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Vitality 2020: Personalized Nutrition tools are creating a revolution in health care

Todd Runestad

 Food supplements have long been described as “hope in a bottle.” That is, nutrients are consumed with the hope that, down the line, health outcomes might be improved. In this modern world, consumers sheepishly know they sacrifice convenience for health, then deign to make up for it by taking vitamin supplements to fill the nutrient gaps. Despite the difficulty of conducting decades-long nutritional supplementation intervention studies, and the “soft science” epithet tossed at nutrition science in general—as if what a person puts in his or her mouth three times a day could possibly influence one’s health!—consumers continue to be attracted to nutrition-based health care. Yes, there are obvious side effects with pharmaceutical drugs, but the concept resonates that positive nutrition can help prevent chronic degenerative disease states. But is there a way to really know if supplements can improve one’s health span, if not life span? The age of nutrigenomics—how nutrients can influence gene expression—is upon us. Its nexus with diagnostic tools that can measure nutrient levels is changing healthcare as we know it. Inexpensive blood draws can measure vitamin D status. Blood-drop samples can measure omega-3 levels. Non-invasive means can measure arterial aging and consequent downstream vitamin K2 status. Stool swabs can assay gastrointestinal microbial makeup. Gene tests can hint at what food groups, macronutrients and even types of fruits, vegetables and meats most align with an individual’s genetic makeup. Personalized health care is here. These tests can give consumers a look inside their own bodies—a shift from 20th century holistic health care that mostly relied on family history and an individual’s general health status. Coupled with the evolution of supplements away from pill formats, the integration of nutrients into functional foods, and the latter-day consumer desires to seek out nutrientdense whole-foods, and we have a true health care revolution happening, one that supports our own personal, optimal health. Todd Runestad is senior editor of supplements and ingredients at Informa Health & Nutrition.