Envisioning the Intersectionality and Synergy of Precision Nutrition and Engineering

The traditional approach with nutritional supplements is “one size fits all,” which has its limitations due to a lack of consideration of individual variations, including genetic background, health condition, lifestyle, and dietary intake. Depending on individual characteristics, the exact same nutritional supplementation could be beneficial, have no effect, or even be harmful. Precision nutrition has emerged as a new horizon, with the aim of carefully assessing individual nutritional and health needs and designing individually tailored diet and nutritional supplements. Engineering may play a significant role in each step of precision nutrition research and translation, including big data collection and management, nutritional and environmental assessment, data analyses, prediction, biomedical engineering, and nutritional engineering. The integration of precision nutrition and engineering could enhance our ability to best serve all people’s nutritional and health needs.