Rethinking healthy eating: Purdue Nutrition Science researchers explore the science behind ‘precision nutrition’

Image provided and created by Richard Mattes and Giorgia Rutigliani.

Nine Purdue University Department of Nutrition Science researchers and other colleagues collaborated on a report finding people respond very differently to the same foods, which is why “precision nutrition” — tailoring dietary advice to individuals — is gaining attention. In this review, the researchers studied how behaviors are shaped by a complex mix of biology and lived experience — including influences of age, sex, body size, genetics, culture, appetite, taste, smell, gut–brain signals and the microbiome. The collective expertise revealed that no single factor determines how or why people eat the way they do and that cause-and-effect relationships are often hard to prove because these influences interact and change over time. The article also challenges the idea that simply “listening to your body” is enough to guide healthy eating, noting social, cultural and environmental pressures often override biological signals such as hunger or fullness. Overall, the researchers note there is no single “ideal diet” for everyone, and effective nutrition guidance must account for individual variability, cultural context and recognize there are multiple pathways to building a healthy diet.

Ingestive Behavior and Precision Nutrition: Part of the Puzzle

Author: Annabel Biruete, Pius Sarfo Buobu, Robert V Considine, Erisa Met Hoxha, Heather A Eicher-Miller, Kimberly P Kinzig, Anita A Panjwani, Cordelia A Running, Giorgia Rutigliani, Dennis A Savaiano, Amanda Veile, Patricia G Wolf, Richard D Mattes

Publication: Advances in Nutrition

Publisher: Elsevier

Date: November 2025

2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Society for Nutrition.