'Diet-tector' can reveal the truth about what you eat
Researchers at Aberystwyth and Newcastle Universities have shown that they can determine which foods and in what amounts people have eaten over the last few days by analysing their urine. What we eat has a big impact on our health but it is very difficult to measure exactly what, and how much, people eat in everyday life - and people find it difficult to record honestly. Measuring what people eat can help prevent illness by showing definite links between particular kinds, and amounts, of foods and specific diseases. By testing urine for the chemical ‘fingerprints’ of different foods, the scientists’ recent research demonstrated that they could determine whether individuals are eating healthy diets or not. The chemical ‘fingerprints’ they identified are substances called metabolites which are unique to different foodstuffs – those for healthy foods such as raspberries, salmon, broccoli and orange juice have already been identified. The next stage for the scientists at Aber...