Me My Diet and I (KB-41-002-016)

By December 2022 the project will deliver a proof-of-concept of the digital twin, of which the components – the computer model of the human metabolism, the composition and provision of the personal nutritional advice, the input of data using (wearable) sensors and the data infrastructure - have been tested. This roughly corresponds to Technology Readiness Level 4. Based on simulations - carried out by researchers at the WU - our computer model can then predict what people with a few specific characteristics should eat in terms of the amount of fat, carbohydrates and proteins, so that the fat and glucose level in their blood after that meal will be lower than before. Our model is not yet able to predict what the diet should be that will keep the fat and glucose levels in the blood lower in the long term. Based on those three macro-nutrients the digital twin can formulate a nutritional advice in the form of a meal (combination of dishes) taking into account already some personal preferences. The nutritional advice cannot yet be drawn up automatically but is tentative validated by nutritionists: the dietician is still in the loop. Automating the compilation and provision of the dietary advice via an interface (e.g. an app) will have to be developed from 2023. In this experimental phase (TRL 4) dried blood spots have been used and tested to measure the fat level in blood. The feedback of the measured values ​​to the model is done manually. At the moment no wearable sensors are available that can measure directly the fat level in the blood in humans’ body and can send that data to our digital twin via a wireless connection with the internet. To measure the daily food intake consumers enter their specific food consumption data in the Track app of the WUR which is installed in their smartphone. This data is automatically retrieved daily via the internet. Because there is no automatic connection with the computer model yet, the biodata and food consumption data are processed manually by researchers at the WU in this phase.