基因营养学:DNA能改变健康和饮食习惯吗

Just a few decades ago, our genes and what they say about us was largely a mystery. Now, with a quick swab of your mouth scientists can reveal everything from your family history to the diseases that you are susceptible to.

仅仅几十年前，基因对于我们还如同一团迷雾般难以理解。而现在，只要用棉签在口腔里刮一下，你就能知道包括家族病史以及潜在疾病等一切信息。

This is all thanks to the human genome project, the biggest collaborative project aimed at better understanding the biology of our species. In the 90s, scientists from the US, UK, Japan, France, Germany, Canada and China worked together to work out the base pairs in our DNA.

这都是人类基因组计划的功劳。这个世上最大的合作项目致力于更好地研究人类生物学。在上世纪90年代，来自美，英，日，法，德，加以及中国的科学家们合作并解密了人类DNA中的碱基对。

Nutrigenomics services like DNAFit analyse a person's DNA and their genetic variations to give them a personalised workout and diet plan.

基因营养类服务，比如DNAFit，能分析人们的DNA及遗传变异，以给出定制的锻炼与饮食计划。

Ideal diet and vitamin and micronutrient intake; a person's carbohydrate and fat sensitivity; lactose and gluten intolerance risk; ability to recover after exercise; salt, alcohol, and caffeine sensitivity as well how prone a person is to of soft tissue injury are all measured.

理想的饮食与维生素和微量元素的摄入；对于碳水化合物与脂肪的敏感度；对乳糖及谷蛋白不耐受的风险；运动后的恢复能力；对盐，酒精，咖啡因的敏感度甚至是否容易软组织受损，所有这些项目都会被评估。

To piece together profiles, DNAFit test 45 gene variants in the human body. But, considering there are 10 million variants in the human body, how accurate and useful are the results?

DNAFit需要检测人体45处基因变异来合成一份报告。但考虑到人体的基因有多达上千万对碱基，这份报告的准确度与适用度可靠吗？

Commenting on whether honing in on 45 variants is enough to gain a deep understanding of what we should eat, Dr Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology, said: "sadly not."

对于研究45对碱基是否足够我们制定饮食计划的问题，遗传流行病学教授，蒂姆·斯佩克特博士给出的答案是"很可惜并不够"。

"Although diet choices are often partly genetic, these gene variants are often associated with risk of allergy or disease," he says. "They explain only a small fraction of the differences between people. There are a few exceptions like for lactose intolerance, coffee drinking or alcohol or coeliac disease but basing diet recommendations on genetic tests not usually helpful."

"虽然对于饮食的选择常常是由基因引起的，但这些基因的变异也常常会和过敏与疾病联系到一起，"他说道。"它们只是人与人之前不同的一小部分。虽然能给出关于乳糖不耐症，喝咖啡与酒精的量或是乳糜泄等的建议，但这份报告对于制定饮食计划的帮助并不大。"

Instead, he points towards the gut microbiome - which varies widely between individuals - as the best way to personalise a diet.

他指出，变化更加多样的肠道微生物群对于定制膳食影响更大。

"Genetically testing your microbes is more valuable than testing your own genes at the present," he suggests.

他建议道："目前来说，检测你体内的微生物一般比检测你的基因更有用"。

Dr Turi King, Reader in Genetics and Archaeology at the University Leicester elaborates that there many be difference between populations, and that environmental factors including diet, exercise and smoking can play a larger part that our genes, for instance relating to conditions such as coronary heart disease.

莱斯特大学遗传学与考古学的图里·金博士阐明，人类之间的区别有很多，其中的环境因素，包括饮食、运动及吸烟都会对我们的基因造成重大影响，比如与冠心病等病症之间产生联系。

"There's a lot of interactions going on and it's often not as simple and straightforward as we might hope.

"我们的基因与环境不断在交互，这其中的影响常常比我们想象的要复杂和曲折。"

"But there is no doubt, particularly with the research that is going on, that we will be finding out more and more about what parts of our DNA are involved with diet, exercise and disease in the future."

"但毫无疑问，有了那些研究，对于哪部分DNA会关系到我们的饮食、运动与疾病，将来我们会了解得更深。"