Genes and nutritional needs: how DNA defines our tastes

The content of the article

1 What genes are responsible for our tastes?
2 Not only tastes, but also eating behavior
3 Features of nutritional needs and a healthy diet
4 Where and how to find out about your nutritional features?

The degree of influence of genetic information on our nutritional needs and preferences is great. According to the British scientists of the Royal College, who conducted a large-scale study of the influence of genes on people's tastes in 2008, this dependence is 41-48%. That is, our food preferences, craving for sweets or, for example, sour, are genetically embedded in us. And it is impossible to cultivate a love for certain products, even carefully accustoming them to them from childhood.

What genes are responsible for our tastes?

6 years ago, Italian scientists A. Robino and N. Pirastu revealed to the world at a conference of the European Society of Genetics the peculiarities of the influence of 17 genes on the taste perception of certain products, such as coffee and chocolate, artichokes and bacon, yogurt and cheese, and some other types of food. Today, science allows us to assess the degree of impact on our taste preferences of all the genes responsible for love or, conversely, rejection of certain products.

The main genes that form our diet include the following.

TAS2R38 - this gene characterizes the recognition of bitter taste by receptors in the oral cavity. In some people (with the T / T genotype), sensitivity to it is weakly expressed, because of which they do not refuse to use products with a bitter taste (radish, cabbage, mustard, plum, quince, tea and coffee). For others, on the contrary, it is strong: the SS genotype characterizes a particular sensitivity to bitter taste and makes its carrier avoid these products. This leads to a lack of antioxidants in the diet, which excellent suppliers are bitter vegetables and fruits, drinks and spices.
GLUT2 is a sweets addictive gene that determines how calm you are with all sugary foods. People with the SS genotype do not experience fatal craving for it, which is why they are less prone to obesity and type 2 diabetes. With the T / T genotype, the desire to eat “something sweet” haunts a person often and inevitably, causing excessive calorie intake and related health problems.
CD36 is the fat perception gene. He is responsible for the sensitivity to fats contained in food, and the ability to independently control their consumption. With the G / G genotype, a person can do this on an intuitive level, avoiding an overabundance of fatty foods in the diet. The A / A genotype, on the contrary, implies insensitivity to fats, which is why their consumption is constantly increasing, causing metabolic disorders and the risk of excess weight.

Not only tastes, but also eating behavior

Whether we eat a lot or a little, whether we start to “seize” problems, also depends on the individual gene pool, experts of the Russian company MyGenetics say. The features of our eating behavior are determined by 3 genes.

FTO and MC4R - control the rate of saturation during food intake by acting on hormones insulin and leptin. With a low activity of hormones, a feeling of satiety comes later, because of which a person has to eat longer (and, accordingly, more).At high - there is no risk of obesity due to an overabundance of food, since saturation occurs quickly.
DRD2 is a gene that predicts a tendency to impulsive snacking. With the G / G genotype, it is not a factor leading to obesity. The A / A genotype allows you to predict a strong desire to eat in a stressful or unusual situation, for example, due to problems at work or at the festive table with unusual dishes. He is also a risk factor for overweight.

Features of nutritional needs and a healthy diet

Individual genetic information shapes our tastes, characteristics of assimilation of products and attitude to food. Not to use this knowledge, presented by the latest genetic science, means to exclude the likelihood of a truly healthy lifestyle. After all, even playing sports and avoiding harmful products (or maybe they are not harmful to you?), It is impossible to achieve harmony with your own body. Why? You don’t know how your genes created it!

To follow them you can just listen to yourself. Some people instinctively refuse salty foods because they don’t like its taste. Or they exclude the consumption of sweets, not because it is impossible, but simply because they do not want to. But much more productive will be an individual DNA test, which will determine the genotypes of all the major genes that are responsible for your tastes and eating behavior.

Based on the individual genotype, you can adjust the diet as your body requires.

With lactose intolerance - completely eliminate it than protect yourself from gastrointestinal upsets.
If it’s impossible to absorb gluten - abandon cereals that contain this protein, and prevent the occurrence of a dangerous autoimmune process in the digestive tract.
In the absence of sensitivity to fatty foods, a tendency to impulsive snacking and overeating, adjust the diet and eliminate the likelihood of excess weight.

Fats, proteins, carbohydrates, sugar, alcohol, coffee - everything that saturates, brings pleasure and relaxation, everything that forms the basis of our daily lives - can be under your control. And to form a healthy diet, body beauty, stimulate weight loss without the use of common diets, but with the observance of an individual diet that meets your genetic characteristics.

Where and how to find out about your nutritional features?

Today, such a service is very popular in the West: in Europe and the USA. In Russia, it is still a novelty. One of the companies offering a DNA diet is MyGenetics. Here you can analyze the genes responsible for taste preferences and eating behavior. This is a young Russian scientific enterprise, included in the cohort of innovative companies in the business incubator of the Technopark Akademgorodok in Novosibirsk. The work of the enterprise is based on the fundamental scientific base of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and in the development and implementation of projects it collaborates with the Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine of the SB RAS.

To pass DNA testing to determine your individual genetic level, just order a sample collection kit and mail it to MyGenetics. Confidential analysis is performed for 4 weeks, after which you will be presented with a report in the form of a review illustrated magazine. It presents the characteristics of your genetic level in a clear and understandable way. And given detailed recommendations on proper nutrition, physical activity for losing weight, maintaining beauty and health.