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COVER STORY

COVER STORY

NUTRIGENOMICS

could this really


be the future of
optimum health?
By Susan Aldridge PhD
Medical and science writer
The key to healthy eating could lie in
our genes, according to the emerging
science of nutrigenomics. When it
comes to healthy eating, a one size fits
all approach does not work because
people tend to gain varying degrees
of benefit from generalised dietary
guidelines. Nutrigenomics could see
genotyping become an integral part
of healthy living, linked to a new
and personalised approach to dietary
advice, backed by a range of tailored
functional foods and supplements.

DAVID VINTINER

ALL IN THE GENES

14 OPTIMUM NUTRITION

Genes are stretches of DNA


(deoxyribonucleic acid), a molecule
embodying a chemical code that
enables a gene to be translated into
its corresponding protein. Most cells
contain a full complement of around
30,000 genes, although only a sub-set
is usually turned on, or expressed. The
proteins coded for by genes perform
various cellular functions, including
the metabolism of food and drugs.
Research in the modern era of
molecular biology dating from the
discovery of the structure of DNA
in 1953 by Francis Crick and James
Watson1 has revealed that the
genome (the sum total of our DNA) is
more complex and fluid than previously
believed. All humans are 99.9 per cent
identical in their DNA.2 The 0.1 per cent
that varies is distinguished by single
nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs),
which are unit changes in the DNA
sequence that vary between individuals.
The international Haplotype (HapMap)
project has already identified six million
SNPs in population groups around the
world.3 Most of the SNPs are not in the

genes but in the 95 per cent of DNA


that does not encode genes. Originally
this was called Junk DNA. We now
know some of it is very important in the
control of gene expression, but do not
know how to interpret this information
with any sense of accurate prediction.
SNPs reflect how a gene may interface
differently with the environment
(including diet) in different people.
Some of these SNPs are already proving
to be useful biomarkers, indicating
an increased susceptibility to disease,
including complex chronic disease,
such as heart disease and cancer.4
However, it should be recognised
that there is a huge difference between
carrying an SNP linked to a disease
susceptibility gene and having a single
gene disorder. In the latter case, genes
are destiny in the sense that if you are
unlucky enough to inherit one or more
copies of a specific mutated gene, there
is a quantifiable and serious risk of
developing the disease, perhaps at a
very young age.5 There are around 4,000
documented single gene disorders, of
which the best known include cystic
fibrosis, haemophilia and Huntingtons
chorea. Thankfully, the single gene
disorders are rare, with incidences
ranging from one in several thousand
to just one in a million.6
SNPs linked to chronic disease
susceptibility are, in contrast, fairly
widely distributed throughout the
population with perhaps 50 per cent
carrying one variant and 50 per cent
carrying a second one.7 Susceptibility
genes, on their own, will contribute
only a small part to the risk of getting a
disease. For a complex, chronic disease,
such as Type 2 diabetes, 52 different
genes have already been identified as
playing a role in the genetic part of the
risk, and there may be many more.8
Genes also interact with one another
a process called epistasis and with
environmental factors, including diet.
Therefore, it is difficult to predict how a
persons genotype (their complement of
genes, SNP distribution included) will
express itself to generate their individual
phenotype that is, their biochemical
and physiological makeup, including
their state of health or disease.

PROMOTING INTERACTION
Put simply, nutrigenomics (short for
nutritional genomics) is the study of
how food and genes interact with one
another. This interaction is two way.

