Researchers Discover 500 Genes That Specifically Impact Our Diet

Researchers have found over 500 genes that seem to have a direct impact on the foods we consume in one of the first extensive investigations of diet-related genes. Personalized nutrition to promote health or avoid illness might be improved with new insights into the genetic basis for food choices. According to Joanne Cole, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the head of the study team, “some of the genes we identified are related to sensory pathways, including those for taste, smell, and texture, and may also increase the reward response in the brain.”

In order to fine-tune dietary recommendations depending on a person’s preferences for certain meals, Cole noted that some of these genes may have obvious pathways toward affecting whether someone loves a food or not.

The fact that what individuals eat corresponds with so many other characteristics, including socioeconomic position and health issues like high cholesterol or body weight, makes it difficult to find genes associated with food.

In the current study, the researchers used computational approaches to distinguish between direct and indirect effects of genetic variations on diet, such as those that affect diabetes and necessitate consuming less sugar in people with diabetes.

The investigation found about 200 genes connected to dietary patterns that group several meals together, such as total fish intake or fruit consumption, and around 300 genes directly tied to consuming particular foods.

The UK Biobank, which holds information on 500,000 individuals, was used by the researchers to conduct a phenome-wide association study (PheWAS), which discovered genes that were more strongly connected with nutrition than with any other aspect of health or lifestyle.

The research, which Cole said was connected with several other variables, “showed that dietary patterns tend to have more indirect genetic effects.”

Cole is aiming to find other genes that directly affect food choices in addition to investigating the recently discovered diet-related genes to better understand their function.

These new discoveries could also allow us to modify diets in order to accommodate genetic predispositions.

Cole presented the results on Saturday at “NUTRITION 2023,” the American Society for Nutrition’s annual conference in Boston, Massachusetts.