With ever-evolving diet trends and “superfoods”, it can be hard to keep straight on what is best for maintaining a sound state of physical and mental health. Rapid population expansion, environmental issues, changing consumer preferences, and choice of healthy foods pose new challenges for the modern world. Increasing use of chemicals in agriculture and food sector, ease of accessibility to processed foods, and misinformation about food choices are all taking a toll on the human health. Changing preferences in diet and nutritional habits have led to increase in prevalence of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disorders, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, etc. According to World Health Organization, Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) accounts for almost 70% of all deaths globally. Almost three-quarter deaths from NCDs occur in low- and middle-income countries, mainly due to socioeconomic factors associated with the management and prevention of the chronic diseases. The “one-size-fits-all” approach followed by public health nutrition programs are not able to meet the unique needs of each individual citizen. Since dietary factors are major contributors for common health ailments, personalization of dietary and nutritional habits can create a powerful impact in the health outcomes.

Personalized clinical nutrition is an approach to tailor precise nutritional programs taking into consideration certain characteristics of an individual for promoting dietary behaviour changes that may result in measurable health benefits. Many health experts believe that personalized nutrition is the next evolutionary step in health and wellness as it provides customers great control of their diets and meet their needs appropriately. According to a Washington Post story, 95% of those following a run-of-the-mill weight loss program eventually gain weight they had shed, mainly due to relying on conventional “one-size-fits-all” diet approach. “Individualizing” food choices could not only help in enhancing health and wellness, but also maintain those improved results for the long-term, thus it leads to sustainable health goals. Tailor-made diets can be designed to better manage chronic diseases, aid weight loss, reduce the risk of food allergies, and strengthen immune system.

Personalization is a result of nutrition research that provides a better understanding of the impact of diet on health and continuous measurements of the markers of an individual’s health and fitness. Personalized clinical nutrition integrates with the changes in bioscience and public health awareness programmed to curb the prevention of any mitigating existing disease. Some of the key biological factors such as age, stage of life, sex, BMI, current health status, ethnicity, cultural or religious backgrounds also dictate personalized diets. Moreover, new technology has evolved that can predict the response of an individual to dietary interventions to measure everything that matters.

Drivers of Personalized Clinical Nutrition

From increasing use of wearable smart devices for health monitoring to greater appreciation for healthier foods, here are the key drivers resulting in the demand for personalized clinical nutrition programs.

Customized Experiences

Personalized clinical nutrition is a broader part of trend towards customization that allows consumers the ability to control every aspect of mainstream offerings, from retail to travel, hospitality to media channels. Millennials tend to show high affinity towards personalization and are no longer buying the idea of one-size-fits-all approach. The trend of tailored services applies equally to dietary sensibilities and food regimens. According to Accenture Pulse Check survey on personalization, 83% of consumers are open to sharing their personal information with brands to enable a personalized experience as long as the businesses are transparent about using that data and consumers have a control over it. The growing trend of customization is redefining the future of food business and clinical nutrition.

Adoption of Healthy Lifestyle

The prevailing consumer desire to accumulate positive nutrients with growing food literacy from various communication channels, there has been a steep rise in health-conscious consumers globally. The emergence of new food and beverage touting higher quality ingredients and simple labels is mirroring the consumer’s view to what they want and their perceived unique needs and preferences for making a clean and healthy lifestyle choices. Introduction of improved varieties of organic and natural food products is also playing a key role in increasing focus towards healthy eating. With consumers becoming more aware and informed about healthy food choice, demand for innovative health and wellness programs and items is expected to maintain its present trajectory.

According to TechSci research report on “Global Organic Food Market By Product Type (Fruits & Vegetables; Meat, Poultry & Dairy; Processed Food and Others), By Distribution Channel (Store-based Retail and Non-Store-based Retail), By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2026”, global organic food market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11% by 2026 owing to rising per capita spending of organic food products and increasing health awareness among global population.

