A comparison of a ketogenic diet with a LowGI/nutrigenetic diet over 6 months for weight loss and 18-month follow-up.

Background: Obesity and its related metabolic disturbances represent a huge health burden on society. Many different weight loss interventions have been trialled with mixed efficacy, as demonstrated by the large number of individuals who regain weight upon completion of such interventions. There is evidence that the provision of genetic information may enhance long-term weight loss, either by increasing dietary adherence or through underlying biological mechanisms.

Development and validation of next generation sequencing based 35-gene hereditary cancer panel.

Background: Understanding the genetic basis of cancer risk is a major international endeavor. The emergence of next-generation sequencing (NGS) in late 2000's has further accelerated the discovery of many cancer susceptibility genes. The use of targeted NGS-based multigene testing panels to provide comprehensive analysis of cancer susceptible genes has proven to be a viable option, with the accurate and robust detection of a wide range of clinically relevant variants in the targeted genes being crucial.

Precision Nutrition and the Microbiome Part II: Potential Opportunities and Pathways to Commercialisation.

Modulation of the human gut microbiota through probiotics, prebiotics and dietary fibre are recognised strategies to improve health and prevent disease. Yet we are only beginning to understand the impact of these interventions on the gut microbiota and the physiological consequences for the human host, thus forging the way towards evidence-based scientific validation. However, in many studies a percentage of participants can be defined as 'non-responders' and scientists are beginning to unravel what differentiates these from 'responders;' and it is now clear that an individual's baseline microbiota can influence an individual's response.

Proposed guidelines to evaluate scientific validity and evidence for genotype-based dietary advice.

Nutrigenetic research examines the effects of inter-individual differences in genotype on responses to nutrients and other food components, in the context of health and of nutrient requirements. A practical application of nutrigenetics is the use of personal genetic information to guide recommendations for dietary choices that are more efficacious at the individual or genetic subgroup level relative to generic dietary advice. Nutrigenetics is unregulated, with no defined standards, beyond some commercially adopted codes of practice.

Mediterranean Diet Adherence and Genetic Background Roles within a Web-Based Nutritional Intervention: The Food4Me Study.

Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) adherence has been proven to produce numerous health benefits. In addition, nutrigenetic studies have explained some individual variations in the response to specific dietary patterns. The present research aimed to explore associations and potential interactions between MedDiet adherence and genetic background throughout the Food4Me web-based nutritional intervention.

Can genetic-based advice help you lose weight? Findings from the Food4Me European randomized controlled trial.

There has been limited evidence about whether genotype-tailored advice provides extra benefits in reducing obesity-related traits compared with the benefits of conventional one-size-fits-all advice. We determined whether the disclosure of information on fat-mass and obesity-associated () genotype risk had a greater effect on a reduction of obesity-related traits in risk carriers than in nonrisk carriers across different levels of personalized nutrition. A total of 683 participants (women: 51%; age range: 18-73 y) from the Food4Me randomized controlled trial were included in this analysis.

Associations of vitamin D status with dietary intakes and physical activity levels among adults from seven European countries: the Food4Me study.

Purpose: To report the vitamin D status in adults from seven European countries and to identify behavioural correlates.

Methods: In total, 1075 eligible adult men and women from Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, Greece, UK, Poland and Germany, were included in the study.

Results: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency, defined as 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25-OHD) concentration of <30 and 30-49.

The impact of 677C → T risk knowledge on changes in folate intake: findings from the Food4Me study.

Background: It is hypothesised that individuals with knowledge of their genetic risk are more likely to make health-promoting dietary and lifestyle changes. The present study aims to test this hypothesis using data from the Food4Me study. This was a 6-month Internet-based randomised controlled trial conducted across seven centres in Europe where individuals received either general healthy eating advice or varying levels of personalised nutrition advice.

Weekday sunlight exposure, but not vitamin D intake, influences the association between vitamin D receptor genotype and circulating concentration 25-hydroxyvitamin D in a pan-European population: the Food4Me study.

