In the AQUABIOPRO-FIT project, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki will be focusing on the bioactivity of sport performance nutritional supplements made from fish side streams. We caught up with professor Vassilis Mougios to find out how his interest in chemistry lead to a career in exercise biochemistry and sports nutrition.

My area of expertise is exercise biochemistry and sport nutrition. In plain terms, I teach and do research on how the human body responds to different exercises at the molecular level and how nutrition can modify performance. Apart from having a theoretical interest, this knowledge is of great practical importance, since it allows us to improve two crucial factors: health and sport performance. The former (health) applies to all individuals who want to protect or improve their health through physical activity and exercise, whereas the latter (sport performance) applies to all athletes.

As a pupil at high school, I was fascinated by chemistry and decided to study it at University. There, I became passionate about biochemistry and decided to specialize in it through my doctoral studies. My PhD research was on muscle contraction, which directed me to exercise biochemistry. Since exercise biochemistry is closely linked to sport nutrition, my engagement with the latter was a natural consequence. I find it very fulfilling to explore how diet and dietary supplements interact with exercise in terms of biochemical parameters that are indicative of health and sport performance.

My team and I will test the bioactivity of the “sport performance nutritional supplement” that will be produced in the context of the project on athletes. By “bioactivity” we mean specific actions of the nutritional supplement’s components on human biology and on the performance of athletes. Two such components are proteins and omega-3 fatty acids, both of which will be included at high concentrations in the nutritional supplement. By administering the nutritional supplement to athletes and comparing its effects to those of a similar commercially available product, we expect to be able to assess the nutritional supplement’s bioactivity.

The Consortium consists of 3 universities, 1 large company, 3 SMEs, 1 NGO and 4 research institutes from 7 European countries. Find out more about Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the other AQUABIOPRO-FIT project partners in the links below.