Innovative advancements in the health industry highlight the importance of personalized nutrition.
In the age of IoT, it has become standard for people to curate almost every moment of their day with services available in mere seconds through their smartphones.
At the same time, wellness—both physical and mental—has made it to the forefront in our society, and into our collection of smartphone apps.
With that, the connection between fitness and nutrition has become particularly pronounced, and the market has responded in kind.
Personalized Nutrition
Consumers are now becoming better equipped to manage their health through the guidance of accessible data. Technology is a platform that has afforded consumers the necessary tools to optimize their journey to a healthier life.
Personalized nutrition is the next step to help consumers reach their wellness goals.
The concept behind it relates to consumers reacting to nutrition differently due to every person having unique genetic makeup.
While personalization is not new, it has risen in consumer priority.
It’s in the Science
An important factor behind personalized nutrition is nutrigenomics, the study of the interaction between nutrition and genes. Through this study, a new and innovative industry of genetically-based services and products was born.
The study of nutrigenomics has made for a market saturated with options: many of which have simply been used as marketing campaigns.
The Benefits of Personalized Nutrition
Consumers will get the best out of those companies that truly apply the science behind personalized nutrition to their products and services.
Catering to a mass audience by offering blanket benefits—such as organic and cruelty–free products, or ones free of GMOs and gluten—is the current standard.
However, personalized nutrition takes it a step further by catering specifically to individual consumers.
Where to Start
Personalized nutrition is still a growing industry, but for those interested in learning more about the concept—and what it can offer them individually—some businesses have already gotten in on the action.
Persona Nutrition
Persona Nutrition is a brand-new company that officially launched in July 2017. However, the Founder and CEO, Jason Brown, is not new to the business. Brown has been working toward personalized nutrition since before the Internet era.
Through his newly launched service, consumers fill out a questionnaire regarding their lifestyle and medication regimen. He designed the questionnaire’s algorithm to shift based on the customer’s answers for optimal personalization.
The result is a comprehensive list of recommended supplements so carefully tailored that it’s rare for two people to get the same outcome.
STYR Labs
STYR Labs announced the expansion of its personalized nutrition ecosystem last month.
The results are four channels that aid customers in creating healthy lifestyle choices while increasing engagement.
Through the use of an app, connected fitness devices, and consumable products—such as proteins and vitamins—STYR Labs offers optimal personalized services.
“Healthy is a lifestyle, not a diet or a goal,” said Sergio Radovcic, Founder of STYR Labs.
“Eating is a necessary and ingrained behavior; we’re helping change behaviors that negatively impact nutrition and health by creating resonating experiences that drive change over time. Our unique process of converting fitness and lifestyle data into nutritional advice leads to a customized routine for a wide range of adult consumers based on their own motion, biometrics, and survey data.”
DayTwo
DayTwo is a startup that maps and analyzes a person’s intestinal microbiome to provide comprehensively personalized nutritional recommendations via a consumer’s smartphone.
The purpose is not only to lead a healthier lifestyle but to maintain balanced blood sugar levels.
DayTwo bases its technology on a study which found that the same types of foods can cause different sugar responses in the blood of different people.
Additionally, this study found that each person’s intestinal bacteria has a unique composition that further contributes to differing reactions to nutrition.
A Step Closer to Better Nutrition
There are plenty of environmental—as well as mental-health related—factors that contribute to each person’s reaction to nutrition.
While there may not exist a way of mapping out all those factors, having the tools and data that help us understand how our genetic makeup contributes is a huge advancement.
Personalized nutrition is a growing industry, and it will be exciting to watch businesses find new ways to apply it and bring it to market.
In the end, we will all benefit from further advancements considering the ultimate goal is helping us achieve a healthier life.
