featured in this issue - NZIFST - The New Zealand Institute of Food ...

NUTRIGENOMICS
In future, foods could be tailored to remove particularly ‘risky’ components for significant groups of the population
Personalised nutrition
Julian Heyes, Plant & Food Research
‘Nutrigenomics’ is an unfamiliar term for many scientists,
and practically unknown to most members of the public. Simply
put, it is an emerging scientific discipline that recognises that
the subtle differences between people’s genetic make-up affect
our risk of acquiring particular diet-related diseases during our
lifetime; and the ideal foods (or ideal diet) for one person will
not be the same for their neighbour.
Genetics and disease
There are many human conditions (such as Inflammatory
Bowel Disease, (IBD)) that run in families, indicating that they
have a significant genetic component, but not everyone with
the same risk factors will develop full-blown IBD. It appears
that the diet and lifestyle choices made by each individual affect
the rate of onset and severity of IBD. The nutrigenomics
research being conducted in New Zealand holds the potential
to demonstrate exactly how certain components of our food
may be interacting with our genetic pre-disposition and triggering
the chronic inflammation that leads to IBD.
Already our research is indicating that there are certain foods
that are generically ‘safe’ for people at risk of developing IBD:
their texture and composition mean they are reported as neutral
by practically everyone. There are other foods that are reported
as ‘harmful’ by practically everyone at risk of IBD. Most interestingly,
there is a third group of foods that some people report as
improving their condition and others report as making it worse.
As we analyse these foods in detail we may be able to associate
these different responses to specific components of the food
interacting with particular risk-factor genes.
Personalised diets
We can envisage the day when each of us has had our full
genetic code read. Knowing what our particular risk-factor
genes are would open up information well beyond the generic
diet and lifestyle choices that we should all endeavour to make
(not smoking, getting some exercise, and eating a balanced
diet). People at risk of developing IBD at present may adopt a
very prudent but bland diet. It would be great if they could be
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