Features
Mixing Up Diet and Genes
Can we use diet to prevent or treat obesity, asks nutrigenomics researcher
BY ANDREW VOWLES
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| Designing diets tailored to individual needs is the “dream” for Prof. David Mutch. Photo by Martin Schwalbe |
Food and exercise balanced one another off in an unusual way for then-preteen David Mutch on his first day at a new school in Oakville. The teacher had asked the Grade 3 class to name their favourite foods. Hot dogs and hamburgers were standard fare for many. Then came the new kid.
“I said escargot,” recalls Mutch, whose francophone mom had stressed family meals and a broad palate. He laughs as he parodies the wide-eyed reaction in the classroom: “The new guy eats snails.” Pause. “Good thing I played soccer.”
His latest move has brought him to Guelph this year as a new faculty member in the Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences (HHNS). This time, he brings interests in nutrigenomics to the table.
Understanding interactions between genes and nutrition to ward off a growing health problem is his research interest. “Can we use diet to prevent or treat obesity?”
We’re still decades away from tailoring diets based on genetic information to lower individual risks of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, he says. Diet and genetics are but two in a smorgasbord of factors — environment, exercise, mental health, gut bacteria — that affect weight gain.
Still, Mutch likes the idea of helping to study a relatively new field. He also likes being back in Canada.
For the past decade, he’s been working mostly in Europe. For three years at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research in Paris, he used genomics and metabolite profiling technologies to see how weight reduction affects the biology of fat cells.
While in Paris, he also co-ordinated his research group’s work in the DiOGenes (Diet, Obesity and Genes) project. This initiative involves groups across Europe in studying the connections among diet, genes and obesity. A key question was whether researchers could use genetic information alone to predict which subjects would lose weight on certain diets.
The answer is still unclear, but Mutch says the work shows promise. He’ll continue to pursue his studies here at Guelph. He’s equipping a nutrigenomics lab in the Animal Science and Nutrition Building to look at how nutrients affect production and secretion of proteins and small molecules from fat tissue and how those components then affect other parts of the body.
The idea is to design diets whose nutritional content is tailored to suit an individual. “This is the dream,” says Mutch, who plans to develop ties with local health professionals to design studies and recruit subjects.
He went to Paris after a short post-doc spent at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego. That’s where he developed an interest in metabolomics — the study of small molecules.
Earlier, he had completed a PhD at the University of Lausanne while working at the Nestlé Research Centre in Switzerland. He’d arrived there for an intended six-month stay after completing his undergraduate degree at Queen’s University. Six months became a six-year immersion in nutritional genomics.
His work involves studying genetic data, metabolomics, nutrition and bioinformatics. Other HHNS members — notably Profs. David Ma, Marica Bakovic and Lindsay Robinson — work on related aspects.
“By studying genes, proteins and metabolites, we can cover the entire pipeline of biological complexity,” says Mutch, adding that he also expects to benefit from clinical trials at Guelph’s recently expanded Human Nutraceutical Research Unit.
He believes those results will eventually reach family doctors and other health practitioners, improving their advice and treatment of obese and overweight patients.
Almost one-quarter of adult Canadians are obese, based on a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, according to Statistics Canada. Another 36 per cent, or about 8.6 million people, are overweight.
With a BMI in the low 20s, Mutch is hardly among them. “Most people look at me and think I’m not eating enough,” he says.
Stressing again the complicated mix of factors involved in determining body weight, he says he combines an “everything in moderation” approach with a healthful dose of sports. Recalling his youth, he says mealtimes were about family, not just food.
He’s looking forward to skiing and snowboarding on Canadian slopes and playing squash. For now, he’s returned to that childhood favourite, playing soccer in Guelph and Hamilton.