The role of information technology in the
realization of the concept of health
antiaging nutrition.
Nataliya S. Potemkina, Vyacheslav N. Krut’ko, Anna M. Markova
Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Systems Analysis, FRC CSC RAS, Moscow, Russian Federation,
[email protected]
Abstract
Computer optimization technologies help in solving one of the most complicated tasks of
modern nutrition science, i.e. providing high diet nutrient density with low or moderate
caloric value. A math task of multicriteria optimization is quite difficult. The decision lies in
the development of an interactive dialogue procedure which is an actual step-by-strep guide
for a doctor in setting and solving a diet optimization task. Hence there was developed a
method of diet making, based on the procedure of interactive optimization and adding germs
of grain and leafy greens and spices to the diet. Optimization of a standard diet for type II
diabetes was taken as an example. The developed method provides essential improvement of
healing and prophylactic properties of any diet. Information technologies used in diet making
and for healthy nutrition learning and promoting may have a significant influence on the
nutritional philosophy and form a healthy demand for food stuff. In turn, a healthy demand
may cause positive changes in agriculture and food industry.
Keywords
Computer nutrition optimization, health, geroprohylaxis, chronic non-communicable diseases,
information technolgies, nutrition philosophy.
1. The Urgency of the Problem
A quick aging of population and a wide spread of age-connected non-communicable diseases (NCD) causes
a large investment of capital to the medicinal programs for elderly people and increase of pension and social
amounts. This use of material resources is much less effective than a prophylaxis of aging and NCD. That is
why a prophylaxis as being an advance guard of scientific and applied medical studies will allow
improvement of the life quality in elderly people in the nearest future and influence the health care and the
economy of any country.
Unhealthy diets and insufficient physical activity are the main reasons of the principal NCD, including
cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes and some type of cancer. These particular diseases cause more than
a half of all cases of death, diseases and disability [1,2], and their prophylaxis improves health and increases
an average person's longevity.
One of the few, if not really the only means increasing the maximum longevity is a low-calorie but
fortified diet [3,4]. WHO states that «people can safe their health after the age of seventy, eighty and ninety
if they have an optimal diet, regular physical activity and abstinence from smoking» [1].
Micronutrient fortified nutrition plays an important role in the prophylaxis and therapy of NCD, which is
often called aging diseases. The results of many scientific studies definitively show that full consumption of
vitamins and minerals with the food can both prevent aging diseases development and provide therapeutic
and recovery action [5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Thus the optimization of micronutrient content in the diet can prevent
cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes, cancer, dementia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer diseases and other
chronic diseases. It can also contribute treatment and recovery after the acute period of the disease.
Any approach to NCD prophylaxis and increase of healthy, active life demands strict requirements for the
preparation of the diet which shall have prescribed properties. Computer optimization can help in these diets
developing.
2. The aim of the research is
Development of a technology of computer assistance in choosing of optimal healthful preventive
geroprotective food at individual and group levels.
3. The material and the method.
Risk factors of chronic non-communicable diseases may be divided into the following groups [1, 2]:
1) genetic disorders;
2) unhealthy life style (inadequate food, low physical activity, stresses, smoking, alcohol misuse, drug
abuse etc.);
3) negative ecologic factors (air pollution, high concentrations of chemicals in drinking water and
foodstuffs, increased radiation);
4) poor medical care.
Moreover the living factors have significantly greater influence on people longevity and health than the
other ones.
All these factors either directly depend on nutrition or are directly connected with them. Thus a genetic
predisposition to some diseases may be corrected with a diet [11, 12, 13].
The prophylactic medicine generally agreed with the fact that a correct nutrition is a priority direction in
providing health and longevity. Modern dietary science considers it to be optimal a diet with sufficiently
low calories (not exceeding the energy consumption of modern sedentary people), yet containing necessary
(determined by the standards) amount of all vital nutrients (vitamins, microelements, fat acids, amino acids
etc. More than 60 nutrients are standardized today). The norms are individual. They are determined
according to weight, age, sex, physical load, environmental situation, health status etc. While solving the
planning tasks for the diets meeting the specific conditions, there is a tough contradiction between the
requirements to the caloric value and nutrient density of the diet. The reduction of caloric value often leads
to the reduction of the nutrient density, and the attempt to create a diet of necessary nutrient density causes
аn increase of caloric value. There is a danger of illusory simplicity of solving this problem by a
compensation of deficient nutrients with biologically active additives (BAA). Yet this way draws the refusal
from the basic principle of rational nutrition, i.e. variety in diet. Insufficiently various diets may be deprived
of many essential nutrients, not included in the applied norms. Yet it is unreasonable to refuse completely
from BAAs. Commonly the diet is to be prophylactic, revitalizing, detoxicative and antiaging, which means
a necessity of significant and sometimes multiple excess of norms for the content of some vitamins and
mineral substances. In those cases it is difficult to dispense with BAAs.
