Nutrigenomic diet: personalising nutrition according to your genes

“We are what we eat”. This is what we hear and read all the time. And there is no greater truth than this.

In fact, what we eat is very much conditioned by our genes. This is the principle advocated by nutrigenomics, a field of study that examines how our genetic make-up can influence the way our bodies absorb and metabolise micronutrients.

Since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, many scientists have been studying the link between an individual’s unique genotype and his/her nutrition.

For example, experts have observed the so-called hyper-optimised foods and how they may affect people’s health. The idea is to design a diet based on our genetics, which guarantees longevity and good health.

Our genetic information contains valuable data about our predisposition to develop certain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and diabetes. Recent studies have found that our ability to absorb micronutrients and vitamins varies from person to person at the molecular level. For example, one group of researchers discovered four gene variants that may end vitamin D deficiency, a deficiency that increases the risk of musculoskeletal disorders, cardiovascular disease, and certain types of cancer.

Experts believe that nutrigenomics is the next frontier in the post-genomic era. Current research aims to explain, on the one hand, how individuals develop different responses to the same diets and, on the other, how micronutrients in food are able to turn on and off specific genes. 

The findings about these factors will reinforce the role of food and nutrition in disease prevention. This, precisely, is one of the founding principles of SHA, inspired by the teachings of Hippocrates, the father of medicine: let food be thy medicine.

As the basic research progresses, SHA’s nutrition experts design personalised diets, based on the family and clinical history of each guest. The three menus offered at the wellness clinic, all of them healthy, natural, naturally and locally sourced, are customised to the extreme to try to achieve the healing effect of nutrition.

There is no mystery in the proven fact that you enter SHA with some values in your blood tests and, two weeks later, you leave with much better ones, thanks to the integral approach to health, which includes extremely healthy and hyper-personalised nutrition.