Nutrition Science
Linas JuozėnasShare
Nutrition science
Personalised diets and functional foods: turn scientific possibilities into useful choices.
Food meets us in ordinary moments: breakfast before work, a shared family meal, a packed lunch, something to eat after training. Nutrition science is most valuable when it helps those moments support our needs, our health and a life we enjoy.
New tools promise increasingly precise answers. A genetic report may suggest a preferred diet. A microbiome test may recommend particular foods. A fortified drink may claim a specific benefit. Some applications are useful; others ask the evidence to carry more than it can.
This guide explains what personalisation can reasonably offer, how to judge functional foods, and how to make decisions without turning every meal into a test. You can use the science while keeping food practical, affordable and pleasurable.
Health, preferences, culture, resources and routine all help shape a workable eating pattern.
Ask what a test changes, and whether that change has been shown to help.
A beneficial ingredient deserves context: amount, suitability, cost and the rest of what you eat.
Personalised nutrition is broader than a genetic test
Personalised nutrition means adapting dietary advice to relevant features of a person's life and health. That can be as familiar as choosing food around an allergy, making meals manageable during a busy week, or matching eating opportunities to a training schedule.
The World Health Organization describes healthy diets through adequacy, balance, moderation and diversity. Their exact composition varies with individual characteristics, culture and available food.[1] Personalisation helps translate broad principles into choices someone can actually make.
Different information answers different questions
A conversation about meals may reveal a long gap without food. A clinical assessment may identify a specific nutrient problem. A laboratory test may answer a carefully defined medical question. These are different kinds of information, and collecting more of them is useful only when it improves a decision.
| Information | A useful question | Keep in perspective |
|---|---|---|
| Meals, preferences and routine | What would make eating regularly and enjoyably easier? | Plans need to work with time, money, cooking facilities and household needs. |
| Health history and assessment | Does a condition or treatment change the person's dietary needs? | Interpret symptoms and relevant measurements together. |
| A proposed test | What decision would change after either possible result? | Ask for evidence that using the result improves care. |
| A food or activity record | Is there a practical pattern worth adjusting? | A short, purposeful record may be enough; constant tracking is optional. |
Advice can be highly individual without being technologically elaborate. A useful outcome is a plan that fits the person and can be revised as their circumstances change.
Design meals around needs, resources and enjoyment
Begin with an ordinary week. When is food available? Which meals are shared? Which tasks feel easy, and which create friction? A plan that depends on equipment, money or uninterrupted time someone does not have needs redesigning.
Write down a few foods you already enjoy and can obtain reliably. In Lithuania, possibilities might include oats, rye bread, buckwheat, potatoes, beans, lentils, cabbage, carrots, apples, frozen berries, eggs, fish or dairy foods. Other cultures and households will build from different staples. These are options, not a required shopping list.
Make the next step specific
“Eat better” is difficult to act on. “Keep ingredients for a quick lunch at work” gives you something concrete to arrange. Decide where the food will come from, how it will be stored and what you will do on a day when the original plan falls apart.
For example, someone who enjoys cooking might prepare a pot of lentil soup. Someone with little kitchen access might choose ready-to-eat beans, bread and vegetables they like. The practical task is to make an adequate meal possible in that setting.
Keep preferences inside the plan
Include taste, texture, religious practice, cultural traditions and the social meaning of food. Ask what a proposed change would add to daily life and what it might make harder. A meal pattern should leave room for celebration and flexibility.
One useful question
What small change would make feeding yourself easier this week? Start there, then consider whether any additional information or product would help you make it.
Genes influence nutrition, but a report is not a complete diet
Nutrigenetics examines how genetic differences can affect responses to nutrients and dietary patterns. Nutrigenomics examines how nutrition interacts with gene activity and related biological processes. The fields overlap, but neither term means that DNA alone determines what someone should eat.
Some inherited conditions have clear nutritional implications. Phenylketonuria, or PKU, affects the handling of the amino acid phenylalanine and requires an individual management plan with specialist care.[2] This illustrates a meaningful clinical application of genetic knowledge.
