Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics

Do you know Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics? What is the reality? What interest are these studies to establish what we should or should not eat?

Questions without answer

Most of the pathologies and health problems have established guidelines as a treatment or recommendation, but sometimes health professionals come across people who, despite following the guidelines that are proposed or indicated, do not achieve the desired objectives. For what is this? It has been known for decades that there are interindividual differences to treatment. Individuals with extreme responses have been classified as hyporesponders or hyperresponders, based on their lesser or greater change. The factors involved in this difference in response to treatment are still unknown, but it seems that, if not all responsibility, an important part of it is responsibility. genetic modulation.

Path to personalized nutrition

The study of the genotype (genetic information of an individual) and the phenotype (expression of the genotype depending on the environment in which it is found) aims to obtain the necessary knowledge to be able to generate specific dietary-nutritional recommendations according to the specific person to be treated and not only in reference to the problems or conditions that he suffers. The risks and benefits of the diet or specific components of it for the individual are studied in such a way that it is intended to provide, in the not too distant future, a personalized eating pattern according to their specific genetic endowment, taking into account the nutritional status of the individual and their particular nutritional needs.

Nutrigenomics

Nutrigenomics is the science that explains the molecular mechanisms by which different components of food affect health of individuals through the alteration of the structure and expression of their genes. In short, it is studied how the diet, specifically the macronutrients and micronutrients in the diet, affect the expression of genes. That is genes are induced and that genes are suppressed depending on the substances that we contribute with the diet. Diet has effects on the genome, the proteome, and the metabolome.

Nutrigenetics

For its part the nutrigenetics, deals with understanding how genes respond to a given diet, taking into account the variation in the population and especially the individual. At this point, the role played by single nucleotide polymorphisms must be taken into account and, on the other hand, epigenetic effects, which undoubtedly influence all levels, that is, in the transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics.

Although it is necessary to differentiate between nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics, on some occasions we can find references in which the terms are used interchangeably, since both refer to the study of the interaction of nutrients with the genome.

Future lines

Study the relationship between nutrigenomics and different health problems, identifying the key genes involved in the development of the disease, aims to know the impact of the variation of these genes on health and disease. The potential benefits of studying genomics for disease prevention are enormous, which is why it is considered one of the main future challenges in post-genomic nutritional research. These sciences thus pose a new paradigm in nutrition, personalized diets according to the genetic characteristics of each individual.

• Why two people respond differently to a given nutritional treatment is largely explained by genetic modulation.
• The lines of the future point to a personalized diet according to their genetic endowment, taking into account their nutritional status and particular needs.
• The potential benefits of studying genomics for disease prevention are enormous, and it is one of the main challenges for the future in nutritional research.

Before going on a diet, we must be clear about our goals and consult with a professional to achieve them. They have a large medical staff of nutrition and dietetic specialists.