Does personalised nutrition offer health benefits and do these benefits outweigh the costs? Milanne Galekop (Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management) investigated this in her dissertation. Among other examples, she studied people who received meal boxes or a personal shopping list in the Aldi app. Overweight people were found to lose weight, so the study shows that personalised nutrition has potential.
Giving some saliva, a urine sample or a blood sample in return for a shopping list that is healthy for you: it sounds like the future, but it is exactly what Milanne Galekop investigated in her dissertation. She assessed the feasibility and usefulness of a personalised diet in four countries, studying a variety of interventions – from meal boxes in Denmark to shopping advice through the ALDI app in Spain. These interventions lasted up to four months and could be combined with a programme aimed at effecting behavioural change.
A key question in her dissertation: do the health benefits outweigh the costs? Her study showed that this appears to vary by intervention and person. Personalised nutrition is particularly promising for overweight or obese people. 'In my study, I focused primarily on BMI as an outcome metric, because the relationship between BMI and health has been studied the most', the researcher explains. 'When you look at the various results presented in my dissertation, you could infer with some caveats that personalised nutrition has the potential to be cost-effective.'
From mayonnaise to dark chocolate
Personalisation works as follows: participants complete a questionnaire and provide some basic data, such as their BMI. Their saliva, urine and blood are analysed to identify metabolism and genetic factors. Five 'health core processes' are key to this, such as how well the body is able to convert carbohydrates. An algorithm translates the data into nutritional requirements, even leading to specific product-level recommendations. Galekop: 'Think, for example, of a recommendation to cut down on dairy, or conversely, the recommendation that cheese low in fat is okay. Some people do well to avoid mayonnaise as much as possible, while dark chocolate can be good for others.'
Participants in Spain were recommended a Mediterranean diet, which is generally considered very healthy. The Aldi app translated this into a specific shopping list. Part of the group received a personalised diet in the process. The app also encouraged behavioural change, for example by prompting them to check whether their diet included enough of certain products. All participants started eating healthier and people who followed a personalised diet also lost weight. Despite the uncertainty in outcomes in all the interventions, the researcher saw the potential of the interventions to be effective and cost-effective.
At what price?
However, are people actually open to personalised nutrition and what are people willing to pay for it? The PhD student set up another study to question people about the latter. 'Many respondents expressed their willingness to move to personalised nutrition, but there’s a limit to what they’re willing to pay', she says. Right now, the cost of personalised nutrition is still high, but the scale of the roll-out matters. 'The personalised meal boxes in Denmark were very pricey and didn’t prove cost-effective either, but if you can roll out interventions on a large scale, they become much cheaper.'
'It may be a cliché, but prevention is better than cure'
Milanne Galekop
Researcher
The researcher is therefore optimistic about the opportunities for personalised nutrition. 'It may be a cliché, but prevention is better than cure. Many diseases, such as strokes, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, are diet-related and therefore partly preventable. This means that these types of interventions could potentially be reimbursed by health insurers. In this context, however, it’s important to mention that more certainty around effectiveness and cost-effectiveness is needed first. In addition, there are still some legal snags and there’s a risk that personalised nutrition could lead to greater health inequalities.'
The possibilities are endless
As long as personalised nutrition remains unregulated, there is a risk that commercial parties will try to capitalise on this and make health claims that are difficult to live up to. It is therefore important that participating parties are reliable and that there are clear regulations. The PhD student also thinks it would be wise to involve a dietitian in the process. Nevertheless, Galekop is optimistic and sees many possible applications: 'Not only supermarkets, but also many gyms nowadays have apps, so maybe there’s a smart way to integrate nutritional advice into those. I think we’re only on the eve of personalised nutrition. There are so many possibilities and plenty of avenues to explore further.'
- PhD student
- More information
This study was conducted under the umbrella of Preventonics, a European consortium to research personalised nutrition with nineteen parties.
Milanne Galekop was recently interviewed about her research by Dutch newspaper PZC. Read the article here (in Dutch).
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