People need food to live. But nutrition is responsible for a large number of diseases. For example, nutrition plays a proven role in diabetes and other metabolic disorders, but also in cancer. Even the perception of chronic pain is actively influenced by nutrition.
Why is it this way? In a large study from England in 2021, more than 1000 pairs of twins and healthy test persons were examined in the context of a nutrition study. The levels of blood sugar, blood lipids and insulin were measured after the same meals. The result was astonishing: more important than the ingredients of the food was the microbiome of the test subjects, i.e. the gut flora. Genetic factors were less important than expected. In a second step, artificial intelligence algorithms (i.e. complex mathematical formulas) were developed that could predict the individual response to certain meals relatively well.
In another study, the effect of nutrition on the perception of pain was investigated. Here, too, there were very interesting results: Foods rich in saturated fatty acids and carbohydrates did have a positive influence on acute, so-called nociceptive pain, but chronic, movement-related and inflammatory pain, such as is found in rheumatism, osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia, intensified with foods rich in saturated fatty acids and carbohydrates.
This means: Carbohydrates and high-fat diets can reduce pain in the short term, such as a lollipop to a child who has hurt himself. Incidentally, glucose is also used as a pain reliever in premature infants. However, many carbohydrates and fats have a clear negative effect on chronic pain in certain people and should be avoided. In the study, low-carbohydrate food with omega3 fatty acids was able to reduce the pain.
With this knowledge, in the future, it will be possible to adapt the diet much better, for example by uploading pictures of the food or a QR code on the menu in the restaurant via an app and see what fits best. But this also includes having your microbiome and metabolic and genetic factors analyzed in your blood, which is not necessarily covered by health insurance. Very likely, however, this will cost less than a hundred euros in the future, which seems worth it to perhaps prevent disease by eating “smarter.”
However, it should be noted that there will be no miracles. A balanced diet, rich in fiber and antioxidants is always a good idea, no artificial intelligence will be required for this 😉.
Sources:
Berry S. et al. Human postprandial responses to food and potential for precision nutrition. Nature Medicine 2020.
Ömer E. et al. Diet can exert both analgesic and pronociceptive effects in acute and chronic pain models: a systematic review of preclinical studies. Nutr Neurosci 2021.