Nestle announces collaborative study with Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute on diet rich in whole grains

Nestle USA Chairman and CEO Brad Alford has announced that Nestle Research Center, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, has donated US $500,000 to Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. The gift will fund a collaborative study focused on examining the effects of a diet rich in whole grains on body composition and energy metabolism.

"We look forward to building our relationship with Lerner Research Institute. This collaboration combines Nestle's core expertise in nutrition with Lerner Research Institute's scientific vision, and will help us define the scientific basis for new product development. Our ultimate goal is to provide good tasting products with nutritional benefits to consumers," said Mr. Alford. This study will build on previous Nestle research that has suggested that a diet rich in whole grains has many potential nutritional benefits.

Researchers from the Nestle Research Center in Lausanne met with lead investigator John Kirwan, Ph.D., Pathobiology, of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, and his team earlier this year to plan the study, which begins this month. The 26-week study will enroll 40 to 50 people, who will eat meals provided by Nestle Prepared Food Company's facility in Solon, Ohio. During the first phase, one group's diet will include most of their carbohydrates coming from whole grains while the other will receive meals with carbohydrates mainly from refined grains. During the second phase, the two groups will switch diets. Each study participant will receive complementary nutrition counseling, food and medical testing. This research will be one of the largest controlled studies of its type on whole grains and the first to use advanced body composition measurement techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that are used at the Cleveland Clinic. Scientists at Nestle Research Center will use state-of-the-art metabolomic analyses to examine changes in metabolism.

"Our Nestle colleagues in Europe have been impressed with the world class facilities and expertise found at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute," noted Alford. "We're excited to have the Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute, Nestle Prepared Foods Company and Nestle Research Center working together on this study."