Popular diets work best by genotype

Dieting by DNA? Popular diets work best by genotype, research shows

MARCH 8, 2010 | Michael O'Riordan

San Francisco, CA - New data presented last week at EPI|PNAM 2010, the Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention and Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism 2010 Conference, provided some early evidence that the secret to weight loss might lie in DNA and that the best way to shed excessive pounds is to diet according to genotype [1].

Researchers are cautious, of course, but the latest study showed that when individuals were assigned to different diets—including the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet and low-fat Ornish diet—based on their genotype, they lost significantly more weight than those assigned to a diet unsuited to their genetics.

"Say you and your wife went on the Atkins diet, and you both think you followed it religiously, but you lost 13 pounds and she lost nothing and is angry because she followed the same diet. Well, she might have a different genotype," senior investigator Dr Christopher Gardner (Stanford University, CA) toldheartwire. "She isn't genetically predisposed to do well on a low-carbohydrate Atkins diet."

Lead investigator on the study was Dr Mindy Dopler Nelson (Stanford University)./.../