You are what you eat!

Dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of untreatable sight loss in older people in the UK. I want to raise awareness of the research that suggests nutrition may help protect against the progression of AMD (eye disease) and encourage people to cook and eat food that could support eye health. Research suggests that eating colourful fruit and vegetables, which are naturally rich in bioactive compounds with antioxidant properties, and oily fish, rich in Omega-3 fatty acids could help protect eye health.

Could diet in youth worsen ageing? As young people eat more and more processed foods, we need to understand how nutrition sets our patterns of long-term health. This talk will present new evidence that a high-sugar diet accelerates ageing in fruit flies, by switching off a gene called FOXO and causing long-lasting molecular changes. Humans have this gene too, and it is important for our long-term health, suggesting that a youthful sweet tooth might have lasting consequences as we get older.