Is a Personalized Diet Right for You?
Is a diet tailored just for you the right choice? (Photo: Getty Images)
The concept of personalized diets has been gaining steam recently. A growing number of scientists support the idea that people reap more benefit from diets tailored specifically to their needs.
Research has backed that up, too. A study published in the journal Cell in November found that foods impact people differently. For the study, scientists tracked the diets and blood sugar levels of 800 people for a week and found that they had different blood sugar responses from other study participants after eating the exact same food.
Scientists behind that study are now working to fine-tune an algorithm that they tell the New York Times will allow people to get personalized diets as easily as you get recommended readings from Amazon. Other companies like Nutrigenomix and DNAFit are already providing personalized diets based on genetic information.
But does everyone need a personalized diet?
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It depends on how you look at it, registered dietitian Keri Gans, author of The Small Change Diet, tells Yahoo Health. Gans isn’t convinced that rigorous testing is needed to help the average person eat well, but she says there’s definitely value in a diet based on your needs.
“The ‘one diet fits all’ mentality doesn’t always work,” she says. “In order for any diet to be successful it must be individualized to a person’s lifestyle, their food preferences, activity level, and their age and height.”
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A personalized diet can be especially important for someone with medical issues, certified dietitian-nutritionist Lisa Moskovitz, RD, CEO of NY Nutrition Group, tells Yahoo Health. “Most people, especially those with specific medical conditions including diabetes, high cholesterol, celiac disease, etc., benefit from a personalized diet that will not only treat their symptoms, but also fit their lifestyle, making it easier to stick to,” she says.
But some personalized diets can also take in important factors like a person’s food preferences, budget, and resources (like whether there is a specialty food store near them) to create a diet that someone is more likely to stick to, says Moskovitz.
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Of course, not everyone can afford to regularly consult a dietitian or undergo genetic testing to see which diet is right for them. So, how do you know if you actually need a personalized diet?
Experts say you might want to consider it if you meet any of these criteria:
You have difficulty staying on diet plans for very long
You have a medical condition that affects what you can eat
You’ve been trying really hard to lose weight but can’t
You have an unconventional lifestyle and have difficulty eating right because of it
Don’t fit the bill? You can still benefit from a personalized diet, but you also may be just fine sticking with plain old healthy eating habits recommended to the general public.
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