SINGLE GENE DISORDERS


Single gene disorders with wellestablished links to diet are generally
diagnosed at birth and treated with a
strict diet. They are usually rare, with
the exception of lactose intolerance
and favism (an acute haemolytic
anaemia, usually in persons of
Mediterranean area descent, occurring
when an individual with glucose-6phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency
of erythrocytes eats fava beans, more
commonly known as broad beans, or
inhales the pollen of Vicia faba). The
former is actually the worlds most
common genetic disorder affecting
more than half the worlds population,
being most common among those of
Asian, South American and African
descent and less so among those from
Northern Europe and the North West
Indian subcontinent.32 However, where
these populations do not culturally
consume dairy products after infancy,
the loss of ability to produce lactase
after weaning should not be
considered as a genetic disorder.
Favism is also more common than
other diet-related single gene
disorders, being concentrated in
certain Mediterranean populations.
Galactosaemia occurs because of
the lack of an enzyme essential for

the breakdown of galactose to


glucose, leading to diarrhoea,
vomiting, cataracts, liver damage,
mental retardation and malnutrition.
It affects one in 50,000 of the
population in Europe.33
Phenylketonuria arises from a
lack of the enzyme converting
phenylalanine to tyrosine, leading to
the accumulation of the former in
the body, which can cause brain
damage and mental retardation. It
affects one in 10,000 in Europe,
except for Ireland where the
frequency is one in 4,000 and
Turkey where it is one in 3,000.34
Lactose intolerance (also known
as lactase deficiency) arises
from a lack of lactase (or betagalactosidase) which means lactose
in milk is acted on only by gut
bacteria, leading to abdominal
discomfort, pain and diarrhoea.
Favism also known as glucose6-phosphate dehydrogenase
deficiency, favism is a genetic
sensitivity to a chemical substance
found in broad beans, which causes
severe anaemia. It occurs in up
to five per cent of Chinese,
20 per cent of Italians and
32 per cent of Greeks.35

First, food is more than just fuel for


the body; it contains many biologically
active molecules, which are capable of
affecting gene expression and, through
this, the biochemical activity of cells
and tissues, ultimately influencing an
individuals phenotype.9 Second, a
persons genotype influences how they
respond to their diet that is, variants
in genes involved in metabolism could
lead to particular food molecules being
broken down more or less efficiently.10
Nutrigenomics is the interaction
between a persons unique genetic
signature and the totality of the
environment they are exposed to
diet, lifestyle and toxins,explains
naturopath Dr Michael Culp, director
of Integrative Health Solutions Ltd,
a multidisciplinary health clinic in
London specialising in chronic disease.
Nutrigenomics seeks to provide a
molecular understanding of the complex
relationship between food and health.
The long-term goal of this emerging
discipline is to understand how the
effect of diet on genes, proteins and
metabolism can best be modified to

optimise an individuals diet for health


throughout their lifetime. Valerie Bullen,
the Institute for Optimum Nutritions
Director of Education, sounds a note
of caution: Yes, nutrigenomics is a
new and exciting field, but it will also
be new to many nutritional therapists
as it isnt yet part of the core curriculum.
It is important to recognise that
nutrigenomics is unlikely in the near
future to provide quick and simple
answers to the complexity of disease.
Over a century of epidemiology
has led to different links being made
between diet and health some of
which are well established, while others
remain controversial. Research into
the Mediterranean diet11 and related
studies, for example, has led to current
healthy eating guidelines, which focus
on the importance of plant-based foods
in particular fruit, vegetables and
wholegrains and consumption of
fish rather than red meat.
The trouble is that there is not
a level playing field when it comes
to healthy diet,says Dr Sin Astley,
communications manager at NuGO, 

OPTIMUM NUTRITION 15

COVER STORY

the European Nutrigenomics


Organisation, the EU-funded network
for researchers in the field.12 We all
know someone who breaks all the
rules and lives to 100, while others do
their best to live healthily and still die
young.In a sense, nutrition research
got stuck at this stage, providing only
generalised healthy eating advice,
because the role played by genes
(and genes in nutrition) was so little
understood. Knowledge was limited to
a few genes and biochemical pathways
that could produce obvious nutritional
disorders such as galactosaemia and
phenylketonuria (see box on page 15).

