Personalized dieting?? Maybe we really are all special snowflakes ;)
missblondi2u
Posts: 851 Member
So I read this article today (http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2015/10/future-of-dieting-is-personalized-algorithms.html) that posits some interesting ideas about how different people react to different foods. I don't think I'm buying it yet, but I'd be interested to see what others think about "personalized dieting."
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
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Replies
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The link is broken and I couldn't find the article with a quick scan of the website.0
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Interesting stuff. The problem with paying what I imagine would be a hefty price for an individualized diet plan based on your stool sample is that your gut bacteria can change, based on diet among other things. But I have to say that I am fascinated by this stuff. One of my daughter's classes last year was on gut bacteria and I'm tempted to take it myself.0
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I think there's a possibility that this study has some merit, but I think the effect on dieting and body composition that "personalization" can have is minimal, and the big picture is still ruled by the important factors like calorie balance, and macronutrient intake.0
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Some cancer treatments are given based on the individual and type of tumor. Very personalized. Seems reasonable that nutrition and diet would work differently depending on the individual.0
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I think there's a possibility that this study has some merit, but I think the effect on dieting and body composition that "personalization" can have is minimal, and the big picture is still ruled by the important factors like calorie balance, and macronutrient intake.
+1 I'm interested in seeing how this turns out, but I have the same suspicion about the impact of such personalization. I could see having such personalization play a greater role in supplementing medical treatments for specific conditions than in day to day nutrition.0 -
Different people have different needs and desires, so OF COURSE everyone needs their own plan.
I have this theory that some people need more or less of certain macros than others. It could just be wishful thinking on my part, but I wonder about it. Will they find, one day, that some people don't need quite as much protein as others? I lean toward Yes, lol.
As time goes on, they're going to learn new stuff and whatever it is will be interesting.
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It makes sense. We already know different people react differently to various foods. People have various degrees of lactose intolerance, gluten sensitivity, various food allergies, etc. This is a little different, but in that same vein. I do think it is very possible that different people might do better on one diet vs another. Whether these gut bacteria differences that they are focusing on are due to racial or ethnic variations, or just random genetic differences, I find it very interesting.
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I'm a special snowflake. We all are. Some "rules" apply to all of us, but we all live our own lives in our own unique bodies. We all need to do what feels right, and best for us at any given time in our lives.0
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It's majoring in the minors. May have some small effect, but most people struggling with weight loss are just eating too much. No point in tweaking until you've got the big stuff right.0
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SingRunTing wrote: »It's majoring in the minors. May have some small effect, but most people struggling with weight loss are just eating too much. No point in tweaking until you've got the big stuff right.
Agreed.0 -
SingRunTing wrote: »It's majoring in the minors. May have some small effect, but most people struggling with weight loss are just eating too much. No point in tweaking until you've got the big stuff right.
You're missing a big part of the point...It's not just about obesity...that's just one area of interest...it's about health in general. How a food impacts you doesn't just influence your weight, it could influence whether you develop diabetes or heart disease or many other diseases. That's hardly majoring in the minors.0 -
MoiAussi93 wrote: »SingRunTing wrote: »It's majoring in the minors. May have some small effect, but most people struggling with weight loss are just eating too much. No point in tweaking until you've got the big stuff right.
You're missing a big part of the point...It's not just about obesity...that's just one area of interest...it's about health in general. How a food impacts you doesn't just influence your weight, it could influence whether you develop diabetes or heart disease or many other diseases. That's hardly majoring in the minors.
That bolded bit is a pretty huge leap.0 -
tincanonastring wrote: »MoiAussi93 wrote: »SingRunTing wrote: »It's majoring in the minors. May have some small effect, but most people struggling with weight loss are just eating too much. No point in tweaking until you've got the big stuff right.
You're missing a big part of the point...It's not just about obesity...that's just one area of interest...it's about health in general. How a food impacts you doesn't just influence your weight, it could influence whether you develop diabetes or heart disease or many other diseases. That's hardly majoring in the minors.
That bolded bit is a pretty huge leap.
No, it's not actually a leap at all. Blood sugar levels have been linked to these diseases. And what they are studying is whether certain foods impact blood sugar levels to a greater extent in some people than in others. The results so far indicate that they do...of course, more research is needed.0 -
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It seems more about health to me too. For some people, me included, when I am unhealthy I gain weight, partially because food is increased in a vain effort to improve energy and wellness. If I have a diet that improves my health, it will affect my weight too.