Consumer reports about common variants address a different question: can a collection of genetic markers reliably identify the eating pattern that will produce better outcomes for this person?
A useful test of that promise
The DIETFITS randomised trial studied 609 adults without diabetes over 12 months. A particular three-variant genetic pattern did not identify who would lose more weight with a healthy low-fat rather than healthy low-carbohydrate diet.[3] That finding challenges the tested matching approach; it does not show that all genetic information is irrelevant.
Be cautious when a report turns a small genetic association into a fixed identity such as “carbohydrate intolerant” or “designed for high fat”. Ask how the recommendation was validated and whether it accounts for your current health and dietary pattern.
A proposed need for extra vitamins also needs a sound basis. The presence of a variant should not, on its own, become a diagnosis of deficiency or a reason to buy a large supplement bundle. The useful question is what evidence connects that result to an action that benefits you.
A test can be accurate without improving advice
Laboratory accuracy, meaningful interpretation and improved health outcomes are separate achievements. A service may measure something reliably while the dietary recommendation built from it remains uncertain.
In the six-month Food4Me European randomised trial, personalised advice improved aspects of dietary behaviour compared with conventional advice. Adding the selected body measurements, blood markers and genetic information did not further improve the effectiveness of the personalised advice.[4]
The encouraging part is that adaptation itself can help. The limit is that greater technical complexity does not automatically add value. This trial also did not establish that its advice prevented disease over decades.
1. Measurement
Does the test reliably measure what it says it measures? Would a repeat under comparable conditions give a consistent result?
2. Interpretation
Does the result meaningfully predict something relevant, in people like those using the service?
3. Added benefit
Does changing advice because of the result improve an outcome that matters, compared with appropriate advice without the test?
When reading a study, distinguish better food choices, changes in a blood marker, symptom improvement and fewer clinical events. Each can matter, but evidence for one should stay attached to that outcome.
Ask whether the comparison received similar support. If one group gets frequent coaching and the other receives a leaflet, the result may reflect the whole programme. It cannot necessarily tell you how much benefit came from its test or algorithm.
Microbiome tests need evidence of clinical usefulness
The gut microbiome is the community of microorganisms and their associated biological context in the digestive tract. Researchers investigate how it interacts with food and health. That scientific interest should be distinguished from the usefulness of a particular commercial stool test.
A 2025 international consensus statement found scarce evidence supporting broad clinical use of microbiome testing. It cautioned against inappropriate testing and called for clearer standards and evidence of benefit.[5] A colourful report does not establish that its food recommendations will improve your health.
Ask how the result will be used
If a service offers a “gut score”, ask what the score represents, which population it was validated in and what evidence supports changing your diet because of it. An attractive comparison with a reference group is not, by itself, a diagnosis.
Also ask what happens if symptoms continue. Will the service reconsider its interpretation, or simply recommend another test and a different set of products? The answer helps reveal whether the service has a useful, accountable purpose.
Keep practical concerns visible
If digestive comfort is your goal, make that the outcome you discuss. A brief record of symptoms and meals may help explain your experience, but avoid building an increasingly restrictive diet from an unexplained score. Persistent digestive symptoms deserve an appropriate clinical assessment.
You do not need to wait for a comprehensive microbial profile to organise meals you enjoy. Nor should a test become the only way you are allowed to understand your experience of eating.
Glucose data are one part of nutrition
A continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, estimates glucose in the fluid between cells. It can provide valuable information in diabetes care. Consumer interest has expanded to people who want feedback about meals even without a diabetes diagnosis.
A 2026 clinical review found established benefits in some diabetes settings, while evidence for several broader uses remained limited or indirect. It recommended choosing CGM in response to a specific clinical problem, with attention to the person's goals.[6]
Decide what question you are asking
A glucose trace is not a complete measure of nutritional quality. It does not tell you whether a meal supplies enough energy, protein, fibre or essential micronutrients, or whether you can afford and enjoy it. “Make every curve as flat as possible” is therefore an incomplete food-selection rule.
