, reducing
high blood pressure. The project
will also support 16 European small to medium enterprises in using this
scientific evidence to create food products to boost cardiovascular health.
The project
brings together 28 beneficiaries from around Europe, including University College Cork (UCC).
The UCC group,
led by Dr Maireád Kiely in the school of food and nutritional sciences, is
co-ordinating the investigation into whether the consumption of bioactive
compounds, including polyphenols in fruit and peptides produced from eggs, meat
and cereals, can reduce cardiovascular risk. In total, seven trials will be
conducted in Britain, Ireland, Italy and Spain.
Bioactive
compounds found naturally in fruits and vegetables have been linked with
beneficial effects on blood pressure and other markers of cardiovascular
health.
New research
suggests specific protein sequences (peptides) naturally present in dairy,
eggs, meat and fish may also promote heart health, most notably by reducing
blood pressure in adults with hypertension
.
“The Bacchus
project provides a significant research opportunity across the areas of food
science and nutrition to thoroughly investigate the beneficial health effects
associated with bioactive compounds in food,” said Dr Kiely.
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