17^th October 2022

 

Diet has a crucial role in cardio-metabolic health, but metabolic responses to diet are highly individualised. One route to tackle the continued rise in obesity and associated health consequences is personalised nutrition. However, for this to be effective, it is important to characterise molecular pathways that mediate individual dietary responses.

Overall, DIMENSION aims to investigate the influence of dietary intakes on epigenetic regulation of gene function, and effects on human cardio-metabolic health. In this webinar, the latest research on effects of diets on our genomes and gene regulation were discussed as well as personalised nutrition-based strategies to promote cardio-metabolic health.

We live in the age of imprecise public health nutrition advice (so-called one-size-fits-all), which is nonetheless valuable. However, there is strong evidence for postprandial molecular and sex-specific responses to test meal challenges, dominated by genes involved in adipogenesis and inflammation.

Postprandial genomic trajectories and postprandial glucose, insulin, and lipid concentrations have together revealed genetic mediators of inter-individual variations in response to diets. In other words, we are correct in thinking that not everyone responds to same food in the same way. The problem is the variation between studies, which makes understanding implications of these difference difficult. Food-metabotype relationships, or metabolic phenotypes (i.e., characteristics responses to meals), can be identified loosely, but there is an urgent need to replicate studies if we are going to base public health advice on these outcomes. DIMENSION aims to bring new knowledge on acute and chronic methylation changes (epigenetics) and integrate this knowledge with personalised and precision nutrition and human health research.

The webinar was organized by ILSI Europe as a part of webinar series on personalised nutrition.

Chair:

Sarah Berry – King’s College London (UK)

Speakers:

DIMENSION project overview and postprandial genomic trajectories, Jordana Bell – King’s College London (UK)

Habitual diet and epigenetic modifications microbiome & data, Jakob Linseisen – University of Augsburg and Ludwig-Maximililans University of Munich (DE)

Personalised nutrition: a game-changing journey towards health, Jose Ordovas – Tufts University (US) and IMDEA-Food (ES)