If you already use CGM as part of diabetes care, interpret meal responses within that care plan. For someone considering a device for general wellness, ask what action the results would support and what evidence shows that action improves a meaningful outcome.
Make room for life beyond the graph
Consider the effort involved: wearing the device, interpreting readings, recording meals and deciding what to change. If feedback makes ordinary eating more confusing or anxious, that burden belongs in the decision about its value.
The aim of personalisation is to help you live and eat well. A tool earns its place when it supports that aim clearly enough to justify the attention it asks from you.
Functional foods: useful properties, specific claims
Functional food is a broad descriptive term for a food discussed in relation to a particular beneficial function. Examples can include familiar foods with useful components and products with added nutrients or other ingredients. The term itself is not an evidence-quality rating.
A fortified food has nutrients added. A fermented food is made using microbial activity. A supplement supplies ingredients in a concentrated preparation. These descriptions can overlap, but they do not make the products interchangeable.
The important questions are concrete: which component, in what amount, for whom, and with what demonstrated effect?
| Food or component | A supported purpose | What the example does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Oat beta-glucan | Lowering LDL cholesterol at the studied intake.[7] | Every oat snack delivers an effective amount. |
| Added plant sterols or stanols | Lowering LDL cholesterol in studied food formats and amounts.[8] | Every household member needs a cholesterol-targeted food. |
| Vitamin B12 fortification | Helping supply a nutrient that may otherwise be missing.[9] | A small occasional serving meets a person's full needs. |
| Vitamin D fortification | Contributing vitamin D, which supports calcium absorption and bone mineralisation.[10] | Extra intake guarantees stronger bones or prevents fractures. |
| Live yoghurt cultures | Helping digest lactose in the yoghurt for people with lactose maldigestion, under specified conditions.[11] | All fermented foods have this effect or are suitable for milk allergy. |
| Omega-3-containing foods | Providing particular fatty acids; the type and amount vary.[12] | All products labelled “omega-3” reproduce the same clinical effects. |
These examples illustrate how to examine a claim. None turns a single product into a complete eating pattern. Compare the useful component with the rest of the food, its price and the role it would play in your meals.
Fibre, prebiotics, probiotics and fermented foods
These words often appear together, but they describe different things. Knowing the difference makes it easier to understand what a food can reasonably promise.
Fibre and prebiotics
In the scientific consensus definition, a prebiotic is a substance selectively used by the body's microorganisms that produces a health benefit. Some fibres, including particular inulin-type fructans and galacto-oligosaccharides, meet this definition. Fibre and prebiotic are not interchangeable labels.[13]
You can include fibre-containing foods without buying something marketed as a prebiotic. Whole grains, pulses, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds offer many possible starting points.[1] If you are changing your intake, take your digestive comfort into account and avoid making several large changes at once.
Probiotics and fermentation
Probiotics are live microorganisms with demonstrated health benefits when consumed in adequate amounts. Benefits can depend on the strain, preparation and condition being studied. A higher organism count or a longer strain list does not automatically mean a better product.[14]
Fermentation does not establish probiotic benefit. Some fermented foods no longer contain live organisms when eaten, and others contain live cultures without evidence for the advertised health effect.[14]
There are specific positive examples: EFSA found that live yoghurt starter cultures can improve digestion of the lactose in that yoghurt for people who have difficulty digesting lactose. Its assessment specifies the cultures and an adequate live count.[11] This is narrower than a promise to repair the gut or treat all digestive symptoms.
Choose food you can enjoy
Kefir, yoghurt or fermented vegetables may have a place in your meals because you like them. Check ingredients and choose portions that suit you. You do not need to treat every fermented food as a remedy or judge its value through a microbial score.
Fortification works best when its purpose is clear
Adding a nutrient can make an ordinary food useful in a particular eating pattern. Start by identifying the gap you are trying to fill, then check how much the product contributes in a serving you will actually use.
Vitamin B12
People eating a vegan diet need a reliable source of vitamin B12 from fortified foods or supplements. NIH guidance identifies these as ways to reduce deficiency risk when animal foods are absent.[9] Plan the source and frequency deliberately; a vague promise of “plant-based goodness” does not answer that need.
