Paper Title
FOOD-NUTRITION AND OUR GENOME: GENE-BASED DIETS

Abstract
How does our genome affect our food choices and what makes us healthy? They are very closely related. Just as our genetic make-up makes us who we are, it also has a profound effect on what we eat and what makes us healthy. Food or what we eat is part of our survival. For example, our ability to taste comes from our survival instinct. Genes alone don’t decide our characteristics. Environment also has a big impact on how those genes function. Everything that goes on inside our bodies is decided by our genes that we inherit and also by the environment we live in and the environment we grow up in. Studies in humans and animals have shown that nutrient starvation (as in famines), affect the health and lifespan of the affected individuals as well as their offspring. So, food availability has an effect at genetic and epigenetic levels. Regional differences in food based on each regions culture have also left their mark on our genome. Populations in different parts of the world, have adapted to their diet based on their local resources or what grows in that region. This type of influence of nutrients on our genetic expression is referred to as Nutrigenomics. Based on this science, can there be “gene-based diets” like personalized medicine, that can be prescribed for maintaining good health or to provide nutritional treatment for diseases. Keywords - Food-nutrition, Genome, Diet, Environment, Regional Difference, Nutrigenomics.