Nutritional genomics is the study of how foods affect our genes and how individual genetic make-up can drive a patient’s nutritional, movement or lifestyle needs.
It has been demonstrated that numerous genetic variations can influence protein structure function. We all know a story where a friend tried Diet A and got amazing results. So you tried Diet A, and got no results. Historically, doctors and those in the health care field have gone to patient blaming, “Is it possible you did not do it well?” While that is possible, we also know that not everyone has the same nutritional needs. We try to figure out what your unique nutritional needs are in order to best support you to health.
SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, are the most common genetic variations and this is what we focus on. Many human studies have demonstrated the evidence for interaction between SNPs in various genes and the metabolic response to the diet. Additionally, SNPs analysis provides a potential molecular tool for investigating the role of nutrition in human health, diseases and identification of optimal diets.