"Food is your best medicine," a wise saying and a book by the late Henry Bieler, MD, holistic doctor to the stars, includes testimonials by Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo and a recipe for an alkalizing broth comprising four green vegetables to which he attributes all kinds of health benefits. My former ballet teacher (1919-2012) used to eat the broth according to his instructions whenever she was sick, almost sick, or feeling "toxic" for any reason, and I make it now and then just in case it works.
Well, science is moving toward grounding some beliefs about the healing power of certain foods for certain people and the effectiveness of diets tailored to a person's genetic makeup. A New Scientist piece reports that last week at the European Society of Human Genetics meeting in Milan, University of Trieste researcher Nicola Pirastu, PhD, and colleagues presented findings on nutrigenomics showing that diets shaped according to a person's metabolism may be more effective than non-specialized calorie reduction in helping him or her lose weight.
From the piece:
The team used the results of a genetic test to design specific diets for 100 obese people that also provided them with 600 fewer calories than usual. A control group was placed on a 600-calorie deficit, untailored diet.
After two years, both groups had lost weight, but those in the nutrigenetic group lost 33 per cent more. They also took only a year to lose as much weight as the group on the untailored diet lost in two years.
I'll keep eating four green vegetables in their cooking water (and adding Bieler-taboo salt and pepper) until a larger, randomized trial tells me otherwise, but it's worth considering that "healthy" isn't one-size-fits-all. The piece continues:
[John Mathers, PhD, director of the Human Nutrition Research Centre at Newcastle University, UK] says the effects of even a healthy diet can vary according to someone's genetics. For instance, the APOE gene is linked to the breakdown of fat, and one variant of it confers a higher risk of getting cardiovascular disease and dementia. "People with that variant respond differently to certain fats in the diet," he says. Another gene affects how much vitamin B9 people need.
Previously: Stanford geneticist talks tracking biological data points and personalized medicine, Ask Stanford Med: Genetics chair answers your questions on genomics and personalized medicine and How genome testing can help guide preventative medicine
Photo by Emily Hite
