Personalized nutrition caters to our individual physiologies, health journeys and circumstances
By: Elizabeth Chorney-Booth
If we are indeed what we eat, healthy eating should look at least a little bit different for everyone. After all, we each have our own physical, psychological and cultural needs that food and nutrition play into. The idea of doing away with hard-and-fast nutritional rules and looking at individual eating plans from a holistic approach is what’s often referred to as “personalized nutrition.”
Generally, we’re told to adhere to Canada’s Food Guide, which suggests Canadians incorporate a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, cut down on sugar and saturated fats, eat with others and make water our primary drink of choice. This is all good advice, but it doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to an individual’s nutritional well-being.
Anyone who has been through cancer knows that there is no one-size-fits-all treatment plan. Medical teams work diligently to put together a care plan to not only address the unique aspects of a patient’s disease, but also their individual physiology and personal circumstances. Precision oncology has had a tremendous impact on the lives of countless Albertans’ cancer outcomes. So, it makes sense that this personalized approach to care would benefit other aspects of our well-being, including diet and nutrition.
For example, a precision approach to nutrition could include taking a close look at an individual’s physiology and any health conditions to develop a personalized eating plan, or analyzing DNA, gut microbiomes and other underlying physiological characteristics.
Vincci Tsui, a Calgary-based private registered dietitian, says that, while there is some potential in those deep dives, she prefers to offer an approach that looks at nutrition in the context of a person’s overall being and experiences.
“We need to look beyond just nutrients and really think of the individual, not just in terms of physical health, but also mental health, cultural background and lifestyle,” she says.
This personalized approach can be particularly useful for people looking at their food intake in the context of cancer care or other health issues. Some cancer patients may experience loss of appetite, changes in their ability to taste food, or problems with eating or swallowing, so the focus would be on caloric intake. Other patients may need to heavily reduce salt intake to prevent edema or hypertension. Again, there are not necessarily hard-and-fast rules that will apply to all patients with a particular cancer (or to all patients with diabetes, heart disease or other common conditions often associated with diet), which is where an individualized, precision nutrition plan can be useful.
Tsui advises individuals consult a dietitian to pinpoint what will work best for their specific needs. While some may opt for a private dietitian, she also recommends options like Alberta Health Services’ Alberta Healthy Living Program. It offers free health and nutrition education, cancer-specific dietitian services offered through the province’s cancer care centres and dietitians through Primary Care Networks. Tsui notes that people are often hesitant to access help — many of us feel that, by adulthood, we should have figured out how to eat — but, as our bodies change with age, and as new health conditions emerge, our eating plans need to evolve.
“Our nutritional needs change as we go through different seasons of life,” she says. “Even if you go in for just one appointment to help affirm what you’re doing is on the right track, I think it’s worth it.”
Tsui says many people gravitate towards a blanket approach to nutrition because prescriptive directions like “eat less sugar and more protein” can provide seemingly easy answers. But as complicated as it may feel to come up with a personalized food plan, she stresses that individualized nutrition doesn’t need to be complicated. It can even offer some freedom by allowing people to eat what naturally works best for them, from both a health and lifestyle perspective.
“Nutrition isn’t one-size-fits-all, but, at the same time, we don’t want to make it so complicated that people feel confused about food,” she says. “If we expand nutrition to mean food and eating, there’s so much more to it, like planning around families and different schedules, tastes and preferences, and cooking styles and ability. There are many pieces to the puzzle.”
Personalized Nutrition at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre
In the context of health care, food and nutrition are often looked at as medicine. Dietary needs can be adapted for each individual person and people can be taught the skills to ensure proper nutrition and healthy eating at home. That’s the idea behind the new teaching kitchen at the Arthur J.E. Child Comprehensive Cancer Centre in Calgary. Patients will be able to engage in food-centred programming and teachings will be specific to each patient’s individual needs and their personal nutrition requirements. Programs will include hands-on instruction to help patients learn how to cook nutritious meals to support a healthy lifestyle while undergoing cancer treatment, or as they transition from hospital to home following a surgical procedure or hospital stay.