A group of leading health and medical experts have joined together to form the Global Nutrition & Health Alliance (GNHA) to educate consumers and healthcare professionals about optimal nutrition, including the use of vitamin, minerals and supplements (VMS) as part of a healthy lifestyle. The GNHA assembled this summer to discuss the current VMS landscape, concluding it is riddled with inconsistent messages and misconceptions that ultimately may confuse both healthcare professionals and consumers. Collectively the GNHA established a multi-year agenda to tackle the challenge of striving for optimal nutrition through diet alone and the value of supplementing with vitamins and minerals, when appropriate. The Alliance's near-term focus will be to educate consumers and healthcare professionals on achieving the daily recommended amounts of key nutrients including Omega-3 and Vitamin D, which are crucial for health, but often deficient in the average person's diet.
"The goal of the Global Nutrition & Health Alliance is to add to and elevate credible science behind VMS and in turn educate about appropriate use," said Suzanne Steinbaum, DO, director, Women's Heart Health, Heart and Vascular Institute, Lenox Hill Hospital in New York. "As a member of the Alliance, I hope to bring greater clarity and understanding to supplementation for consumers and healthcare colleagues alike."
Global challenges to optimal nutrition and health discussed by the GNHA included compromised food sources, lack of fortification systems lending to deficiencies among certain populations and resurgence of once obsolete vitamin and mineral deficiency-related illnesses.
"National guidelines for daily nutrient intake exist in almost every country, yet the reality is that much of the global population is overfed but undernourished," said Nigel Denby, RD, head of dietetics at Grub4Life.com in London. "The Alliance seeks to dispel the many misconceptions about diet, nutrition and supplementation of vitamin and minerals by providing scientific proof that will help people make better choices to achieve better health."
The Global Nutrition & Health Alliance will meet annually in cities across the globe. Based on timely global issues related to diet, health and VMS use, the GNHA will collaborate with academia and industry to conduct clinical studies, publish peer-reviewed data, initiate educational campaigns, leverage digital and social media platforms and participate in symposia.
Inaugural members of the Global Nutrition and Health Alliance include:
- Regan Bailey, PhD, RD: Nutritional Epidemiologist, National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements; Washington, DC, US
- Nigel Denby, RD: head of Dietetics, Grub4Life and People Matter, London, UK
- Bryan Haycock: exercise physiologist, Health Medical Affairs, RB; Salt Lake City, Utah, US
- Clemens von Schacky, MD: head of Preventative Cardiology, University of Munich; Munich, Germany
- Katherine Sherif, MD: director, Jefferson Women's Primary; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
- Suzanne Steinbaum, DO: director and attending cardiologist, Women and Heart Disease Center, Lenox Hill Hospital;New York, New York, US
For more details on these initiatives and members please visit globalnutritionhealth.org.