Self-Help Solutions

Self-help solutions are evidence-based and quality tools that facilitates an individual to quantify their health for better disease prevention and control outside of formal health services. According to WHO, nearly 3.6 billion people lack access to essential health services. The introduction to digital and mHealth approaches can increase ownership and empowerment of individual and communities regarding their health and well-being. Thanks to rapidly expanding digital infrastructure, there have a significant rise in wearable technologies such as health apps, fitness trackers, that monitors health by evaluating daily movements, sleep patterns, blood sugar levels, etc. Soon, over a third of Americans are expected to adapt wearable technologies to be more disciplined about their health and fitness habits.  

Personalized Medicines

Personalized medicines utilize genetic or other biomarker information to make treatment decisions about a patient such as kind of therapies, or specific number of doses in a therapy, etc. Drastic decline in the cost of genomic sequencing played a significant role in the emergence of personalized medicines, eliminating the “one-size-fits-all” approach to drug therapies. Companies that are offering genetics testing along with customized diet plans are leading edge of the personalized medicine movement, which is fuelling the demand for clinical nutrition programs.

Benefits of Personalized Nutrition

Personalized nutrition can help an individual to

·         simplify food choices that make a positive impact on your health journey

·         identify which nutrients to prioritize as per their health status

·         eat right based on unique needs and goals instead of eliminating the whole food group

·         stick with their eating plan with professional guidance

·         reduces the guesswork and encourage to make informed choices

·         lead to positive health outcomes

·         reduce the risk of chronic disorders

·         better manage and prevent symptoms of medical conditions

·         improve ability to recover from illness

·         build immune system and increase longevity

Advances in Science & Technology enabling Personalised Clinical Nutrition

Omics Sciences

The advances and diversity in “omics” tools and related analytical techniques has resulted into the tremendous scope of their application in enabling personalized nutrition. The term “omics” refer to the analysis of structure, function, and intermolecular interaction of various biomolecules that provide opportunities for understanding the impact of diet at molecular level and measure huge variability in responses. The technological innovation enhances the capacity and efficiency of the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases and helps in determining the safety and quality of foods affecting the overall health.

Nutritional genomics

The objective of nutritional genomics is to develop a rational means to optimize nutrition analysing the identification of genotype. A person cannot change their genetic makeup, but they can eat the right kind of foods that support genetic predispositions to promote normal cell function and structure. With increased understanding of the genotype of an individual, nutritional therapies can be tailored for increasing therapeutic efficacy as the outcome.

Microbiomics

Microbes present in the gut influences the digestion and assimilation, thereby impacting the nutrient absorption and metabolic activities. The interplay of food and nutrients with microbiome and genetic material influences systems and biological processes, that implicate a variety of biological processes. Personalized Nutrition can help to manage these interactions and develop tools and strategies for the prevention and management of various chronic diseases.

Future of Personalized Clinical Nutrition

With the capabilities of personalized nutrition advancing, food as a medicine for maintaining overall health and wellness is on the cusp of becoming a reality. The investment opportunities in personalized nutrition are developing their own unique businesses models to facilitate the growing demand for personalized nutrition. Science-based personalized nutrition coupled with innovative policy/regulatory environment promise a new frontier in nutrition that could help to optimize health and function across the entire population. However, privacy concerns among consumers regarding their health information and high costs can restrain the growth of global clinical nutrition market during the forecast period. Also, the accurate and personalized nutritional recommendations require advanced technologies such as artificial, machine learning for data storage, processing and sharing capabilities. Lack of personalized nutritional computational infrastructure can restrict the growth of personalized nutrition market.

According to TechSci research report on “Global Clinical Nutrition Market By Route of Administration (Oral, Intravenous), By Nutrition Type (Enteral Nutrition, Parental Nutrition), By Application (Metabolic Disorders, Eating Disorders, Stages of Development and Recovery, Others), By End User (Infant & Child, Adults, Geriatrics), By Substrates (Energy, Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins & amino acids, Water & electrolyte, Dietary fiber, Antioxidants), By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2025”, the global clinical nutrition market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7.36% and hold a market value of USD82.23 billion by 2025. Some of the factors attributing to the growth of the market are increasing investments on research and development by government, growing malnourished population base and widespread use of clinical nutrition for treatment of chronic diseases.