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University of Oxford
Staff and students from the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences have this week been discussing diet and nutrition with Oxford’s local community as part of the annual Oxfordshire Science Festival.
Over the weekend, Oxford's Town Hall played host to the Festival’s Explorazone, where research-based organisations from across Oxford came together with fun and engaging hands-on activities to inspire people of all ages with science and technology.
Through a colourful suite of activities, supported by NIHR CLAHRC Oxford, the department's Behavioural Medicine team talked to passers by about much sugar, fat and salt is really in what we eat, and the benefits of making simple food swaps. Activities included guessing how much sugar is in a range of everyday food products, investigating a typical basket of food for it’s potential to create healthy, balanced meals, and colouring activities for small children.
The team were also encouraging adults to sign-up for their patient and public involvement group, and to take part in ongoing studies on salt reduction and self-weighing.
Also on the theme of diet was one of OSF's top-billed events, where Professor Susan Jebb interviewed renowned chef and TV presenter Tom Kerridge about his new diet book and connections between emotions, food and weight.
Tom recently lost 11 stone by developing and following a diet designed to boost dopamine levels, the reward hormone responsible for making us happy. Tom was able to maximize his enjoyment of food as well as satisfy his appetite while eating less.
In Oxford’s historic Sheldonian Theatre, Tom and Susan discussed motivating yourself to lose weight, keeping weight off, and how Tom's tips and tricks from his experience as a professional chef helped him to transform his diet.
Rebecca Nourse, Research Coordinator, blogs about the event here.