>> The 5th International Nutrition Week will also address gut health, personalized nutrition, sports performance and chronic kidney disease from a scientific and clinical perspective.
>>Dr. Giuseppe Russolillo: “Injectable treatments for obesity will require new foods that promote satiety and will need the support of a professional dietitian-nutritionist.”
>> During the International Week of Teaching and Research, the discussion focuses on how food science is advancing towards more personalized, preventive models adapted to new health challenges.
The ADEMA University School inaugurated this afternoon the V International Nutrition Week in which national and international experts will meet until next Friday, April 24, at the Coll d’en Rabassa Campus of ADEMA, to address how food, clinical practice and food systems are evolving at a time of profound transformation.
At the opening ceremony, ADEMA President Diego González highlighted the importance of creating meeting spaces like the International Nutrition Week to anticipate the changes that are already transforming clinical practice, research and training in nutrition, underlining the institution’s commitment to teaching connected with scientific and health realities.
For his part, the honorary president of the International Nutrition Week and the World Conference of Dietitians Nutritionists, Dr. Giuseppe Russolillo, highlighted the role of these days as a national and international forum to address the major challenges of the sector, from the impact of new pharmacological treatments to the need to move towards more personalized, preventive and evidence-based nutrition models.
One of the main focuses of this edition will be the impact of GLP-1-based pharmacological treatments for obesity, an issue that is marking a turning point in clinical practice. Expert Leyre Urtasun, Head of Product Development for R&D&I at CNTA, the National Center for Food Technology and Safety, in San Adrián (Navarra), will center her presentation on how these treatments have profoundly altered patients’ feelings of satiety, eating behavior, and digestive tolerance, opening a new landscape that affects both clinical practice and food innovation.
Her presentation will focus on three particularly relevant profiles. First, individuals with obesity who are not undergoing pharmacological treatment and who require strategies to modulate satiety naturally. Second, patients undergoing GLP-1 inhibitor therapy who may experience nausea, sensory changes, reduced gastric tolerance, and a risk of micronutrient deficiencies. The presentation will also address the situation of those who discontinue this medication and need to avoid the rebound effect and rapid return of appetite. Furthermore, the presentation will demonstrate how the food industry is already responding to this shift with new products, prototypes, and research projects adapted to this metabolic reality.
According to Dr. Giuseppe Russolillo, “the percentage of the population undergoing treatment with drugs like Ozempic or Mounjaro is constantly increasing. In this context, he emphasizes the need for patients to have the support of a registered dietitian nutritionist throughout the entire process, especially in the phase following treatment withdrawal, when it will be crucial to incorporate foods that promote satiety and help counteract the effects of discontinuing GLP-1 agonists.”
Alongside this highly topical issue, ADEMA’s International Teaching and Research Week will also pay special attention to the rise of plant-based diets, another topic with a strong presence in research and public discourse.
Researcher Raúl López Grueso, professor and researcher at the European Network Specialised in Dietetics for Sport and Physical Activity (EFAD-ESDN SPA), has analyzed how plant-based dietary patterns influence athletic performance, recovery, and the sustainability of the food system. His presentation delved into the available scientific evidence on their potential benefits for cardiovascular health, body composition, and endurance sports, as well as the challenges they pose in relation to protein intake, the prevention of nutritional deficiencies, and the need for proper dietary planning.
Along these same lines, Iva Marques-Lopes, a registered dietitian-nutritionist and professor of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Zaragoza, led a workshop focused on the application of vegan and plant-based diets in clinical practice. The session addressed fundamental aspects of the nutritional care process, such as nutritional status assessment, intake monitoring, review of supplement use, and analysis of biochemical parameters. It also covered the planning of balanced menus, nutritional education, and the prevention of deficiencies in key nutrients such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, iron, and DHA. The workshop also provided practical tools for designing individualized and nutritionally adequate diets for people following vegetarian and vegan lifestyles.
The 5th International Nutrition Week also included a look at the future of food from a technological and systemic perspective. Óscar Rodríguez Barragán, a researcher at EURECAT-Technological Centre of Catalonia, presented various European projects related to personalized nutrition, prevention, healthy aging, food safety, water quality, and the reduction of pollutants in industry. His presentation demonstrated how the nutrition of the future will depend not only on general or individual recommendations, but also on the system that ensures food reaches consumers in safe, sustainable conditions, adapted to new health and social challenges.
The program will also dedicate time to gut health and supplementation, an area that has gained significant prominence in both research and public demand. This thematic focus will allow for a rigorous, evidence-based approach to issues related to the gut microbiota, digestive well-being, and the role of supplements in current nutritional interventions.
The closing session of the international week will feature Cristina Garagarza, a nutritionist and professor at the University of Lisbon, who will focus her presentation on nutrition in chronic kidney disease. Her talk will review the role of potassium and phosphorus in the dietary management of these patients and will highlight the need to move beyond rigid and generalized restrictions towards more individualized strategies. The session will emphasize a more up-to-date approach to renal nutrition, based on nutrient bioavailability, the overall nutritional value of foods, and each patient’s specific clinical situation, with the aim of improving safety and quality of life. With this program, the 5th International Nutrition Week will bring together experts from leading academic, scientific, and technological institutions at ADEMA, solidifying Palma as a meeting place for analyzing the major challenges of contemporary nutrition. This initiative also reinforces ADEMA’s commitment to internationalization, academic excellence, and training connected to the issues that are currently redefining public health, clinical practice, and food innovation.