In the face of impending global health and general wellbeing challenges, scientists at the Nestle Research Center, Lusanne, Switzerland are making incisive in-roads relating the role of nutrition in optimal mental health and physical performance.In one of the latest research findings related to nutrition, mental health and physical performance, Dr. Irene Corthesy, Head of Nutrition & Health Department at the Centre highlighted the emerging discoveries about nutrient deficiency and brain health.

Said Corthesy: "There are two levels. The first is that you should prevent micronutrient deficiency like iodine and zinc which has severe impact on brain development. So the first step is to ensure that the right amount of micronutrients are obtained."

Although reasearch is ongoing, Corthesy noted that nutritionally, deficiencies are not the same when compared in places such as Africa, India and South America. "Our first concern is that we want to look at the local situation so that in our products we can adapt to the local needs. The second step is to understand whether a nutrient the brain needs to grow itself or must be made available from the body reserves. So in principle if you are eating a balanced nutrition you may not be concerned about getting a vitamin deficiency. What is of essence is optimum nutrition.

"We are looking now from lipids not probiotics, to nucleic products that are not necessarily buffers; we want to know if it will be better incorporated in the brain, or will it go through the blood -brain barrier? We,want to know if it will have an impact on the structure and function.

Corthesy said: "We do know that out of 10 stimuli that you get from the brain, nine come from the gut. What we would like to understand is the overall relationship depending on food even in weight management. You might not be aware, but distention of your stomach is directly related to your brain. So we are trying to understand if we can have an impact on the signals, whether they can work, or if we can improve them for certain categories of nutrients?

She siad it was still preliminary but there are indications that certain probiotics or bacteria might have impact on anxiety. her words: "They decrease anxiety. We can demonstrate this in animal models and it is measurable. It is difficult to relate this to human beins as it is difficult , but it seems there are good bacteria and we would like to see how it works out but I'm convinced there is an impact on well being. From a scientific perspective it also has a failure rate."

In a chat, Olivier Mercier, Nestle's Public Affairs Manager told Good Health Weekly at the Nestle S.A. headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland that the role of the Nestle Research Center is to help fulfil Nestle's commitment to making good food central to enjoying a good life for consumers everywhere.

His words: "Scientists at the Nestle Research Center strive to gain a deeper understanding in many areas of nutrition and food research, transforming scientific advances into practical applications. They are tracking functional benefits nutrition and lifestyle that has become an international healthcare priority hence the search to discover how diet and lifestyle measures can be optimised to help people lead healthier lives and ultimately make healthcare systems more efficient by more effectively managing and treating nutrient deficiences."

The Nestlé Research Centre is universally-recognised as one of the world's leading laboratories in food, nutrition and life sciences. It's Science & Research unit, encompassing the Nestle Research Centre and its extensive network of external alliances, is a leading research entity in food, nutrition and life sciences. Based on Nestle's research emphasis, Nestle Science & Research builds strategic alliances with the best scientific institutions in the world to bring a full breadth of knowledge to its nutrition, health and wellness research.

Earlier in the year, the Center, and GE Global Research, the General Electric Company's centralised research and development organisation, announced an innovative collaboration to scientifically assess associations between body composition, metabolic status, diet and lifestyle habits. .

Through this collaboration Nestle is using cutting-edge diagnostic tools to increase understanding of how nutrition and lifestyle choices impact body composition and metabolic health.

Confirming this, Prof. Peter van Bladeren, Head of Nestle Science and Research stated: "With this knowledge, Nestle can continue to deliver science-based nutritional products to improve and enhance the quality of peoples' lives."

The results are providing a direction for development of non-invasive, rapid, precise and accurate assessment tools for clinicians to evaluate the impact of nutritional interventions on metabolic status and overall health.