Vitamin D and the wider diet
Vitamin D supports calcium absorption and normal bone mineralisation. Fortified foods can contribute to intake, but the amount varies. Benefits from correcting inadequate intake should not be confused with a guarantee that extra vitamin D improves outcomes in someone who already has enough.[10]
When choosing a plant-based alternative to milk, read the label rather than assuming all alternatives have the same composition. Compare relevant nutrients such as protein, calcium, vitamin D and B12, as well as price and taste. The best choice depends on what else the person eats.
Keep the total visible
If several foods and supplements contain the same added nutrient, consider them together. Bring the labels to a nutrition consultation when the overall amount is unclear. An identified deficiency or a problem with absorption may require a treatment plan that ordinary fortification cannot replace.
Product ranges differ between countries and change over time. Use the label on the food in front of you, and interpret it in the context of your usual intake. A product does not become more suitable simply because the front of its package lists more added ingredients.
Useful fats and plant compounds need food context
Omega-3 is a family of fatty acids
ALA occurs in foods such as flaxseed, walnuts and rapeseed oil. Fish and some algae-derived products supply EPA and DHA. Conversion of ALA to EPA and DHA is limited, so these sources are not nutritionally identical.[12]
An omega-3-enriched egg or drink may contribute a useful amount, but check which fatty acid and how much. Evidence from a particular fish-oil preparation cannot simply be transferred to every fortified food. Cardiovascular findings vary with the preparation, population and outcome.[12]
Oats and cholesterol-targeted foods
EFSA's assessment supports oat beta-glucan for lowering LDL cholesterol at an intake of at least 3 g daily. That means grams of beta-glucan, not grams of oats.[7] A product's fibre total does not necessarily identify its beta-glucan content.
Plant sterols and stanols also lower LDL in studied food formats at specified amounts.[8] These are targeted products: check who they are intended for and follow their labelled conditions. Lowering a risk factor is not direct evidence that every individual branded product prevents heart attacks.
Plant foods and antioxidant claims
Phytochemicals are compounds produced by plants; polyphenols are one group. Laboratory antioxidant activity is a starting point for research, not proof of a health benefit from consuming a concentrated extract.
NCCIH notes that antioxidant supplements have not generally reproduced the disease-prevention promise associated with antioxidant-rich diets, and larger amounts can have unwanted effects.[15] Enjoy plant foods as foods. A fruit, herb or spice does not need a detoxification or cancer-prevention claim to deserve a place in the kitchen.
How to evaluate a health claim
In the European Union, nutrition and health claims on foods fall under specific rules. A nutrition claim describes a nutritional property, while a health claim connects a food or constituent with health. Authorised health claims have conditions of use.[16]
This matters in Lithuania and elsewhere in the EU: wording, quantity and intended use need attention. A permitted claim about one nutrient is not an endorsement of every aspect of a product.
Work through the evidence in order
- Identify the exact claim. “Supports wellbeing” is difficult to evaluate. Ask what changed in the research and how it was measured.
- Check the participants. A result in people with a diagnosed deficiency may not apply to someone whose intake is adequate.
- Check the actual product. Was the studied ingredient, amount and preparation comparable to what is being sold?
- Check the comparison and duration. A brief change in a laboratory marker answers a different question from sustained symptom relief or disease prevention.
- Check interests and alternatives. Who funded the work, what was reported, and could an affordable ordinary food meet the same need?
Make “clinically tested” more informative
A company should be able to identify the study behind its claim. Testing alone does not mean the outcome was favourable, important or independently confirmed. Testimonials may describe experiences, but they cannot establish that a product caused the reported result.
Finally, compare the full ingredients and nutrition information in portions you would actually use. The useful question is whether this food improves your overall options enough to justify its cost and place in your routine.
Apply nutrition science to training
Personalisation in sport begins with the activity: its duration, intensity, frequency, recovery time and the athlete's needs. Sports-nutrition guidance puts adequate energy, appropriate carbohydrate and protein intake, and hydration within an individual training plan.[17]
A convenient food can be valuable because it is easy to carry or eat when time is short. Convenience is a legitimate purpose. It does not require a claim that the product is superior to every ordinary meal.
