Precision nutrition for gut microbiome and diabetes research: Application of nutritional n-of-1 clinical trials

Authors: ZHENG, JU-SHENG - Westlake University; ORDOVAS, JOSE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: Journal of Diabetes
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/14/2021
Publication Date: 8/28/2021
Citation: Zheng, J., Ordovas, J.M. 2021. Precision nutrition for gut microbiome and diabetes research: Application of nutritional n-of-1 clinical trials. Journal of Diabetes. https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-0407.13220.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1753-0407.13220

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Optimal nutrition, driven by a healthy diet, is critical for preventing and treating type 2 diabetes (T2D). Moreover, dietary factors closely interact with the gut microbiome to modulate human metabolic health in general, but particularly those related to T2D. However, considerable inter-individual heterogeneity has been observed in response to different foods and the potential development of T2D. This implies that the current "one-size-fits-all" dietary recommendations do not meet specific individual needs. More-over, even the traditional randomized controlled trials, which may be informative about the efficacy of a specific dietary treatment for a group of individuals, cannot tell whether the treatment will be effective at the individual level. These limitations call for new approaches in precision nutrition, an emerging field of nutritional science.