So called “DNA” diets have caught the public’s attention in the past few years. In the never-ending quest to find a diet regimen that really will take off the pounds for good, millions of us Americans have been at least intrigued by the idea of letting your genes tell you what to eat and drink, and what not to. Many more of us are also curious whether our individual genetic pre-dispositions say something about enjoying better health depending on what we consume.

In this podcast I talk to two researchers in the field of nutrigenomics, a gastroenterologist, and a nutritionist to help me better understand the promise of personalized nutrition recommendations based on our individual genetics.

Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy, professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto, and founder of Nutrigenomix, talks about a landmark study around caffeine, and other studies looking at the links between nutritional factors and health outcomes.

Dr. Nathan Price, Associate Director of the Institute for Systems Biology, describes his findings around genetics and cholesterol, and helps put nutrigenomics within a broader context of personalized nutrition.

Dr. David Alpers, Professor of Medicine and Co-Director of the Center for Human Nutrition at Washington University urges caution in interpreting findings to date based on nutrigenomics. He also underlines the importance of understanding each person holistically in order to factor in what your genes might one day say about your nutritional needs.

Ann Swanson, RD, has a practice called New Way Nutrition. She shares her front line experience with clients and their DNA test scores.

Cover art courtesy of Zephyris