Analyzing a person’s urine can reveal a lot of information regarding their health, but thanks to a new test scientists can even determine how healthy your diet actually is. Researchers from the UK were able to find certain biomarkers which reveal a lot of information about a person’s eating habits.
More specifically, the researchers are able to analyze the specific biomarkers in the urine left after our bodies have processed various types of food like meat, fruits, vegetables, and others. This new urine test is able to determine how healthy each meal is as well as provide an evaluation of how the diet affects the person’s overall health.
The new urine test helps people keep track of their diet intake, despite many individuals following a diet. Previous studies have shown that around 60 percent of people either over or under a report about the intake of their diet, which can lead to erroneous results.
The urine test only requires a short to amount of time, around five minutes and provides a lot of accurate data about a person’s diet. At this point in the work of the researchers, the test is only performed in a laboratory. However, the scientists are trying to develop it further and make it available as a home testing kit. The research team is looking to launch it in two years’ time for the general public. It will help individuals keep track of their diets by providing a personalized monitoring tool in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The details of the development of the new urine test were published in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, by a team of researchers from the UK, led by Dr. Isabel Garcia-Perez and Professor John Draper, from the Institute of Biological, Environmental, and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University.
For their study, the researchers conducted the new urine test on a small group of 19 participants, with each one following a different diet, either healthy or very unhealthy. The participants followed the diets for three days and provided urine samples three times each day. The researchers were able to identify specific markers in the urine linked to the food of each diet.
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