What Is Precision Nutrition?

Why is precision nutrition important?

Precision nutrition is actually a branch of the field of precision medicine. It is also known as personalized nutrition. As the name suggests, it is characterized by the pursuit of “precise” personalized nutrition.

At present, whether it is conducting nutritional research, providing individual nutritional guidance, dietary guidelines, health advice, or recommendations from nutritionists, all of these are group opinions aimed at the general public.

For example, if you want to give your six-year-old daughter a calcium supplement, how much should you give her? If you consult a nutritionist, he or she will tell you that children of this age need 800mg of calcium per day. Where does this 800mg come from? It is calculated by combining information about your daughter's gender and age, and then checking the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs).

However, the DRIs are based on the average population. As a reference value for the average daily dietary nutrient intake, it can theoretically meet the needs of 97% to 98% of people of a particular gender, age, and physiological status.

However, individuals of different regions, ethnicities, genders, ages (such as infants and the elderly) and physiological conditions (such as pregnant women) have different nutritional needs. For example, boys and girls of the same age have different needs for trace elements such as iron and zinc. Moreover, differences in genetic background will also be reflected to varying degrees through the digestion, absorption, transport, metabolism and storage of food and nutrients, as well as the regulation of homeostasis in the internal environment. Ultimately, people will also have different susceptibility to diseases and nutritional responses. Therefore, these nutritional recommendations based on the average population may not be applicable to specific individuals or populations.

What should we do?

Precision nutrition is based on the theory of nutrigenomics. It takes into account an individual's genetic background, lifestyle characteristics (diet, exercise, habits, etc.), metabolic indicators, intestinal microbial characteristics and physiological state (nutrient levels, disease state, etc.), as well as medical examinations and genetic testing, to discover the differences in the ability of different individuals to absorb and utilize nutrients. This lays the foundation for precise nutritional assessment and diagnosis and precise intervention, with the aim of achieving good health.

How is precision nutrition done?

The dietary intervention strategy of precision nutrition needs to measure an individual's demand for nutrients and their ability to utilize nutrients from food, in order to establish a scientific and reasonable nutrition plan. To achieve precision nutrition, it is usually divided into three steps:

Precision nutrition

The first step is accurate testing and data collection. Through accurate testing techniques, including genome sequencing, molecular markers, blood index testing (plasma, serum, red blood cells, etc.), and monitoring of nutritional status at the tissue level, each individual's genetic metabolism, physiological state, lifestyle, and other indicators are accurately measured, and a personalized “healthy nutrition digital profile” is established.

The second step is data analysis and nutritional evaluation. Through technical means such as cloud computing and big data application development, the collected data is systematically analyzed in combination with modern nutritional genomics, algorithms are developed, evaluation standard models are established, and the body's healthy nutrition data is transformed into a “nutritional metabolism digital model”.

The third step is nutritional intervention. Based on the “nutritional metabolism digital model” and taking into account each individual's eating habits, an individualized nutritional intervention plan is formulated, including functional foods and dietary supplements, to achieve precise nutritional intervention.

Precision nutrition research is ongoing

Individual differences exist in the way the body responds to diet/nutrition, so precision nutrition is also the future trend of nutritional research. Precision nutrition has become a hot topic in nutritional science and related fields of research at home and abroad, and more and more research institutes and official institutions are entering this blue ocean.

The good news is that many studies have found that precision nutrition has good prospects for intervention in a variety of chronic diseases.

An Israeli study included 800 people and monitored their blood glucose levels after 46,898 meals over a period of one week. The study analyzed the effects of the same and different foods on individual postprandial blood glucose levels, and used a “machine learning” algorithm to combine data on intestinal flora, blood parameters, eating habits , health questionnaires, body measurements and other data were combined for analysis using a “machine learning” algorithm. The results showed that the blood glucose response of each individual to each food is not fixed, depending on the individual's response, and short-term personalized dietary intervention successfully reduced postprandial blood glucose levels and improved gut microbiota composition. Later scientists have also discovered that precision nutrition can play an important role in the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes.

