We need to talk about how we are talking about Personalized nutrition
It’s true that in many nascent sectors, there’s much variation in basic definitions. It makes sense, considering much of the groundwork is still being built. Where players are few, gaps are big and adoption is still early, there will be considerable overlaps between existing concepts, which over time will either converge, evolve or give way to newer iterations.
For us in Personalised nutrition, there’s an identity crisis brewing. This is mainly in part due to its various origins - a cocktail of dietetics, genomics, behavioural psychology, big data, clinical research, epigenetics, ethics and other influences, each occupying more or less space in the limelight. This has meant that the terms personalized nutrition,precision nutrition, lifestyle medicine and food as medicine are often used interchangeably. This does not help our cause to raise the bar for Personalised nutrition which is making health accessible through nutrition for all, nor does it help consumers to understand the science.
Let´s just get on with it
As the space continues to grow and pique the interest of deep pockets, a more standardised culture of language and definition around cornerstone themes is needed.
Why? Because innovation needs parameters and definitions in order to measure progress. So far we can´t even agree on the industry-wide definition of personalised nutrition, as to date we have at least 3 definitions being touted as THE one (ANA, FoodvalleyNL)
What exactly do we mean when we talk about personalised nutrition, or lifestyle medicine? Are we certain that lifestyle medicine also includes the role of clinical studies, or that personalised nutrition also references sports nutrition?
Personalised nutrition is more commonly associated with dietary preferences, lifestyle, religious, ethical and cultural food behaviours, whereas Lifestyle medicine encompasses nutrition and lifestyle such as sleep, stress management and social networks.
Those leading the charge - startups, researchers, nutritionists, dieticians, technologists - will need to eventually converge on a universal name for the category, or splinter into smaller niches.
You can read the full blog here, https://www.qina.tech/blog/we-need-to-talk-about-how-we-re-talking-about-personalised-nutrition
Written by: Mariette Abrahams CEO & Founder of Qina
#consumertrends #personalisednutrition #behaviour