Precision Nutrition and Premenstrual Symptoms

Date: Friday, May 1

Time:  9:30 – 11:00 am

Speaker Bio

Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy is a Professor and Associate Chair at the University of Toronto and held a Canada Research Chair in Nutrigenomics. He is also the Founder of Nutrigenomix Inc. and serves as Chief Science Officer. Dr. El-Sohemy obtained his PhD from the University of Toronto and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed publications and has given more than 400 invited talks around the world on precision nutrition. Dr. El-Sohemy is the recipient of several awards for research excellence by the Canadian Nutrition Society, the American College of Nutrition, and the American Nutrition Association.

Description

Presentation Description: 

Premenstrual symptoms are a set of psychological and somatic symptoms that are experienced by up to 90% of females of reproductive age. A number of studies have examined the effect of diet on the prevalence and severity of premenstrual symptoms, but the findings have been inconclusive. This may be due, in part, to genetic differences affecting nutrient metabolism or response. There is increasing awareness among researchers, educators, healthcare professionals and consumers that a one-size-fits-all, population-based approach to nutritional guidance is inefficient and sometimes ineffective. Recent studies now show that common genetic variants can explain why certain micronutrients and food bioactives protect against specific premenstrual symptoms in some women, but not others. As such, there is a need for nutrition professionals to understand the benefits and limitations of both the science and the testing. Findings from ongoing research from the Toronto Nutrigenomics and Health study will be presented, including research that has not yet been published.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe how nutrients and food bioactives affect the risk and severity of premenstrual symptoms.
• Explain how common genetic variants affecting nutrient metabolism can modify the effects of diet on premenstrual symptoms.
• Describe how genetic testing can be used to develop precision nutrition recommendations for specific premenstrual symptoms.