There is a lot of focus on personal nutrition, but perhaps we should also focus on taking personal responsibility for our health.
“Personalized nutrition (PN) is roots In the concept that one size does not fit all,” and who does not want Think they’re special? The idea of personal nourishment naturally appeals to our ego; This is why simple messages that recognize personality connect deeply with us and why such messages are popular in marketing and sales. This focus is on specificity Inspired Creation of personalized foods, with the suggestion that “3D food printing appears to be a good candidate for food customization.”
Now, there are certainly some legitimate differences of opinion among people. Some? to pass Allergic to peanuts and if they eat peanuts, they reverse, other to pass Celiac disease and gluten need to be avoided, and some are genetically lactose-intolerant. An enzyme mutation common in parts of Asia protects Against alcohol addiction because people with altered enzymes do not metabolize alcohol as efficiently, leading to a build-up of toxic metabolites. I published a fascinating video about the difference in fast vs slow caffeine metabolizers and what the health benefits actually are Expansion of For athletic performance. Caffeine is ergogenic – performance-enhancing – but only in fast metabolizers, cycling 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) took more than a minute longer, while slower metabolizers either got no benefit or caffeine actually slowed them down, adding two minutes to their cycling time, depending on what type of gene they had that codes the enzyme that breaks it down. You can see these results below and in my video at 1:24 How useful is personalized nutrition?.
But for most people, in most situations, we Are More similar than different.
Although there is a specific minority population of people who need a more personalized approach to nutrition, there is currently insufficient evidence to support truly personalized nutrition for most people. Yet the number of direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies is surprising In high volumeOffering personal nutrition advice. For example, there are supplement-hawking companies that claim to help consumers optimize micronutrient status based on a handful of genetic variants, even though most variants explain The difference in levels between people is only a few percent.
personalized nutrition Is Part of a broader effort toward personalized medicine, also known as precision medicine. There Is The “enormous cultural allure”, growing demand, and intense commercialization of personal control over diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease. But unlike monogenetic diseases — which are rare genetic diseases caused by a single malfunctioning gene, such as hemophilia or sickle cell anemia — most diseases are Reason by a complex interplay between multiple genes and environmental factors, which poses “a major challenge to the realization of personalized medicine”.
For example, take something like adult height. researchers have found At least 40 locations on our chromosomes are linked to human height, which is strongly inherited. Parental genes account for about 80% of the variation in height between people, yet the dozens of genes identified explain only 5% of the variation in height between individuals.
researcher search Those genetic links are explored using genome-wide association studies, in which all chromosomes are scanned to look for statistical relationships between diseases and a particular segment of DNA. This is interesting, but so are the companies marketing genetic susceptibility tests. reinterpretation These data seem to predict individual risks. But all you’re really getting are modest genetic associations with modest increases in disease risk and little predictive power compared to the more significant contributions of things like lifestyle behavior. Currently, the practice of using the A person’s DNA “provides little or no useful information” for predicting disease.
For example, suppose a person has been genetically analyzed for They say They are at slightly higher risk for some serious conditions than others in their ancestral group. This person was advised to exercise, keep his or her weight down, not drink too much alcohol, and eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. This is good advice, but we should stay that way regardless of our genetic risk. And we know – at least we should know – these simple, basic strategies for reducing the risk of common chronic diseases. “The problem, of course, is that very few people live this way. In fact, to be more precise, almost no one lives this way.” This is not just an exaggeration—nationwide survey show Nearly everyone in the United States eats a diet that does not conform to even the loosest recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines.
Actually, there are almost none in the United States Eat A healthy diet.” Such findings remind us that when it comes to public health, “it borders on absurd to worry about personalizing our preventive strategies based on genetic risk information.”
doctor’s note
Here’s the video I referred to about fast vs. slow caffeine metabolizers and the differences in health benefits extending to athletic performance: Friday Favorites: Do the health benefits of coffee apply to everyone?.
See related posts below for more information about the lifestyle approach.
