Sport Nutrigenomics: Personalized Nutrition for Athletic Performance

Abstract

An individual's dietary and supplement strategies can influence markedly their physical performance. Personalized nutrition in athletic populations aims to optimize health, body composition, and exercise performance by targeting dietary recommendations to an individual's genetic profile. Sport dietitians and nutritionists have long been adept at placing additional scrutiny on the one-size-fits-all general population dietary guidelines to accommodate various sporting populations. However, generic “one-size-fits-all” recommendations still remain. Genetic differences are known to impact absorption, metabolism, uptake, utilization and excretion of nutrients and food bioactives, which ultimately affects a number of metabolic pathways. Nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics are experimental approaches that use genomic information and genetic testing technologies to examine the role of individual genetic differences in modifying an athlete's response to nutrients and other food components. Although there have been few randomized, controlled trials examining the effects of genetic variation on performance in response to an ergogenic aid, there is a growing foundation of research linking gene-diet interactions on biomarkers of nutritional status, which impact exercise and sport performance. This foundation forms the basis from which the field of sport nutrigenomics continues to develop. We review the science of genetic modifiers of various dietary factors that impact an athlete's nutritional status, body composition and, ultimately athletic performance.

A Review of the Role of the Gut Microbiome in Personalized Sports Nutrition

“…Here, the evidence that the gut microbiome may be a predictor of athletic performance is reviewed. Personalized sports nutrition has incorporated the type of sport or activity, the training status of the individual, the athlete's goals, the time of the competitive season, and the athlete's food preferences (120,121) as well as biological traits such as genetic polymorphisms, RNA expression, and epigenetic modifications (28)(29)(30)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38) in the attempt to optimize athletic performance and response to training programs.…”

“…Variability in the physiological response to training and nutrition has been attributed to factors such as age, sex, training history, initial training status, psychological factors, and the mode, duration, intensity, and frequency of training (26). Genetics has also become a large topic of research in the area of variability in response to exercise training and potentially ergogenic dietary components (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38). It is possible that variability in the gut microbiome may also influence gains in performance in response to training and nutrition.…”

Personalized Nutrition for Management of Micronutrient Deficiency—Literature Review in Non-bariatric Populations and Possible Utility in Bariatric Cohort

“…Genotype along with micronutrient blood levels would be the initial step in applying PN among bariatric surgery patients. Genetic marker is only one factor that influences improvements related to micronutrient status [132].…”

Arts and Science of Athletic Performance- Short Communication

“…CR enhance the performance of sustained exercise conducted at intensities below the so-called anaerobic threshold [20]. Sleep is recognized as an essential component of physiological and psychological recovery from, and preparation for, high-intensity training in athletes [21]. Also, mental fatigue on endurance performance is the most important factor responsible that gives a negative impact [22,23].…”