Nutrigenomics and Nutrigenetics

• Main Authors: DD Farhud, M Zarif Yeganeh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2010-12-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Public Health
• Subjects: Nutritional genomics; Nutrigenomics; Genetic variation
• Online Access: https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/3076
• ISSN: 2251-6085; 2251-6093

The nutrients are able to interact with molecular mechanisms and modulate the physiological functions in the body. The Nutri­tional Genomics focuses on the interaction between bioactive food components and the genome, which includes Nutrigenet­ics and Nutrigenomics. The influence of nutrients on f genes expression is called Nutrigenomics, while the heterogene­ous response of gene variants to nutrients, dietary components and developing nutraceticals is called Nutrigenet­ics. Genetic variation is known to affect food tolerances among human subpopulations and may also influence dietary require­ments and raising the possibility of individualizing nutritional intake for optimal health and disease prevention on the ba­sis of an individual's genome. Nutrigenomics provides a genetic understanding for how common dietary components af­fect the balance between health and disease by altering the expression and/or structure of an individual's genetic makeup. Nutrige­netics describes that the genetic profile have impact on the response of body to bioactive food components by influenc­ing their absorption, metabolism, and site of action. In this way, considering different aspects of gene-nutrient interac­tion and designing appropriate diet for every specific genotype that optimize individual health, diagnosis and nutri­tional treatment of genome instability, we could prevent and control conversion of healthy phenotype to diseases.