Tony Bird - The CSIRO Healthy Gut Diet

Dr Ton y Bird, Dr Michael Conlon and Pennie Tay lor Photography by Rob Palmer

contents About the a uthors

PART TWO. The CSIRO Healthy Gut Eating Plan

THE CSIRO HEAL THY GUT DIET About the authors Dr To ny Bird To ny is a Principal Re search Scientist at CSIRO Health and Biosecurity where he leads multidisciplinary research teams inve stigating the in uence s of foods and fo od constituents on human health and wellbeing, w ith particular emphasi s on dietary bre and its role in re ducing chronic disease risk. He has more t han 35 y ears o f resea rch experienc e and his rece nt activities hav e centre d on advancing the understanding of the nutritional pro perties and health bene ts of cereal foods and gr ain consti tuents, their in uence on gut micr obiota co mposition and metabolic activity , a nd their role in re gulating the physiology , e ndocrinology an d function of the gastrointestinal tract. Fo r most of th at time he has worked extensively wit h food co mpanies and academia to translate research nding s into improved p roducts and prac tices fo r prom oting population nutrition and health. To ny is the author of more than 200 scienti c articles, review s and book chapters, and is r ecognised nationally and internationally for hi s contribution t o the area of dietary bre and human health researc h. His awards include the CSIRO Medal f or Res earch Achievement and the Ken neth R. Keller Awar d for Excellenc e in Gradua te Resear ch. He curr ently serves as a member o f the Sc ienti c A dvisory Committee of The Lancet Gastroen terology & Hepatology . Dr Michael Conlon Michael is a Senior R esearch Scientist at CSIRO Hea lth and Biosecurity, with a PhD in biochemistry from th e University of Ad elaide. He has more than 30 y ears experience in c onducting pre -clinical and clinica l research stu dies, many of wh ich relate t o diet and health. A focu s of his work ha s been on understanding the e ec ts of diet ary co mponents such as bre s and proteins on gut physiolo gy ( an d ultimately other ti ssues and systems o f the b ody) t hrough their in uence on the gro wth and activities of large bowel microbes. He has been instrument al in conducting a series of s tudies which have shown that inc lusion of resis tant st arch in t he diet c an help pro tect agai nst a toxic en vironment and tissue damage w ithin the large bowel induced thr ough poor diets common in Wes tern societies. T hese studies have also shown the importance of gut fermentati on in producing the short-chain fatty acids which he lp maintain large bowel health. He has also carried out numerous studies involving pr obiotics and pr ebiotics. This research has been applied to understa nding and helping preve nt cond itions such as in ammatory bowel disease and c olorectal cancer . Pennie T ay lor Pennie is a R esearc h Dietitian/Scientist in the Nutrition and Health progr am at CS IRO Health and Biosecurity. She completed her PhD in 2018 at the U niversity of A delaide School of Medicine and also holds a Master s degr ee in nutrition and dietetics at Flinders University . P ennie s exp erience spans diet design for c omplex clinic al trials to the development of commu nity w eight managemen t and chronic disease pro grams, specialising in obesity, diabetes, car diovascu lar diseases and weight-lo ss surgery . S he translat es researc h outcomes into nutrition and health strategies for relevant segments in the co mmunity, and is the co-author of The CSIRO Low- Carb Diet and CSIRO Low Carb Every Day . Wor king with indu stry partners to adapt science into clinical and co mmunity out comes, her inter est is in strategies t o optimise gluco se control , appetite response and eating behaviours. Pennie is r ecognised n ationally for her cont ribution to t he Dietitians A ssociation Australia s bariat ric nutrition progra m development and as a member of the A ustralian and Ne w Zeala nd Metabolic and Obesity Surger y Society .

ABOUT T HE CONTRIBUTORS About the contributors Dr David Top ping David is a post-r etirement Fe llow at CSIRO Hea lth and Biosecurity. He has more than 40 y ears r esearch experience in in vestigating t he relationship between dietary bre and gastrointestinal function. He has pioneered the c oncept that man y of th e bene cial actions of bre components are e ec ted throug h the products of their ferme ntation by the l arge bowe l microbiome and that curren t intak es of ferme ntable bre components are low. As well a s investigating t he bene cial actions of these products, the short- chain fatty aci ds, he has w orked with CSIRO and ac ademic colleagues and f ood industry to increas e the range of consu mer f oods contain ing fermenta ble bre s. David is the author of more than 190 scienti c papers, review s and book chapters and 11 pate nt disclosures, including t he invention of high amy lose barley an d wheat , both of which ar e undergoing commercial de velopment internationally . H e is a deputy edit or of the British Journal of Nutrition and a review er for sever al other journals and also for nati onal and international granting agencies. He has been reco gnised by honorary membership of the G rains f or Heal th Fo undation in the United States and thr ee CSIRO Medals f or Res earch and Commercialisation Achie vement. He is a Past President and a Fe llow o f the N utrition Society of Australia and a F ell ow of the A cademy of Scienc e and Engineering. Dr Tr evor Lock ett Tre vor is Managing Directo r and CE O of bi otech company Rhythm Biosciences Limit ed which develops new diagn ostic tests f or bowe l cancer . A m olecular biologist b y trai ning, T r evor re ceived his P hD in biochemistry from th e University of Ad elaide and postdoctoral experience at the R ocke feller U niversity in New Yo rk. He has ove r 30 years divers e research experience, pr edominantly at the CS IRO, where he led large multidisciplinary rese arch e or ts in the areas of prostate c ancer gene therap y, c olorecta l cancer prevention and the promot ion of gastr o- intestinal health. In his roles as Theme Leader , Colorectal Canc er and Gut Health, and Group Leader for Pe rsonalised Health, T re vor over saw the research e or ts of te ams developing new diagnostic tests for th e early det ection of bowel cancer and investigating t he interaction betw een foods and dietary comp onents, particularly dietary bre , and human health, including v ia their impact on the gut microbiome. During his time at the CSIRO T re vor pub lished in excess of 90 peer -r eviewed s cienti c pa pers and book chapters, w as an invent or of seven active patent famil ies (a ll of which were l icensed), and served on the leadership e xecutive team of a number o f business un its within the CSIRO. T re vor has a strong commi tment to improving human health and w ellbeing thr ough the t ranslation and commerciali sation of s cienti c di scovery into innovative products and service s. Dr Julie Cl arke Julie is a Senior Researc h Scientist in the Nutritional Interventions pro gram at CSIRO Health and Biosecurity. She has over 30 y ears experience in biomedical re search f ocusing on aspects of gastrointestinal health. Julie s ro le for the past 15 ye ars has included Project L eader for CS IROs a cylated starc h technology. Acyl ated starch es deliver short chain fatty ac ids (SCFA ) to the large bo wel and Julie and her team have foc used on the e ec ts of SCF A o n gut function and disease prev ention and tr eatment. She is Project Leader for th e multi-state, co mplex clinical trial. Other key clinical studies Julie has been inv olved with include the e ec ts of t he acylated starc hes on acute infectious diarrhoea, irrit able bowel s yndrome,