The discovery of hundreds of genes that directly influence what we choose to eat paves the way for personalized healthy diet plans, say scientists.
They say their findings represent an important step toward using a person’s genetics to develop precision nutrition strategies that help improve health or prevent disease., “Some genes we identified are related to sensory pathways — including those for taste, smell, and texture — and may also increase the reward response in the brain.
PheWAS studies are used to find associations between gene variants of interest and a spectrum of human traits and behaviors, including dietary intake.Cole, Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, said, “The foods we choose to eat are largely influenced by environmental factors such as our culture, socio-economic status, and food accessibility.
Analysis revealed around 300 genes directly associated with eating specific foods and just under 200 genes linked to dietary patterns which group various foods together, such as overall fish intake or fruit consumption. She is studying the newly identified diet-related genes to better understand their function while also working to identify even more genes that directly influence food preferences.