In general, creation of the diet with the prescribed caloric value and complete number of nutrients is a
very complicated combinatorial problem, which cannot be solved by the dietician. This optimization
problem has no strict mathematical solution. In particular cases, e.g. for the development of time-limited
specific diets imperfect by nutrients (strict medical diet, weight reduction) or solving the problem of the
assortment and formulary optimization, the problem may be solved accurately or educed to single-objective
optimization with few restrictions. The problem of creation of optimal complete diet may be solved in the
dialog between the doctor and the computer only.
Based on the multifactorial and combinatorial complexity of the problem of adequate nutrition, the
desired goal may be reached by methods of systemic analysis and linear optimization. The assessment of
nutrient composition of foodstuffs was performed by using Russian [14] and American [15] sources, and
Russian norms of nutrient consumption [14].
4. Results.
In the course of research there were performed a systemic analysis and a separation of essential
interconnections between the client (patient), dietician and environment, including genetic information,
current state of health, life style, psychophysiological parameters, everyday nutrition, living conditions of
the client and scientifically proven nutritional requirements. On the basis of the performed analysis, there
was developed a structural model of a supporting system for the solutions taking by the dietician
considering the indicated interconnections (Figure 1), and the content and the structure of databases for
storing information about the chemical composition of foodstuffs, diets, menus, nutrition norms.
As a result a supporting system for the solution taking by the dietician was developed. The system
consists of the following structural blocks:
Figure 1. Anti-aging nutrition concept.
1. Database, including

chemical composition of foodstuffs;

nutrition norms, presenting the situation s connected with psychophysical load, life style,
environment, genetic information;

diets;

menus and other foodstuff sets;

personal data of users and changes dynamics;

data monitoring of user nutrition.
2. Subsystem of nutrition planning and assessment, including diet diary.
3. Optimization block.
4. User interface.
A systemic analysis of the formation of the individual menu diet by the dietician was also performed. On
the basis of the performed analysis an interactive step-by-step algorithm of individual nutrition optimization
was created (Figure 2). The algorithm is the most complicated function of the system which allows setting
subsequent limitations and goals of optimization depending on the nutritional requirements and intermediate
results and it really implements the step-by-step guide for the doctor in the optimization task assignment and
solution.
A limited foodstuff set made according to the special principles is used to forming an optimal diet. The
foodstuffs included in the set are to contain all basic nutrition components. As for the rest those principles
may be various. There may be popular foodstuffs or foodstuffs meeting the choices and usual nutrition of
the client. There also may be foodstuffs recommended by the dietician etc. For the further using the
foodstuffs are memorized with the relevant names, e.g. «Standard», «Vegetarian», «Anti-obesity» etc.
The procedure of criterion and optimization limitations forming is the following. Primarily a list of
nutrients which will be used in optimization process is formed. So there are chosen those nutrition
components which deviation from the norm shall not exceed the specified limits. Usually it includes those
nutrients which have specified standard norms, or those ones which provision for the client is especially
important. It should be noted that the greater this list is, the more difficult is the problem of the diet
optimization. Then the desired values and the upper and the lower limits are set for the elements of the list
(i.e. a real individual norm is formed). Usually we can refuse from the most upper limits for vitamins and
minerals content, because the amount of both received from the foodstuffs (but not from BAAs) in the diet
with limited caloric value considering a necessary nutrition variety, cannot reach harmful limits.
Figure 2. Scenario of interactive diet optimization
The exceptions are to include fat-soluble vitamins, iodine at some thyroid diseases. Some individual
exceptions are also possible. Moreover, depending on the specificity of the developed diet we can take over
the upper limits from proteins, fats or carbohydrates, because in the presence of upper limits for the caloric
values the removal of one or even two upper limits for those nutrients will not cause their excessive increase
in the diet. For example, if we develop the diet for the client with the light form of diabetes, then it is
enough to set the upper limit for the carbohydrates and the caloric value. Development of the list of
foodstuffs mandatory for using is an important stage. On one hand it simplifies solving of the optimization
problem, and from the other it serves for creating an approximate diet which makes the result more realistic
and various. The program will enrich this approximate diet with foodstuffs containing the nutrients which
amount is insufficient for the optimal diet. At forming a list of foodstuffs mandatory for using, it is
convenient to use the function which allows finding the foodstuffs with the maximal content of the specific
nutrient.
