Food & You

Watch the project summary in the video!

Objectives of the project

Food & You is a large-scale citizen science research project in Switzerland and will soon expand with a pilot study run in Germany. With this project, we want to confirm that individuals respond differently to food, that is, that the blood sugar response (the level of sugar in the blood after a meal) varies among individuals, even after consumption of the same food or beverage. Secondly, we want to develop an algorithm that will predict the individual blood sugar response and provide personalized diet recommendations.

For more details, see the scientific context.

Participants

Main inclusion criteria:

To be at least 18 years of age.
To have a postal address in Switzerland (soon also in Germany).
To have a good understanding of French, German or English.
To have a smartphone with NFC (minimum version iOS 13.2 / iPhone SE year 2020 / Android 7.1).

Are excluded:

Pregnant women.
Persons on dialysis.
People who regularly use immunosuppressive medication.
Critically-ill patients.

Summary of the project

Stage	Duration
Read the participant information and the informed consent form.	Approx. 20 min.
Fill out the first questionnaire.	Approx. 5 min.
Learn to use the app MyFoodRepo: track all your food consumption during three days by taking photos with the app MyFoodRepo.	3 days
Preparation for the two tracking weeks: Order the study material Fill out the second questionnaire. Read the instructions for the tracking weeks. Collect a stool sample. We will analyze the sample to determine your microbiome composition. Buy the food for the standardized breakfast of the first tracking week.	Approx. 1h 30min.
Tracking weeks: Take photos of your dietary intake. Track or log your physical activity and sleeping time. Wear a sensor that will continuously measure your glucose level. Consume the standardized breakfasts, from the second to the seventh morning.	14 days
Optional for women: (not available in Germany) Track your dietary intake, physical activity and glucose level during another 14 days to have data from a complete menstrual cycle. Track your menstrual cycle during 3 months by measuring your body temperature every morning and log your menstruation-related observations.	14 days and 2 months
Fill out the feedback questionnaires.	Approx. 15 min.

Summary of the benefits for participants

You will receive a detailed view of your glycemic level over two weeks, which could help you to understand how your blood glucose levels respond to food, exercise, and sleep.
You will receive personalized feedback with statistics on your food consumption and a report on the composition of your gut microbiota.
The findings of this project could potentially be beneficial to people with health issues related to diet (for example, for people with pre-diabetes).

I'm interested - continue

The participation to the Swiss or German study depends on the country of residence. Participants having a postal address in Switzerland will participate in the Swiss study, participants with a German postal address will participate in the German study.

The basic cohort (cohort B) is available in both countries. An additional cohort (cohort C) for women willing to track their menstrual cycle is open in Switzerland only.