Belgium

• Geertrui Vlaemynck Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Melle

  Our main research focus is the impact of food and specific food components in the diet on health, on the microbial composition of the gut and the production of specific metabolites especially short chain fatty acids (SCFA). Bacterial produced short chain fatty acids are known to play an important role in the interplay of health and disease. The intake of some specific food components as dietary fiber can increase butyrate production, by stimulating the growth of specific bacterial strains which is one of our research strategies. Studies have been set up at first ex vivo through stool fermentations as well from elderly suffering from neurological disease especially Parkinson as in healthy aged people and are also foreseen in a clinical setup to evaluate the potential therapeutic effect of certain food components and the mechanisms behind it. Dietary management in PD patients could increase the patients’ QOL, however, evidence is lacking on how to improve the diet specifically to cater to both the organoleptic and therapeutic needs of the PD patient.