GLOBAL RESEARCH
The completion of the Human Genome
Project in 2000 offered researchers a
global perspective, and new tools with
which to investigate genes and gene
function.13 The Project also led to the
development of spin-off areas, known
collectively as the omics, which extend
our understanding of the biochemistry
and physiology of the cell and the
whole organism (see box on page 19).
Pharmacogenomics, the study of
how individual genotypes respond to
drugs, opens up the possibility of a
more personalised approach to the
prescription of medication. Many fail
to respond to prescribed drugs or are
actually harmed by them, for reasons
to do with their genotype,14 which are
often related to SNPs in the drugmetabolising genes the liver produces.
Gene chips are tiny plastic wafers
with several embedded wells, each of
which contains a separate gene variant
probe (these seek out and chemically
bind to a matching piece of DNA),
which can be used to test a clinical
sample for the presence of a set of
SNPs. Each well is, in effect, a miniature
test site for an SNP and the presence of
many wells on a chip enables carrying
out many SNP tests in parallel.
Such chips have been designed
for pharmacogenomic testing, allowing
SNP screening of patient DNA so
those who metabolise certain drugs
poorly can be rapidly identified.15
Assigning only good responders to
a specific drug is likely to increase
compliance with medication saving
the healthcare system money and
should improve patients health.
Nutrigenomics has much in
common with pharmacogenomics.

16 OPTIMUM NUTRITION

Indeed, pharmacogenomics can even


be seen as a potential model for the
further development of nutrigenomics.
Like synthetic drugs, foods contain
biologically active molecules to which
the individuals response is determined,
at least in part, by their genotype.
Pharmacogenomics, too, offers the
possibility of a more personalised
approach to health and disease.
However, where nutrigenomics
differs is that tailoring a diet to the
individual is, for many reasons, far
more challenging than prescribing
a drug.Nutrigenomics is a tool for
answering research questions on diet
and health,explains Astley.
The omics have relied upon the
development of those technologies that
could also make nutrigenomics a reality,
such as gene chips, which can screen for
many SNPs at once, and bioinformatics
databases for storing and analysing
information. The first scientific papers in
nutrigenomics began to appear in 2002
and 2003, and NuGO was launched in
2004 to try to pull together the various
expertises needed, and to identify the
knowledge and technology gaps. There
are now many nutrigenomics networks
and centres of excellence.16
Meanwhile, companies werent slow
to start offering nutrigenetic products
and services. Nutrigenetics is the branch
of nutrigenomics that looks at how an
individual genotype metabolises the
foods in the diet. The companies began
to develop SNP-based tests linked to
dietary counselling and, in some cases,
to the sale of tailored supplements.
Perhaps the best known case of
this kind of commercial venture is
Sciona, which set up in the UK in
2001 and began marketing nutrigenetic
tests direct to the public through The
Body Shop.17 GeneWatch and the
ConsumersAssociation mounted a
vigorous and effective campaign
against these tests, arguing that they
were unethical and misleading. Left
to operate within a regulatory vacuum,
Sciona abandoned its direct-toconsumer marketing strategy and
moved to the USA where
it now markets the Mycellf test through
health practitioners and online.18
In the UK, with tests costing between
175 and 375, personal nutrigenetic
profiling is currently only accessible
to the proactive healthy consumer
with a high disposable income.19


