Understanding inter-individual responses to nutritional intervention among overnourished and undernourished populations

The world-wide increase in development of overweight-related chronic metabolic diseases and the parallel rise in healthcare cost urgently calls for development of personalized smart healthcare tools to improve personal health and to reduce the pressure on the healthcare system. A central factor linking overweight to lifestyle-related chronic metabolic diseases, such as type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2D) and cardiovascular diseases, is an impaired blood glucose homeostasis. An effective way to improve glucose homeostasis and prevent disease is via dietary and lifestyle interventions. Although nutritionists have long been aware that what works for one person may not work for another, nutritional advice is still given at a population level via general nutritional guidelines reliant on the group mean (one-size-fits-all). The aim of this project is to identify mechanistic pathways that influence the response of different individuals to the same nutritional intervention. This will be investigated in both over-nourished and undernourished populations.