Dietary Patterns, Genes, and Health: Challenges and Obstacles to be Overcome

Abstract

Several dietary approaches have been proposed to prevent the onset of chronic diseases. As yet, no single approach has emerged as having the most consistent health benefits. This arises, in part, due to the fact that diet influences health in the context of individual factors with genetic components. Therefore, the effects of diet on health may be dependent on an individual’s genetic background. At this time we lack robust evidence for the effects of interactions between genes and dietary patterns on health. To understand why, I will briefly review the most methodologically strong attempts to identify gene–diet interactions, which will illuminate how the challenges facing all of genetic research apply to the search for gene–diet interactions. Then I will discuss some ways in which these challenges are being addressed that offer hope for the future in which the best diet for an individual is identified based on their genetic variation.

Effects of high fat diet on kidney lipid content and the Na,K-ATPase activity

“…Modifications on the dietary patterns with the introduction of hypercaloric and high fat diets (HFD) contributed to elevate the incidence of overweight and obesity worldwide. As consequence, a transformation on health-disease process could be observed specifically with the augment of the prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular impairment, and cancer (Crescenzo et al, 2015;Frazier-Wood, 2015;McKeown, 2009).…”

Foodomics for personalized nutrition: how far are we?

“…37,38 These problems include small, underpowered studies, irreproducible results, dietary measurement error and selective reporting of positive findings. Large well-designed studies with accurately measured diet will be needed to build the platform upon which genome-customised nutrition therapy will be based.…”

Nutrition recommendations and science: next parallel steps

“…Earlier candidate gene studies and more recent genome‐wide association studies (GWAS) have shown how genes and diet interact in multiple ways to increase or decrease the likelihood for diseases . The number of genes and/or loci in association with a certain chronic disease, such as obesity or type 2 diabetes, amount to several tens .…”