The past ten years we have seen remarkable new insights on gut microbiota. Three major elements of modern lifestyles have the strongest impact on the human-microbe symbiosis: nutrition, environmental exposures to chemicals and drugs, and conditions surrounding birth. When it comes to nutrition, research shows that an unbalanced diet, including a lack of fiber, could have detrimental effects on health through the gut microbiota. Fermented foods, like yogurt, also contribute to a diverse array of microorganisms or bioactive peptides into the existing gut microbiota and thus have the potential to affect health, especially cardiometabolic health (CMD- type 2 diabetes, obesity). A review of current gaps and challenges in identifying such effects, and a perspective on future research regarding the relationship between yogurt and CMD, will be provided by Prof Marette during the symposium.
Who is André Marette?
Dr. Marette is Professor of Medicine at the Heart and Lung Institute, Laval Hospital, and Scientific Director of the Institute of Nutrition and Functional Foods at the Laval University. He also holds a research Chair on the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Dr. Marette is an international renowned expert on the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and cardiometabolic diseases and his research has advanced the understanding of the physiological/molecular mechanisms of inflammation, and opened new possibilities for prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes and CVD. He is also studying how nutrition and food ingredients can modulate the gut microbiota to protect against obesity-linked intestinal inflammation, fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. He holds grants from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Canadian Diabetes Association, and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Dr. Marette has long-standing experience in leading international research programs, which all have in common the multidisciplinary nature of the teams and the implication of various end users (e.g. industry, government).
Dr. Marette has received several awards for his work, including the prestigious Young Scientist Award of the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Charles Best Award from the University of Toronto for his overall contribution to the advancement of scientific knowledge in the field of diabetes. He has published over 200 papers, reviews and book chapters. He has been invited to give more than a hundred lectures at various national & international conferences in the last 10 years.
He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for the Am J Physiol: Endo & Metab. and has authored two books including the recent book Yogurt: Roles in Nutrition and Impacts on Health, edited by CRC press. See Marette explain the potential health benefits of fermented foods and yogurt in this video.