Sort of like how obesity is a cause of health problems in some people, but a symptom of a health problem in another.
I'm on board with the special snowflake theory. My diet is not ideal for others. That makes sense since their health needs are different than mine.MoiAussi93 wrote: »tincanonastring wrote: »MoiAussi93 wrote: »SingRunTing wrote: »It's majoring in the minors. May have some small effect, but most people struggling with weight loss are just eating too much. No point in tweaking until you've got the big stuff right.
You're missing a big part of the point...It's not just about obesity...that's just one area of interest...it's about health in general. How a food impacts you doesn't just influence your weight, it could influence whether you develop diabetes or heart disease or many other diseases. That's hardly majoring in the minors.
That bolded bit is a pretty huge leap.
No, it's not actually a leap at all. Blood sugar levels have been linked to these diseases. And what they are studying is whether certain foods impact blood sugar levels to a greater extent in some people than in others. The results so far indicate that they do...of course, more research is needed.
Meh. My doctor says otherwise, so I'll follow her lead. I have diabetes both T1 and T2 in my family. The best way that is managed is by managing my weight. I am at a lesser risk of diabetes and heart disease because I am at a healthy weight and am active/fit on a daily basis.
Obesity isn't just one area of interest, it is the core.
I don't support the bolded for all people. My celiac disease, ITP, and hashimoto's had nothing to do with my weight. I don't think my prediabetes did either since I was only about 10lbs above a normal BMI when it was identified.
It may be true for some but not all.0 -
MoiAussi93 wrote: »tincanonastring wrote: »MoiAussi93 wrote: »SingRunTing wrote: »It's majoring in the minors. May have some small effect, but most people struggling with weight loss are just eating too much. No point in tweaking until you've got the big stuff right.
You're missing a big part of the point...It's not just about obesity...that's just one area of interest...it's about health in general. How a food impacts you doesn't just influence your weight, it could influence whether you develop diabetes or heart disease or many other diseases. That's hardly majoring in the minors.
That bolded bit is a pretty huge leap.
No, it's not actually a leap at all. Blood sugar levels have been linked to these diseases. And what they are studying is whether certain foods impact blood sugar levels to a greater extent in some people than in others. The results so far indicate that they do...of course, more research is needed.
Meh. My doctor says otherwise, so I'll follow her lead. I have diabetes both T1 and T2 in my family. The best way that is managed is by managing my weight. I am at a lesser risk of diabetes and heart disease because I am at a healthy weight and am active/fit on a daily basis.
Obesity isn't just one area of interest, it is the core.
Meh. My doctor disagrees with yours, so I'll follow her lead. I also have diabetes in my family, and my doctor believes there is more to it than simply weight. Diet matters.0 -
It seems more about health to me too. For some people, me included, when I am unhealthy I gain weight, partially because food is increased in a vain effort to improve energy and wellness. If I have a diet that improves my health, it will affect my weight too.
Sort of like how obesity is a cause of health problems in some people, but a symptom of a health problem in another.
I'm on board with the special snowflake theory. My diet is not ideal for others. That makes sense since their health needs are different than mine.
I agree...the idea that different people might do better with different diets makes a lot of sense to me.0 -
I kind of take issue with the "obesity is a symptom of a health problem." Obesity is a symptom of eating more calories than you burn for an extended time period. Health problems can affect how much your body burns, but you still wouldn't become obese without the excess calories.
Moi - I think it's a leap because we know obesity plays a large role in those health issues yet we don't know a) the extent to which blood sugar plays a role in causing diabetes and heart disease (although I'm open to reading up on it you have material to the contrary), b) whether there even are significant differences in our individual metabolic processes related to blood sugar, and c) if those differences do exist, whether they are great enough to cause a change in the probability of a person coming down with those diseases.
It's all speculation at this point when it comes to "special snowflake hypothesis*" whereas we know that controlling weight will lower a person's likelihood of diabetes and heart problems.
*I'm not actually calling anyone a special snowflake; I'm just using the term for convenience.0 -
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tincanonastring wrote: »I kind of take issue with the "obesity is a symptom of a health problem." Obesity is a symptom of eating more calories than you burn for an extended time period. Health problems can affect how much your body burns, but you still wouldn't become obese without the excess calories.
That's true. But some, well me anyways, had my weight affected by how I felt. Food was being used for energy and better health. I got the shakes every couple of hours so I ate. I was exhausted so I had a carb/sugar snack, and when I crashed from that I had another. I had inflammatory arthritis (which I now know was made worse by sugars) so I could not exercise.
