Food & You: A Healthy Diet Through Algorithms

NCT ID: NCT03848299

Last Updated: 2024-03-26

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 1782 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2019-01-15
• Study Completion Date: 2023-12-18

Brief Summary

Food & You is a large-scale citizen science research project in Switzerland. With this project, the researchers want to confirm that individuals respond differently to food, that is, that the blood sugar response (the level of sugar in the blood after a meal) varies among individuals, even after consumption of the same food or beverage. Secondly, the researchers want to develop an algorithm that will predict the individual blood sugar response and provide personalized diet recommendations.

Detailed Description

Food & You is one of the first large-scale citizen science research project in Switzerland. This project is building on the results of Zeevi et al. study, which demonstrated in 2015 for the first time with a cohort of 800 participants that there is a high interpersonal variability in postprandial (postmeal) glycemic responses (PPGR). In a second stage, the group developed an algorithm that predicts PPGR and gives personalized diet recommendation to better control the blood sugar level. These results have only been shown once, if they turn out to be correct, it will have a very strong impact on the field of nutrition. Other studies have since then also shown the variability in glucose response, leading to the concept of individual "glucotypes". The most important particularity of Food & You is that it will be a citizen science project. Citizen science is a method that involves volunteers in scientific research activities. It increases scientific knowledge, raises people's awareness of scientific questions, and allows scientists to share enthusiasm and expertise. Furthermore, to enable any citizen to take part, the study will be entirely coordinated digitally. It means that unlike conventional studies, no face-to-face interviews or medical appointments will be organized. All instructions will be given by a website and emails / text messages sent to the participants. The study material will be sent by post and the data will be collected via the website and the MyFoodRepo app. The participants will have to track during 14 days:

• Their dietary intake with the myFoodRepo app.
• Their physical activity and sleep with a smartphone app or an activity tracker.
• Their glucose level wearing the FreeStyle Libre Sensor.
• Collect a stool sample. The microbiome composition will be analyzed by sequencing the 16s rDNA extracted from the stool sample.
• Answer anthropometric, demographic, and health online questionnaires.

With the Food & You project, the research team will build a new algorithm that will predict PPGR with input that is readily available through such a "digital cohort" (i.e. low-burden on user, and affordable) in order to test whether this can scale to tens or hundreds of thousands of people. The results of this project may have substantial consequences in dietary guidelines, personalized diet and on health conditions related to dietary intake.

Conditions

Food Habits

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Experimental: Single Arm

All participants will have to consume the same standardized breakfasts from the second to the seventh day, except the ones that are intolerant or allergic to lactose or/and gluten. In those cases, they will follow an adapted diet for their intolerance or allergies.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Experimental: Single Arm

Intervention Type: OTHER

All participants will have to consume the same standardized breakfasts from the second to the seventh day, except the ones that are intolerant or allergic to lactose or/and gluten. In those cases, they will follow an adapted diet for their intolerance or allergies.

Day 2 and 3: 110 g white bread.

Day 4 and 5 : 110 g white bread and 30 g butter or 55 g white bread, 50 g dark chocolate for lactose intolerant.

Day 6 and 7: Glucose drink (50g).

The bread will be replaced by gluten-free bread for gluten intolerant participants.

Interventions

Experimental: Single Arm

All participants will have to consume the same standardized breakfasts from the second to the seventh day, except the ones that are intolerant or allergic to lactose or/and gluten. In those cases, they will follow an adapted diet for their intolerance or allergies.

Day 2 and 3: 110 g white bread.

Day 4 and 5 : 110 g white bread and 30 g butter or 55 g white bread, 50 g dark chocolate for lactose intolerant.

Day 6 and 7: Glucose drink (50g).

The bread will be replaced by gluten-free bread for gluten intolerant participants.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

Standardized breakfasts consumption

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Men and women aged 18+.
• Have a postal address in Switzerland.
• Own a smartphone, minimum version iOS 10/Android 5.
• Sufficient knowledge of French, German or English to read and understand the instructions.
• Able to provide an informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

• Pregnancy.
• Persons on dialysis.
• Persons with chronic immunosuppressive medication usage.
• persons with skin disease, including contact dermatitis
• Critically-ill patients.
• Breastfeeding.
• Usage of antibiotics in the three months prior to enrollment.
• Chronically active inflammatory or neoplastic disease in the three years prior to enrollment.
• Chronic gastrointestinal disorder, including Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Celiac disease.
• Active neuropsychiatric disorder.
• Myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accident in the six months prior to enrollment.
• Pre-diagnosed type I or type II diabetes mellitus.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Marcel Salathé

Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Marcel Salathé, Pr

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Locations

Epfl Sv Ghi Upsalathe1

Geneva, , Switzerland

Countries

Switzerland

References

Singh R, McDonald D, Hernandez AR, Song SJ, Bartko A, Knight R, Salathe M. Temporal nutrition analysis associates dietary regularity and quality with gut microbiome diversity: insights from the Food & You digital cohort. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 30;16(1):8635. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63799-z.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 41028733 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

2017-02124

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id