Genes and nutrition, is personalised nutrition the next realistic step

Excerpt

Early 2014, the US Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics wrote in its position statement that “nutritional genomics provides insight into how diet and genotype interactions affect phenotype”[1] Nutrients can dictate phenotypic expression of an individual’s genotype by influencing the processes of gene transcription and protranscriptional processes (including translation). More important, the US Academy identified the practical application of nutritional genomics in the management of complex chronic disease as an emerging science [1]. Nutritional genomics is often presented as the new ‘holy grail’ in nutrition with an ultimate goal to establish a so-called personalised nutrition – i.e. an individual diet tailored to genotype-driven needs. However, one could wonder what the current state of the art is of this concept and to what extent it is realistic to expect such achievements in the near future. …