Nutrigenetics?

[bearmeat]

I was reading Time magazine today in a waiting room and came across nutrigenetics in which scientists base your diet on your genetics. Depending on your genes, caffeine can inhibit calcium absorption, fat can have varying affects on HDL and LDL etc. Apparently for about $250 you can have such an assessment performed by swabbing your cheek and having it sent to a lab.

I thought this was pretty interesting and was wondering if anyone has tried this or has any information on its validity as I could not find any on this site.

 

[yeahright]

I was reading Time magazine today in a waiting room and came across nutrigenetics in which scientists base your diet on your genetics. Depending on your genes, caffeine can inhibit calcium absorption, fat can have varying affects on HDL and LDL etc. Apparently for about $250 you can have such an assessment performed by swabbing your cheek and having it sent to a lab.

I thought this was pretty interesting and was wondering if anyone has tried this or has any information on its validity as I could not find any on this site.

While there most definately are genetic components to all sorts of nutritionally related processes, I don't believe that the particular science is advanced enough to do what these people claim.

Having a particular gene is just part of the equation. Gene expression (is it on or off, and under what circumstances) is turning out to be far more important for understanding biological processes than simply identifying that an individual carries a particular gene.

Perhaps a board member with more medical knowledge can chime in?