Leveraging Translational Science to Disseminate Evidence on Using Herbs and Spices to Improve Diet Quality

Translational science bridges the gap between research and practice to positively influence health behaviors. Guided by core translational science principles—including producing solutions for a common challenge, emphasizing creativity, leveraging team science, and utilizing partnerships—our interdisciplinary team of educators, researchers, and clinicians at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), with support from the McCormick Science Institute (MSI), has applied translational science approaches to address poor diet quality. Our recent activities have focused on translating previous research on herbs and spices alongside recommendations from the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) to educate the general public about the benefits of herbs and spices to improve diet quality. Specifically, we developed evidence-based educational materials to teach the American public about using herbs and spices in home cooking. We also developed short and longer educational videos to assess the effectiveness of nutrition education videos provided to the American public, as well as to patients and medical professionals in a clinical setting. Across diverse audiences, results were consistent whereby the interest, knowledge, confidence, and intent to use herbs and spices in cooking increased in participants after watching the videos compared to before watching them. Participants also found the videos to be engaging and of high quality. These findings demonstrate the positive effects of short nutrition education videos and suggest that content can be condensed without losing effectiveness of impact. Building on this work, we hope to expand the implementation of evidence-based research into schools while also exploring the influences of messaging on eating behaviors among adolescents and their engagement with nutrition information through social media outlets. With support from MSI, we look forward to continuing this interdisciplinary collaboration and emphasizing creativity and innovation by utilizing cross-sectoral partnerships to produce new solutions to improve diet quality across all populations.