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Diseño y desarrollo de una bebida funcional vegetal para mejorar el estado nutricional y la inmunidad de las personas mayores tempranas para lograr un envejecimiento saludable
Acronym
IMMUGOLD
Project title
Diseño y desarrollo de una bebida funcional vegetal para mejorar el estado nutricional y la inmunidad de las personas mayores tempranas para lograr un envejecimiento saludable
External reference
CPP2023-010565
Description/abstract
In 2018, the number of people aged 65 and over exceeded the number of children under the age of 5 for the first time. A rise in aging societies is coming, and new efforts are needed to ensure that this increase in life expectancy is accompanied by years of health and good quality of life. Good health and well-being while aging is an ambitious goal proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and a core value for most governments. According to WHO’s plan for 2021-2030, a decade of concerted global action on Healthy Ageing is urgent to ensure that older people can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality in nutritional requirements. The aging of the population of the Western World represents one of the greatest challenges for sustainable development. At present, approximately 9% of the European population is older than 65. This is projected to increase to 25% by 2050. Spain is undergoing a process of demographic transition, characterized by an increasingly aged population; the percentage of the population aged 65 or older in 2022 was 20.1%, and are expected to reach 30.4% in 2050 (INE). Population aging tends to equate to increased healthcare expenditure, especially in the case of long-term care needs, with possible implications for labour market outcomes. As the proportion of the elderly is on the rise, which is associated with an increased burden of disease and expenditure, evidence-based preventive policies and health promotion programs to promote healthy aging are needed to ensure the future functioning of social health care and pension systems. Healthy diets with anti-aging potential are essential to prevent the development of chronic diseases and to promote healthy aging. However, other new strategies to health policies and programs must be taken into account; by improving nutrition intake, we could impact the cost reduction at the health care systems in the aging population. Preclinical studies provide ample evidence that several components of diet play important roles in regulating aging processes and longevity and development of age-associated diseases, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cognitive impairment and dementia, and malignant diseases. In this scenario, the food industry plays a pivotal role leading this strategy developing new functional food and beverages with convincing claims supported by science, to early elderly adults (aged from 60 to 75 years old) as the target population, which is a key period to improve or maintain functional and healthy lifestyles. Thus, the present proposal hypothesizes that following the nutritional needs in healthy ageing, a beverage optimized by multi-nutrients as a functional food can improve immunity leading to reduce inflammation and oxidation in women and men early elderly population. Our vision: IMMUGOLD aims to develop the first multi-nutrient plant-based beverage carefully formulated to cover the nutritional requirements focused on improving immunity and anti-inflammatory or antioxidant function to assess the beneficial effects of functional beverage in early elderly people by a high scientific quality randomized, double-blind, parallel, and controlled study in early older people, who are also especially sensitive to drinking enough fluids to stay hydrated. IMMUGOLD will be possible thanks to the multidisciplinary character of the project combining computational modeling, ingredient research, nutrition, food product development and clinical epidemiology. The technical capabilities of the consortium are essential to ensure the feasibility of the project to achieve all the objectives planned for this proposal: Costa Concentrados Levantinos S.L. (COSTA), an innovative co-manufacturing of plant-based drinks and broths company; Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), with extensive experience on designing and implementing nutritional programs and clinical studies and Fundación AZTI-AZTI Fundazioa, a leading research centre providing cutting-edge solutions to the food sector. As a result of IMMUGOLD, it is expected to be able to define ingredients with scientifically validated action, which can be put on the market at the end of the project in company products directly to the public. Thanks to these products, it is expected to reach at least a significant percentage of current early elderly people where their effectiveness can begin to be demonstrated in the market and end up having an alternative for those health-conscious consumers and lactose intolerant consumers.
Financing entity
MINISTERIO DE CIENCIA, INNOVACION Y UNIVERSIDADES
Amount granted
194.037,00 €
Logos
Call
Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica, Técnica y de Innovación 2021-2023 - Programa Estatal para Impulsar la Investigación Científico-Técnica y su Transferencia - Ayudas públicas a proyectos de colaboración público-privada
