Introduction
It is a well-known fact that dietary factors act as a contributor to certain medical conditions like heart diseases, diabetes, cancer, stroke, etc. Despite this known link, interventions to change dietary habits to improve well-being and public health have limited impact.
What Is Personalized Nutrition?
Personalized nutrition or precision nutrition is an approach that uses information on individual characteristics for developing targeted nutritional products, advice, and services. It is an approach that assists one in achieving a lasting dietary alteration that benefits one’s health.
The main aim of personalized nutrition is to improve or preserve health using nutritional, medical, phenotypic, genetic, and other individual characteristics to deliver nutritional services and products. It is mainly applied in two broad areas- firstly, for dietary management of individuals with specific diseases or those with particular needs (pregnancy or elderly). Secondly, it is used for developing effective interventions for improving public health. Individuals may use personalized nutrition plans to achieve personal goals that may not be directly related to health (for example, achieving the desired body size or shape).
Precision nutrition is based on the assumption that each individual has a different response to a specific food. Therefore, the best diet for one will be further from the other. Precision nutrition also considers the microbiome (the total collection of microbes and their genetic material in the human body in a specific habitat). The type and number of microbes each possess are unique. As per precision nutrition, the type of bacteria in one’s body determines how particular food is broken down and which foods are most beneficial to the body.
How Does Personalized Nutrition Plans Work?
Though most registered nutritionist takes into account the individual’s physical activity, personal goals, sleep behaviors, and dietary habits, personalized nutrition takes into account an even more in-depth approach. It focuses on an individual rather than a group.
Personalization Based on Individual Biological Characteristics
The basis for a personalized nutrition plan is that different individuals respond differently to dietary components. These differences include differential responses to the level of plasma cholesterol after taking dietary saturated fat, intolerances (for example, lactose intolerances or gluten sensitivity), food allergies, and even inborn errors in metabolism. Personalized nutrition plans also consider critical factors like sex, ethnicity, race, BMI (body mass index), particular life stages like pregnancy and breastfeeding, and religious or cultural background.
Nutrigenetics is the branch that studies the differences in phenotypic responses to diet based on an individual's genetic differences. Because of technological advancements, an individual can continuously monitor multiple health factors like sleep, physical activity, stress levels, etc.
Microbiome-based information is also taken into account. Studies suggest that an individual’s glycemic test response can be predicted from microbiome data.
Personalization Based on Current Preferences, Behavior, Barriers, and Objectives
Compared to medications, dietary changes require people to take daily or even hourly choices. These lifestyle changes are the individual's responsibility, and they are responsible for their health. Advanced technologies are available, which motivates one to eat healthily. However, most of these applications are biased toward certain subgroups and follow a “one-size-fits-all” approach. One of the studies concluded that personalized diet plans were more effective than conventional one-size-fits-all” approach.
What Are the Challenges in Implementation of Personalized Nutrition Plans?
Nutritional genomics provides insight into how dietary changes and genotype characteristics affect the individual’s phenotype. However, the clinical application of nutritional genomics in the case of chronic diseases is only an emerging field. Most studies on the effectiveness of personalizing diet plans were observational and not interventional.
Studies have suggested a link between a variant in APOA2 and the consumption of saturated fatty acids, which will increase the risk of obesity and further increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Personalized nutrition plans for such individuals do not fully guarantee any benefits. This is because, as with many health conditions, cardiovascular diseases are multifactorial, and there are several risk factors involved.
Therefore, predicting one’s health outcome with personalized diet plans is almost impossible. Therefore, current studies focus on analyzing multiple factors simultaneously. Single-subject studies have also been carried out. In-person consultation with a lifestyle coach or a health professional results in shared decision-making but is comparatively expensive.
Is Personalized Nutrition More Effective?
Though several studies suggest that personalized nutrition plans are more effective than conventional approaches, most are observational and not randomized control studies.
Studies suggest that personalized nutrition produces more sustained behavioral changes than traditional approaches. However, whether these personalized plans improve health and well-being remains unanswered. Studies involving large population groups carried out for a sufficiently long period are needed to answer this.
What Is the Role of Precision Nutrition in Disease Management?
Based on the genetic data, certain specific dietary treatments must be followed. For example, a gluten-free diet in case of celiac disease (a digestive system disease mainly affecting the small intestine), a lactose-free diet in case of lactose intolerance, and avoidance of dietary phenylalanine in case of phenylketonuria (an uncommon inherited disorder characterized by buildup of phenylalanine in the body). Further research is being conducted on applying precision nutrition for type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, certain cancers, etc.
The traditional management options for type 2 diabetes include medications and lifestyle modifications.
Precision nutrition aids in further tailoring the treatment by considering the following things:
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Evaluating how one’s genetic material is linked to the metabolism of certain nutrients.
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Identifying those gut microbiomes that aid in improving blood glucose control. Following those dietary patterns that alter one’s microbiome to support the growth of certain gut bacteria.
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Metabolic testing helps determine how one’s body responds to a specific diet.
Conclusion
Personalized Nutrition uses individual characteristics information for developing targeted nutrition plans. These are based on the concept that personalization improves health benefits, considering the link of dietary intake to certain medical conditions. However, more large-scale control studies are needed to analyze the effectiveness.
