Number of Participants: 410,000
Diverse Participant Demographics: We offer a broader range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds from an international platform rather than a UK-only one, which sets us apart from other biobanks. For example, critics argue that the UK Biobank database may only partially represent some of the population (half a million middle-aged British people, 95% of whom are of European ancestry), potentially limiting the generalisability of its findings to all demographic groups. Many researchers, as reported here, have found this.
Focused Cognitive Health Research: Food for the Brain offers a unique resource for the study of cognitive health and dementia. Our questionnaire specialises in gathering key information on the relationship between nutrition and cognitive well-being, lifestyle, environment, vitamin supplementation, genetic implications, and comorbidity with other conditions.
Distinctive Nutritional Biomarkers: To advance our understanding of cognitive health, unlike other biobanks, we meticulously track a range of biomarkers, pivotal indicators that provide deep insights into the nuanced relationship between nutrition and brain function. These include specific blood tests such as homocysteine, omega-3, HbA1c, and vitamin D. Unlike other biobanks, we include essential questions and tests, thus focusing on what can be learned about prevention and single time point assessments.
An example of this is homocysteine testing and homocysteine-lowering B vitamins. In a review of 396 studies on Alzheimer’s prevention risk factors, it was rated as ‘the most promising intervention for AD prevention’ and, according to NIH researchers, accounts for 22% of the population attributable risk (PAR). We believe our database is unique in offering this type of data.
Real-Time Data Collection: Traditional diet and lifestyle surveys often stretch to encompass data over extensive periods, asking participants to recall their eating habits and activities from as far back as a year. This method, while broad, faces inherent challenges. Human memory is notoriously unreliable for such detailed retrospection, leading to significant gaps and inaccuracies in the data collected. In contrast, our approach embraces the precision and immediacy of real-time data collection, which is essential for crafting approaches genuinely reflective of current behaviours, paving the way for accurate research outcomes and effective prevention and intervention strategies.