A MATTER OF
OPINION
THE RESEARCHERS VIEW
Dr Jim Kaput, of the University
of California Davis, Center of
Excellence in Nutrigenomics, is
founder and chief scientific officer
of NutraGenomics, a biotechnology
company developing nutritional
solutions for chronic and
stage-of-life diseases.
Nutrigenomics will change how
nutrition professionals provide advice
to their patients and customers, since
the advice will be more personalised
than that we have been able to give in
the past. The data that will be needed
for this personalisation are quantitative
information about lifestyle including
nutrient intakes, genetic analyses, and
measurements of physiology, probably
supplemented by metabolomic or
proteomic analyses.
THE CAMPAIGNERS VIEW
Dr Helen Wallace, deputy director
of GeneWatch UK.
Nutrigenomics is, at best, a
distraction from tackling the social,
economic and commercial factors
underlying the current epidemic of
obesity and diet-related disease.
Personalised nutrition is a marketing
strategy aimed at selling value-added
products to rich consumers. Except
in rare cases, there is no scientific
basis to tailoring diets to an
individuals genes and this approach
is more likely to mislead consumers
than to improve their health.
THE PRACTITIONERS VIEW
Dr Michael Culp, naturopath and
director of Integrative Health
Solutions Ltd.
Nutrigenomics is quite distinct from
genetic medicine. Both are genetic,
but they are as different as counselling
and brain surgery, both of which are to
do with neurology. I am already using
nutrigenomic tests in practice mainly
with patients who have a history of
heart disease, cancer patients, and
those with high cholesterol who are
not responding to treatment. With
cancer patients, I look at gene
variants to see if we can strengthen
detoxification. I see this usage
increasing in the future we will be
able to make the second generation of
these tests more clinically relevant.

AD

COVER STORY

APPLYING PRINCIPLES
Dr Jim Kaput of the University of
California Davis, one of the pioneering
figures in the field, has devised five
principles of nutrigenomics that guide
both laboratory and population-based
research.20 These are: 1) common dietary
chemicals act on the human genome,
either directly or indirectly, to alter gene
expression or structure; 2) under certain
circumstances and in some individuals,
diet can be a serious risk factor for a
number of diseases; 3) some dietregulated genes (and their normal,
common variants) are likely to play a
role in the onset, incidence, progression
and/or severity of chronic diseases;
4) the degree to which diet influences
the balance between healthy and
disease states may depend on an
individuals genetic makeup; 5) dietary
intervention based on knowledge of
nutritional requirement, nutritional
status and genotype (i.e.individualised
nutrition) can be used to prevent,
mitigate, or cure chronic disease.
Bioactive molecules in food can
affect gene expression thereby
modulating biochemical signalling
pathways. To give just two examples
of many, the green tea polyphenol
11-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG)
reduces signalling in the NF-kappa B
pathway, whose activation has been
associated with aggressive breast

COVER STORY

cancer,21 while grains such as rice


contain inositol hexaphosphate which
inhibits cell transformation (from
normal to cancerous) through its effects
on an enzyme called P1-3 kinase.22
There already is some evidence
that dietary intervention to prevent
disease can be guided by genotype.
For instance, the amount of circulating
angiotensin hormone is related to
increased blood pressure. An SNP in
the angiotensin gene is specified by
the presence of either adenine (A) or
guanine (G) at a specific point in its
DNA sequence. A and G are two of
the four nucleotide units that make up
the DNA molecule; the other two are
C (cytosine) and T (thymine). We each
inherit two copies (alleles) of each gene,
one from each parent, so there are three
different variants of the angiotensin
gene AA, AG or GG with respect
to this particular SNP. Those carrying
the AA variant of the angiotensin gene
responded better to the DASH (Dietary
Approaches to Stop Hypertension)
diet in terms of reducing their blood
pressure compared to those with the
GG variant.23 A large percentage
around 60 per cent of AfricanAmericans have the AA variant, so
findings such as those described above
make large scale, yet targeted, dietary
interventions look feasible.

CONSIDER THE IMPLICATIONS

LOOKING TO
THE FUTURE
Nutrigenomics could lead to many
innovative products and services in
the future, such as
Branded cereals tailored to your
sub-genotype maybe four to six
different varieties containing the
right combination of micronutrients
such as folic acid.
Milk with an age-range label to
match your fat and calcium
requirements full fat for the young
and the elderly, skimmed or semiskimmed for those in between.
Genotyping using fast-turnaround,
disposable gene chips could be
part of your interaction with your
personal trainer or nutritional
therapist, helping them to
prescribe your optimum diet
and exercise programme.36
But do not expect these benefits in
the near future nutrigenomics is
very much an emerging field.

