While you may not be able to pronounce it at first glance, nutrigenomics might be the key to a healthy diet and good nutrition for food allergy sufferers. To understand how, let’s first think about what it is. Wikipedia defines nutrigenomics as “the study of molecular relationships between nutrition and the response of genes, with the aim of extrapolating how such subtle changes can affect human health.”
Still a bit fuzzy from your New Years Eve hangover and are wondering what the hell that means? In simple language, it’s basically how the genetic makeup of a person responds to the foods they eat.
How Nutrigenomics May Help Food Allergy Sufferers Maintain a Healthy Diet
Scientists predict that in the not-so-distant future, nutrigenomics may be used to develop customized diets. The health implications for those with food allergies and food intolerances are immeasurable. Imagine knowing which combination of foods make up a healthy diet and good nutrition for you – and keep you safe at the same time?
Most are unaware that approximately 12 million Americans suffer from some form of food allergy and/or food intolerance. In the most severe cases, food allergy sufferers risk death if they eat the wrong thing. Anyone with a food allergy has to be vigilant about what they eat, become prolific label readers, and make life-long dietary changes to keep from getting sick or staying sick.
Nutrigenomics also has implications on a broader scale, like fighting obesity, preventing diseases, and promoting overall better health. With the information gleaned from a person’s “nutrigenomic chart,” to coin a phrase, individuals will be able to modify their diet and nutrition habits – all with the aim of preventing or changing future disease susceptibility.
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Nice post. I just glanced through it. Maybe I can really read it later
I’m all for this. From what little they do understand about intolerances, genetics can definitely play a role. As a person who has several known allergies and intolerances (including gluten grains) and many unknown ones (I have no idea what I’m reacting to!), I would be thrilled if I could modify my diet based on the results of genetic testing.
.-= Check out Lillea´s last blog post: Gluten Intolerance Testing: 6 Problems with Standard Tests and 2 Solutions =-.