On the next stage a criterion of optimization is chosen. For example, it is possible to minimize an energy
value of the diet at the complete content of basic nutrients. It is possible to maximize the content of some
vitamin or mineral, and there will be saved limitations for caloric value and other substances that you have
specified. It is possible to minimize deviations of the caloric value and the nutrient content from the norm
etc. At minimization of the deviation from the norm the best solution will be derived in any case even if it is
impossible to find a solution meeting the limitations. In other cases, if it is impossible to find a proper
solution, it is necessary to change the limits or to complete the list of foodstuffs used for the optimal diet
forming.
The system allows accumulating the experience of the optimal diets development in the form of the
foodstuff sets for optimization, sets of mandatory foodstuffs, diets and norms which essentially simplifies
the work with the system in future.
The result of optimization is given as a list and weight of foodstuffs. It is possible to delete some
unsuitable foodstuff from the list or to limit the weight of any foodstuffs and to optimize the diet again. By
repeating and varying this procedure, it is possible to get various «quasi-optimal» menus. They are «quasi»
because it is practically impossible to optimize the diet by all possible nutrients.
In general the supporting system for the solution taking by the dietician is implemented as a computer
system «Nutrition for health and longevity» [16] and today an Internet version of the system is being
developed. The system may be used for assessment, planning and monitoring of individual diets, for the
development of group diets in medicinal and health-improving institutions and for educational purposes.
With using the above mentioned optimization procedure, we could improve the composition of some
standard diets. For illustration, we will take a comparative assessment of a standard diet with increased
protein content, recommended by the Ministry of public health of the RF, and an assessment of the same
diet optimized with the help of the computer system (Table 1). In particular, the diet is used in the diabetes
mellitus without associated obesity. The diet is characterized by the increased protein content (110 – 120 g/
day), normal fat content (80 – 90 g/ day) and reduced carbohydrates (250 – 350 g/ day), due to deletion of
refined easily digested carbohydrates and moderate caloric value (2080 – 2690 kcal/ day) [17]. The table1
shows an assessment of standard daily foodstuff set specific to that diet. The assessment was performed
according to the standard norms of the RF [14].
Table 1. Content of nutrients in medical and preventive diet with increased protein content (used at diabetes and some
other diseases) before and after computer optimization
Nutrient
Content
before
optimization
Relative
deviation
from the
norm (%)
Norm for
2324 kcal
Content after
optimization
Relative
deviation
from
the norm
(%)
Norm for
2125 kcal
Proteins (g)
120
10.8
+75
+115
68.5
5.0
121
35.7
+93
+674
62.9
4.61
0.22
2.50
22.8
172
29.47
-75
+24
+49
+90
+109
0.24
3.71
21.5
691
32.12
-71
+101
+56
+732
+148
203
5163
1066
81.0
557
6.19
23.7
+35
+105
-15
+4.6
+51
+168
+71
0.90
2.01
15.0
90.2
14.11(for
women)
151
2515
1256
77.5
368
2.31
13.9
175
8417
1781
72.4
808
8.90
16.6
+26
+265
+54
+1.7
+139
+230
+30
0.83
1.85
13.8
83.1
13.0 (for
women)
139
2309
1153
71.2
338
2.12
12.7
34.4
+36
25.5
26.9
+15
23.4
25.0
3.85
+24
-23
20.1
5.02
28.7
11.4
+55
+147
18.5
4.61
27.9
14.0
+39
+26
32.8
11.1
46.3
26.8
+77
+163
18.5
10.2
1.80
63.1
1.76
271
250
1739
14.15
0
-0.5
+17
-20
-38
+116
+18
1.80
63.4
1.50
338
403
805
12.03
3.32
123
2.99
246
553
2150
15.5
+100
+111
+117
-21
+50
+191
+40
1.67
58.2
1.38
310
370
739
11.0
Beta-Carotene
(mg)
Vitamin A (mg)
Vitamin B6 (mg)
Vitamin E (mg)
Vitamin C (mg)
Iron (mg)
Iodine (µg)
Potassium (mg)
Calcium (mg)
Lipids (g)
Magnesium (mg)
Magnesium (mg)
Monounsaturated
fatty acids (g)
Saturated fatty
acids (g)
Niacin (mg)
Pantothenic acid
(mg)
Dietary fiber (g)
Polyunsaturated
fatty acids (g)
Riboflavin (mg)
Selenium (mcg)
Thiamine (mg)
Carbohydrates (g)
Folic acid (mg)
Phosphorus (mg)
Zinc (mg)
According to the nutritional requirements the diet contains increased content of proteins (120 g), normal
content of fats (81 g), reduced content of carbohydrates (271 g). In general the diet is quite well-balanced,
but there is an essential deficit of some nutrients: vitamin A content is reduced to 75%, folacin - for 38%,
pantothenic acid - for 23%, calcium - for 15%. It should be noted that the nutrients, important for
prophylactics and treatment of many NCDs, including diabetes, like thiamine and selenium, are at the lower
limit of the norm. Considering the treatment and prophylactic type of the above diet, it may cause a real
deficit of those nutrients in the food. The content of zinc, vitamin B6 and niacin may also be found to be
insufficiently high for prophylactics and treatment of diabetes. By the results of some investigations the
patients with diabetes suffer from the deficit of those and some other vitamins and minerals. Addition of
these substances with the food provides a medicinal, health-giving and anti-aging effect [7], and BAA using
is not always reasonable and needs further investigation [18].