18 OPTIMUM NUTRITION

There are many potential applications


for nutrigenomics such as issuing
more personalised preventive lifestyle
guidelines, more effective dietary
recommendations and new products,
including health-promoting foods
and supplements. Because of the
personalised angle, nutrigenetic testing
could provide a powerful motivator in
helping people make healthy lifestyle
choices and stick with them.
But will nutrigenetics remain the
preserve of a wealthy group of worried
well clients, accustomed to exercising
their right to pay for independent health
advice? Or will it truly have a broader
application to the population at large?
Technologies like gene microarrays, are
becoming increasingly high-throughput
meaning they can test many SNPs in
parallel as costs fall, so the idea of
patients having a nutrigenetic screen
alongside a regular blood pressure or
cholesterol check is not beyond the
realms of possibility, although it could
lie sometime into the future.

There is a real divide coming up


in terms of public and personal health,
predicts Sue McGinty MSc, DipION,
formerly Honorary Secretary of the
British Association for Nutritional
Therapy (BANT), who believes that
nutrigenetics could strengthen what
nutritional therapists already do, which
is to help people for whom general
health guidelines dont work.
Biomarkers and metabolomics
[see box on page 19] will become
increasingly important and a lot of
current functional testing will be
validated. Nutrigenetics adds a piece
of the jigsaw to what we do and
will advance our understanding of
individual variation,she explains.
We already work with phenotype
assessment in our own way, because
we work with personal health. But,
of course, there is no point in doing
nutrigenetic tests unless we can also
modulate the phenotype in some way.
NuGOs Dr Astley believes that
nutrigenomics could be made more
widely applicable without necessarily
doing widespread genetic testing.
I think nutrigenomics could play an
important role in public health advice
and make it more appropriate to
different subgroups, such as parents
wanting to know what to feed their
children, the elderly, and people who
have allergies and other food-related
problems,she says. She points out that
people are willing to buy clothes and
shoes in different sizes, so why not use
the same individualised approach to
foods? There are already many products
containing plant stanol esters to lower
cholesterol, and omega-3 fatty acids
to protect against heart disease. This
would just take the principle a stage
further and might appeal to those who
prefer to treat their risk factors with a
food, rather than a drug.

FACING CHALLENGES
However, nutrigenomics is very much
an emerging discipline and there are
many challenges scientific, legal
and ethical. One important feature
is the multidisciplinary nature of
nutrigenomics, which requires input
from molecular biologists, clinicians,
bioinformatics experts, epidemiologists
and nutritionists. Its progress also
relies on a wide range of different
technologies and tools, some of
which are still in need of validation or
development. It is for this reason that

OMIC RESEARCH
Proteomics is the study of the
complement of proteins in
an organism.
Transcriptomics is the study of
the sub-set of genes transcribed
into protein in a cell.
Metabolomics is the study of
the complement of metabolites
(breakdown products) in a cell.
Epigenomics is the study of DNA
methylation, which can alter the
activity of a gene.
Pharmacogenomics is the study of
the interaction between prescription
drugs and an individual genotype.
Nutrigenomics is the study of the
interaction between food and an
individual genotype.

FOOD IS MORE THAN JUST FUEL


FOR THE BODY; IT CONTAINS
MANY BIOLOGICALLY ACTIVE
MOLECULES WHICH ARE CAPABLE
OF AFFECTING GENE EXPRESSION
networks such as NuGO have been
founded; no one organisation has
the expertise needed to build up the
scientific foundations of nutrigenomics.
Dr Culp, who developed some
of the first nutrigenetics tests at Great
Smokies Diagnostic Laboratories in
North Carolina, USA in bone health
and cardiovascular, atopy (asthma,
eczema) and cancer risk associated
with detoxification says much
epidemiological work needs to be
done.The research is lagging in trying
to get sense of the nutritional lifestyle
of groups. There are huge databases
of diet and lifestyle in studies such
as the Nurses Health Study and the
Framingham Heart Study.
There are also frozen clinical
samples that could be analysed to
reveal genotype differences between
participants and these should now
be linked in with the diet and lifestyle
data to stratify the results of these large
studies.It is time to move away from
blind epidemiology,says Culp.
There is also the issue of the
chemical and biological properties of
foodstuffs not just those that are
naturally occurring, such as fruits and

vegetables, but also those that have


been subject to processing. It will be
challenging to translate nutrigenomic
findings into optimal intakes of
nutrients to achieve improved health
outcomes, particularly as nutritional
needs change over a lifespan.

