A new initiative by the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS) will seek to identify potential links between perceived consumer "brain" benefits that can be achieved from food and nutrition and validated measures of cognitive performance.
IAFNS' new Cognitive Health Committee focuses on foods, diets and bioactives for health promotion. The focus on consumer-articulated interests is key as the effort will collect cognitive impacts as perceived in the real world and how those influence quality of life.
The new project will be conducted in three steps: 1) qualitative research to understand how consumers articulate cognitive benefits important in their day-to-day lives; 2) matching of these outcomes with validated cognitive performance tools; 3) a peer-reviewed publication describing the matches and mismatches between desired day-to-day benefits and what can be supported through research. This is directly targeted to help ensure that science is the basis of decision making by all stakeholders -- with the goal to advance public health.
The Cognitive Health Committee is led by IAFNS' Director of Science Programs Marie Latulippe. "This new effort addresses the reality that benefits measurable by validated cognitive performance tests have never been aligned with what consumers view as a benefit in their day-to-day lives. Alignment between what can be demonstrated through research with what consumers are expecting is critical to the development of effective products and dietary guidance substantiated by science," she said.
The qualitative consumer research will be led by Alyssa Ghirardelli of NORC at the University of Chicago. "We are excited to work on this project which will offer insights on how the measurable effects of nutrition on cognitive health are aligned with what consumers are seeking."
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