Everyone responds differently to food. We investigate what works for your metabolism.
Precision Nutrition Research GroupInstitute of Nutritional Medicine, University of Lübeck
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Eat. Measure. Understand.
Updates on new studies and weekly insights into personalized nutrition topics – straight to your inbox.
How Essen Messen works
Record your nutrition
Why does breakfast give one person an energy boost while another experiences a slump? Personalized nutrition seeks to answer this question by using your own data rather than averages.
As a participant, you get access to a personalized nutrition app that supports you like a digital assistant. You log meals by photo, voice, or text and document how your body responds, for example in terms of energy, digestion, wellbeing, or possible symptoms.
Step
01
Area
Nutrition
Tool
App
Measure your body's responses
Your smartwatch, smart ring, or fitness tracker provides the other half of the picture that nutrition alone cannot show: what happens inside your body while you eat and afterward.
Use these wearables to continuously track blood glucose, heart rate, blood pressure, sleep, and stress. You can also log subjective symptoms such as fatigue, difficulty concentrating, or digestive discomfort so we can understand how your body really responds to meals.
Step
02
Area
Body responses
Tool
Wearable
Understand personal patterns
The full picture emerges from these two data streams: what you eat and how your body responds. Our AI connects the molecular composition of your meals with your body's responses.
This allows it to identify individual patterns and estimate how your body may respond to similar meals in the future.
Our studies usually last 2 to 8 weeks and are conducted entirely remotely. An appointment at our study center in Lübeck is not necessary.
Step
03
Area
Analysis
Tool
Artificial intelligence
Why take part in a study
During the study, your own measurements show how your metabolism responds to specific meals. The personalized nutrition app helps you keep track of your nutrition and body responses. The app is free to use throughout the study.
„General dietary recommendations apply on average, but rarely to one individual.“
Your data shows which connections between meals and metabolism matter to you personally. These patterns lead to practical suggestions for recipes, restaurant meals, and foods to consider when shopping.
„Measurements become valuable when they lead to recommendations that fit your body and everyday life.“
Your anonymized data contributes to research by the Precision Nutrition group at the University of Lübeck's Institute of Nutritional Medicine and helps advance the science of personalized nutrition.
„Every participant helps us advance personalized nutrition through science.“
Frequently asked questions about personalized nutrition
1
Everyone responds differently to the same meal depending on factors such as metabolism, sleep, or how they feel that day. Personalized nutrition bases recommendations on real measurements of how your body responds instead of general averages.
2
The name says it all: we look not only at what you eat, but also measure how your body responds, for example through blood glucose, heart rate, or sleep quality. These measurements form the basis for personalized recommendations.
3
Not quite. Traditional counseling usually uses general guidelines and personal conversation. We add data from wearables and the app so recommendations reflect your actual responses.
4
The scientific director is Prof. Dr. med. Christian Sina, a gastroenterologist and nutritional medicine specialist at the University of Lübeck's Institute of Nutritional Medicine. Many people know him from SAT.1 Frühstücksfernsehen, where he regularly discusses nutrition. He and his team have published in journals including Nature and BMJ Gut.
Team
Prof. Dr. med. Christian Sina
Scientific Director
Gastroenterologist and nutritional medicine specialist. At the UKSH Institute of Nutritional Medicine, he researches how nutrition individually affects health and how digital applications can emerge from this work.
Dr. rer. nat. Franziska Schmelter
Project lead
Food chemist and postdoc at the University of Lübeck's Institute of Nutritional Medicine. Her research focuses on biomarkers, metabolic products, and digital markers in precision nutrition.
M.Sc. Paul Beier
Technical lead
Nutrition scientist and doctoral researcher at the University of Lübeck's Institute of Nutritional Medicine. His research focuses on personalized nutrition, food data, and digital twins.
Our research
July 30, 2024
Personalized Lifestyle Therapy for Type 2 Diabetes
