After marrying, they moved to his home in Denmark, where she did post-graduate studies, being awarded a PhD in Physiology of Nutrition from the Danish Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University.

[1][2][3] Thilsted worked in Bangladesh and Cambodia where she examined the nutritional composition of small native fish species found and consumed in those countries.

From this research, Thilsted went on to develop nutrition-sensitive approaches and innovations to food production that have improved the nutrition of millions of low-income people.

Working together with local communities and the private sector Thilsted also promoted the development of affordable, and culturally acceptable, highly nutritional fish-based products, suitable for young children and lactating women.

She also discovered that these products helped increase the absorption or bioavailability of other essential micronutrients found in vegetables and rice, such as iron and zinc.