At solving the optimization problem for the chosen diet an analysis of Russian and American databases of
chemical foodstuffs composition was performed and the products with the greatest content of necessary
nutrients were chosen. These products and the products included in the standard diet were taken for the
optimization. In the process of the diet optimization red meat was replaced with poultry, bread was replaced
with whole-wheat bread, wheat germ and fresh and dried leafy greens were added. These small changes in
the diet provided a sufficient improvement of its composition (Table 1). The basic nutritional parameters of
the diet remained within the same range: protein 121 g/ day, fat – 72 g/ day, carbohydrates – 246 g/ day,
caloric value 2125 kcal/ day. The deficit of vitamin A was completely compensated with the excess of betacarotene. Moreover, the diet became completely non-deficit. The contents of many vitamins and minerals in
the diet began better to meet the requirements of healthy anti-aging nutrition, especially considering the fact
that the recommended norms correspond the lower limit of needs in nutrient materials in humans.
5. Discussion.
There are only few works using the algorithmic methods for nutrition optimization. For the most part they
describe regional investigations of possible nutrition improvements in under-developed countries. Those
investigations show that not all modern nutritional requirements may be met without serious changes of
habitual food basis, and that the Mediterranean diet is the closest to the optimal one according to the modern
nutritional requirements [19, 20, 21, 22]. Neither of known works supposes using of the optimization
algorithm which should allow the non-professional user (in the field of informatics), e.g. the doctor, to set
criteria and limits for optimization in interactive mode and to reduce the field of possible solutions, i.e. to
set and to solve a problem of optimization without special knowledge.
In the example of optimization of treatment and prophylactic diet with increased protein content, it should
be noted that excellent prophylactic and health giving properties of the products of whole grains and germs
are shown in the scientific literature [23, 24]. Using of whole grains and germs may be recommended for
prophylactics and treatment of nearly all NCDs which are known to be characterized by general risk factors
and common possibilities of prophylactics and correction. In particular whole grain and germs are
successfully used for prophylactics and treatment of diabetes [25, 26]. Many long-living persons use many
leaf greens and spices, which have high anti-oxidant activities and reach mineral content [27] and makes
them one of anti-aging means. Addition of various whole grain and germs (wheat, rye, oats, brown rice,
bean cultures), varying of fresh and dried leafy greens, traditionally used in the certain national cuisine, may
provide receiving simple, health-giving, prophylactic and anti-aging diet, meeting various nutritional and
tasty requirements. Therefore the principle of regular use of whole grains and germs and greens and spices
in combination with computer optimization of the diet based on the habitual everyday food, is the basis of
computer technology of optimal nutrition choice.
6. Conclusions.
1.
An information technology supporting the choice of health-giving, prophylactics, anti-aging
nutrition based on the computer diet optimization and the principle of regular use of whole grains and
germs, greens and spices is proposed.
2.
The technology is made as a computer system supporting the solutions taking. An interacting dialog
procedure of optimization included in the system, helps the dietician, who does not know the principles of
mathematical optimization, to set the correct goals and limitations for optimizing. So it really gives a stepby-step guide on setting and solving the task of the diet optimization. The system may be used for
assessment, planning and monitoring of the individual diets, for the development of group diets in medical
and health-giving institutions, and for educational goals.
3.
The efficiency of the technology is illustrated on the example of reconstruction and optimization of
treatment and prophylactic diet with increased protein content, which composition is characterized by
multiple deficits of micronutrients. The technology allows getting prophylactic and therapeutic diets which
are close to habitual everyday nutrition on one side, but also meet various nutritional and tasty requirements
on the other one.
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