By Muhammad Jawad Ghauri
Every individual has a different biochemistry, genetics, micro biome, and metabolism. Based on these differences, there is a non-identical response to nutrients that people consume. Environmental vulnerability, diet pattern, nutrition status, and timings of meals also differ in every individual. Personalized nutrition (PN) is a concept in which every individual has to consume adequate nutrients according to their body needs.
Some other terms also elucidate personalized nutrition, such as “nutritional genomics,” “precision nutrition,” and “individualized nutrition.” Personalized nutrition focuses on the specific aspects of nutrients according to a person’s biological demands depending on their health rank. By focusing on personalized nutrition; targeted objectives, nutritional advice, and services can be developed for every individual accordingly. This concept has popped up recently based on the scientific evidence and anticipated analytical applied sciences. However, it is an interdisciplinary field that relies on the proficiencies of other areas such as medicine, epigenetics, genomics, and systems biology.
Personalized or individualized nutrition has been specifically associated with distinct populations. This type of nutrition strategy may be used to treat people with inborn errors of metabolism. Inborn metabolic errors should be adequately dealt with to ensure improvements in the health of the sufferers. Many goals (e.g. weight regulation, cholesterol management, metabolic health, muscle health, and endurance) could be easily covered by personalized nutrition. Others aim for heart health, memory improvement, attention, blood pressure maintenance, and boosting endurance among athletes.
Chronic diseases are among the top causes of deaths worldwide. Inadequate or poor intake of nutrients is the primary cause of the development of chronic diseases. Cardio metabolic and cancers induced by diet are well-known examples of chronic diseases. Personalized nutrition can help in the excellent management and reversal of chronic diseases. It assists in the body’s response to diets taken during the treatment of both acute and chronic conditions.
There are three essential constituents of personalized nutrition:
- Personalized nutrition science and data
- Personalized nutrition guidance and therapies
- Customized nutrition education and training
A personalized nutrition care model estimates the care a person should take. This model includes assessment, interpretation, intervention, and monitoring. Scientific studies reveal that DNA-based dietary advice is more productive than population-based nutritional advice. Personalized coaching with diet has been more impactful in supporting improvements related to anthropometry, inflammatory markers, cardio metabolic risk markers, and HbA1c. Genetic markers are also associated with long-term changes in clinical markers. Genetic predisposition footprints the clinical reactions to lifestyle. An evident population with comparable qualities is differentially based on their genomic makeup. These traits may lead to a different nutrition approach than standard nutrition approaches.
Gut microbiota also links with nutrients digestion, assimilation, and absorption. In the aftermath, the nutrients are procured from the foods. These microbes also toil to figure out the metabolism of humans by secreting their external enzymatic roles. The interaction of food and nutrients with the gut microbiome and human genetic material dominates the biological processes in the body. They also affect health resilience, diseases, and dysfunctions inside the body. Disturbance in the micro biome composition can lead to diabetes, obesity, immune system dysfunction, and neuroinflammation. The interaction between food and micro biome has also become a challenge in medicine. In this scenario, personalized nutrition is left as the only dietary choice to tackle this prominent issue. It can be a preventive strategy, management tool, and practical treatment to deal with diseases.
Diabetes mellitus type II is a chronic disease leading to metabolic syndrome, obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Maintaining an average blood glucose level in this condition is essential to prevent additional complications from the disease. Postprandial glycemic response (PPGR) is another indicator of diabetes type II, liver cirrhosis, and CVD. PPGR is the response merely attributed to the innate feature of the consumed food. Some interpersonal factors interfere with the PPGR. These factors include glucose transporters’ activity, insulin sensitivity, genetics, and lifestyle. The same food may have different postprandial glucose responses in other individuals. Therefore, PPGR is variable among specific individuals of chosen population. In these circumstances, going with a general or standard nutrition plan and food intake is not wise. All the factors must be considered, and a personalized nutrition plan should be chosen to deal with specific health issues. Including general nutrition or traditional foods only may worsen the condition of the diseased.
Despite the beneficial effects of using personalized nutrition, there are challenges in its large-scale implementation. These challenges may include:
- Limitations in opportunities and approaches to adopting advanced computational data-driven technologies
- A necessity for personalized nutrition computational framework
- Standardization of data and eligibilities for priming individuals
- Data scarcity and requirement for improved methods
About author
Muhammad Jawad Ghauri is an enthusiastic final year student of Doctor of Nutrition Sciences (DNS) at the University of Management and Technology (UMT) Lahore, Pakistan. Currently, he is practicing as a nutrition intern at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore. His clinical expertise involve nutritional management of diabetes, gastric ulcer, and hepatic disorders.
