We are living in a time of transformation in the way we understand nutrition and diet. The idea that the same food or supplement will bring the same benefits to all individuals is being replaced by a new approach: personalized nutrition, driven by advances in genomics, the study of the gut microbiome, and metabolomics. We are in the era of tailored functionality, in which food ingredients and nutritional strategies are adapted to each person's specific biological needs.
The possibility of developing food products with custom functional ingredients represents an unprecedented opportunity to serve niche markets with highly effective nutritional solutions. For the food and beverage industry, precision nutrition opens a new frontier of differentiation and added value.
This approach complements the nutritional recommendations of population-based guidelines, resulting in more clinically effective results and improved patient adherence. Precision nutrition has gained particular relevance in the context of chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and metabolic syndrome.
A study published in Cell (Zeevi et al., 2015) demonstrated that postprandial glycemic responses vary widely between individuals, even when eating the same foods. Researchers followed approximately 800 participants for a week, continuously monitoring their blood glucose levels and eating habits, as well as collecting clinical data, anthropometric parameters, gut microbiome analyses, and behavioral records. Based on this data, individual prediction algorithms were able to adjust meal plans and ingredient choices with high precision, resulting in lower glucose spikes after meals. For the food and supplement industry, this opens the door to the development of “smart” products, with formulations based on:
- low glycemic carbohydrates, such as isomaltulose (Palatinose™)
- addition of prebiotic fibers, such as inulin and FOS
- insertion of bioactive compounds, such as omega 3
Functional foods enriched with compounds such as polyphenols, specific fatty acids (e.g., omega-3), bioactive peptides, prebiotic fibers, and customized probiotics are already a reality to specifically modulate bacterial groups, according to the profile of bacteria mapped in the sequencing test of each patient's intestinal microbiome.
Practical application in industry:
- Use of inulin and fructooligosaccharides (FOS) in foods and supplements may especially benefit individuals with low microbial diversity and Bifidobacterium, promoting healthy colonic fermentation and production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), such as butyrate, with anti-inflammatory and trophic action for the intestinal epithelium.
Nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics offer another concrete path for ingredient personalization. A relevant example is the adaptation of products with specific bioactive forms of micronutrients, targeting consumers with genetic variations (single nucleotide polymorphisms) that impact nutrient response, substance metabolism, or the regulation of physiological processes..
A relevant example is the C677T polymorphism in MTHFR gene, responsible for converting folic acid into its biologically active form, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF). Individuals with this genetic variation exhibit reduced enzyme activity, which compromises the efficiency of this conversion. In these cases, direct supplementation with methylfolate is recommended, ensuring greater bioavailability and metabolic efficacy.
Practical application in industry:
- Personalized supplements with methylfolate instead of folic acid for individuals with genetic variation in the MTHFR gene.
The era of personalized ingredients represents a new paradigm in clinical nutrition and food science. We are moving from generic nutrition to tailored functionality, in which food ceases to be merely fuel and becomes a specific therapeutic tool, shaped by the genetic and microbial particularities of each individual.
For the health professionals, this advance requires a new clinical perspective, based on genetic, microbial and metabolic data, which allows more effective, safe and personalized prescriptions. Now for the food and supplement industry, a unique opportunity for innovation opens up, where science ceases to be just technical support and becomes the center of formulation, market segmentation and brand positioning.
Want to know more?
– Zeevi D, et al. “Personalized Nutrition by Prediction of Glycemic Responses.” Cell. 2015;163(5):1079–1094. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2015.11.001
Personalized nutrition with real-life evidence | BENEO study
Cabo R et al. Effect of genetic polymorphisms involved in folate metabolism on the concentration of serum folate and plasma total homocysteine (p-tHcy) in healthy subjects after short-term folic acid supplementation: a randomized, double blind, crossover study. Nutr Genes. 2015 May;10(3):456. doi: 10.1007/s12263-015-0456-4.
Huang X et al. MTHFR Gene and Serum Folate Interaction on Serum Homocysteine Lowering: Prospect for Precision Folic Acid Treatment. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2018 Mar;38(3):679-685. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.117.310211
About the author:
Leila Hashimoto is a nutritionist and holds a PhD in Nutrition Science from the University of São Paulo. She coordinates the postgraduate program in clinical nutrition applied to gastroenterology at the LG Institute/PUC-Goiás. She teaches classes and lectures and works in a nutritional practice.
