Tell me what is your genetic heritage, I will tell you what you need to eat. Finally it will tell you maybe in a few decades... Because if the Nutrigenomics is potentially revolutionary promises in the field of nutrition, its practical application is not for tomorrow as we explained the Claudine Junien geneticist, researcher at the national Institute of health and medical research.
And Nutrigenetics in all this?
And the Nutrigenetics is different? Yes it is different, and should not be confused. As explains Claudine Junien, the Nutrigenetics corresponds to a narrower field of the study of the individual genetic variability and its influence on how an individual will react to his diet.
What is exactly the Nutrigenomics? Nutritional Genomics also called Nutrigenomics studies the interactions between genes and nutrition. This discipline focuses among others on the genes involved in the absorption, transport, fate and the elimination of nutrients, and their mechanisms of action.
A menu at... genetic map
Nutrigenomics gave birth to the concept of personalized nutrition. The initial idea is that according to our genetic heritage, we respond differently to the environment in which we live, including the food environment. Thus, if this type of power is totally harmless to you, the same diet may be deleterious to your neighbor who doesn't have the same genes as you. Therefore detailed dietary recommendations that can be made for you won't necessarily valid for your neighbour, and vice versa.
An example? You want to lower your cholesterol. Your neighbor also. You then follow a specific diet. Your neighbor also. After a few months of this scheme you can see a dramatic reduction of your cholesterol levels. Your neighbor not... «It is there that it would be interesting to determine the variants of genes that trigger the positive reaction,"said Claudine Junien.» This would provide dietary advice to people most likely to benefit. »
From there to imagine a ultra nutrition custom with a menu suited to each on the basis of genetic and epigenetic gene changes there is only one step...
So dreams are already of the slimming diet à la carte: I would like to lose 5 pounds, I have such and such gene in such form, advise me. Yes ofcourse, then for you the best diet is a diet low in carbohydrates and rich in polyunsaturated fats. On the other hand, your neighbor that has a very different genetic polymorphism may consume more carbohydrates but watch its saturated fat intake.
Of results in test tubes but far from our plates
Finally in reality we're really not there and this 'no' is very far from be crossed, warns the geneticist. Genetic testing, we are still at the stage of clearing. It is absolutely not realistic to think that soon, or even even one day, every child will have at birth "its smart card" containing his DNA profile. That there is still science fiction. «From the 30,000 genes that may have 10 to 100 mutations each, it is indeed impossible to test and predict all possible combinations ", explains the specialist. So beware Internet sites that offer you for a few hundred or even thousands of dollars to your genetic profile and give you recommendations that go with... "Although that based on seemingly credible scientific data, these tests explore that some polymorphisms of DNA, i.e. the part of the iceberg, says the geneticist". They are therefore very incomplete since they ignore Epigenetics and the environment and they do not make recommendations.
"On the other hand, tests targeted at specific genes involved in the response to intervention offer hope", said Claudine Junien. They would know precisely what are for example the metabolic pathways or disrupted systems and therefore to choose therapies or regimes much more targeted for the sick.
So will the Nutrigenomics dictate our menus of tomorrow? For scientists it is a way of exciting research, but it is not there yet. Day after tomorrow perhaps...
nutrigenetics future of nutrition
And Nutrigenetics in all this?
And the Nutrigenetics is different? Yes it is different, and should not be confused. As explains Claudine Junien, the Nutrigenetics corresponds to a narrower field of the study of the individual genetic variability and its influence on how an individual will react to his diet.
What is exactly the Nutrigenomics? Nutritional Genomics also called Nutrigenomics studies the interactions between genes and nutrition. This discipline focuses among others on the genes involved in the absorption, transport, fate and the elimination of nutrients, and their mechanisms of action.
A menu at... genetic map
Nutrigenomics gave birth to the concept of personalized nutrition. The initial idea is that according to our genetic heritage, we respond differently to the environment in which we live, including the food environment. Thus, if this type of power is totally harmless to you, the same diet may be deleterious to your neighbor who doesn't have the same genes as you. Therefore detailed dietary recommendations that can be made for you won't necessarily valid for your neighbour, and vice versa.
An example? You want to lower your cholesterol. Your neighbor also. You then follow a specific diet. Your neighbor also. After a few months of this scheme you can see a dramatic reduction of your cholesterol levels. Your neighbor not... «It is there that it would be interesting to determine the variants of genes that trigger the positive reaction,"said Claudine Junien.» This would provide dietary advice to people most likely to benefit. »
From there to imagine a ultra nutrition custom with a menu suited to each on the basis of genetic and epigenetic gene changes there is only one step...
So dreams are already of the slimming diet à la carte: I would like to lose 5 pounds, I have such and such gene in such form, advise me. Yes ofcourse, then for you the best diet is a diet low in carbohydrates and rich in polyunsaturated fats. On the other hand, your neighbor that has a very different genetic polymorphism may consume more carbohydrates but watch its saturated fat intake.
Of results in test tubes but far from our plates
Finally in reality we're really not there and this 'no' is very far from be crossed, warns the geneticist. Genetic testing, we are still at the stage of clearing. It is absolutely not realistic to think that soon, or even even one day, every child will have at birth "its smart card" containing his DNA profile. That there is still science fiction. «From the 30,000 genes that may have 10 to 100 mutations each, it is indeed impossible to test and predict all possible combinations ", explains the specialist. So beware Internet sites that offer you for a few hundred or even thousands of dollars to your genetic profile and give you recommendations that go with... "Although that based on seemingly credible scientific data, these tests explore that some polymorphisms of DNA, i.e. the part of the iceberg, says the geneticist". They are therefore very incomplete since they ignore Epigenetics and the environment and they do not make recommendations.
"On the other hand, tests targeted at specific genes involved in the response to intervention offer hope", said Claudine Junien. They would know precisely what are for example the metabolic pathways or disrupted systems and therefore to choose therapies or regimes much more targeted for the sick.
So will the Nutrigenomics dictate our menus of tomorrow? For scientists it is a way of exciting research, but it is not there yet. Day after tomorrow perhaps...
nutrigenetics future of nutrition
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