Scope: Little is known about diet- and environment-gene interactions on 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D concentration. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate (i) predictors of 25(OH)D concentration and relationships with vitamin D genotypes and (ii) whether dietary vitamin D intake and sunlight exposure modified these relationships.

Methods And Results: Participants from the Food4Me study (n = 1312; age 18-79) were genotyped for vitamin D receptor (VDR) and vitamin D binding protein at baseline and a genetic risk score was calculated.

Effect of personalized nutrition on health-related behaviour change: evidence from the Food4Me European randomized controlled trial.

Background: Optimal nutritional choices are linked with better health, but many current interventions to improve diet have limited effect. We tested the hypothesis that providing personalized nutrition (PN) advice based on information on individual diet and lifestyle, phenotype and/or genotype would promote larger, more appropriate, and sustained changes in dietary behaviour.

Methods: : Adults from seven European countries were recruited to an internet-delivered intervention (Food4Me) and randomized to: (i) conventional dietary advice (control) or to PN advice based on: (ii) individual baseline diet; (iii) individual baseline diet plus phenotype (anthropometry and blood biomarkers); or (iv) individual baseline diet plus phenotype plus genotype (five diet-responsive genetic variants).

The effect of the apolipoprotein E genotype on response to personalized dietary advice intervention: findings from the Food4Me randomized controlled trial.

Background: The apolipoprotein E (APOE) risk allele (ɛ4) is associated with higher total cholesterol (TC), amplified response to saturated fatty acid (SFA) reduction, and increased cardiovascular disease. Although knowledge of gene risk may enhance dietary change, it is unclear whether ɛ4 carriers would benefit from gene-based personalized nutrition (PN).

Objectives: The aims of this study were to 1) investigate interactions between APOE genotype and habitual dietary fat intake and modulations of fat intake on metabolic outcomes; 2) determine whether gene-based PN results in greater dietary change than do standard dietary advice (level 0) and nongene-based PN (levels 1-2); and 3) assess the impact of knowledge of APOE risk (risk: E4+, nonrisk: E4-) on dietary change after gene-based PN (level 3).

Physical activity attenuates the effect of the FTO genotype on obesity traits in European adults: The Food4Me study.

Objective: To examine whether the effect of FTO loci on obesity-related traits could be modified by physical activity (PA) levels in European adults.

Methods: Of 1,607 Food4Me participants randomized, 1,280 were genotyped for FTO (rs9939609) and had available PA data. PA was measured objectively using accelerometers (TracmorD, Philips), whereas anthropometric measures [BMI and waist circumference (WC)] were self-reported via the Internet.

Mining nutrigenetics patterns related to obesity: use of parallel multifactor dimensionality reduction.

This paper aims to enlighten the complex etiology beneath obesity by analysing data from a large nutrigenetics study, in which nutritional and genetic factors associated with obesity were recorded for around two thousand individuals. In our previous work, these data have been analysed using artificial neural network methods, which identified optimised subsets of factors to predict one's obesity status. These methods did not reveal though how the selected factors interact with each other in the obtained predictive models.

Effects of Twenty Days of the Ketogenic Diet on Metabolic and Respiratory Parameters in Healthy Subjects.

Purpose: The effects of the ketogenic diet (KD) on weight loss, metabolic, and respiratory parameters were investigated in healthy subjects.

Methods: Thirty-two healthy subjects were randomized into two groups. The KD group followed a ketogenic diet for 20 days (KD t 0-t 20), then switched to a low-carbohydrate, no-ketogenic diet for 20 days (KD t 20-t 40), and finally was on a Mediterranean diet (MD) for 2 more months (KD t 40-t 2m).

How reliable is internet-based self-reported identity, socio-demographic and obesity measures in European adults?

Unlabelled: In e-health intervention studies, there are concerns about the reliability of internet-based, self-reported (SR) data and about the potential for identity fraud. This study introduced and tested a novel procedure for assessing the validity of internet-based, SR identity and validated anthropometric and demographic data via measurements performed face-to-face in a validation study (VS). Participants (n = 140) from seven European countries, participating in the Food4Me intervention study which aimed to test the efficacy of personalised nutrition approaches delivered via the internet, were invited to take part in the VS.

