May personalised medicine rings you a bell; it is an “emerging practice of medicine that uses an individual’s genetic profile to guide decisions made regarding the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease” according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. As we are deeply entering into a new personalisation era in medical terms spurred by the success of the Human Genome Project in 2003 following the Human Metabolome Project in 2004, it is time to take firm steps towards the promised land of “personalised nutrition” and PREVENTOMICS project is another milestone to get us there.
Not only genetics, but omics sciences join PREVENTOMICS project to build a new paradigm in preventive personalised nutrition focusing on metabolomics, and changes in habits as drivers of development. Therefore, omics sciences are a promising science that could one day heal doctors and nutritionist have a holistic health approach instead if the “one size fits all” regarding nutritional recommendations.
Each participant received a profile on PREVENTOMICS’ digital platform, indicating their recommended foods according to the assessment of different health biomarkers from biological samples, using a combination of routine biochemical analyses and innovative techniques from the omics sciences. Previously, participants were classified into five groups according to metabolic profile. These groups were based on inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, alteration of the intestinal microbiota and oxidative stress.
A total of 134 participants have completed the Eurecat’s pilot study, which was carried out from 2020 to December 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Nowadays, Eurecat PREVENTOMICS-study’s data assessment is still in progress. However, some of the results have come to light.
During the four months of the intervention study, the volunteers had learned how to adopt and maintain new healthy lifestyle habits by increasing the adherence and confidence to Mediterranean Diet. As a result, most of the participants increased the punctuation of MEDAS questionnaire from 6 to 9 points, the principal variable of the study. Moreover, some participants of the two-intervention groups have lost weight, but the media was only 1 kg.
In conclusion, thanks to projects such as PREVENTOMICS we are getting closer to being able to provide more accurate dietetic guidance for individuals. Lots of work to do in the field of personalised nutrition, but maybe the biggest revolution in nutrition sciences in a very long time.
Eurecat
Eurecat is the leading Technology Centre of Catalonia. It provides the industrial and business sector with differential technology and advanced expertise to boost their competitiveness in a fast-paced environment. The Biotechnology area is focused on the relation of nutrition with metabolic diseases such as obesity and its derived alterations, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease; behaviour and cognitive function and personalized nutrition using cutting edge methods and performing continuous innovation in all omic sciences.