What is nutrigenomics?

April 7, 6:48 PMSacramento Nutrition ExaminerAnne Hart

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Nutrigenomics marries nutrition to genomics. And genomics is a branch of genetics that researches genomes. All your genes together make up your genome. Epigenetics is the science of switching on the good gene tags and switching off the bad gene tags.

Epigenetics and nutrigenomics work together to help find the smart foods and tailor them to your type. The science is in its infancy, but nutrigenomics also is about finding out how people can tailor, customize, and adjust foods, vitamins, nutraceuticals, drugs, medicinal dosage differences, and even skin and hair products to their individual genes, body type and metabolism. 

Books on tailoring your food to your genetic traits are helpful, such How Nutrigenomics Fights Childhood Type 2 Diabetes by this nutrition journalist and books by doctors of naturopathy such as a best-selling naturopath, Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo's the The Genotype Diet (change your genetic destiny), offering a personalized plan for turning off the bad genes and switching on the good ones).

Eleven years ago Dr. D'Adamo also published Eat Right 4 Your Type and later, Cook Right 4 Your Type and now offers The Genotype Diet (and an online) store.epigenetics. If you plan to have children, you must consider dining for your descendants. Environmental cues trigger changes on your epigenetic tag which is on your genome. And then your genome shapes the way your genes are expressed. Watch this NOVA clip on epigenetics.

Create genograms. These are family medical histories that list what types of genetic diseases various family members inherited. The genograms are given to younger generations and also placed into a time capsule so families can follow their genetic inheritances so they can adjust their foods and lifestyle to switch on the good gene tags and switch off the bad gene tags as the new field of epigenetics evolves.

See How to Create a Medical Genogram where you list genetic diseases of past generations to present to future generations. That way they will know how to change their genetic destiny as much as they can with nutrition and lifestyle changes and avoid risky eating behavior.

National Center for Education Statistics studies on obesity in children under the age of five now shows that nearly one in five U.S. 4-year olds are obese. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. A news article on beet juice reported on February 6, 2008 in the Science Daily, noted how researchers at Barts and The London School of Medicine have discovered that drinking just 500ml of beetroot juice a day can significantly reduce blood pressure. Healthexcel.