Objective:
Objective 1: Determine acceptability of types of carbohydrate-containing foods recommended in the Dietary Guidelines and measure their effects on appetite, satiety, and energy balance. Objective 2: Determine how Dietary Guideline recommendations for types of dietary fat affect partitioning of lipids, formation of pro-inflammatory oxy-lipins, and in turn, alter risk of unhealthy weight gain, body fat gain, and cardiovascular risk factors. Objective 3: Determine how potential modulators of metabolism, such as physical activity and stress, impact the response to food and affect weight and body fat distribution. Objective 4: Identify molecular factors that influence critical metabolic pathways in body weight regulation and determine if gene expression is responsive to dietary and physical activity interventions related to the Dietary Guidelines. Objective 5: Identify, among low- and middle-income groups, specific barriers to and facilitators for adopting the dietary and physical activity recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines. The research comprises studies that address the Dietary Guidelines for carbohydrates, fats, or physical activity. We will test how recommendations for whole grains, added sugar, types of polyunsaturated fatty acids, or physical activity affect metabolic health.

Approach:
We will use a multidisciplinary approach to test molecular, physiological, and metabolic responses to dietary patterns composed of whole foods, determine how physical activity, stress, and genetic factors modify these responses, and identify important behavioral and psychosocial factors related to adopting the Dietary Guidelines. Our work will use classical investigations of metabolic and energetic response along with metabolomic analysis to investigate these questions and will link these phenotypic descriptions with gene expression profiles. Randomized controlled trials, a longitudinal observation study, and community focus groups, interviews and surveys will be conducted to test metabolic health and obtain information about knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behavior related to the Dietary Guidelines. Important studies in animal models will complement this work to gain understanding of underlying mechanisms associated with specific dietary interventions or to obtain proof of concept before designing and conducting human trials. Replacing 5306-51000-002-00D (3/06).