Illness did not magically place pounds on me but it did contribute to my over eating. When I felt well, the weight would start slipping off again.
It's just my n=1, but I'm guessing I'm not too unusual.0 -
tincanonastring wrote: »I kind of take issue with the "obesity is a symptom of a health problem." Obesity is a symptom of eating more calories than you burn for an extended time period. Health problems can affect how much your body burns, but you still wouldn't become obese without the excess calories.
Moi - I think it's a leap because we know obesity plays a large role in those health issues yet we don't know a) the extent to which blood sugar plays a role in causing diabetes and heart disease (although I'm open to reading up on it you have material to the contrary), b) whether there even are significant differences in our individual metabolic processes related to blood sugar, and c) if those differences do exist, whether they are great enough to cause a change in the probability of a person coming down with those diseases.
It's all speculation at this point when it comes to "special snowflake hypothesis*" whereas we know that controlling weight will lower a person's likelihood of diabetes and heart problems.
*I'm not actually calling anyone a special snowflake; I'm just using the term for convenience.
There are a lot of thin people with diabetes, so it seems obvious that there is more to this than simply weight. That's why the research continues...to get a better understanding of ALL the relevant factors and how they interact.
It seems extremely short sighted to ignore the research just because every question has not yet been answered.0 -
I didn't say ignore any research. I even said upthread that I'm interested in the results. What I said was that the statement, " it could influence whether you develop diabetes or heart disease or many other diseases" was a leap. No questions have actually been answered yet when it comes this subject, which is why it's all speculation until further research is conducted.0
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tincanonastring wrote: »I didn't say ignore any research. I even said upthread that I'm interested in the results. What I said was that the statement, " it could influence whether you develop diabetes or heart disease or many other diseases" was a leap. No questions have actually been answered yet when it comes this subject, which is why it's all speculation until further research is conducted.
High blood sugar is linked to diabetes...that is pretty well established. That is hardly a leap.
What this particular study seems to indicate is that the same food can cause very different blood sugar responses in different people. They need to do more research to figure out exactly what is going on.
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Where are you getting "very different?" That's the part that I feel is a leap. I don't see anything out there that supports this. Could you please point me to it?
ETA: High blood sugar doesn't cause diabetes, as far as I'm aware. It's a symptom of IR because the glucose is not cleared via insulin response, correct? I don't claim to have full knowledge here, so please feel free to provide some source material if you feel I'm incorrect. I'd love to read further.0 -
tincanonastring wrote: »Where are you getting "very different?" That's the part that I feel is a leap. I don't see anything out there that supports this. Could you please point me to it?
ETA: High blood sugar doesn't cause diabetes, as far as I'm aware. It's a symptom of IR because the glucose is not cleared via insulin response, correct? I don't claim to have full knowledge here, so please feel free to provide some source material if you feel I'm incorrect. I'd love to read further.
From the article the OP linked:"Certain foods cause too much sugar to flow into the bloodstream, and this too-high level of glucose in the blood is what can lead to things like diabetes and obesity. But what foods do this? This is part of the point of nutrition guidelines, to recommend the foods least likely to cause this potentially dangerous spike in blood glucose.
But from their data, Segal and Elinav could see that the people in their study were responding to similar foods in wildly different ways. “Already, we could see at a very large scale that, indeed, for any food we looked at, we could see a huge variability in the response,” Segal said. “Some people, you give them sugar and they have a very faint response — even to pure sugar. Whereas others, they have a huge response. And this holds for basically every food that we examined.” And there were more surprises. “Some individuals, they eat whole-wheat rice and their blood-sugar levels remain low, and when they eat ice cream they spike,” Segal said. But for others the results showed just the opposite."
It has not been established as fact yet what causes diabetes. Yes, obesity is highly correlated with diabetes, but there is no actual proof that obesity causes diabetes. And even if it is a cause, it is clearly not operating alone. That's why I think research like this is interesting.0 -
I am no expert, but I have read a lot and talked to doctors because of my family history. Granted, this is just the opinions of two people, but I include it as a data point. I have talked to my doctor, and a friend who is an endocrinologist, about the diabetes risk issue. They both seem to think that the most likely (in their opinions...as I said nobody knows for sure at this point) explanation is it some combination of genetic predisposition and various lifestyle choices...including both weight and the specific diet. Btw, the endocrinologist is a Harvard educated, top fellowship, excellent credentials type...not that that necessarily proves anything, but...tincanonastring wrote: »ETA: High blood sugar doesn't cause diabetes, as far as I'm aware. It's a symptom of IR because the glucose is not cleared via insulin response, correct? I don't claim to have full knowledge here, so please feel free to provide some source material if you feel I'm incorrect. I'd love to read further.
