Diet Interventions

The purpose of this study is to test the effect of an anti-inflammatory diet tailored for patients living in the United States with Crohn's Disease (CD) on clinical symptoms and disease inflammation and to identify biomarkers of response to dietary therapy.

Increasing access to healthy foods is crucial to combating chronic disease in rural communities. The Ripe for Revival mobile market, a non-profit eastern NC-based mobile market, seeks to improve healthy food access among those at greatest risk of food insecurity and poor health. By implementing vouchers at the mobile market, this study will help make healthy food affordable and accessible. This project is poised to improve diet and health among rural residents in eight counties and promote sustainable local food systems in North Carolina.

Ultra-processed food (UPF) intake has been related to negative health effects and incresed energy intake in previous intervention studies. Thus, previous studies have seen weight gain from higher UPF intake which obscures the potentital to see effects on cardiometabolic biomarkers, independent of weight changes. The overall aim of this project is to study the causal effects of a high UPF diet, compared to a nutrient-matched low UPF diet, on appetite and cardiometabolic health in a weight-stable context.

This study aims to examine the effects of added sugar warning labels for sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) on explicit weight bias and body weight attributional judgements. Participants will be assigned to view either control labels or added sugar warning labels applied on SSBs in an experimental store. Participants will shop for beverages in the store and take a computer survey during four visits to the store, spaced approximately one week apart.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a progressive condition associated with substantial morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Early detection and timely intervention are critical to modify disease trajectory, particularly in adolescents and young adults. Emerging evidence supports the role of the gut-kidney axis in CKD progression, whereby intestinal dysbiosis contributes to systemic inflammation and accumulation of microbiota-derived uremic toxins. This randomized controlled clinical trial aims to evaluate whether a multimodal intervention consisting of a controlled diet, structured exercise, and a symbiotic administered for 180 days improves uremic toxin burden, systemic inflammation, and early renal outcomes compared with standard care plus placebo.

Sleep and metabolism are closely interconnected, and emerging evidence suggests that dietary composition may influence both sleep quality and key physiological functions such as glucose regulation, cardiovascular activity, and hormonal signaling. This study aims to investigate how a Western-style unhealthy diet versus a healthier, fiber-rich diet affects objective and subjective sleep measures, 24-hour physiological parameters, and a range of biomarkers related to cardiometabolic, neurodegenerative, and gut microbial function.

The investigation will explore the potential effects of resistant starch The Resistant Starch Intervention for Cognitive Enhancement study aimed to evaluate the effect of high-resistant starch diet intervention in slowing cognitive decline among individuals at high genetic risk for cognitive impairment. Participants will be randomly assigned to either an intervention group receiving daily high-resistant starch food products or a control group receiving isoenergetic regular starch products. The investigation will validate the potential effects of resistant starch on cognitive function protection and explore the underlying mechanisms through comprehensive data collection, including standardized neuropsychological assessments, laboratory biomarkers derived from blood and fecal specimens, and multimodal magnetic resonance imaging.

The main goal of this trial is to investigate whether a dietary intervention based on a typical Mediterranean Diet enriched with fermented foods (MedDiet+) can impact gut microbiota and RA-related outcomes.