Dr Fláv

17/02/2026

If we want a healthier 2040, what needs to change now?

I recently had the pleasure of joining the NSW Health Future Health Podcast.
It’s part of the Future Workforce Unit at the Ministry of Health and it’s all about helping the health sector prepare for what’s next. 
And I was honoured to add my “future-thinking” flavour to the conversation.

We explored questions that sit at the intersection of science, food systems and human potential and discussed some of our work at and the nutrition program for the early years I co-developed with Sinead Storch called ._ (because, really- food SHOULD be cool..we’ve gotten too side tracked with the macronutrients and the “ultra-processed” era).

✨ How we are in an era of ‘invisible’ nutrition as we are forgetting the importance of the micronutrients (relevant as the Health Star Rating- or macronutrient and sodium rating, just got mandated in Australia).
✨ Aeronutrients and how it may serve as adjunct nutrition therapy
✨ 27 million hospital meals a year- what can we do with food?
✨ Childhood obesity and the food-first appraoch
✨ Nutrition misinformaiton in the TikTok era
✨ Space-grown mushrooms (of course!) and what can space teach us about the future of food and health
✨ What are the skills that I believe will be essential for our future workforce?
✨ From synthetic foods to space nutriiton- what mindset and skill shifts we will need to build a workforce that is adaptive, innovative and future-ready?

+++Plus my one big idea prediction for the future of nutrition.

🎙️ More to come when the episode goes live!

FutureFood

24/12/2025

🎄✨ A gentle reminder from your nutrition scientist.. 🤓
Health isn’t won or lost in one week of pavlova, cheese boards, or champagne.
So eat, laugh, celebrate, and enjoy your food, wherever you are and whatever eat!

Eat and be merry.
— Dr Flav

06/10/2025

🚀 What’s the future of space food?

I got to present on that topic at Sydney’s Festival of Science on Satruday and did a live cross with the Today Show just before it! You can watch the interview via the link in bio.

What will we be eating on Mars?
There’ll be no Uber Eats. No Woolies click & collect. Just you, your crew… and maybe a 3D-printed mushroom steak or two. 🍄

Food decides whether humans thrive or fail in space.
From the first tube of beef liver paté in 1961 to freeze-dried food, the future of space food may include a range of plants and algae, lab-grown meat, mushrooms grown in orbit, and even vitamin mists.

Space is already shaping how we’ll eat on Earth. Because every bite that fuels an astronaut in the hazardous and confined space environment, brings us one step closer to nutritious, sustainable food systems here on planet Earth. 🌍

✨ Space will feed our future.

Interested in having me speak at your next event? Get in touch!

11/09/2025

Can green tea affect your iron absorption?

Yes- it technically can- both the flavonoids and the caffeine can inhibit iron absorption.

But you can minimise the effect by not having it with your meals, especially if the meal is a source of plant-based iron. Top it off by adding some vitamin C to your iron-rich plant-based meal (a squeeze of lemon juice on the Dahl, fresh strawberries in your spinach salad, etc.).

Read the article via the link in my bio!

20/08/2025

Every week there’s another headline about UPFs “causing” obesity. I’m not saying UPFs are a free-for-all.

As I head to the International Congress of Nutrition this week, I thought it would be good to get up to date on the two sides of this very polarising debate.

Nutrition science is messy, and the evidence on UPFs is far from black and white. Before we make blanket rules, we need to make sure the science is robust & that solutions don’t create unintended consequences.

This review looked at all the possible mechanisms that could explain why UPFs might cause weight gain and tested them against the evidence.

What are your thoughts?

The review:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advnut.2023.04.006

25/06/2025

While at Cape Canaveral for Mission MushVroom 🚀, I was invited to speak at NASA’s Lunch & Learn.
An internal session where big space brains come together to explore new frontiers (and this time, mushrooms were on the menu 🍄).

The room was full, and included some of my colleagues from ISU in person and online. What an honour to put a spotlight on our work in nutrition science, our mission and the future of food with the incredible NASA team.

It was also incredible to get a personal tour of where the space crop magic happens at KSC by Trent Smith! Meeting Gioia Massa, connecting with new scientists.

Meeting the team face-to-face was a highlight. Most importantly, hearing their passion and stories (literally straight from the source!).

The whole NASA space crop team is so passionate, curious, generous with their knowledge, and genuinely fun humans. We were wholeheartedly supported by the team for our mission and we are extremely grateful.

What was surreal was standing where astronauts actually walk out before missions. Where the Apollo crew walked. And where many more will.

Being able to touch the mission patches…and to even see a dedicated astronauts EV car park..not a joke! LOL (see photo).

I left feeling energised, inspired, and more determined than ever.

