Nutrition for life-long health

Even before you were a twinkle in your father’s eye, your future was being shaped by both your mum’s and dad’s health. During pregnancy, what your mum ate may have influenced how your metabolism worked. And once you were born, how you were fed may have impacted your development.

In this talk, our Liggins researchers Ben Albert, Gergely Toldi and Mariana Muelbert discuss how to optimise nutrition at each of these life stages. They look at nutritional interventions in pregnancy in the form of diet changes and supplements, the unique properties of breastmilk, and how breastfeeding supports the development of the immune system.

In his inaugural lecture 'Tall Nettles: from plant collecting in Africa to nutrition research in New Zealand', Professor Mithen shares stories from his career and reflects on some of the challenging issues that we are facing today in food and health research.

Discover the backstories and the health benefits of some of New Zealand’s iconic foods – a webinar by Richard Mithen, Professor of Nutrition at the Liggins Institute and Chief Scientist for the High Value Nutrition National Science Challenge. Find out more about nutrition and metabolism research at the Liggins Institute and see the postgraduate projects available here.

Paediatrician and PhD candidate Dr Ben Albert

Learn more about Dr Ben Albert’s study of fish oil, which many pregnant women take to boost their baby’s brain development.

Interested in the metabolic effect of Omega-3, found in fish oil, Dr Ben Albert has already found that more than half of the fish-oil brands sold in New Zealand are ‘off’ when we buy them.

With approximately 20% of pregnant women taking fish oil supplements, Dr Ben Albert looks into the effect they have on babies. In this presentation, he explains how tests on rats have found higher newborn mortality rates and increased maternal insulin resistance in those fed oxidised fish oil.