Could there be any better source of information for your health than your own genes? A team of researchers at UVA Health doesn’t think so, which explains why they are exploring nutrigenomics for precision health.
The UVA team is composed of Sibylle Kranz, Susanna Keller, Heather Ferris, and Mete Civelek.
Their goals are to test the effects of different diets on body weight, nutrient metabolism, and gene expression, and find out how genetic backgrounds are involved. The study is in its preclinical stage, based on a pilot test feeding four genetically diverse mouse strains four common diets: American, Mediterranean, vegetarian, and vegan.
The team found that different nutrient transporters in adipose tissue—also known as body fat—vary with the amount of sugar in diets, but only in certain mouse strains.
At some time in the future, the team expects that people will be able to visit their healthcare provider and complete testing to look at both their individual genes and nutrient levels. Then a customized diet—backed by science—could be developed to help address health issues, such as maintaining healthy body weight and reducing the risk for future diseases, like cancer, diabetes, or dementia.
This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue.
