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Welcome to the first edition of "CCTS In Focus: Bionutrition," a monthly feature dedicated to exploring the vital role of nutrition in clinical research. In this inaugural article, we delve into the rich history and ongoing contributions of the CCTS Bionutrition Unit.

How it Started

In 1959, Congress mandated the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to establish clinical research centers throughout the United States to address the growing problem of human disease in America. In 1962, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) was one of the first six centers to receive funding under this mechanism.

In those days, the clinical research center was located on 3 West and supported a wide range of services and staff, including a program director, dietitians, a research kitchen, social workers, a laboratory, biostatistical and computing support, nursing staff, and administrative personnel. The metabolic kitchen provided nutritious meals for many inpatient research participants, with research dietitians identifying nutritional needs and offering anthropometric services.

By the late 1980s, researchers increasingly engaged dietitians and the research kitchen for developing and delivering controlled diets. For instance, Alvarez et al. (2010) examined the role of Vitamin D intake on insulin sensitivity among African American and European American women. This study partnered with the metabolic kitchen to provide two weeks of controlled diets, ensuring participants maintained consistent macronutrient intake and weight status during the study period. Similarly, St-Onge et al. (2009) studied the effects of low-fat and high-polyunsaturated fat diets on C-reactive protein levels, finding that individuals with higher baseline CRP concentrations might benefit from a moderate-fat, high-polyunsaturated diet. The research kitchen developed and provided three different diets varying in fat percentage and type for this research.

Today's Bionutrition Unit

In 2008, UAB’s metabolic kitchen became a distinguished research cornerstone of the newly-formed Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). Today, the Bionutrition Unit continues to offer a variety of capacities and expertise to investigators in nutrition-related research. Our dietitians assist in planning, designing, and implementing the nutritional components of research protocols, recruiting and screening research participants, and collecting and analyzing dietary intake data. The Metabolic Kitchen's research cooks are experts in preparing specially formulated research diets with precision and quality.

The impact of the Bionutrition Unit's support continues to be seen in numerous studies. For example, Li (2022) found that low-carb, high-protein diets might improve the metabolic profile of people living with spinal cord injury. Gupta et al. (2023) demonstrated that low-sodium diets can improve baseline blood pressure in individuals with and without hypertension. Additionally, Mitchell (2019) showed that low-oxalate diets could reduce the frequency and severity of kidney stone formation.

The CCTS Bionutrition Unit aims to continue supporting research investigators in developing and implementing their dietary protocols, translating study results into evidence-based nutrition education to improve the health and well-being of patients and communities. Stay tuned for more insights and educational resources from the CCTS Bionutrition Unit in future features of "CCTS In Focus: Bionutrition" in the CCTS Digest. We look forward to supporting your research endeavors and promoting the importance of nutrition in health and disease prevention.