Nutrition: All About Me
Personalized nutrition is gaining momentum as informative tests and tools become more readily accessible. We touched on this topic last year and from what we can tell, the attention it receives reflects the estimated projected growth to over $17B in the next 4 years.1 I recently embarked on my own initial screening: the simple, quick, painless process provided some pretty helpful insights that are shaping the way I structure my plate.
“Personalizing is in our DNA” – we have come to expect the flexibility to request things exactly as we like them.1 Whether it’s the specific way our coffee is prepared or Christmas cards that showcase the highlights of the past year of life, it’s hardly seen as a “perk”.
WHY IS IT HAPPENING?
The Hartman group hypothesizes that America’s hyper-personalized eating culture “is a way of resisting the standardization and homogeneity of modern life by imbuing a sense of fun and premiumization”. While this may sound like a theoretical stretch, the plethora of products and services that allow consumers to tinker with health optimization are an indication of the 80% of consumers who believe their emotional and mental well-being is just as important as physical health. And, it seems that more of us are looking for ways to tailor our intake to our gaps. Take Four Sigmatic for example – they make superfood drinking mushrooms to address a range of “transformative magic” for consumers to choose from.
SO, HOW DOES IT WORK?
Personalizing dietary choices based on genetics is certainly “next level” but becoming increasingly accessible. I heard Yi Sherry Zhang speak to how they approach testing at GenoPalate (“eat for your genes”), and she broke down their approach in an…approachable format.
My own experience was pretty simple – in less than two minutes, a nutritionist trimmed a few strands of my hair and had me swipe the inside of my mouth with a Qtip. From those samples, I had a comprehensive report on: vitamin deficiencies, a scan of exposure to molds and parasites, a review of my system’s performances (think: respiratory, nervous system, blood, cardio, endocrine, immune).
SO….WHAT?
This is most certainly a momentum that is continuing down the path of more: personalization, information, interest, access and questions. Consumers on the forefront of this trend will look to food and beverage products to solve for specific needs they identify to improve their overall health and wellness.
1 Foodscape, Datassential, 2018.
2 Hartman Group. Food Culture Forecast. 2018