A few weeks ago, we attended the Nutrition Society Congress (previously known as the Summer Conference) which took place in Belfast on 2-5 July 2024. In this blog, we would like to reflect on how important such events are to nutritionists like ourselves at the very start of our career paths, and how they can start to shape the pathways and spark areas of interest for our development.
Importance of attending as a young nutritionist
This experience allowed us to delve deeper into nutrition research and stay current with advancements in the field. We met a diverse range of individuals, from recent graduates to seasoned experts in nutrition. It was also a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with former university lecturers and meet and listen to renowned leaders in their areas!
As recent graduates, this event provided us with a chance to explore various areas in the field of nutrition and help shape our interests further. It has potentially opened doors to areas of nutrition we had not previously considered!
Additionally, we are both Registered Associate Nutritionists so to see the event endorsed by the Association of Nutrition was really positive and will support our portfolio in becoming RNutr’s.
An invaluable experience
The four-day event was packed with insightful presentations and engaging speakers, aiming to showcase the diversity of data collected and utilised in nutrition science. The conference highlighted how the analysis of this data has advanced the discipline and can continue to drive its progress.
The congress was a great way to be exposed to the latest studies and ideas. Amidst the fascinating talks, there were also numerous opportunities to network, meet new people, and learn about various job roles in nutrition. One of the most valuable networking opportunities was an evening event for graduate and post-graduate attendees, providing us with a chance to discuss current PhD research topics and make new connections.
Key highlights
Although the experience goes beyond the conference presentations themselves, we really wanted to highlight a couple of the talks that got us thinking – there were many and this is just a snapshot!
“Plant-based milk alternatives: can they replace the iodine from cows’ milk?”
Presented by: Katie Nicol, University of Surrey.
Nutrition is now so closely interrelated with environmental concerns, and we are aware of the transition we need to make to healthier sustainable diets but are there any unintended nutritional consequences we should be aware of?
A nutrient that often goes overlooked in transition to more plant-rich diets is iodine, which is predominantly supplied by animal-sourced foods (e.g. fish and dairy). As we may remember from our nutrition studies, Iodine is essential to produce the thyroid hormone, which helps maintain healthy cells and a healthy metabolic rate. Its requirement increases during pregnancy, playing a crucial role in the baby’s brain development.
Individuals adhering to a plant-based diet may find it challenging to consume adequate iodine. Although many plant-based milks are fortified with calcium, iodine fortification is less common. This reinforces the need for those on plant-based diets to carefully choose their milk alternatives by checking product labels to prevent risk of iodine deficiency.
It was great to see this presentation highlight the significance of this matter, enhancing awareness and fostering open conversation on unintended consequences as we move to diets for net-zero.
“The role of diet in gut health”
Presented by: Professor Kevin Whelan, King's College London.
There is no doubt that the interest in gut microbiome and gut health has increased but how much do we currently know?
This masterclass of a talk emphasised the exciting area of how diets can influence our gut microbiome and how dietary components like fibre, prebiotics, probiotics and fermented foods may impact on our gut health. However, we should recognise that there is much we don’t know and acknowledge that high-quality evidence is really needed to further our understanding.
One of the interesting aspects of the presentation was the need to talk about fibres, not fibre. It’s not a single entity; different types of fibre have different functional effects as they are fermented differently and have different outcomes. This adds to the rationale of why we talk about the importance of variety in a balanced diet, and whilst this is often recognised for fruits and vegetables (eat the rainbow message) including diverse sources of fibre may be less recognised.
On reflection, we thoroughly enjoyed the event, and the talks provided us with many key learnings to take away and absorb. It was an invaluable experience, and we’d very much like to thank the Nutrition Society for organising – we hope to attend more Nutrition Society Congress’ in the future!
This blog was written by Olivia Stevens and Jess Foster, Junior Nutritionists at The British Nutrition Foundation. Olivia is a recent graduate from the University of Nottingham with a MSc in Nutritional Science. Jess is a recent graduate from Bath Spa University with a BSc (Hons) in Human Nutrition with a professional placement year. Both are Registered Associate Nutritionists (ANutr).