Fitness formula: eat what your genes advise

The emerging field of nutrigenomics may hold the key to preventing many deadly diseases .

Prepared for your regular trip to the doctor? Cancel the appointment. All you need to stay healthy is to send your blood sample to a DNA profiling lab. A few weeks later, you will receive a package with your genomic analysis, a list of diseases you might be at risk of and a personalized dietary recommendation.

If this sounds like something out of science-fiction, rest assured it’s not. Instead, it’s the emerging field of nutrigenomics that investigates how the food we eat interacts with our genes to affect our health. Accumulating evidence shows that nutrients alter molecular processes such as DNA structure, gene expression and metabolism, and these in turn may alter disease initiation, development or progression.

To illustrate this better, let’s say your genomic analysis shows you are missing a part of the gene that, say, helps you fight flab and have extra copies of another that makes you pre-disposed to a certain kind of cancer. Experts suggest that by following a diet tailor-made for you, making certain changes in your lifestyle and adding a few nutritional supplements to your diet, you stand a high chance of not developing the disease at all.

Raymond Rodriguez, director, Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics (CENG) at the University of California, attributes it to the direct relationship between nutrition and genes. “The food we eat and our genes have a language that they talk in. If their conversation is a good one then the person stays healthy. If the conversation is not a good one, it makes a person sick.”

The potential of nutrigenomics in preventive medicine is clearly huge. As of now, scientists are looking at genomic markers or factors which give rise to different diseases. “Once we are able to pin-point these markers it would be easier to intervene before the onset of several diseases or to impede their advancement,” says Rajesh Gokhale, director of Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology.

While all human beings are 99.9% similar at the genomic level, 0.1% of the total genome differs from person-to-person. This 0.1% makes an individual unique and different from everyone else on earth. It also allows one to develop distinct features, a certain hair colour, height, weight — as well as different diseases.

“These genetic variations influence how nutrients are assimilated, metabolized, stored, and excreted by the body,” says Rodriguez. This also explains why some individuals respond to a certain medication for a disease whereas others don’t. While some people are able to ward off an ailment through modifying their diet, others need medication.

Now, experts are utilizing this information to try and formulate personalized diet plans instead of generalized dietary advices.
“The idea is to not let the disease happen in the first place rather than curing it once it has emerged,” says Rodriguez.

Several companies across the globe are developing systems to maintain and prolong a state of optimal health. Experts at California-based nutritional supplements brand Nutrilite, for instance, are working with major universities globally to further their understanding of nutrigenomics principles.

“At our institute, a personalized healthcare nutritional plan includes DNA analysis to identify minor changes in the genes which give rise to diseases,” says Shyam Ramakrishnan, a scientist associated with Nutrilite.

The progress is steady, though slow. There are just a handful of diseases for which exact genomic variants have been identified, but experts believe the day is not far when there would be detailed genomic maps of ailments like diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and several types of cancer. When it happens, the answer to the question ‘What’s on the menu today?’ may just be, ‘What does your gene say, dude?’