The LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center is getting an overall injection of $16.4-million dollars for studies on the nutritional health of military personnel.
$3.5-million dollars will go to conduct a three year clinical research trial with the U.S. Army Research Insititute of Environmental Medicine. The center will be paying participants $75-hundred dollars for a 20-day trial.
Those participants will take on a military lifestyle, according to Dr. Jennifer Rood. "For 20 days they're going to be exercized, sleep deprived, and fed MREs," Rood says. "The exercise we're going to do is going to be more military relevant."
The trial will measure hormone levels, fat loss, changes in muscle mass and mental fatigue. Rood says "It's just as important as physical performance, it's just as important for vigilence, making sure that their brains are functioning."
According to the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, the remaining $12.9-million dollars in grant money will fund a five year study world-wide study to be administered through the Army's Research Institute of Environment with the objective is develop a sustainable diet for war fighters.