IN PRACTICE
In one sense, the result of an
SNP screen is just another piece of
biochemical information, like a glucose
tolerance or cholesterol test. However,
there are special ethical considerations
to be applied to any kind of DNA
testing even though the results of
an SNP analysis are not as strongly
predictive as the result of a test for a
single gene disorder.24
The personal nature of genetic
information means that a persons
right to privacy, and autonomy over
it, must be strictly maintained. If they
want to withhold their consent when
it comes to sharing the information
with third parties (donating their
sample to a biobank for large-scale
research, for instance), then that has
to be respected. People further need
to be assured that they will not be

discriminated against when it comes to


insurance, employment or finance, just
because they have had a genetic test.
There is also a potential safety
issue associated with personalised
nutrition arising from the current
lack of a strong science base. At one
extreme, the individual may end up
with bland, generalised advice on diet
which they could have got for nothing
from the internet, or from a leaflet
available at the doctors surgery;
on the other hand, a very specialised
diet may possibly ameliorate one
genetic risk, but create another.
Certain SNPs are very common
in the population and it is possible
they confer some protective advantage.
Where metabolomics research suggests
an associated risk, a targeted diet might
help neutralise the risk but wipe out
the advantage at the same time.
An example from medical genetics
helps to illustrate the point. Sickle
cell anaemia (SCA) results from the
inheritance of two faulty haemoglobin
genes, resulting in the development
of misshapen red blood cells.Yet
individuals with one faulty and one
normal haemoglobin gene have
enhanced resistance to malaria,
which confers a survival advantage
in malarious areas. The molecular
pathology of SCA is well established
that of diet, genes and health is not.
Practitioners who prescribe diets
that are very far from accepted norms,
based on nutrigenetic testing and
counselling, would need to keep a
careful eye on their clients in case
of any unexpected adverse effects.


OPTIMUM NUTRITION 19

COVER STORY

TRAINING ISSUES
Initially, nutrigenetic tests and services
were offered direct to the consumer,
usually over the internet, by Sciona
and others. This model offers autonomy
to the consumer who may be well
informed and motivated. Concern arises
over the tied-in selling of nutrigenetic
products, without proven health
benefits or face-to-face advice.25
Today, most companies operate via a
healthcare practitioner who administers
the test and provides counselling and
follow-up. But there is a big issue about
the knowledge and training of these
practitioners. Genetic counsellors
understand the issues of risk and
susceptibility, but are in short supply
and do not have specialised nutrition
knowledge. Conversely, nutritionists are
not usually also qualified in genetics.
A team approach to delivery may be
best, reflecting the multidisciplinary
nature of nutrigenomics.26
At the moment, nutrigenetic
testing is aimed at the proactive, top
end of the market, but these tests
may fall in price and filter down
through the population and become
more accessible,says Dr Astley, who
believes that specialised diet clinics
may start to emerge although
perhaps not within the NHS.
There is a strong feeling that
anything to do with genetics should
only be done through a practitioner,
says Sue McGinty. After the Sciona
affair, she gave evidence for BANT to
the Human Genetics Commission,
which wanted to ensure the effective
oversight of genetic tests supplied to the
public other than through a medical
practitioner. The resulting report Genes
Direct makes the recommendation that
complementary therapists, and others,
would need training and accreditation
in giving genetics advice if they were
to consider including a nutrigenetic
dimension to their practice.27
McGintys report on nutrigenetics
for the Nutritional Therapy Council
Education & Training Committee
proposes a competency framework for
nutritional therapists.28 Implementing
new standards would require that
educational and peer support processes
are developed by those regulating and
representing nutritional therapists, she
says. Members of the public wishing to
benefit from nutrigenetic counselling
will need to be assured of appropriate
standards of quality assurance.If you

