Recently, BYHEALTH, in collaboration with the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences achieved a pioneering breakthrough in their research on a “Homeostasis-Based Health evalsuation System.” The findings were published in the prestigious international journal National Science Review.
This study, spanning six years from its initiation to publication, introduced innovative ideas and algorithms to conduct a comprehensive evalsuation of metabolic health, offering new strategies and tools for building health-centered assessment systems. The research represents a global first in achieving multidimensional quantitative evalsuation of homeostasis, marking a significant advancement in the field.
The project, “Multidimensional Big Data-Driven Precision Health Research of Chinese Population,” is part of the Strategic Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with homeostasis research being one of its critical focus areas.
Collaborative Effort of High-Caliber Research Teams
Homeostasis refers to the human body’s ability to regain balance in response to external interruption(s), such as meal intake. It encompasses the body’s mechanisms to maintain internal stability amidst physiological and environmental changes. The maintenance of homeostasis is a key indicator of health and plays a vital role in early disease prevention.
In recent years, homeostasis health has emerged as an important concept in health evalsuation. However, quantifying homeostatic health remains a challenge for scientists worldwide. Conventional medical examinations only determine whether a disease exists, failing to accurately detect early-stage organ dysfunction and metabolic impairments.
Since 2019, the BYHEALTH Institute of Nutrition & Health has collaborated with leading researchers in nutrition science, computational biology, and metabolomics from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Together, they have been working to establish a novel metabolic health evalsuation system rooted in the concept of homeostasis, aiming to provide a more comprehensive perspective on health assessment.
Pioneering a Homeostasis-Based Metabolic Health evalsuation System
Currently, traditional health assessments primarily rely on fasting biomarkers, overlooking the body’s metabolic response and ability to regain homeostasis after meals. This study introduced a “mixed macronutrient tolerance test (MMTT),” in which participants consumed a mixed meal containing carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. The test not only comprehensively evalsuated participants’ metabolic health in the fasting state but also assessed their postprandial “homeostatic resilience” and adaptive responses to glucose, lipids, and proteins. Maintaining this energy metabolism balance is critical for health, as disruptions can lead to obesity, diabetes, hyperlipemia, and other cardiometabolic diseases.
To develop this system, the research team recruited 111 participants aged 20 to 70 years, including healthy individuals, overweight/obese individuals, and those with high metabolic risks. By collecting and integrating data on hundreds of metabolomic indicators and functional biomarkers related to the liver, gut, and pancreas—measured during the fasting state and at five post-MMTT time points—the team constructed a novel metabolic health quantification model: the Health State Map (HSM). This model comprehensively captures an individual’s fasting health status and their ability to restore metabolic homeostasis after meals, offering a robust tool for understanding and evalsuating metabolic health.
The study revealed that even among individuals with similar fasting metabolic health conditions, their ability to restore postprandial metabolic homeostasis varied significantly. Interestingly, even individuals with similar overall postprandial homeostatic resilience demonstrated differences in their adaptive responses to glucose, lipids, and proteins. These differences help identify individuals with impaired homeostasis for specific nutrients. For example, those with weaker glucose homeostasis may experience a rapid rise in blood glucose levels followed by slower recovery, while individuals with weaker lipid homeostasis might exhibit a greater increase in postprandial triglyceride levels.
Validated through subsequent nutritional interventions, this metabolic information holds promise as a solid scientific basis for personalized nutrition strategies. It enables individuals to tailor their nutritional intake based on their metabolic health and nutrient metabolism capabilities. For instance, individuals aiming to lose weight could leverage a homeostasis-based metabolic health assessment to evalsuate their metabolic response to glucose, lipids, and proteins. This information could help them fine-tune their diet to optimize weight loss outcomes. Such personalized nutritional guidance enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of dietary interventions.
The study also observed that factors such as physical activity levels, nighttime sleep duration, and specific gut microbiome structures have varying degrees of influence on an individual’s metabolic homeostasis resilience.
A Novel Tool for Precision Nutrition Research and Answering “How Far Are We from Good Health?”
Wu Jiarui, a researcher at the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, emphasized that this study is a critical part of the CAS’ Strategic Research Program, “Multidimensional Big Data-Driven Precision Health Research of Chinese Population”. The development of the HSM is one of the key achievements of this program. HSM offers a novel tool for redefining metabolic health, shifting the focus from the traditional question of “How far are we from disease?” to “How far are we from good health?” Gu Zhenglong, Assistant Director of the Greater Bay Area Institute of Precision Medicine (Guangzhou) and Director of the Mitochondrial Genetics and Health Research Center, stated that this study provides a fresh perspective and promising methodology for redefining metabolic health. It has the potential to guide the development of innovative precision nutrition strategies, which is a key issue in the fields of precision nutrition and preventive medicine that urgently needs to be addressed.
As the sole representative of the vitamins and dietary supplements (VDS) industry, BYHEALTH has been actively involved in homeostasis research. As early as 2016, the company began investing in precision nutrition by focusing on technological research and transfer. In 2020, BYHEALTH independently established China’s first fully automated dried blood spot testing center. Collaborating with teams from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, BYHEALTH validated dried blood spot testing methods and jointly developed the first nutrition gene chip, offering scientific support for tailored nutritional supplementation based on individual genetic traits. Through a series of collaborative studies, BYHEALTH has been advancing the multidimensional precision assessment of individual nutritional status, continuously building an integrated precision nutrition and health management ecosystem.
Looking ahead, BYHEALTH will continue to collaborate with scientists to optimize the homeostasis-based health evalsuation system. The company aims to explore the effects of more nutrients on metabolic homeostasis, leveraging scientific approaches to nourish life and improve the quality of life.