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MoiAussi93 wrote: »tincanonastring wrote: »I kind of take issue with the "obesity is a symptom of a health problem." Obesity is a symptom of eating more calories than you burn for an extended time period. Health problems can affect how much your body burns, but you still wouldn't become obese without the excess calories.
Moi - I think it's a leap because we know obesity plays a large role in those health issues yet we don't know a) the extent to which blood sugar plays a role in causing diabetes and heart disease (although I'm open to reading up on it you have material to the contrary), b) whether there even are significant differences in our individual metabolic processes related to blood sugar, and c) if those differences do exist, whether they are great enough to cause a change in the probability of a person coming down with those diseases.
It's all speculation at this point when it comes to "special snowflake hypothesis*" whereas we know that controlling weight will lower a person's likelihood of diabetes and heart problems.
*I'm not actually calling anyone a special snowflake; I'm just using the term for convenience.
There are a lot of thin people with diabetes, so it seems obvious that there is more to this than simply weight. That's why the research continues...to get a better understanding of ALL the relevant factors and how they interact.
It seems extremely short sighted to ignore the research just because every question has not yet been answered.
There were people with diabetes before the current period, of course. The issue right now is that the rate has gone way up, almost certainly due to the obesity rate. What percentage of people with diabetes currently aren't obese or overweight? It would be interesting to compare that to the more traditional rate of diabetes in this society (and perhaps in some others)?
Also, how is the diabetes rate in societies with a traditional low fat/high carb diet, like Japan? (And no, pointing to changes related to countries adopting a more western diet isn't the issue, I'm asking about with their traditional diet.)
Given the wide range of traditional diets and macro percentages -- more higher carb than very low carb -- I think the endless obsession at MFP with macro percentage being all that and the preaching about low carb being healthier is tiresome. If it works for you, great. More likely the reason low carb seems healthier for some is that it helps them eat a healthier and more calorie appropriate diet within the context of the current environment, and not some inherent problem with carbs (which is basically to say with plant-based foods).0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »MoiAussi93 wrote: »tincanonastring wrote: »I kind of take issue with the "obesity is a symptom of a health problem." Obesity is a symptom of eating more calories than you burn for an extended time period. Health problems can affect how much your body burns, but you still wouldn't become obese without the excess calories.
Moi - I think it's a leap because we know obesity plays a large role in those health issues yet we don't know a) the extent to which blood sugar plays a role in causing diabetes and heart disease (although I'm open to reading up on it you have material to the contrary), b) whether there even are significant differences in our individual metabolic processes related to blood sugar, and c) if those differences do exist, whether they are great enough to cause a change in the probability of a person coming down with those diseases.
It's all speculation at this point when it comes to "special snowflake hypothesis*" whereas we know that controlling weight will lower a person's likelihood of diabetes and heart problems.
*I'm not actually calling anyone a special snowflake; I'm just using the term for convenience.
There are a lot of thin people with diabetes, so it seems obvious that there is more to this than simply weight. That's why the research continues...to get a better understanding of ALL the relevant factors and how they interact.
It seems extremely short sighted to ignore the research just because every question has not yet been answered.
There were people with diabetes before the current period, of course. The issue right now is that the rate has gone way up, almost certainly due to the obesity rate. What percentage of people with diabetes currently aren't obese or overweight? It would be interesting to compare that to the more traditional rate of diabetes in this society (and perhaps in some others)?
Also, how is the diabetes rate in societies with a traditional low fat/high carb diet, like Japan? (And no, pointing to changes related to countries adopting a more western diet isn't the issue, I'm asking about with their traditional diet.)
Given the wide range of traditional diets and macro percentages -- more higher carb than very low carb -- I think the endless obsession at MFP with macro percentage being all that and the preaching about low carb being healthier is tiresome. If it works for you, great. More likely the reason low carb seems healthier for some is that it helps them eat a healthier and more calorie appropriate diet within the context of the current environment, and not some inherent problem with carbs (which is basically to say with plant-based foods).
This thread is not about low carb diets at all, so I'm honestly not sure what your response is even about or how to respond to it.
The article the OP linked talked about a study which seems to indicate that the same food can impact different people in different ways, so there is no one perfect diet. What works for one person may not suit another at all. All of my responses indicate that I think that is very plausible.0
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