Diet sits at the heart of many of the issues facing healthcare systems in the western world, and an alarming number of western adults are currently classified as obese.

A startup, called Lipigenia, has begun working with AZTI, the Italian enterprise CNR-ISOF and Intermedical Solutions Worldwide to utilize AI in its work establishing appropriate nutrition guides for people.

The company uses blood samples to determine the most appropriate diet for us, and the new partnership will see users given a membrane lipidomics tool, which will analyze the fatty acid profile of the cell membrane.  This allows the creation of a direct relationship between our diet and the metabolic alterations it creates.

Regulating cell metabolism

Membrane lipidomics is a fascinating area as it furthers our understanding of how the food we eat contributions to the state of our cells.  The process begins by taking a blood sample that is then analyzed by an algorithm designed to pick out 120 day old red blood cells (as these have a good level of information about our cells).

This then allows the researchers to understand the balance or imbalance of the patient, who can then receive the appropriate nutrition for their precise needs, with this new diet created within days of the sample being taken.

The researchers believe such accurate profiling can be especially crucial for individuals suffering with chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes or hypertension.  What’s more, it can also play a role in delaying various conditions associated with ageing, whether that’s cognitive deterioration or dysphagia.  It may even be useful in combating disorders such as Alzheimer’s or even cancer.

Personalized diets

The hope is that as researchers better understand the lipid membrane profiles of the population, it will allow us to develop better risk profiles of different segments, whether in terms of non-communicable diseases, ageing or chronic disease factors.

The partnership eventually hopes to develop specific foods and supplements for these population segments to give them the precise nutrition they need to suit their personal characteristics.  It’s the early stages of a partnership that will eventually seek to develop profiles for people with a range of conditions, from cancer and obesity to diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

It’s probably sometime before we get diet plans that are specifically designed for our bodies based upon our cell profiles, but the work provides a glimpse into that possible future.