Nutrigenomics is the study of how an individual’s genetic makeup interacts with their diet, influencing their health, metabolism, and risk for certain diseases. It merges nutrition and genetics, aiming to understand how different nutrients or foods affect gene expression and how an individual’s genetic variations can alter their response to certain nutrients.

Key points about nutrigenomics include:

1. Gene-Diet Interaction Nutrigenomics investigates how specific nutrients or dietary patterns affect the activation or suppression of genes. For instance, certain foods might promote the expression of genes linked to fat metabolism, while others might trigger genes related to inflammation or disease risk.
2. Personalised Nutrition Because genetic variations (such as SNPs or single nucleotide polymorphisms) affect how people metabolise nutrients, nutrigenomics holds promise for creating personalised nutrition plans. This approach could potentially tailor diets to optimise health, manage weight, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or obesity.
3. Health Outcomes Nutrigenomics aims to understand how food components, such as vitamins, minerals, fats, and other compounds, can positively or negatively influence health through gene expression. For example, some individuals might be more prone to high cholesterol based on their genetic profile, and certain fats in their diet might exacerbate this risk more than in others.
4. Disease Prevention By studying the interactions between diet and genes, nutrigenomics seeks to identify dietary factors that may either reduce or increase the risk of conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, depending on one’s genetic predispositions.

In short, nutrigenomics helps bridge the gap between nutrition and genetics, with the ultimate goal of enhancing individual health by creating more effective, personalised dietary recommendations.