JANUARY 2017 MEN’S FITNESS 19OCTOBER 2019 MEN’S FITNESS 19Breakthroughs
Hard-hitting news from the cutting edge of modern researcPreliminary
results from an
extensive study
into individual
metabolic responses to
food suggest a standardised
approach to nutrition is rarely
best for everyone. The study,
done by researchers from the
UK and the US, involved more
than 1100 people, including
479 identical twins, who were
given meals that were heavy
in either sugar or fat in an effort
to see how they responded.
The results so far contradict
the concept of a universal
“healthy” diet. Identical twins,
who share the same DNA, did
not metabolise foods in the
same way, the researchers
said. In fact, they found no
similarities between the way
identical twins metabolised
meals that were high in
fat and only about a 30%
association in the way they
metabolised sugar. Based on
these findings, knowing how
a person metabolises sugar
will not help explain how they
might also metabolise fat.
“There is a lot of variability
in the ways in which people
react to food,” says Professor
Tim Spector, lead author of
the study. As a result, “Current
nutritional guidelines are
unlikely to be helpful for most.”One size
fitsfew
EVEN TWO PEAS IN A POD
DON’T METABOLISE FOOD
IN THE SAME WAY.