RESEARCH PROJECT

The purpose of this project is to help students: 1) understand nutrition and metabolism of nutrient/food/ingredient, 2) research and locate appropriate peer-reviewed nutrition and health-related articles on a topic of interest, 3) review the literature on a topic of interest and prepare a formal paper and professional presentation, and 4) submit the research paper and presentation.

Research Article Analysis: students will select recently published articles from professional journals/periodicals (related to your nutrition research topic). The purpose of this analysis is to help students understand 1) the Evidence Analysis process and 2) how to interpret an original research article and then apply that article to your research paper.

Firstly, you will determine which nutrition and health topic your literature review will focus on. You will select a specific nutrient or food and write a literature review paper on the impact of this nutrient/food/diet on any diet-related human disease. It could be either a good or bad effect, for example, the beneficial effect of omega-3 fatty acids on heart disease, or the detrimental effect of processed meat on colon cancer. An important second step is skim reading, which is useful for identifying the relevant research articles for your literature review paper. For an article, read the abstract, introduction and conclusion and then skim over the headings and subheadings to get an impression of the articles focus. You should select 5-15 high-quality research articles preferably including epidemiological, clinical and pre-clinical animal studies.

Here is the outline you can use as a reference.

Is Phytoestrogens beneficial for Osteoporosis?
Introduction
Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by an imbalance between osteoblast activity and osteoclast restoration activity for bone building. The deficiency of Estrogen increases fractures due to a reduction in bone mass. Phytoestrogens are plant compounds that mimic estrogen in the human body. They have been found to help fight conditions and symptoms caused by estrogen deficiency. This is particularly beneficial for osteoporosis.
Role of phytoestrogens
The role of phytoestrogens in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in ovarian hormone deficiency by Arjmandi BH in J Am Coll Nutr.
Role of phytoestrogens in prevention of osteoporosis by Tefka Pankova, Dobrina Tsvetkova in Int J Curr Pharm Res
Do Phytoestrogens Work?
Dietary phytoestrogens and their effect on bone: evidence from in vitro and in vivo, human observational, and dietary intervention studies by Kenneth DR Setchell, Eva Lydeking-Olsen in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Should Take Phytoestrogens?
Assessment of soy phytoestrogens’ effects on bone turnover indicators in menopausal women with osteopenia in Iran: a before and after clinical trial by Arezoo Haghighian Roudsari, Farideh Tahbaz, Arash Hossein-Nezhad, Bahram Arjmandi, Bagher Larijani and Seyed Masoud Kimiagar in Nutrition Journal
Conclusion
Phytoestrogens play a role in maintaining or improving bone health. The main plant sources of edible phytoestrogens are isoflavones and lignans in soybean and flaxseed, respectively. The phytoestrogens or its isoflavones have great influential effect on bones, and the role of flax seeds and dried plums have a greater impact on the strength of bones.