Nutritional Biology
The mission of Nutritional Biology, led by Renger Witkamp, is to unravel the interplay between nutrition and human biology to improve health. We aim to maintain or improve people’s physical and cognitive performance during ageing, acute or chronic disease, and rehabilitation. Our focus is on the (patho)physiology of the musculoskeletal system, the brain, and the gastro-intestinal tract.
Research themes
Nutrition and ageing
Nutrition and ageing is a central theme within our chair group. We aim to find dietary strategies that optimise nutritional status, to prevent, slow down, or reverse ageing-related pathologies such as cognitive decline, sarcopenia, osteoporosis, and malnutrition.
Nutrition during metabolic stress
Our research focuses on how tailored nutrition and exercise during and after metabolic stress can mitigate complications and accelerate recovery in ICU patients, or improve performance in athletes.
Kinetics and metabolism of nutrients
We study how nutrients are processed in the body, from digestion to metabolism, to understand how diet influences health and helps prevent nutritional deficiencies.
Nutrition and intestinal biology
We study how diet can influence human gastrointestinal (GI) tract physiology by gaining insights into the interaction of dietary and microbial metabolites with the intestinal epithelium, nutrient receptors, transporters, and immune cells.
Education
Education by Nutritional Biology
The Nutritional Biology teaching staff is involved in multiple courses at the BSc and MSc level for different study programs. We offer a variety of courses on topics including nutrition and ageing, nutrition and physical performance, and nutrition and metabolism during disease, stress and convalescence.
Publications & Projects
Our research methods range from intervention studies to in vitro biochemical techniques to observational studies. Researchers of the chair group Nutritional Biology publish on a regular basis in scientific journals, professional journals, scientific and popular books, and proceedings.
Highlighted projects
Highlighted publications
- A high-fat meal significantly impacts the bioavailability and biphasic absorption of cannabidiol (CBD) from a CBD-rich extract in men and women
- Accuracy of bedside ultrasound for predicting resting energy expenditure in critically ill patients: A feasibility study
- Associations between time spent in sedentary behaviors and metabolic syndrome risk in physically active and inactive European older adults
Chair Holder
Renger Witkamp, Ph.D., is a full professor and the chairholder of Nutritional Biology. His primary focus is to better understand the interplay between diet and functional health, with the aim of promoting optimal physical and mental performance under different conditions — to let food be medicine.
prof.dr. RF (Renger) Witkamp
Professor / Chairholder
People of Nutritional Biology
Meet the people of Nutritional Biology
