Medical research

Genes can affect our nutrient tolerance

Carbohydrates, proteins and fats are essential nutrients to all animals. Yet dietary variation between species, populations and individuals can vary dramatically.

Health

A diet that fits your genes

The age of one-size-fits-all nutritional advice is coming to a close, thanks to the surging field of nutrigenomics. Soon, individual decisions about whether to focus on Mediterranean-style dining, low-fat foods or a salt-free ...

Health

Explainer: What is nutrigenomics?

"Eat your five-a-day" is a health slogan that has been kicking around since the 1980s. The UK government made it an official campaign in 2003. But understanding the exact benefits (and harms) that our daily diet has on our ...

Genetics

New technology links diet to genetic markers

(Medical Xpress)—A team of researchers looking into links between nutrition and genetics have developed technologies that will revolutionise how food companies validate new products.

Medical research

Better vaccines thanks to RNA

(Medical Xpress) -- Vaccination can be just as effective with dead bacteria as with live ones, as long as you inject them with the RNA of live bacteria. This finding was published in Nature by a team of American, French, ...

Nutrigenomics

Nutrigenomics is the study of the effects of foods and food constituents on gene expression. It is about how our DNA is transcribed into mRNA and then to proteins and provides a basis for understanding the biological activity of food components. Nutrigenomics has also been described by the influence of genetic variation on nutrition by correlating gene expression or single-nucleotide polymorphisms with a nutrient's absorption, metabolism, elimination or biological effects. By doing so, nutrigenomics aims to develop rational means to optimise nutrition, with respect to the subject's genotype.

By determining the mechanism of the effects of nutrients or the effects of a nutritional regime, nutrigenomics tries to define the causality|relationship between these specific nutrients and specific nutrient regimes (diets) on human health. Nutrigenomics has been associated with the idea of personalized nutrition based on genotype. While there is hope that nutrigenomics will ultimately enable such personalised dietary advice, it is a science still in its infancy and its contribution to public health over the next decade is thought to be major.

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