A new study uncovers 11 gene variants associated with three blood lipids measured to determine cardiovascular disease risk: low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglycerides.
The discovery opens up new opportunities for nutrigenomics researchers looking for links between diet and genetics that will optimize health and lower chronic disease risk.
"Practically all genes related to lipid levels in the bloodstream respond to changes in the diet," says Jose M. Ordovas, PhD, one of five senior authors of the study and director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA). "With this new knowledge, we are closer to identifying precise dietary recommendations for people at risk for cardiovascular disease. For instance, carriers of a certain variant gene could reduce their risk of disease with a low-cholesterol diet, carriers of another variant gene may benefit from the Mediterranean diet, while a high-fiber diet may be the healthiest option for carriers of yet another variant gene."