Every day we go to the supermarket to buy food or eat at restaurants with the aim of leading a healthy life and eating a balanced diet, but today's fast pace of life, long working hours, and the amount of fast food we consume often cause us to neglect our diet and, with it, our health.
Nowadays, all food products sold worldwide carry a series of nutritional information on their packaging. Food companies label their products with the protein, carbohydrate, fat, and sugar content, and often add the amounts of vitamins and minerals according to the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) set by the European Union. These values lead us to ask ourselves some questions, such as: What do these values mean? How are they established? And most importantly, if no two people in the world are the same, since each individual's genetic code is unique, why would two people need the same amount of vitamin D or omega-3 per day?
To resolve these unknowns, we must first understand what these amounts are. The Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) correspond, by definition, to the average amount of a nutrient that a healthy person should consume daily through their diet to maintain good health. These values, established by the World Health Organization, assume that all healthy individuals should consume the same amount of each of the main nutrients, without taking into account that each person is unique and, therefore, their diet should also be unique.
Nutrient requirements such as vitamins, minerals, Omega-3, carbohydrates, etc. are determined by our DNA, through certain genes involved in various metabolic functions, such as the MTHFR gene involved in the metabolism and utilization of folic acid and vitamins B6 and B12, which determines the Recommended Daily Allowance of these vitamins for each individual. Another very important gene in our nutritional needs is the VDR gene, responsible for vitamin D and influencing the production of different proteins, including some involved in the utilization of calcium. These two nutrients are very important for the proper development of bone structure, and it is essential to meet the needs determined by our genes.
At Biosalud®, thanks to our extensive experience, we have developed a genetic study that includes the results and all the information we need to make useful changes to our diet and current lifestyle, with the aim of achieving benefits for our health and well-being. The FoodGen® genetic analysis analyzes DNA in search of genetic variants that make the Recommended Daily Allowances of nutrients unique, just as the diet will be. Thanks to this data, we will have a personalized and tailor-made diet with which to face each day without worries.
*Recommended amount, modified from the LARN table, based on the results of patient X's genetic test.
