Dr Fláv

20/08/2025

Every week there’s another headline about UPFs “causing” obesity. I’m not saying UPFs are a free-for-all.

As I head to the International Congress of Nutrition this week, I thought it would be good to get up to date on the two sides of this very polarising debate.

Nutrition science is messy, and the evidence on UPFs is far from black and white. Before we make blanket rules, we need to make sure the science is robust & that solutions don’t create unintended consequences.

This review looked at all the possible mechanisms that could explain why UPFs might cause weight gain and tested them against the evidence.

What are your thoughts?

The review:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2023.04.006

25/06/2025

While at Cape Canaveral for Mission MushVroom 🚀, I was invited to speak at NASA’s Lunch & Learn.
An internal session where big space brains come together to explore new frontiers (and this time, mushrooms were on the menu 🍄).

The room was full, and included some of my colleagues from ISU in person and online. What an honour to put a spotlight on our work in nutrition science, our mission and the future of food with the incredible NASA team.

It was also incredible to get a personal tour of where the space crop magic happens at KSC by Trent Smith! Meeting Gioia Massa, connecting with new scientists.

Meeting the team face-to-face was a highlight. Most importantly, hearing their passion and stories (literally straight from the source!).

The whole NASA space crop team is so passionate, curious, generous with their knowledge, and genuinely fun humans. We were wholeheartedly supported by the team for our mission and we are extremely grateful.

What was surreal was standing where astronauts actually walk out before missions. Where the Apollo crew walked. And where many more will.

Being able to touch the mission patches…and to even see a dedicated astronauts EV car park..not a joke! LOL (see photo).

I left feeling energised, inspired, and more determined than ever.

Thank you Ralph for the connection, Trent and the whole space crop team at NASA for having me, and allowing me to share some nutrition science insights that’ll help shape the future of space food and human health too. 💫

30/05/2025

What an epic 2 days at the Australian Space Summit. 🚀

My highlight? Spending time with epic humans who are changing the world.
And the photo I got with 3 Aussie astronauts (one day 4???!! 🤣). I LOVE your sense of humour Dr Paul Scully-Power! I’m glad I have a hyphenated last name. 🤓

The beauty of the space sector is that you don’t need a traditional degree in “space”. And it doesn’t even have to be STEM as Katherine Bennell-Pegg beautifully told to our next generation. There is a place for everyone- from arts, to business and science.

There are many adjacent industries- like food and nutrition!

Thank you Eric Philips for the mention and flying the food flag- we need to do better when it comes to food for the space sector. Let’s move it from providing nutrients to being an asset to both physical and psychological health. 👩‍🚀🧠

Absolute pleasure to chat in depth to Eric, his wife Suzie and his friend Tim! Loved our discussions and cannot wait for more.

And my daughter Tallara even made a digital appearance at summit!! More on this later… 🦠

Till next time!

22/04/2025

Off the back of , I now get to do one of my favourite aspects of the work- sharing the why.

I'm excited to be heading to the Workshop for Research in Low-Earth Orbit in Columbus hosted by The Ohio State University. Happening on April 23-24, I can’t wait to be surrounded by brilliant minds, spark conversations with new and old colleagues and help ignite the food ecosystem for the future of space commercialization.
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Handles:
FB

https://www.facebook.com/osu/

LI
https://www.linkedin.com/school/the-ohio-state-university/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/keystone-space-collaborative/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/starlab-space/

19/04/2025

17/04/2025

🍄‍🟫♻️ Did you wonder why we chose oyster mushrooms for Mission MushVroom?
Oyster mushroom cultivation offers a practical, eco-conscious solution to global food demand rising alongside concerns about sustainability, on Earth- and in space.

Oyster mushrooms are decomposers- helping reduce, reuse and recycle. They bridge the gap between waste reduction and food production.
Swipe for insights on why they’re nature’s perfect bite-size recyclers.

What do you think? Let’s talk fungi in the comments. 🍄👇
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05/03/2025

Last week, I had the privilege to attend and present a keynote at the For Food’s Sake Summit for the second time. And I can’t speak more highly of the innovation, connections, and genuine interest from farmers, those in the supply chain, researchers, food manufacturers, and health professionals who want to come together to create our future food system.

I got to showcase some of the research shaping our future of food and nutrition with a lens that considers culture and the food route from . If we stop at the plate or the fork, we miss the point (in many ways).

I got to see what is doing in regenerative farming (cattle and produce); tasted the delicious zero alcohol alternative made with native ingredients and rescued blueberries, and have the most amazing 1:1 time with and even got to try the most delicious dessert of my life (not joking- it was incredible) at .

I was super proud to see .cassettari nail his storytelling presentation about how we have historically disregarded groundbreaking research due to internal biases around industry funding and findings that challenge the status quo. We used to think nuts were fattening and increased the risk of heart disease, and today, it is seen as foundational to a heart-healthy diet. Tim drew some similarities with history from our recent experience with 100% juice and health .

As I venture to summits and conferences outside of ‘nutrition,’ I am fascinated with how little nutrition is embedded in our food supply, discussions, and in innovation. And if there is nutrition, it’s often only focused on the macronutrients while nearly wholly missing out on the micros and bioactives (not to mention the food matrix).It’s time nutrition gets added to the agenda.

If you research and work in it, then please go interdisciplinary and help fly the nutrition flag to help better shape our future food systems worldwide.If you’re interested in having a nutrition expert speak at your event- I’d love to help!
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04/03/2025

🛫☀️⌚️ Did you know that sunlight exposure is super powerful to reset your master body clock? The key is the timing of your exposure. It’s one of my top strategies to beat the dreaded jet-lag. Timing depends on which way you’re flying around the globe.

W - If you’re going West, you’ll want to extend your day (you’re chasing the sun). ☀️🚶🏽‍♀️🌳 Make sure you go outdoors in the late afternoon and get some light exposure. I like to go to a local park for a nice stroll.

E - If you’re going East, you’ll want to shorten your day. This is a lot harder to do, but the trick is to get sunlight exposure as soon as you wake up, and preferably earlier in the day (just after sunrise). 🌅 Despite my night owl body clock- I set an alarm, wake up early and go for some outdoor exercise. 🏃🏼‍♀️I like to go for a light jog at my destination and do some sightseeing while I’m at it!

Have you tried it? ✈️
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03/03/2025

Here’s some food for thought… When it comes to the effect of food on health, we need to be mindful that when something is developed to mimic what’s in nature, it doesn’t necessarily mean that its metabolic effect will be the same as what nature intended.
Hear me out!

Unfortunately, there is very limited data (well, nutrition science is young) comparing alternatives to their original, but here are two interesting studies I’ve come across:

🥩 The metabolites of grass-fed meat versus plant-based meat alternatives are different. It doesn’t mean one is better than the other- but it shows that they are different. 🐄🌱 What does it meant for health? Well, we need more research.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-93100-3

🥛 Comparing dairy to its alternatives. This one is a randomised trial (higher grade of evidence) and well conducted by my colleagues at the @ University of Toronto. This one shows, again, that the effect of dairy alternatives on metabolic markers was different from that of dairy.
https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/apnm-2024-0158

The take home message?
Just because something is identical on the nutrient panel, doesn’t mean it will be identical in your body.

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