Can Nutrigenomics replace the concept of one size fits all?

Nutrigenomics is a buzz word going in and around the globe for quite a long time, still there are many who really are not aware of this term. To keep it simple, nutrigenomics is the study of how genes and nutrients interact. Genetic differences predict how an individual’s body will respond to certain nutrients. It is a deep science that can help guide a health and wellness consultant to decide regulation of eating, a person’s taste perception, macronutrient response and micronutrient requirements to manage food intolerance and sensitivities as well as weight as well as help identify the person’s risk of developing common chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, etc. Nutrigenomic test results assist in making daily dietary decisions in a better way to provide more targeted approach to determine what steps needs to be taken to have a good quality of life.

Nutrigenomics allows you to determine what parts of your diet impact your health and can reduce disease risks in the long run. At the same time, the commercialisation of nutrigenomics feeds into an increasingly narrow minded and self-centred view of health have been substituted by personal choices leading to personal rewards and this kind of perception can backfire when the results don’t match the promises.

Nutrigenomics permits you to determine what parts of your diet impact your health and can reduce disease risks. Are you likely to succeed or fail on a protein or ketogenic diet for weight loss? Your genes may hold the key to answer such questions. The genetic analysis contributes to a growing area of nutritional medicine that offers customised and personalised diet plans based on nutrigenomics to benefit people make more informed decisions about their lifestyle habits and health to live a healthier life. Nutrigenomics can replace the concept of one size fits all advice in the future by providing diet recommendations customised to individual’s genetics and preferences. The most important benefit of nutrigenomics is that it gives a more targeted approach to define what steps you can take to control or feel better.

As per the reports, nutrigenomics market size was valued at $387.48 million in 2022 and is projected to reach $1,334.77 million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 16.7% from 2023 to 2030. The increasing importance of nutrition among the individuals as well as several benefits such as a focus on disease prevention and slowing the signs of ageing, are expected to drive the nutrigenomics market. There have been technological developments in the global nutrigenomics market in the recent past and for sure much more developments are stored for near future as well. The major health concern which in turn leads to various other lethal lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular problems and diabetes is obesity. People are worried about obesity across the globe due to unhealthy eating habits, hence obesity is expected to witness a strong growth in future contributing the growth in demand in the nutrigenomics market.

The India Scenario

Genetic Healing, Gene Box, Mapmygenome are some of the companies based in India which are providing services related to nutrigenomics and driving the market segment as well as catering to the needs of the individuals who understand nutrigenomics as well as a larger section of individuals who want to have better insights of their genes so that they can understand the requirements of their body and make informed decisions to live a healthier life. These companies are providing various services such as fitness genomics, genetic health profiles and genetic counselling to cater personalised health solutions by curating the perfectly customised diet, exercise, and training regimen to help the individual unleash their true potential and live a healthy lifestyle. We have huge population with good variety of genetic pool in our country and nutrigenomics can do wonders to a great extent.

A strong and transparent collaboration is required between industry players, universities, and government to foster the nutrigenomics industry, so that we can cater to local as well as global demand effectively along with more innovative technologies. Pool of financial support from banking sector to support the nutrigenomics industry will be boon to them.

Conclusion

Nutrigenomics may play a significant role to develop more sustainable methods that encourage dietary change in our country and be the next big thing to fight lifestyle linked diseases and lead a better life. Decoding the food and gene interaction will not only serve as a guide to human consumption pattern but also to improve the quality of life by preventing food related diseases and disorders.  It can provide short-term and long-term advantages to human health by revealing novel nutrient-gene interactions and encouraging new diagnostic tests for unfavourable responses to diets as well as distinguishing and dealing populations with specific nutrient necessities.

About the author-

Ravi Shet is a Clinical Data Management professional with around 15 years of experience. He is passionate for innovation and wants to leverage it to ensure good health for human race through his work in clinical research domain.