The words “personalized”, “tailor-made”, and “custom” have been heavily used across various industries to describe a wide range of products and services for decades. Often used to describe an offering that is unique, individualized, or not mass-produced, “personalized” products can vary vastly from one company to the next. In fact, many companies happily misuse these adjectives throughout their branding to stand out from the crowd, even if their product is not actually “personalized”.
Throughout this series we will explore what “personalized” stands for within the medical industry, why the popularity of personalized nutrition is on the rise, and how practitioners and patients can, and should, tap into trusted personalized solutions for their own wellbeing and practices.
Individualized medicine, including nutrition and supplements, is the future of healthcare.
Within the wide-reaching medical and healthcare industry, personalization has come to stand for unique products and services created to meet the specific needs of the patient instead of the broad, standardized processes traditionally used. In nutritional medicine specifically, it is defined as:
“Personalized nutrition tailors dietary recommendations to specific biological requirements on the basis of a person’s health status and goals, focusing on the clinical and biological aspects of nutrition practice.” (1)
To provide patients with enhanced, personalized nutrition solutions, the dietary supplement industry has seen an increase in the variety of available products and services. From Survey-Based Nutrition, Tracking Devices, and BioMarker Tests; to Genetic and Microbiome Testing, the opportunities to receive and prescribe personalized care are becoming much more accessible for both patients and practitioners.
Whether consumers are filling out surveys, wearing a tracking device, or taking a diagnostic test, the increase in options is allowing for more, quality personalized care. And while almost any personalization helps drive the industry forward, not all methods are created equal, with some being much more effective than others.
By understanding that no two “personalized” options will be the same, the question becomes:
Is this product truly Personalized to the individual and effective? Or is it a means to push a recommendation to an already pre-existing set of supplements and call it “personalized” as a sales and marketing strategy?
As the popularity and accessibility of personalized nutrition increases, being able to differentiate between brands that are actually offering personalized products and those that are simply pushing trendy marketing strategies with low-quality products is important. In some cases, companies are pitching “personalized” as nothing more than pre-manufactured bulk capsules placed in attractive packets. While these offerings are more convenient for the end user, they don’t always meet the exact dosing needs based on the individual’s biochemistry, and often are no better than the individual’s previous supplement regimen.
This trend in “packet supplements” is leading to many companies packaging their old products in new ways to pass as “personalized”. Misleading consumers who are actually looking for truly individualized options made just for them.
As the personalized medicine industry continues to evolve, there will be more companies looking to take advantage of the trend, repackaging products, rolling out ineffective questionnaires, and launching misleading marketing campaigns. With this in mind, it will become increasingly more important for healthcare professionals and patients to identify and work with trusted leaders within the personalized nutrition industry. Those companies, like Personalized Nutrients, who work exclusively with trained medical professionals, use only the highest-quality ingredients, and maintain exceptional health and safety standards.
The future of nutrition is personalized.
As the first and only Personalized Nutraceutical Manufacturer in the world, Personalized Nutrients is the only organization paving the way for the nutraceutical revolution that will change the face of personalized nutrition, increasing accessibility to individualized, high-quality care for all.
We look forward to diving deeper into the industry in Part II in our series in the coming moths. Stay tuned!
References
- Boorsma A, van Someren E, de Hoogh I, Hogenelst K, van Erk M, Wopereis S, Rouhani-Rankouhi T, van den Broek T, Pasman W, van Ommen B, Anthony JC. Systems biology of personalized nutrition. Nutr Rev. 2017;75(8):579–599. doi:10.1093/nutrit/nux029. [Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®], [Google Scholar]
