Everyone Wants It, But What Is It? Understanding How ‘Gut Health’ is Defined and Implications for Nutrition Professionals
Virtual, Event
July 9, 2025
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
In a 2011 paper: “Gut health: A new objective in medicine?”, it was noted that ‘gut health’ is recognized as a “desirable aim and an important physiological condition required for overall good health.” Since the gut microbiome research boom initiated shortly after this paper, even more attention has focused on the gut as impactful to overall health. Although ‘gut health’ is currently used as a catch-all phrase, there has been no agreed-upon definition, which has been a barrier to research and practice. In this session, speakers will clarify how ‘gut health’ is understood and measured and the degree of validity for these measures in both the research and clinical spheres. Exploring the application of the gut health concept into clinical dietetic practice, speakers will review the determinants of gut health, with a focus on diet, and explore the latest research on dietary components that influence gut health as well as interindividual responses to diet interventions.
Learning Outcomes:
(1) Describe the latest scientific perspectives on gut health, and understand the physiological functions related to our current understanding of ‘gut health’.
(2) Understand validated measures that can be used to assess gut function and gut symptoms, their evidence base for application in clinical practice, and how they can be altered by diet.
(3) Define the role of diet as a determinant of gut health, and characterize relevant dietary interventions and their research-based application to patient populations.
Speakers:
Hannah D. Holscher, PhD, RD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Cara Frankenfeld, PhD, EpidStrategies
Heidi Staudacher, PhD RD, Monash University
IAFNS is a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) provider with the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). The Webinar: Understanding How ‘Gut Health’ is Defined and Measured, awards 1 Continuing Professional Education Unit (CPEU) in accordance with the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s CPEU Prior Approval Program.
This event is supported by IAFNS Nutrition for Gut Health Committee.