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Introduction
“Personalized nutrition” has been promoted as an approach that will improve people’s health by prescribing them specific dietary recommendations based on their own genetic and phenotypic data.
The premise is that given we each respond differently to foods, having general dietary recommendations may be doing many people a disservice. And by using an array of personal data, it is now possible to give unique diets that improve health.
The early and interesting findings of research in this area was met with much fanfare, and indeed, many companies are now offering commercial direct-to-consumer services based on genetic and physiological testing, followed by “personalized” dietary prescription. Such testing may include genetic tests, microbiome testing, glucose monitoring data, and more. This data is then fed into machine learning algorithms to prescribe dietary recommendations.
However, do the marketing claims match the current evidence? Does the “proof” it works that is often cited, actually back up the claims? Do personalized nutrition diets actually lead to improved health outcomes over generic, conventional dietary recommendations? Do personalized nutrition diets lead to better outcomes than standard dietetic/nutrition practice?
To answer these questions, we go through the main studies cited in favor of personalized nutrition being superior to typical dietary advice, and see if they indeed support the claims.
So is personalized nutrition superior to standard dietary advice? Let’s find out…
Related resources
- Join the Sigma newsletter for free
- Subscribe to Sigma Nutrition Premium
- Become a member of Alan Flanagan’s Alinea Nutrition Education Hub
- Relevant studies:
- Livingstone et al., 2016 – Effect of an Internet-based, personalized nutrition randomized trial on dietary changes associated with the Mediterranean diet: the Food4Me Study
- Celis-Morales, 2017 – Effect of personalized nutrition on health-related behaviour change: evidence from the Food4Me European randomized controlled trial
- Zeevi et al., 2015 – Personalized Nutrition by Prediction of Glycemic Responses
- Ben-Yacov et al., 2021 – Personalized Postprandial Glucose Response–Targeting Diet Versus Mediterranean Diet for Glycemic Control in Prediabetes
- Definition & Terminology
- Claims Made About Personalized Nutrition
- Food4Me Study
- Zeevi et al., 2015 Study – Postprandial Glucose
- Ben Yacov et al: Personalized Postprandial Glucose Response–Targeting
- PREDICT Study
- How Marketing & Hype is Misusing Current Evidence
The Hosts
Click through to your app of choice to listen and subscribe:
Dr. Alan Flanagan has a PhD in nutrition from the University of Surrey, where his doctoral research focused on circadian rhythms, feeding, and chrononutrition.
This work was based on human intervention trials. He also has a Masters in Nutritional Medicine from the same institution.
Dr. Flanagan is a regular co-host of Sigma Nutrition Radio. He also produces written content for Sigma Nutrition, as part of his role as Research Communication Officer.
Danny Lennon has a master’s degree (MSc.) in Nutritional Sciences from University College Cork, and he is the founder of Sigma Nutrition.
Danny is currently a member of the Advisory Board of the Sports Nutrition Association, the global regulatory body responsible for the standardisation of best practice in the sports nutrition profession.
Introduction to this Episode
“Personalized nutrition” has been promoted as an approach that will improve peopleʼs health by prescribing them specific dietary recommendations based on their own genetic and phenotypic data.
The premise is that given we each respond differently to foods, having general dietary recommendations may be doing many people a disservice. And by using an array of personal data, it is now possible to give unique diets that improve health.
The early and interesting findings of research in this area was met with much fanfare, and indeed, many companies are now offering commercial direct-to-consumer services based on genetic and physiological testing, followed by “personalized” dietary prescription. Such testing may include genetic tests, microbiome testing, glucose monitoring data, and more. This data is then fed into machine learning algorithms to prescribe dietary recommendations.
However, do the marketing claims match the current evidence? Does the “proof” it works that is often cited, actually back up the claims? Do personalized nutrition diets actually lead to improved health outcomes over generic, conventional dietary recommendations? Do personalized nutrition diets lead to better outcomes than standard dietetic/nutrition practice?
To answer these questions, we go through the main studies cited in favor of personalized nutrition being superior to typical dietary advice, and see if they indeed support the claims.
So is personalized nutrition superior to standard dietary advice? Letʼs find out…
Connection to Previous Episodes
#361: Sarah Berry, PhD – The PREDICT Study, Postprandial Metabolism &
Personalized Nutrition
- Dr Sarah Berry is a researcher and senior lecturer in nutritional science at King’s College London.
- She is one of the authors of the PREDICT-1 trial, published in Nature Medicine, that looked at a personalized nutrition approach for improving postprandial responses.
- You can find the episode page here.
