Program Description

Nutrition has traditionally been considered an integral part of health maintenance and disease prevention based on epidemiological surveys. However, the clear differences in individual responses to nutrients have been well known for many years. More recently, advances in molecular nutrition, genomics, epigenetics, and the study of the microbiome has shifted the focus of nutrition science to improving the health of individuals through individualized programs of balanced nutrition and a healthy active lifestyle. Modern molecular nutritional research is searching for ways to adapt nutrition to individual needs for health promotion and improved performance. Personalized nutrition is similar in concept to personalized medicine which aims to utilize differences among individuals to customize medical therapies. While there is evidence that individuals respond differently to diet, depending on their genetic makeup, lifestyle and environment, the underlying mechanisms and full understanding of these relationships are a work in progress. Nutrigenetics addresses how an individual’s genetic makeup predisposes for dietary susceptibility, while nutrigenomics asks how nutrition influences the expression of the genome. Nutrigenomics builds on the three omics disciplines transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, while epigenetics is an inheritable phenomenon that affects gene expression without base pair changes. Epigenetic phenomena include DNA methylation, histone modifications, and chromatin remodeling. Nutritional systems biology attempts to probe the interaction between food components and diet with cells, organs and the whole body including the microbiome. Recent research demonstrates that changes in diet, body fat, and the intake of plant foods vs. animal foods can change the microbiome providing a new level of complexity to considerations of the interactions of the same nutrients in different individuals. While there are food products available that address requirements or taste preferences of specific consumer groups, individual phenotypes, nutrigenomics, nutrigenetics, epigenetics and the microbiome are not considered. Improving our understanding of the scientific foundations of human variability in preferences, requirements and responses to diet may become the future tools for personalized nutritional counseling for health maintenance and weight management.

This symposium will focus on the emerging science in personalized nutrition comparing different populations around the world, as well as individuals within the same communities consuming different diets. The challenge in bringing personalized nutrition to benefit individuals lies in developing diagnostic, nutritional and service solutions by defining biomarkers of bioavailability, bioefficacy and disposition, new measuring technologies, and new delivery systems using social media. Many measuring technologies are being evaluated in terms of their maturity and consumer accessibility.  Understanding personalized nutrition may help contribute to efforts to reduce the negative impacts of the global nutrition transition through public policy, while evaluation of the impact of certain nutrients on health may help in the implementation of future strategies integrating diet and exercise advice for individuals globally.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this sessions, attendees will be able to:

• Identify the impact of genetic variations in nutritional metabolism on biomarkers of obesity and health in the US and globally.
• Identify the impact of functional genomics on the risk of obesity-associated chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease.
• Describe the key factors in nutritional modulation of epigenetics in human nutrition.
• Identify the key nutrients lacking in populations in the developed world as affected by genetic variation.
• Describe the role of the gut microbiome in the metabolism of phytonutrients and in nutrient absorption in both normal and obese individuals.
• Describe the impact of individual genetic variation on the impacts of generalized macronutrient recommendations in weight management.

Agenda

Impact of Personalized Nutrition on the Global Nutrition Transition and the Risk of Obesity-Associated Chronic Diseases: The Public Health Imperative, David Heber, MD, PhD, UCLA Center for Human Nutrition (8:00 – 8:30 AM)

Genetic and Environmental Control of Host-Gut Microbiota Interactions, A.J.Lusis, PhD, UCLA Department of Medicine, Department Of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, Department Of Human Genetics (8:30 – 9:00 AM)

The Microbiome: Individual Variation on a Daily and Diurnal Basis Impacts Weight Gain, Amir Zarrinpar, MD, PHD, University of California, San Diego (9:00 – 9:30 AM)

Break (9:30 – 9:45 AM)

Modulation of the Gut Microbiome by Prebiotics, Phytochemicals, and Dietary Pattern, Zhaoping Li, MD, PhD, UCLA Center for Human Nutrition (9:45 – 10:15 AM)

Cocoa Flavanols:  From the Gut to Vascular Health, Carl Keen PhD, University of California, Davis (10:15 – 10:45 AM)

Using Genomic Information to Guide Weight Management: From Universal to Precision Treatment:  A Review of an NIH Workshop and Future Directions, Molly S. Bray , University of Texas Nutritional Sciences (10:45 – 11:15 AM)

Questions & Answers (11:15 AM – 12:00 PM)

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