Faulty logic

“Personalised nutrition!”

It is rarely possible to know in advance who will benefit, who will not, and who will be harmed by using a nutrition intervention.

Fair comparisons of interventions usually tell us what happened in a group of people. There are very few, if any nutrition interventions that have exactly the same effect on everyone. Usually, in a group of people that use a nutrition intervention, there are some who benefit, some who do not, and some who are harmed or disadvantaged by the intervention. When you use a nutrition intervention, it is not possible to know in advance if you will be one of the people who benefits, one of the people who does not benefit, or one of the people who is harmed or disadvantaged.

The only way to know whether “personalised nutrition”- tailoring nutrition interventions for individuals – works is to test it in fair comparisons of interventions. Unless the tailored nutrition intervention is 100% effective and 100% safe, it is still not possible to know in advance exactly who will benefit from “personalised care” and who will not. “Personalised nutrition” is not really tailored for each individual; it is simply an effort to identify those people who are most likely to benefit from specific nutrition interventions.

BEWARE of claims about “personalised nutrition” that have not been evaluated in fair comparisons of interventions.

REMEMBER: It is rarely possible to know in advance who will benefit, who will not, and who will be harmed or disadvantaged by using a nutrition intervention.