ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death globally despite major advances in the medical management of this condition. A healthy lifestyle, which incorporates a healthy diet, has a pivotal role to play in the management of CVD—even in patients at high genetic risk. Therefore, incorporation of a healthy diet into a patient’s care plan should be a cornerstone of disease management. Personalized nutrition (PN) is a conduit to provide dietary advice that is tailored to an individual’s specific requirements, to maximize health benefits. There are a multitude of levels at which PN can be implemented, from general feedback via technological platforms on dietary intake patterns (PN1) through to individualization of dietary advice based on phenotypic characteristics (PN2) or genotypic data (PN3). The recent outcomes of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have provided a basis for future interventional studies to understand the interplay between genetic susceptibility and dietary interactions. Such studies will be fundamental to gaining a better understanding of gene-nutrient interactions that may enhance both our understanding of disease pathogenesis and better inform dietary advice by PN3. In this chapter we will review the most up-to-date literature on a healthy diet for CVD management. We will discuss the differing degrees of PN and how they can be adapted for CVD. We will finally discuss the promise, challenges and limitations of implementing personalized nutritional advice based on genetic composition and whether such an in-depth level of personalization is superior to lower levels of PN. While greater research is required to inform PN3, in the interim greater awareness of one’s genetic risk status in early life, coupled with PN1, may afford better management of high-risk patients and revolutionize CVD management.