Thank you Ralph for the connection, Trent and the whole space crop team at NASA for having me, and allowing me to share some nutrition science insights that’ll help shape the future of space food and human health too. 💫

30/05/2025

What an epic 2 days at the Australian Space Summit. 🚀

My highlight? Spending time with epic humans who are changing the world.
And the photo I got with 3 Aussie astronauts (one day 4???!! 🤣). I LOVE your sense of humour Dr Paul Scully-Power! I’m glad I have a hyphenated last name. 🤓

The beauty of the space sector is that you don’t need a traditional degree in “space”. And it doesn’t even have to be STEM as Katherine Bennell-Pegg beautifully told to our next generation. There is a place for everyone- from arts, to business and science.

There are many adjacent industries- like food and nutrition!

Thank you Eric Philips for the mention and flying the food flag- we need to do better when it comes to food for the space sector. Let’s move it from providing nutrients to being an asset to both physical and psychological health. 👩‍🚀🧠

Absolute pleasure to chat in depth to Eric, his wife Suzie and his friend Tim! Loved our discussions and cannot wait for more.

And my daughter Tallara even made a digital appearance at summit!! More on this later… 🦠

Till next time!

22/04/2025

Off the back of , I now get to do one of my favourite aspects of the work- sharing the why.

I'm excited to be heading to the Workshop for Research in Low-Earth Orbit in Columbus hosted by The Ohio State University. Happening on April 23-24, I can’t wait to be surrounded by brilliant minds, spark conversations with new and old colleagues and help ignite the food ecosystem for the future of space commercialization.
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Handles:
FB

https://www.facebook.com/osu/

LI
https://www.linkedin.com/school/the-ohio-state-university/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/keystone-space-collaborative/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/starlab-space/

19/04/2025

17/04/2025

🍄‍🟫♻️ Did you wonder why we chose oyster mushrooms for Mission MushVroom?
Oyster mushroom cultivation offers a practical, eco-conscious solution to global food demand rising alongside concerns about sustainability, on Earth- and in space.

Oyster mushrooms are decomposers- helping reduce, reuse and recycle. They bridge the gap between waste reduction and food production.
Swipe for insights on why they’re nature’s perfect bite-size recyclers.

What do you think? Let’s talk fungi in the comments. 🍄👇
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05/03/2025

Last week, I had the privilege to attend and present a keynote at the For Food’s Sake Summit for the second time. And I can’t speak more highly of the innovation, connections, and genuine interest from farmers, those in the supply chain, researchers, food manufacturers, and health professionals who want to come together to create our future food system.

I got to showcase some of the research shaping our future of food and nutrition with a lens that considers culture and the food route from . If we stop at the plate or the fork, we miss the point (in many ways).

I got to see what is doing in regenerative farming (cattle and produce); tasted the delicious zero alcohol alternative made with native ingredients and rescued blueberries, and have the most amazing 1:1 time with and even got to try the most delicious dessert of my life (not joking- it was incredible) at .

I was super proud to see .cassettari nail his storytelling presentation about how we have historically disregarded groundbreaking research due to internal biases around industry funding and findings that challenge the status quo. We used to think nuts were fattening and increased the risk of heart disease, and today, it is seen as foundational to a heart-healthy diet. Tim drew some similarities with history from our recent experience with 100% juice and health .

As I venture to summits and conferences outside of ‘nutrition,’ I am fascinated with how little nutrition is embedded in our food supply, discussions, and in innovation. And if there is nutrition, it’s often only focused on the macronutrients while nearly wholly missing out on the micros and bioactives (not to mention the food matrix).It’s time nutrition gets added to the agenda.

If you research and work in it, then please go interdisciplinary and help fly the nutrition flag to help better shape our future food systems worldwide.If you’re interested in having a nutrition expert speak at your event- I’d love to help!
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04/03/2025

🛫☀️⌚️ Did you know that sunlight exposure is super powerful to reset your master body clock? The key is the timing of your exposure. It’s one of my top strategies to beat the dreaded jet-lag. Timing depends on which way you’re flying around the globe.

W - If you’re going West, you’ll want to extend your day (you’re chasing the sun). ☀️🚶🏽‍♀️🌳 Make sure you go outdoors in the late afternoon and get some light exposure. I like to go to a local park for a nice stroll.

E - If you’re going East, you’ll want to shorten your day. This is a lot harder to do, but the trick is to get sunlight exposure as soon as you wake up, and preferably earlier in the day (just after sunrise). 🌅 Despite my night owl body clock- I set an alarm, wake up early and go for some outdoor exercise. 🏃🏼‍♀️I like to go for a light jog at my destination and do some sightseeing while I’m at it!

Have you tried it? ✈️
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