Researchers from the University of Bath want local people living in Bath and surrounding areas to take part in a new health study which aims to understand more about how diet affects our metabolism and body composition.

The team, based in the Centre for Nutrition, Exercise & Metabolism within the University’s Department for Health, are comparing people’s typical diets against global health guidelines on sugar intake and against low carbohydrate diets.

Too much sugar and fat in our diet is known to be associated with metabolic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes. Health guidelines suggest all adults should reduce sugar intake and that people with type 2 diabetes should consider reducing overall carbohydrate intake, yet the effects of these diets, in particular on physical activity levels, have not yet been studied in detail.

The trial will see participants randomly allocated to follow one of three diets – a low sugar diet, a normal (moderate) sugar diet, and a low carb, high fat diet. The researchers will focus on body composition, physical activity, energy intake, insulin, and glucose levels, as well as genetic changes in muscle and fat tissue, and gut microbiome health.

Lead researcher, Aaron Hengist from the Centre said: “For this study we will be asking people to adjust the types of food they’re eating for 12 weeks. We will adjust the amount of free sugars and carbohydrates so we can better understand the health effects of these components of the diet.

“We will be collecting a wide range of measures – from physical activity monitoring to blood samples – to understand the whole picture. We hope the evidence from this study can be used to help refine government guidelines about the health effects of sugars, carbohydrates and fats.”

To be eligible to participate you must be male or female, healthy, aged between 18-65 years old and have a body mass index of between 18.5 and 29.9 kg/m (squared).