International Nutrition and Health Communication Program Held in Istanbul

The Sabri Ülker Foundation, which has undertaken important projects to ensure that society has access to current, reliable and scientific information in the fields of food, nutrition and healthy living, organized the second International Nutrition and Health Communication Programme in Istanbul between 16-18 November within this framework. The two-day training held at the Splendid Hotel had its curriculum developed by Prof. Hans Konrad Biesalski, Head of the Nutrition Department at Hohenheim University, one of Germany's leading educational institutions, and member of the Sabri Ülker Foundation Scientific Board. The training, Turkey's first "Nutrition and Health Communication Programme," was held this year under the heading "Popular Diets: Health Effects and Effective Communication."  

Accreditation from Europe's Largest Nutrition Community

Expert names in nutrition and communication fields from Turkey and around the world shared important information with participants within the programme framework on topics including obesity development and eating disorders in society, health effects of today's popular diets, scientifically communicating diets to the public, and food hygiene. In addition to representatives of the print media, the programme was attended by representatives from digital platforms. At the end of the training, participants were awarded internationally accredited certificates by the Society of Nutrition and Food Science, Germany's leading nutrition and food science community.

Expert Names Met with Communications Professionals

The International Nutrition and Health Communication Programme curriculum was delivered by Prof. Hans Konrad Biesalski, Head of the Department of Biological Chemistry and Nutrition at Hohenheim University; Prof. Dr. H. Tanju Besler, Vice Rector of Eastern Mediterranean University; Prof. Dr. Temel Yılmaz, President of the Turkey Diabetes Foundation; Raymond Gemen, Nutrition Director at the European Food Information Council (EUFIC); Prof. Dr. İrfan Erol, Faculty Member of the Nutrition and Dietetics Department at the Faculty of Health Sciences of Eastern Mediterranean University; Prof. Dr. Beraat Özçelik, Dean of the Faculty of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering at Istanbul Technical University; Julian Stowell, Research Assistant at Oxford University; and Diana Banati, Director of the International Life Sciences Institute. The programme was completed with a media workshop moderated by Prof. Dr. Ali Atıf Bir, enriched with news assessment and communication principles exercises.

Popular Diets Under Discussion

In the International Nutrition and Health Communication Programme, scientific data were shared on currently popular nutrition approaches including the Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, clean eating, intermittent fasting, low-carbohydrate and high-fat diets, and detox, topics that have been heavily discussed recently in the nutrition world. The key findings can be listed as follows:

• The DASH diet, whose health effects have been scientifically proven, constitutes an effective nutrition approach for the prevention and treatment of high blood pressure (hypertension).
• Research shows that the DASH diet applied for eight weeks in diabetic patients reduces cardiometabolic risk factors including body weight, waist circumference and cholesterol levels.
• The Mediterranean diet, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is an extremely effective nutrition method for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, the main cause of premature deaths globally in people under 65 years of age.
• Among the main health effects of the Mediterranean diet are reducing the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, obesity and type 2 diabetes.
• The intermittent fasting practice, consisting of routine fasting periods, is not sustainable in the long term but is an effective strategy for body weight management.
• However, a study comparing energy-restricted diets with fasting diets shows that intermittent fasting is effective for weight loss but not superior to energy-restricted diets.
• Research also shows that low-carbohydrate, high-fat (LCHF) diets, with careful planning, can be an effective treatment method for epilepsy and can also help in the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
• Although the ketogenic diet (LCHF) has some promising results for cancer treatment, more research is needed to better understand its effects.
• The question of which specific toxins detox diets remove from the body remains unclear, despite claims that they remove toxins from the body in a short time, assist rapid weight loss and skin radiance, and support health.