Using food to improve gene function and health

As someone studying nutritional epigenomics, Dr. Barbara Stefanska and her team look at the link between diet and health outcomes at the cellular level. Specifically, Stefanska examines epigenetics, or how certain foods can ‘turn on’ or ‘turn off’ genes – changing cell behaviour for the better or worse – without changing the underlying DNA code.

In January this year, Stefanska, an Associate Professor in the Food, Nutrition and Health program, was named a fellow of the British Pharmacological Society, recognizing her contributions to epigenetic pharmacology and her service to the British Journal of Pharmacology. She has also just taken on the role of Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the journal Epigenetics.

Studying food can be challenging but fun, and meaningful to our daily life. Her research looks at the active ingredients in food that can be absorbed by the body, interact with body proteins, and target specific genes to reduce the impacts of aging and disease or to improve longevity. Here are some of her current projects: 

How exercise and a ‘cafeteria’ diet influence neurons

French fries, cookies and hot dogs – high fat, high carbohydrate foods are typical cafeteria staples that could negatively affect the number and functions of neurons, the primary cells of the brain and nervous system. Can exercise provide a buffer against any possible negative impacts via epigenetics?

Last summer Stefanska kicked off an international partnership with Dr. Joanna Śliwowska, Professor in the Lab of Neurobiology, at Poznan University of Life Sciences in Poland. Their project, funded through the National Science Center in Poland and an NSERC Alliance International Collaboration grant, examines how environmental factors such as eating a ‘normal’ diet versus a ‘cafeteria’ diet or getting regular exercise can control the muscle and brain interaction in the development of new brain cells. This study is using animals as an experimental model.

The benefits? Exercise is known to induce the release of beneficial, nourishing proteins to support brain cell development and activity. They aim to identify proteins and pathways mediating muscle-brain crosstalk in healthy animals, unraveling how multiple organs (brain and skeletal muscle) regulate the formation of new brain cells in adulthood and how diet can affect cell biology.

A climate-smart coating for produce

Stefanska also has a collaboration with UBC food scientist, Assistant Professor Tianxi Yang, to study a new climate-smart coating made of metal ions and polyphenols for highly perishable produce. The coating would be applied post-harvest to improve the longevity of fresh produce – to reduce food waste and improve accessibility – and the polyphenols could potentially provide additional health benefits.

Polyphenols are bioactive compounds with high antioxidant activities that are known to prevent or reverse cellular damage. There are approximately 8,000 types of polyphenols, which are found naturally in plants, such as fruits and vegetables, and plant-based foods and beverages, such as spices, coffee, dark chocolate, wine and tea.

Stefanska’s team will specifically focus on studying the effects of metal phenolic networks on the epigenome and gene expression signatures of human cells, and further consequences to human cell functioning. 

Their proposal to develop the coating was one of only three proposals successfully funded last year in a highly competitive U.S. program called the Innovation Challenge “Nourishing Next Generation Agrifood Breakthroughs,” held by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research. 

A healthy diet full of polyphenols

In two recent publications, Stefanska, her trainees and collaborators compared how polyphenols found in berries, soybeans, grapes and coffee affect gene expression, and the resulting health benefits.

In Molecular Nutrition and Food Research, November 19, 2024, they studied a blueberry polyphenol known as pterostilbene (PTS), recognized for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. The researchers discovered the main polyphenols of blueberries, in comparison to coffee and grapes, had the most positive outcomes in relation to anti-inflammatory and auto-immune responses in healthy animals. This was measured by looking at gene expression in blood samples. The impact of this can play a role in stunting the hallmarks of aging by reducing processes requiring high amounts of energy like protein synthesis. Coffee and grapes did not preform as well as blueberries, possibly because polyphenols from those foods were harder for the animals to absorb, or they needed to eat greater amounts to see similar results.

In another study published in Epigenetics, March 3, 2025, Stefanska’s team examined the role of polyphenols in maintaining homeostasis – where your body maintains a healthy state of balance even under changing conditions – in breast cells. They studied the role of epigenetic mechanisms using cell cultures and compared bioactive polyphenols from soybeans and berries. They found polyphenols from both foods had a positive effect on maintaining homeostasis as measured by the ability of cells to repair DNA damage and suppress ribosome formation, both of which are associated with longevity. They worked in different ways, but modified the epigenome and exerted similar phenotypic outcomes.

Direction of future studies on food and health

Research shows that bioactive compounds, including polyphenols present in food and herbs, can remodel gene expression in human cells.

“I hypothesize that these compounds can target epigenetic components in human cells and thus remodel gene expression and cellular functions to prevent disease and attenuate disease states,” Stefanska says.

“Despite a growing body of evidence for beneficial effects of polyphenols, we still need more mechanistic and clinical studies to hopefully reach a point where polyphenols are manufactured into supplements and recommended by physicians for health maintenance.”

Stefanska encourages people to eat more polyphenol-rich foods, such as berries, dark chocolate, nuts, tea, and coffee. In future, the goal will be to study dietary bioactive compounds in their food matrix and translate research findings to polyphenol-rich foods to demonstrate their potential health benefits.

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