Food Matters Live Podcast · Food Matters Live

Beyond the algorithm - the complexity of personalised nutrition

·57 min·5 clips

Nart Klobbers explains why personalised nutrition is moving from a game of darts to a game of beach ball.

This live panel from Food Matters Live explores the complexities of personalised nutrition, featuring experts Nart Klobbers, Dr. Koen Venema, and Dr. Marie-Louise Puhlman. Nart Klobbers is the Director of Strategic Development at Brightlands Campus and founder of NCNC Nutrition Consultancy, often called "Mr. Personalised Nutrition." Dr. Koen Venema is a microbiome scientist at Wageningen University & Research, and Dr. Marie-Louise Puhlman is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen. Klobbers frames personalised nutrition as moving from a linear "game of darts" to an interactive "game of beach ball," emphasizing iterative learning between companies and consumers. He distinguishes between related terms like longevity, food as medicine, targeted nutrition, and precision nutrition, noting the field began over 20 years ago with DNA-based meal design. Current examples include Nestlé's Persona, which personalises vitamin packs via questionnaire, the German meal-plan service Foodpunk, and the US-based blood analysis company InsideTracker. He argues many companies overvalue their proprietary algorithms while underestimating the practical utility of their advice for consumers. Dr. Venema focuses on the gut microbiome's role, explaining that an individual's colon can contain up to 300 different microbial species, with zero species common to all people. He references a rat model where a microbial metabolite injected into the brain induced repetitive behaviour akin to autism. His research examines how specific gut enzymes, like glycosylhydrolases, break down diverse fibre structures, which is crucial for personalising prebiotic advice. Dr. Puhlman's research investigates "intrinsic fibres" within whole plant foods like chicory root, which may deliver fibre fermentation throughout the entire colon. In two human trials with pre-diabetic individuals, her team observed increased beneficial bacteria like *Bifidobacterium* and *Anaerostipes* and a 20% rise in short-chain fatty acids. A surprising insight is Klobbers' critique that the first personalised nutrition advice from a complex algorithm often culminates in a generic recommendation like "salmon, broccoli, and whole grain rice." Dr. Venema notes geographical microbiome differences, joking that if Germans increased their bifidobacteria levels to match Italians, they might "turn into Italians." Dr. Puhlman's responder analysis revealed that only participants with a significant improvement in insulin sensitivity (above 15%) also showed a marked increase in gut microbial metabolites. The discussion highlights the tension between developing scalable, data-driven algorithms and addressing vast individual variation in biology, microbiome, and psychology. The tone is educational and conversational, stemming from a live panel discussion with direct audience address and illustrative slides. The style blends high-level industry analysis with detailed scientific explanations, including complex terms like "glycosylhydrolases" and "phylum-level analysis." This episode would deeply interest food tech entrepreneurs, nutrition scientists, and product developers in the health and wellness sector. Listeners seeking a simple, introductory overview of nutrition trends might find the technical and scientific details overwhelming.

As heard by us

A live Rotterdam panel on personalised nutrition, fibre structure, and what they mean for advice.

Recorded live in Rotterdam in September 2025, this panel treats personalised nutrition as a live question rather than a settled field. It asks whether advice should stay linear or become more of a back-and-forth learning process between consumers and the industry, and that…

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Want the live-panel case for personalised nutrition, without the wellness gloss?

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