Beetroot as an example of a specific application
Dietary nitrate, often studied through beetroot juice, can improve some exercise outcomes under particular conditions. The Australian Institute of Sport describes variation with the event and training level, and notes that nitrate content differs between products and vegetables.[18]
Evidence for a measured preparation does not establish the same effect from any beetroot-flavoured snack. A performance product should also be tolerated in training before anyone relies on it in competition.[18]
Ask what is currently limiting you
Before adding a specialist product, review whether meals are available around training, whether recovery opportunities are realistic and whether the plan is manageable alongside work or study. A sports dietitian can help connect those practical issues with the demands of the event.
Track outcomes that relate to the purpose: whether you can complete the intended session, how the food sits during activity and whether the routine is sustainable. Avoid attributing every good or difficult training day to the newest ingredient.
More advanced nutrition should make preparation clearer. If a plan becomes an expensive collection of unrelated products, return to the training need each one is supposed to address.
Privacy, access and the next generation of tools
Nutrition services may collect food records, health information, genetic data and details about daily routines. Consider the information commitment alongside the financial one.
Under the GDPR, genetic and health data receive special protection under Article 9. Relevant duties also include limiting data to appropriate purposes and amounts.[19] A privacy policy should explain what is collected, why, who receives it and how long it is retained.
Before sharing a sample or record, ask what is needed for the service and what is optional. Check whether information may be used for research or commercial development, what happens when you leave, and how you can exercise your rights. Do not assume that buying a test requires agreeing to every additional use.
What should future tools demonstrate?
AI-assisted planning, biological measurements and increasingly customised foods may create useful possibilities. Their value should be judged through real outcomes: do they improve decisions, reduce effort, help meet a need or make good advice more accessible?
A prediction needs testing beyond the data used to build it. A programme that works in one population should explain how it performs for others, including people with different food cultures, incomes, ages and health conditions. It should also make uncertainty understandable and allow advice to be corrected.
A novel manufacturing method, including food printing, tells us how a food is made. It still leaves the nutritional purpose, acceptability, affordability and evidence to be assessed.
Make useful nutrition available
Progress should include people who cannot buy repeated tests or specialised foods. Clear labels, accessible professional support, practical cooking options and reliable access to food deserve a place in the same conversation. A technically impressive service has limited value if it cannot meet people where they live.
Build a plan you can explain and revise
The following examples are illustrations, not individual prescriptions. They show how to begin with a need and choose an appropriate next step.
A busy working day
Someone repeatedly reaches the afternoon without a usable lunch. The immediate task is to arrange an accessible meal and a backup option.
A useful review asks whether the plan works on their busiest days and what would make it easier.
A change to vegan eating
Someone wants their usual meals to fit a vegan pattern. A reliable B12 source needs to be planned.[9]
The wider conversation can cover preferred staples, shopping, shared meals and any support needed to make the change adequate and workable.
A promising test offer
A service recommends a test before explaining what decision it will guide. The person asks for the evidence, total cost and data terms.
Those answers help them assess whether the offer adds useful information to their current options.
Five steps for a practical starting plan
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Name one meaningful purpose.
Choose something specific: organise lunch, meet a dietary requirement, support training or discuss a health concern. Describe what success would look like in ordinary life.
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Use the information already available.
Consider usual meals, preferences, access, relevant health history and previous attempts. Notice what worked before and what made it difficult to continue.
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Choose a manageable action.
Try a meal arrangement, a suitable food or a professional consultation that directly serves the purpose. If a test is proposed, establish what its result would change.
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Review the whole experience.
At a sensible agreed point, consider usefulness, comfort, cost and effort. Clinical markers need an appropriate assessment schedule; a few days of observation cannot establish long-term health effects.
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Keep, adapt or reconsider.
Retain what helps. Adjust what does not fit. Seek qualified assessment when the question concerns a medical condition, an identified deficiency or persistent symptoms. A plan should remain responsive to the person using it.
You can use this process without documenting every bite. Make the amount of tracking proportionate to the decision. A short note about whether lunch was available may be more relevant to the goal than a dashboard of unrelated measurements.
When choosing professional support, look for recognised dietetic or clinical nutrition qualifications appropriate to the service and country. Ask how the advice will be tailored, what follow-up includes and whether product sales create any conflicts of interest.
Clear answers to recurring nutrition claims
Do I need a DNA test to eat well?
No. Start with relevant health needs, your usual food and the changes you can make. A genetic test should answer a defined question and have evidence that its use improves the advice or care you receive. See the genetics section.
Does a gene variant prove that I need more supplements?
A variant alone does not establish a deficiency or a useful supplement dose. Ask what evidence supports the proposed action, whether your intake and health have been assessed, and whether the recommendation has been shown to help people in your situation.
Can a microbiome test identify my perfect diet?
Current clinical evidence does not support that broad promise.[5] Ask how the service validates its recommendations and measures benefit. An interesting microbial result and an effective dietary intervention are different things.
Should everyone minimise every glucose rise?
A glucose curve alone cannot define a healthy diet. CGM decisions should have a clear purpose, and diabetes-related targets belong within an individual care plan.[6] Food also needs to meet nutritional needs and fit daily life.
Are kefir and sauerkraut automatically probiotics?
No. Fermentation and probiotic benefit are different claims. Live organisms, an appropriate amount and evidence of health benefit matter.[14] You can still enjoy a fermented food without expecting it to treat a condition.
Does “functional” mean a food is healthier overall?
The word does not settle that question. Identify the function, supporting evidence and useful amount, then consider the full food and the rest of your eating pattern. An added ingredient is only one part of the assessment.
Are fortified foods inferior because nutrients were added?
No. Fortification can serve a clear purpose, including helping supply B12 when appropriate.[9] Judge the actual contribution and suitability. A food's usefulness depends on what it provides and how it fits the person's needs.
Can one food replace a varied eating pattern?
No single product answers every nutritional and practical need. Variety and adequacy remain useful foundations.[1] Choose a functional food for a specific role while keeping the wider pattern in view.
Do recreational athletes need performance foods?
Many everyday training routines can be supported through ordinary meals and suitable eating opportunities. A specialist food may help with convenience or a specific event demand.[17] Start with the actual need and judge whether the product makes meeting it easier.
What is the best first step if money is limited?
Choose one problem that a practical food arrangement could improve. Build from affordable foods you like and can access. Compare the full cost of a proposed service with the useful action it enables. Personalised advice should take your resources seriously.
Sources and the scope of this guide
Sources checked: 5 September 2026. This guide distinguishes clinical trials, expert assessments and public-health guidance. The examples and decision questions are practical illustrations; they are not tested individual meal plans.
Studies differ in participants, products, duration and outcomes. Older landmark trials explain particular claims and should not be read as verdicts on every future technology. EU sources describe relevant claims and data protections; product conditions and clinical advice need checking in their actual context.
- World Health Organization. Healthy diet. Public-health fact sheet, 26 January 2026.Guidance on dietary adequacy, balance and diversity. It does not establish the usefulness of a consumer test. Return to text ↑
- MedlinePlus Genetics, National Library of Medicine. Phenylketonuria. Clinical genetics overview.Example of an inherited condition with specific nutritional management. Specialist care differs from consumer diet matching. Return to text ↑
- Gardner CD, Trepanowski JF, Del Gobbo LC, et al. Effect of Low-Fat vs Low-Carbohydrate Diet on 12-Month Weight Loss: the DIETFITS Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA, 2018;319:667–679; doi:10.1001/jama.2018.0245.Randomised trial in 609 adults without diabetes. Title shortened; findings concern the tested genetic matching approach and weight outcome. Return to text ↑
- Celis-Morales C, Livingstone KM, Marsaux CFM, et al. Effect of personalized nutrition on health-related behaviour change: evidence from the Food4Me European randomized controlled trial. International Journal of Epidemiology, 2017;46:578–588; doi:10.1093/ije/dyw186.Six-month European randomised trial. Added phenotypic and genetic information did not improve the advice's effectiveness; long-term disease prevention was not established. Return to text ↑
- Porcari S, Mullish BH, Asnicar F, et al. International consensus statement on microbiome testing in clinical practice. The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 2025;10:154–167; doi:10.1016/S2468-1253(24)00311-X.International expert consensus identifying limited clinical evidence and requirements for appropriate testing. It is not a trial of an individual diet service. Return to text ↑
- Dower JA, Johansson M, Camp AW, Montori VM, Lipska KJ. Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Type 2 Diabetes and Beyond: A Review. JAMA Internal Medicine, published online 3 August 2026; doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2026.2772.Clinical review of evidence beyond type 1 diabetes. Established clinical applications should be distinguished from broader uses with unproven benefit. Return to text ↑
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies. Scientific Opinion on oat beta glucan, lowering blood cholesterol and reduced risk of coronary heart disease. EFSA Journal, 2010;8:1885; doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1885.Scientific assessment supporting LDL lowering at the specified beta-glucan intake. The title is shortened; this is not a trial of every oat product. Return to text ↑
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies. Scientific Opinion on plant sterols and plant stanol esters and lowering blood LDL-cholesterol. EFSA Journal, 2012;10:2693; doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2012.2693.Scientific assessment of specified amounts and food formats. Title shortened; LDL reduction is distinct from direct evidence of fewer clinical events. Return to text ↑
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin B12: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Nutrient evidence summary.Background on B12 sources, deficiency risk and fortification. Treatment of deficiency or malabsorption requires individual assessment. Return to text ↑
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin D: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Nutrient evidence summary.Explains physiological roles, sources and outcome evidence. Nutrient adequacy should not be confused with benefit from additional intake. Return to text ↑
- EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies. Scientific Opinion on live yoghurt cultures and improved lactose digestion. EFSA Journal, 2010;8:1763; doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2010.1763.Scientific assessment of lactose digestion under specified culture and live-count conditions. Title shortened; it does not cover milk allergy or every fermented food. Return to text ↑
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Nutrient evidence summary.Distinguishes fatty-acid types, food sources and varied clinical findings. Preparation, amount and studied population matter. Return to text ↑
- Gibson GR, Hutkins R, Sanders ME, et al. Expert consensus document: The ISAPP consensus statement on the definition and scope of prebiotics. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 2017;14:491–502; doi:10.1038/nrgastro.2017.75.Expert definition requiring selective microbial use and demonstrated benefit. It does not classify every fibre as a prebiotic. Return to text ↑
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Probiotics: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Evidence summary and guidance on terminology.Explains strain-specific evidence and distinctions from fermented foods. Organism count alone does not demonstrate greater efficacy. Return to text ↑
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Antioxidant Supplements: What You Need To Know. Public evidence summary.Distinguishes foods from concentrated supplements and summarises outcome evidence. Laboratory antioxidant activity alone does not establish clinical benefit. Return to text ↑
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety. Nutrition and Health Claims. Overview of EU rules under Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006.Official explanation of nutrition and health claims. Exact authorised wording and conditions need checking for the specific claim. Return to text ↑
- Thomas DT, Erdman KA, Burke LM. Nutrition and Athletic Performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2016;48:543–568; doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000000852.Joint professional position statement. Sport-specific nutrition depends on the individual and event; it is not a universal supplement prescription. Return to text ↑
- Australian Institute of Sport, Australian Sports Commission. Dietary Nitrate / Beetroot Juice. Sports Supplement Framework guidance.Summarises context-dependent performance evidence and variability in nitrate content. Product and athlete circumstances limit generalisation. Return to text ↑
- European Parliament and Council of the European Union. Regulation (EU) 2016/679: General Data Protection Regulation. Official Journal legal text, 27 April 2016.Selected reference to Article 5 principles and Article 9 protections for genetic and health data. Application depends on the processing context. Return to text ↑