Thread by @PhD_Leigh

Good morning! Starting day 2 with another of my favorite #nutrition topics: the food matrix. What does that mean for #health? Food is not simply the sum of its parts. 🤓
#Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

First up, one of my colleagues in nutrition and the #gut #microbiome, @HolscherLab. Let's #science!
#Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

The matrix of foods affects the bioaccessibility of nutrients.
#Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

How foods are processed affects the food matrix and thus the bioaccessibility of nutrients in the food. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

This means that the food label (simply what the food contains) is not enough to understand what the body will be able to utilize (bioaccessibility). #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Nuts are a great example of how the food matrix greatly affects the bioaccessibility of nutrients. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

The less processed the nuts, the less bioaccessibile the nutrients. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Making the nutrients more bioaccessibile for the host (us) makes them less accessible to the #gut #microbiota. This affects the composition of the #GutMicrobiome. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Another example is how calcium in a food alters the bioaccessibility of fat in foods. This may be why dairy seems to contribute fewer Calories to the diet than we would predict. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline

Fermentation of dairy can further alter the food matrix, leading to potential health benefits. This is why yogurt appears to be beneficial in numerous studies even when dairy does not. #Nutrition2022 #NutritionLiveOnline