Nutrigenomics (also known as nutritional genomics) is broadly defined as the relationship between nutrients, nutrition, and gene expression. With nutrigenomics, you can pinpoint the parts of your diet that have the biggest impact on your health and can reduce risk factors for disease, says Peart. OK, so what about nutriepigenetics? Well, that’s a portmanteau of nutritional epigenetics, a field of science that operates at the molecular level. Nutrition epidemicists are specifically studying the interaction between molecules in food and molecules that bind to DNA to control gene expression
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Methyl groups in food, DNA methylation and the resulting gene expression are therefore the subject of nutriepigeneticists. Nutrigenomics is part of a movement in molecular biology towards big data. Genomics deals with the genome, i.e. with all of our genes. Transcriptomics looks at the transcriptome, i.e. all RNA molecules that serve as mediators between our genes and the proteins they produce
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We also have a proteome, a metabolome, a microbiome, and an epigenome, and all of these holistic groups of molecules are investigated through their corresponding “-omics.” Nutrigenomics asks how our diet influences all our genes and their transcripts and the resulting proteins, and how the carefully choreographed dance between all these molecules is altered by the food we eat and the drinks we drink. It is comparable to studying the effects of modern aviation on every single animal and plant on Earth. A review of the literature on this topic even goes so far as to say that nutrigenomics could prove to be the panacea of the future
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And nutrigenomics can’t rule out all trial and error when it comes to diet, supplements, and exercise routines. In the early days of nutrigenomics services, it was found that these companies had essentially breached their disclaimer for diagnosing diseases and had instead predicted the development of serious illnesses such as cancer and diabetes. In the meantime, nutritional biochemists are busy cataloging factors in foods, including dozens of essential nutrients and tens of thousands of bioactive substances that can be correlated with molecular patterns identified using the various omic technologies. The creation of nutrigenomic profiles will help identify the mechanisms that involve individual variations in dietary needs and the potential to respond to food-related interventions
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currently unlikely that the links between genes and diet that Nutrigenomics kits have been tested for have a significant impact on a person’s overall health. So keep an eye out for future discoveries and subscribe to the Gene Food podcast for more in-depth discussions about the latest nutrigenomics research. Nutrigenomics therefore originally referred to the study of the effects of nutrients on the expression of an individual’s genetic makeup. Nutritional genetics combines the study of nutrition and genetics to find out how people react differently to food based on their genetic makeup
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Understanding nutrigenomics allows us to refine nutrition research to see how specific gene variants interact with nutrients. Nutrigenomics also offers the opportunity to tailor drug therapies, thus improving effectiveness and reducing unnecessary risks. Nutrigenomics, or nutritional genomics, is the study of how genes and diet interact,
says Peart.
References:
- https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/yummy-hype-nutrigenomics
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2137135/