SYDNEY, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Scientists in Australia have developed a genetic framework using taste and smell genes to better understand how diet drives chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Using the framework, researchers at the University of Queensland (UQ) found people who like the taste and smell of onions are more likely to have a lower risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes, according to a UQ statement released on Wednesday.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 160,000 adults in the UK Biobank, examining 325 taste and smell genes and their association with preferences and intake for 140 foods. The findings were validated in a separate cohort of 25-year-old participants from the UK-based Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.
The team then applied Mendelian randomization, a method that uses genetic differences between people to help distinguish causations from correlations in health research.
"Determining if a specific food causes, or is linked to a disease, is a significant challenge in nutrition epidemiology," said Daniel Hwang of UQ's Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
The framework offers a new way to address longstanding challenges in nutrition research, where establishing cause-and-effect links between diet and disease has proven difficult, Hwang said.
Taste and smell play a key role in shaping dietary choices, and researchers said leveraging these biological drivers could strengthen evidence on how diet influences disease, he added.
Unhealthy diets cause about 11 million premature deaths each year, mainly from cardiovascular disease and cancer, and are driving rising rates of obesity, cancer and diabetes that strain global healthcare systems, the researchers said. ■