Health Status

Dietary supplements may act differently in different people. An individual’s genes and health status help to explain this difference. Nutritional genomics and metabalomics are growing areas of research that explain the relationship between genetic makeup and nutrition and metabolism related outcomes. Certain relationships between nutrients and health outcomes are well characterized. Folate supplementation, for example, is recommended for all women of childbearing age to prevent fetal neural tube defects. By isolating and analyzing the function of the genes responsible for folate metabolism, however, scientists have identified a genetic variation that predisposes some women to give birth to babies with neural tube defects. This knowledge may eventually allow scientists to target folate supplementation to at risk individuals.