Personalised nutrition involves conducting an in-depth evaluation of one’s genetic make up, medical history, lifestyle choices and preferences to set specific nutrient goals. For example, someone at risk of high blood pressure might include more potassium-rich foods in their diet while decreasing sodium consumption.
Studies demonstrate the effectiveness of personalized nutrition programs in helping individuals abide with general dietary guidelines while also moving them closer to nutritional recommendations. This research explores further the role of personalization and its effect on diet consumption.
Personalized Dietary Recommendations
Personalized nutrition considers each person’s lifestyle and health goals individually, taking into account food preferences, dietary restrictions and cultural traditions. Because it adapts more easily than a one-size-fits-all diet plan that may leave people feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, personalized nutrition offers greater sustainability than one size-fits-all plans.
General guidelines for healthy eating aim to assist the majority of the population in avoiding chronic disease, but as individuals differ considerably in terms of genetic and environmental influences such as personality and socio-psychological environments, personalized dietary advice could prove more successful at altering eating behaviors and improving health outcomes than generic advice.
Recent research2 on personalized nutritional support for medical inpatients at nutritional risk demonstrated its efficacy; meal plans tailored specifically for each inpatient helped meet protein and energy goals, as well as reduce adverse clinical outcomes. Yet the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics warns against making individualised diets available via direct-to-consumer genetic testing routine practice.
Reduced Risk of Chronic Diseases
At home DNA tests and wearable devices have made personalized nutrition (PN) an emerging field, providing nutrition advice tailored specifically to individual’s genetic makeup, lifestyle habits and diet with the aim of improving overall health outcomes.
Approach is particularly effective for those at higher risk for chronic illnesses, such as obesity and cardiovascular disease. People carrying certain variants of the FTO gene (also known as “fat gene”), for instance, have increased likelihood of obesity – but by eating healthily with high-fibre diet and engaging in physical activity regularly they can lower this risk significantly.
An extensive nutritional evaluation should take into account environmental factors that impact food choices and lifestyle behaviors, including cultural practices, personal likes and dislikes, food intolerances/allergies/dietary restrictions such as gluten allergies or medically necessary low-carbohydrate diets. Although often neglected or ignored by clients when setting out their goals for diet change, environmental considerations can play a vital role in meeting them more quickly.
Increased Adherence to Dietary Recommendations
Personalized nutrition is founded on the idea that diets should be tailored specifically to each person to prevent disease and promote good health. Multiple studies have demonstrated how personalized nutrition improves diet, lifestyle, and health outcomes.
But most evidence comes from observational studies using risk factors as outcome measures and few randomized trials have been published. Furthermore, it can be challenging to account for other influences that influence diet in these trials and attribute causality in them.
Food4Me study results demonstrated that participants whose PDP included advice tailored specifically to genotype and phenotype showed greater improvements in diet quality when compared with those receiving generalized recommendations, suggesting a broader approach is necessary for increasing adherence and efficacy in future RCTs. Nutrient deficiencies as well as modifiable factors like stress levels, sleep patterns and physical activity must also be factored into personalized dietary advice when designing personalized plans.
Improved Health Outcomes
Personalized nutrition (sometimes referred to as precision nutrition, nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics) involves tailoring nutritional recommendations specifically to an individual based on factors like genotype/phenotype combinations, food habits, microbiota composition, metabolism and physical activity levels. It is believed that these individual variations impact an individual’s response to diet intervention.
Dietary guidelines are meant to assist most people in avoiding chronic diseases; however, not everyone responds in the same way due to differences in gender, age, genetics, lifestyle choices, personality and socio-psychological environments.
Personalizing diet advice can improve health outcomes by making it relevant and accessible to each individual. A registered dietitian can teach clients how to incorporate these new dietary behaviors into everyday life – this ensures the changes are sustainable. For instance, clients at risk of obesity can learn how to incorporate healthier foods that fit with busy lifestyles into their diet so as to overcome genetic predisposition for obesity by becoming familiar with tasty yet healthful food options. By accomplishing their goals while staying motivated for long-term change.