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Blood sugar

A secondary analysis of a randomized, multicenter trial conducted by the University of Basel School of Medicine in Switzerland examined the effects of nutritional care versus usual care on mortality and other clinical outcomes during hospitalization in patients with different types of cancer. The study selected 506 patients, including patients with lung cancer, malignant hematological diseases, gastrointestinal tumors and other cancers, and randomly divided them into a control group and a nutritional support group. The results showed that the mortality rate within 60 days in the control group was 52.7%, and the mortality rate within 60 days in the nutritional support group was 47.3%. Nutritional support can reduce the mortality rate of cancer patients within 60 days by 17%. This study suggests that personalized nutritional support can benefit cancer patients and help improve their survival rate and quality of life.

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In addition, precision nutrition has also had positive research results in the fields of obesity, hypertension, intestinal health, and Alzheimer's disease, and the impact on health is still very optimistic.

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In order to better carry out precision nutrition research and transformation, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has specifically formulated the “2020-2030 NIH Strategic Plan for Nutrition Research” to explore precision nutrition. This is by far the largest “precision nutrition” research . The aim is to collect data on the continuous blood glucose levels and human intestinal microorganisms of 10,000 American participants in order to study how individuals “process” food, as well as the relationship between diet and health, healthy dietary patterns, nutrition and life and health, and nutrition and disease.

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Personalized vitamins

Domestic scientists are also focusing on research in the field of precision nutrition. Scientists at Peking University are trying to develop an evaluation system for precision nutrition, while scientists at Westlake University have conducted a precision single-case randomized controlled study – a macronutrient n-of-1 trial – which revealed differences in postprandial blood glucose responses to high-fat and high-carbohydrate diets in different individuals, demonstrating the applicability of the n-of-1 trial in precision nutrition research.

On December 19, 2019, China's leading dietary supplement company, By-Health, launched its first “personalized vitamin concept product” at the “Nutrition Intelligence Definition” press conference. It conducts research on testing items such as minerals and trace elements by establishing databases, evaluation systems, and algorithmic models. Based on the research of personalized solutions for precision nutrition, it aims to further improve users' health and quality of life. According to the brand, this product is not just a bottle of vitamin concept product, but a complete set of personalized solutions for precision nutrition.

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Nobel laureate Randy Schekman said that research into personalized solutions based on precision nutrition can further improve the quality of life of individuals. International research into precision medicine and nutrition has achieved some results, but there is still work to be done in developing precision nutrition strategies that are suitable for different individuals. He expressed interest in the precision nutrition solutions for personalized custom vitamins announced by By-Health, and is willing to participate in follow-up academic discussions.

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Precision nutrition research still has a long way to go

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The ultimate goal of precision nutrition is to improve people's health. However, there are many factors that affect people's health, including diet and eating, as well as age, gender, occupation, exercise, sleep, psychology, and many other factors. “Health” has long been more than just “how to eat.” How to influence health ultimately requires changes in overall lifestyle and psychological state.

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Although precision nutrition is an inevitable trend in the development of nutrition science, it should be clearly understood that precision nutrition must truly benefit mankind. Precision nutrition is a new field with a certain degree of foresight. The recommendations for intervention in precision nutrition require the support of a large amount of scientific research data, including genetic research, group research, and so on. However, the current global application of precision nutrition is still in a relatively preliminary stage. Precision nutrition is bound to be a new trend in health in the future, and it will have a positive impact on the lives of more people and make a greater contribution to human health.

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The big health industry has become the future industry with the greatest development potential, and is brewing and forming a huge blue ocean market of more than 10 trillion. Precision nutrition solutions are the breakthrough that will open up the development of the big health industry, and they are an inevitable development direction driven by scientific and technological progress. Precision nutrition is also a great opportunity for people's livelihood development and entrepreneurship.