Most of us know we should eat more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why would the\u00a0National Institutes of Health\u00a0spend $150 million to answer questions such as “What and when should we eat?” and “How can we improve the use of food as medicine?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer may be precision nutrition, which aims to understand the health effects of the complex interplay among genetics, our microbiome (the bacteria living in our gut), our diet and level of physical activity, and other social and behavioral characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That means that everyone could have their own unique set of nutritional requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How is that possible? I asked three experts who conduct precision nutrition research:\u00a0Dr. Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology and chair of the\u00a0Department of Nutrition\u00a0at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and\u00a0Martha Field\u00a0and\u00a0Angela Poole, both assistant professors in the division of nutritional sciences at Cornell University’s College of Human Ecology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n