BEETHOVEN

SAFE has joined BEETHOVEN “Linking Brain, Environment and Ecosystems Through Holistic Omics and Validated Evidence-based Nutrition guidelines”, a new four-year Horizon Europe project led by the University for Continuing Education Krems.

The project brings together 13 partners from Europe and Israel to better understand how diet affects the brain and mental health, while also considering the microbiome, lifestyle, and external factors, including socioeconomic and environmental influences. Diet quality may indeed play a role in the development of depression, anxiety, stress and other mental disorders through nutritional, inflammatory, metabolic and gut-brain microbiome pathways, and the relationship is bidirectional. 

The evidence found will be translated into nutrition guidelines for the prevention and management of mental-health disorders, tailored to children, adults and older adults. The Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023 and WHO guidance on reducing the risk of cognitive decline and dementia will serve as reference models.

The factors that will be investigated within the project for their potential impact on brain and mental health include unhealthy diets, food additives and dietary patterns; optimal dietary patterns and macro- and micronutrient intake; gut microbiome health, nutrient absorption and gut-permeability modulation; and lifestyle factors such as circadian rhythm. 

In this project, SAFE will lead the Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication Strategy, ensuring that BEETHOVEN’s results are effectively shared with key audiences and contribute to long-term impact. SAFE will also translate the project’s research findings into evidence-based policy recommendations on nutrition guidelines for EU policymakers, to influence EU and local policies to prioritise prevention.

The partners:

The University for Continuing Education Krems, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel); WasserCluster Lunz Research Centre (Austria); the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research and the University of Bayreuth (Germany); the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece); the University of Reading and the Roehampton University, London (United Kingdom); Örebro University (Sweden); Fundació Institut Universitari per a la Recerca a l’Atenció Primària de Salut Jordi Gol i Gurina (IDIAPJGol) Research Centre (Spain); and the University of Eastern Finland, SAFE and the company ANeustart Ltd (Israel).