U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Research Annual Report on Science Accomplishments FY 2021





- Advancing Human Nutrition Research
- Advancing Sustainable Aquaculture Production
- Advancing Sustainable Livestock Production
- Combating AMR
- Combating Citrus Greening
- Controlling Insect Pests
- Developing New Crop Varieties
- Expanding Public Access to Agricultural Information
- Improving Pasture and Rangeland Management
- Improving Rural Economies
- Monitoring and Mitigating Plant Disease
- Optimizing Agricultural Management to Mitigate Climate
- Optimizing Water Use Management
- Protecting Animal Health Disease Detection
- Protecting Human and Animal Health
- Protecting Pollinator Health
- Reducing Labor and Advancing Precision Agriculture
- Safeguarding the Food Supply

**Advancing Human Nutrition Research** DOWNLOAD TWO-PAGER PDF  **The ARS Human Nutrition research program enhances the quality of the U.S. diet and improves health through research.**Principal components of the Human Nutrition research program include linkingagricultural practices and beneficial health outcomes; monitoring food composition and nutrient intake;ensuring the scientific basis for dietary guidance; prevention of obesity and obesity-related diseases;and life-stage nutrition and metabolism (understanding how nutrition promotes health from conceptionto old age). This research is conducted by 165 scientists who are either employed directly by ARS or byuniversities. The following accomplishments highlight ARS advances human nutrition research in 2021. **Lean beef in a Mediterranean diet pattern reduces heart disease risk.**Eating red meat has a reputationfor being bad for the heart, but when consumed as part of a healthy diet, it might reduce heart diseaserisk factors such as bad cholesterol. ARS researchers inBeltsville, Maryland, and Pennsylvania State Universitycolleagues conducted a dietary intervention study todetermine how much lean beef can be included in aMediterranean diet pattern to promote heart health.Volunteers daily consumed either 0.5, 2.5, or 5.5 ouncesof lean beef as part of a healthy Mediterranean dietpattern or 2.5 ounces as part of a typical American diet.The researchers determined that a Mediterranean dietpattern that included lean beef consumption at all threelevels reduced bad cholesterol and other risk factors forheart disease. While the traditional Mediterranean dietis low in lean beef, this study demonstrates how peoplecan incorporate lean beef into a healthy diet and benefitfurther from beef’s other key nutrients. **Adolescents with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes have impaired metabolic flexibility.**Metabolic flexibilityrefers to the ability to utilize different nutrients (fats andsugars) and to transition between them while fastingand after a meal. Impaired metabolic flexibility can lead to metabolic disease, but it is not clear whethermetabolic flexibility is impaired in obese youth. ARS-funded researchers in Houston, Texas, found thatadolescents with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes have a defect in metabolic flexibility and are not ableto change fuel use as easily as normal weight individuals or obese individuals who maintain normal sugarlevels. The impairment results from severe insulin resistance that in turn impairs the appropriate use ofavailable fuels. These results highlight the need for additional studies to investigate how changes in dietor physical activity could improve how the body utilizes these nutrients and help mitigate the risk of type 2diabetes. **Carbohydrates and fat intake influence the risk of metabolic diseases.**It is not clear how the cellularprocess methylation controls genes associated with the risk of metabolic diseases such as obesity, type2 diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, and abnormal lipids. ARS-funded researchers in Boston,Massachusetts, enrolled 3,954 Hispanic, Black, and White volunteers in a study to assess if carbohydrateand fat intakes influenced methylation and the risk of metabolic diseases. For each group, and in acombination of the three groups, the analyses demonstrated strong associations of a specific methylationmarker with metabolic characteristics such as body mass index, triglyceride, glucose, and hypertension.The results demonstrated carbohydrate intake induces a specific methylation site that reduces the risk of the metabolic diseases in the study, but that fat intake inhibits a specific methylation site and increases the risk of these metabolic diseases. These findings identify how balancing carbohydrate and fat intake canaffect metabolic disease risks that currently affect millions of Americans. **Vitamin A (VA) supplementation improves immune function in Bangladeshi infants****.**Vitamin A (VA) protects against respiratory and intestinal infections, but the protective mechanism is not fully known. In animals, VA increases a protein that allows immune cells to migrate to the intestinal mucosal immune sites where they protect against pathogenic microorganisms. However, this has not been shown in humans. ARS researchers in Davis, California, and International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research colleagues in Bangladesh conducted a trial of VA supplementation in 306 Bangladeshi newborns and found that VA increased expression of this protein by T regulatory (Treg) cells in early infancy. Treg cells play a central role in regulating immunity at mucosal surfaces. These results suggest that VA supplementation during infancy prompts an increased expression of this specific protein, which in turn reduces the risk of death from common childhood infections in populations at risk of VA deficiency. Ausmus, Stephen. Registered dietitian and president-elect of the Maryland Dietetic Association Jessica Kiel (left) encourages shoppers to use the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) ChooseMyPlate.gov interactive tools, which use USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) national nutrient data to make better, healthier food choices on Dec. 28, 2011. USDA photo. https://flic.kr/p/dQok5p.


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov