UNC Greensboro|Directory|Seth Armah

Seth Armah

Seth M. Armah

Associate Professor

Nutrition

Email Address: s_armah@uncg.edu

Phone: 336.256.0324

BRIEF BIO

Micronutrient deficiencies affect over 2 billion people around the world. Among the common deficiencies are iron and zinc deficiencies. Inadequate dietary intake and poor bioavailability of these micronutrients are major contributing factors to the poor status in populations. Poor iron status is also common in certain chronic health conditions as a result of chronic inflammation. Dr. Seth Armah’s research aims at investigating the use of dietary approaches to address micronutrient deficiencies and also understanding the relationship between dietary factors and inflammation in improving micronutrient status.

Dr. Armah’s previous research has investigated iron bioavailability from diets through clinical studies as well as using animal and statistical models. He has estimated iron bioavailability from the US diet using his previously developed statistical model. He has also demonstrated that the inhibitory effect of phytate on nonheme iron absorption in reduced with regular high phytate diet consumption. In his recent work, he has demonstrated that zinc bioavailability is overestimated in the current dietary reference intakes. His current research will focus on improving the status of these micronutrients in at-risk populations.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Dietary approaches to address micronutrient deficiencies with focus on iron and zinc. Relationships among dietary components, inflammation and micronutrient status.

CURRENT PROJECTS

Dr. Armah is currently investigating the associations among dietary intakes, inflammatory markers, and markers of circulating, functional and storage iron among overweight and obese individuals. He is also investigating the effect of almond meal consumption on iron homeostasis in a mice model of obesity. His third study is investigating the interrelationships among selenium, iron status and body weight.

BOOKS

  • Reddy, M.B. and Armah, S,M. 2018. Impact of iron-enriched Aspergillus oryzae on iron bioavailability, safety, and gut microbiota in rats. Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry, 66 (24), pp. 6213–6218
  • Reddy, M.B., Armah, S.M., Stewart, J.W. and O’Brien, K.O. 2018. Iron absorption from iron-enriched Aspergillus oryzae is similar to ferrous sulfate in healthy female subjects. Current Developments in Nutrition, 2(3), p.nzy004.
  • Mischler, R. A., Armah, S.M., Craig, B.A., Rosen, A.D., Banerjee, A., Selzer, D.J., Choi, J.N. and Gletsu-Miller, N. 2017 Comparison of oral iron supplement formulations for normalization of iron status following roux-en-y gastric bypass surgery: a randomized trial. Obesity Surgery. DOI 10.1007/s11695-017-2858-4
  • Wagner, K.A., Braun, E., Armah, S.M., Horan, D., Smith, L.G., Pike, J., Tu, W., Hamilton, M.T., Delp, E.J., Campbell, W.W. and Boushey, C.J., 2017. Dietary Intervention for Glucose Tolerance In Teens (DIG IT): Protocol of a randomized controlled trial using health coaching to prevent youth-onset type 2 diabetes. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 53, pp. 171-177
  • Mohammed, H., Ghosh, S., Vuvor, F., Mensah-Armah, S. and Steiner-Asiedu, M., 2016. Dietary intake and the dynamics of stress, hypertension and obesity in a periurban community in Accra. Ghana Medical Journal, 50(1), pp.16-21.
  • Armah, S.M., 2016. Fractional zinc absorption for men, women, and adolescents is overestimated in the current Dietary Reference Intakes. The Journal of Nutrition, 146(6), pp.1276-1280.
  • Wagner, K.A., Armah, S.M., Smith, L.G., Pike, J., Tu, W., Campbell, W.W., Boushey, C.J., Hannon, T.S. and Gletsu-Miller, N., 2016. Associations between diet behaviors and measures of glycemia, in clinical setting, in obese adolescents. Childhood Obesity, 12(5), pp. 341-347
  • Mischler, R.A., Armah, S.M., Wright, B.N., Mattar, S.G., Rosen, A.D. and Gletsu-Miller, N., 2016. Influence of diet and supplements on iron status after gastric bypass surgery. Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases,12(3), pp.651-658.
  • Armah, S.M., Carriquiry, A.L. and Reddy, M.B., 2015. Total iron bioavailability from the US diet is lower than the current estimate. The Journal of Nutrition, 145(11), pp.2617-2621.
  • Armah, S.M., Boy, E., Chen, D., Candal, P. and Reddy, M.B., 2015. Regular consumption of a high-phytate diet reduces the inhibitory effect of phytate on nonheme-iron absorption in women with suboptimal iron stores. The Journal of Nutrition, 145(8), pp.1735-1739.
  • Nemirovsky, Y., Zavaleta, N., Villanueva, M.E., Armah, S.M., Iman, S.A. and Reddy, M.B., 2014. Negative effect of Camu-Camu (Myrciaria dubia) despite high vitamin C content on iron bioavailability, using a Caco-2 cell model. Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, 64(1), pp.45-48.
  • Armah, S.M., Carriquiry, A., Sullivan, D., Cook, J.D. and Reddy, M.B., 2013. A complete diet-based algorithm for predicting nonheme iron absorption in adults. The Journal of Nutrition, 143(7), pp.1136-1140.
  • Vuvor, F., Steiner-Asiedu, M., Armar-Klemesu, M. and Armah, S., 2011. Population-based study of diabetic mellitus prevalence and its associated factors in adult Ghanaians in the greater Accra region. International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries, 31(3), pp.149-153.
  • Ghosh, S., Smriga, M., Vuvor, F., Suri, D., Mohammed, H., Armah, S.M. and Scrimshaw, N.S., 2010. Effect of lysine supplementation on health and morbidity in subjects belonging to poor peri-urban households in Accra, Ghana. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 92(4), pp. 928-39.