20 OPTIMUM NUTRITION

are going to use these tests, then


you do need to be trained in practical
and legal issues,she says.
McGinty is about to launch two
surveys that follow up this report. The
first is aimed at the training providers
to find out what they would like to
do in nutrigenetics; the second is
for practitioners to assess their level
of interest in the area.29

MEDICINAL PURPOSES
As nutrigenomics advances, it is likely
to lead to the development of a range of
new types of foods whether they are
classed as medical foods, nutraceuticals
or functional foods. Dr Tom MacMillan,
executive director of the Food Ethics
Council, has some concerns over what
nutrigenomics appears to be doing
to the priorities of both public and
private sector food research.
The Food Ethics Council is an
independent research and advocacy
group that aims to make the food
system fairer and healthier from farm
to fork. Its attention was caught by a
paper in the British Journal of Nutrition
signed by 87 leading scientists and
calling for an international push to
harness nutrigenomics for public and
personal health.30 Our concern was that
the sector might run away with itself.
They should not promise what they
cannot deliver to get extra resources,
comments Dr MacMillan.
Accordingly, the Food Ethics
Council has laid out its concerns in its
paper Getting Personal.31 For instance,
the science base of nutrigenomics is
not yet well established and there is
a danger that associated new food
products could bear misleading health
claims. Much functional food product
development is underpinned by public
sector research and therefore public
money. Nutrigenetics may mean that
access to healthy food is via premium
price products, which may be out of
reach to those who need them most.
So that does not solve the problem of
the nations health and obesity crisis.
Dr MacMillan would rather see
the food industry focus on product
reformulation containing less fat, salt
and sugar than on functional foods.
In public health terms, this could be
more effective,he says.Trusted brands
have a real opportunity to show you
dont have to pay more for health.
There is also the possibility that
functional foods based on genotype

ON THE MARKET
Genovations is a product of
Genova Diagnostics (formerly
Great Smokies Diagnostic
Laboratories) and is a range
of SNP-based profiles for
heart disease, bone health,
detoxification and the immune
system, www.genovations.com.
GenoSolutions offers a
comprehensive nutrigenetics
profile including bone health,
detoxification, antioxidative
capacity, insulin sensitivity, tissue
repair, www.genosolutions.com.
Sciona the Mycellf test analyses
SNPs from 19 genes involved
in heart health, bone health,
detoxification and antioxidant
capacity, inflammation and insulin
sensitivity, www.sciona.com.
Genelex offers a similar range of
tests to Sciona, analysing SNPs
from 19 genes, covering heart
health, bone health, vitamin B
use, detoxification and antioxidant
capacity, inflammation and insulin
sensitivity, also including an
optional weight loss programme,
www.healthanddna.com.

may not be popular because the public


in the UK, particularly tends not
to like its food being messed with
(witness the unpopularity of GMOs).
The advent of nutrigenomics may also
change the way people view food. For
many, food is not just fuel it is social,
cultural and fun. Making it medicinal
especially if one member of a family
has to eat a special diet could prove
deeply off-putting. The food industry
may face a huge challenge in making
the DNA diet palatable or popular.
Even so, many remain optimistic
that nutrigenomics can deliver genuine
health benefits.Expectations were
too high at first,admits Dr Culp.
But with an increasing number of
polymorphisms [the difference in
DNA sequence among individuals]
being identified, we will soon have
information to help people figure out
their best diet. I think nutrigenomics
will take off. It will capture the public
imagination at some point.

Sue McGinty has written a paper entitled


Fit for Practice in Nutrigenomics? which
is available to read at www.ion.ac.uk.

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