A diet based on one's genetic makeup may aid in weight loss and trimming down. By focusing on a customized nutritional menu that takes into consideration a person's metabolism could increase weight loss success up to three times, a new study cited.

Researchers said through understanding your taste and food preferences could lead to more effective weight loss programs and health benefits.

"Knowing why individuals prefer certain food tastes and being able to personalize health interventions based on them will help people age in a healthier way and greatly improve their quality of life, as well as engender considerable savings for health systems, they say," a public release noted.

A team of researchers led by Dr. Nicola Pirastu and Dr. Antonietta Robino from the University of Trieste and the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo Institute for Maternal and Child Health, Trieste, Italy, sought to identify novel genes and pathways involved in taste perception and food preferences, and analyzed their implications in protecting against or predisposing to diet-related disorders such as overweight, obesity and diabetes.

The study separated itself from other studies related to taste receptors in its attempt to understand the genetics behind the perception. But there needs to be more research, specifically on understanding the characteristics of certain foods affected by the genetic makeup of an individual, according to Dr. Pirastu.

Identifying gene-based preferences in food and taste has the potential to increase not only the effectivity of nutritional interventions but also increase one's compliance to the program.

In a second study, the researchers gathered the response of around 900 healthy adults from North Eastern Italy to salt, and related this to a DNA sequence variation found on the KCNA5 gene, known to be related to taste pathways in mammals. Salt is critical in diet in terms of taste and health conditions but very little is know of salt perception and liking.

Food preferences are the first factor that drives food choice, nutrition and diet-related diseases. As such, these are keys to understanding human nutrition and its relationship with health on a large scale, the researchers said.

A genetic-based diet may be more successful than the often utilized standard calorie control diet, the study concluded.