Highlights From the Institute for Functional Medicine's 2014 Annual Conference: Functional Perspectives on Food and Nutrition: The Ultimate Upstream Medicine.
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: No one disagrees: Diet significantly affects health. And emerging research is clearly revealing that food is far more than calories delivered in the form of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Food is information with epigenetic effects that impact—for better or worse—the phenotype of not only the individual currently consuming it, but that of future generations of offspring.
Although all agree that a high-quality diet is essential for health, disagreement abounds regarding what type of diet is best. Proponents of each of the leading dietary approaches—the Mediterranean diet, Paleo diet, and vegetarian/vegan diet—can all cite abundant (and carefully selected) research support of their chosen diet’s health benefits. But as epigenetics firmly ushers us into the era of personalized medicine, it is becoming increasingly obvious that no single dietary approach is optimal for all.
The issue of how to personalize dietary recommendations arises where the proverbial tire meets the road: The patient who has come to your office for medical care. How can you determine the optimal nutritional recommendations for the person sitting in front of you, who is likely to be an overweight (or normal weight but overfat/VAT [visceral adipose tissue]) individual with metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and/or type 2 diabetes? What lab tests and what biomarkers can be used to pinpoint your recommendations and then evaluate their efficacy? How can you support your patients’ real-world compliance with your dietary recommendations? How can you efficiently integrate personalized dietary and nutritional therapies into your practice? All these questions were addressed during 3 days packed with science-cum-practical information the Institute for Functional Medicine’s (IFM’s) Annual International Conference: “Functional Perspectives on Food and Nutrition: The Ultimate Upstream Medicine,” held in San Francisco from May 29 through May 31, 2014.
Following are a few highlights regarding how to choose the “right” diet for the individual patient, assess the efficacy of your dietary recommendations with lab tests/biomarkers, and support patient compliance. Another resource for creating personalized dietary and nutritional therapy is IFM’s Clinical Practice Toolkit, which includes a variety of customizable food plans along with recipes and a 1-day, 3-day, and 7-day Diet, Nutrition and Lifestyle Journal and patient information handouts on key food-related issues and topics, such as glycemic index and load; anti-inflammatory and elimination-diet food plans; acid/alkaline body balance; and food sources of fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients.
If you were fortunate enough to have been present, let me apologize upfront if a favorite clinical takeaway is not mentioned below. Only 2 of the many deserving presentations are summarized here because of space limitations. If you were not there—or want to hear one or all of the presentations again—the full audio and video conference proceedings are available on the IFM Web site.i
Source: PubMed Central
Author: Lara Pizzorno
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2410228758