The Ketogenic Diet and Sport: A Possible Marriage?

The ketogenic diet (KD) is used widely as a weight loss strategy and, more rarely, as therapy for some diseases. In many sports, weight control is often necessary (boxing, weightlifting, wrestling, etc.), but the KD usually is not considered.

Effects of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3) supplementation on some cardiovascular risk factors with a ketogenic Mediterranean diet.

Background: the ketogenic diet (KD) has become a widely used nutritional approach for weight loss. Some of the KD's positive effects on metabolism and cardiovascular risk factors are similar to those seen after n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3) supplementation. We hypothesized that a ketogenic Mediterranean diet with phytoextracts combined with ω-3 supplementation may have increased positive effects on cardiovascular risk factors and inflammation.

PPARα gene variants as predicted performance-enhancing polymorphisms in professional Italian soccer players.

Background: The PPARα gene encodes the peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor alpha, a central regulator of expression of other genes involved in fatty acid metabolism. The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of G allele of the PPARα intron 7 G/C polymorphism (rs4253778) in professional Italian soccer players.

Methods: Sixty professional soccer players and 30 sedentary volunteers were enrolled in the study.

Design and baseline characteristics of the Food4Me study: a web-based randomised controlled trial of personalised nutrition in seven European countries.

Improving lifestyle behaviours has considerable potential for reducing the global burden of non-communicable diseases, promoting better health across the life-course and increasing well-being. However, realising this potential will require the development, testing and implementation of much more effective behaviour change interventions than are used conventionally. Therefore, the aim of this study was to conduct a multi-centre, web-based, proof-of-principle study of personalised nutrition (PN) to determine whether providing more personalised dietary advice leads to greater improvements in eating patterns and health outcomes compared to conventional population-based advice.

Nutrigenetics and personalized nutrition: are we ready for DNA-based dietary advice?

Common genetic variation affects individual nutrient requirements and the use of DNA-based dietary advice, derived from nutrigenetics, has been growing. The growth is about to accelerate as the cost of genotyping continues to fall and research results from major nutrigenetics projects are published. There is still some skepticism; some barriers remain including some commercial tests, which make exaggerated, incorrect claims.

Long term successful weight loss with a combination biphasic ketogenic Mediterranean diet and Mediterranean diet maintenance protocol.

Weight loss protocols can only be considered successful if they deliver consistent results over the long term-a goal which is often elusive, so much so that the term "yo-yo" is used to describe the perennial weight loss/weight regain battle common in obesity. We hypothesized that a ketogenic Mediterranean diet with phytoextracts (KEMEPHY) combined with the acknowledged health benefits of traditional Mediterranean nutrition may favor long term weight loss. We analysed 89 male and female obese subjects, aged between 25 and 65 years who were overall healthy apart from being overweight.

Do we know enough? A scientific and ethical analysis of the basis for genetic-based personalized nutrition.

This article discusses the prospects and limitations of the scientific basis for offering personalized nutrition advice based upon individual genetic information. Two divergent scientific positions are presented, with an ethical comment. The crucial question is whether the current knowledge base is sufficiently strong for taking an ethically responsible decision to offer personalized nutrition advice based upon gene-diet-health interaction.

High-Intensity Interval Resistance Training (HIRT) influences resting energy expenditure and respiratory ratio in non-dieting individuals.

Background: The benefits of exercise are well established but one major barrier for many is time. It has been proposed that short period resistance training (RT) could play a role in weight control by increasing resting energy expenditure (REE) but the effects of different kinds of RT has not been widely reported.

Methods: We tested the acute effects of high-intensity interval resistance training (HIRT) vs.

Ketogenic diet does not affect strength performance in elite artistic gymnasts.

Background: Despite the increasing use of very low carbohydrate ketogenic diets (VLCKD) in weight control and management of the metabolic syndrome there is a paucity of research about effects of VLCKD on sport performance. Ketogenic diets may be useful in sports that include weight class divisions and the aim of our study was to investigate the influence of VLCKD on explosive strength performance.

Methods: 8 athletes, elite artistic gymnasts (age 20.