A Novel Personalized Systems Nutrition Program Improves Dietary Patterns, Lifestyle Behaviors and Health-Related Outcomes: Results from the Habit Study

Abstract

Personalized nutrition may be more effective in changing lifestyle behaviors compared to population-based guidelines. This single-arm exploratory study evaluated the impact of a 10-week personalized systems nutrition (PSN) program on lifestyle behavior and health outcomes. Healthy men and women (n = 82) completed the trial. Individuals were grouped into seven diet types, for which phenotypic, genotypic and behavioral data were used to generate personalized recommendations. Behavior change guidance was also provided. The intervention reduced the intake of calories (−256.2 kcal; p p p p p = 0.0003) and PUFA (−2.5 g; p = 0.0065). Additionally, BMI (−0.6 kg/m2; p p = 0.0192) and hip circumference (−5.8 cm; p p = 0.002) and total cholesterol (−0.49 mmol/L; p < 0.0001) were reduced after the intervention. This study shows that a PSN program in a workforce improves lifestyle habits and reduces body weight, BMI and other health-related outcomes. Health improvement was most pronounced in the compromised phenotypic flexibility subgroup, which indicates that a PSN program may be effective in targeting behavior change in health-compromised target groups.

Keywords

• personalized nutrition
• healthy lifestyle
• systems biology
• dietary intervention
• mixed meal tolerance test