Tailor-made nutrition: the perfect fit?
Personalised nutrition is a healthy eating buzz-term these days, based on the idea there’s no single best way for all of us to eat, because everyone has different nutritional needs. Sue Quinn tries the idea on for size
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Tailored nutritional advice isn’t new, of course; dietitians have been dispensing it since ancient times. And the tantalising idea we might avoid ill-health by matching our diet to our genetics has been touted since scientists first mapped the human genome almost 20 years ago.
But interest in personalised nutrition is surging, propelled by advances in technology and a deeper understanding of how our individual bodies respond to food. DNA tests, blood screening kits, apps, patches, online questionnaires and one-to-one coaching are just some of the ways bespoke nutrition plans are being devised and dispensed.
According to consumer data company Statista, the global value of the personalised nutrition market will soar to more than $16 billion by 2025. But how can we know which options and advice are based on solid science, and which are little more than gimmicks?
Same food, different response
Scientists now know beyond doubt that individuals respond differently to exactly the same foods, says Dr Sarah Berry, a nutritional scientist at King’s College London and lead researcher on PREDICT, the largest in-depth nutrition study in the world. “Our research shows there’s more than a 10-fold difference in how different individuals, even identical twins, respond to exactly the same food,” she says.