Diet–Gene Interactions Across the Female Hormonal Cycle: Implications for Personalized Nutrition
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Background: Personalized nutrition increasingly recognizes that dietary response varies between individuals, yet sex-specific physiology and the cyclical hormonal environment of women remain underaddressed, leaving a gap in understanding how the menstrual cycle shapes nutrient metabolism and gene expression. Objective: This narrative review evaluates current evidence on diet–gene interactions across the female hormonal cycle and appraises its implications for personalized nutrition in women of reproductive and menopausal age. Methods: Literature was identified through a structured, systematic-style search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, combining terms for personalized nutrition, the female hormonal cycle, and associated disorders; from 946 records identified and 800 screened after de-duplication, 96 sources informed a thematic qualitative synthesis, without formal risk-of-bias appraisal. Results: Estrogen- and progesterone-driven phase transitions modulate insulin sensitivity, substrate use, appetite, and inflammation, interacting with polymorphisms in FTO, VDR, MTHFR, ESR1/ESR2, PPAR-γ, and COMT to influence nutrient metabolism and disease risk; the estrogen-dominant follicular phase favours carbohydrate-oriented metabolism and the luteal phase lipid oxidation and relative insulin resistance. Nutrigenomic evidence is most developed for polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, whereas epigenetic and gut-microbiome mechanisms across premenstrual syndrome, endometriosis, and menopause remain the principal evidence gaps. Conclusion: Cycle-aware, genotype-informed dietary strategies show promise for improving metabolic and reproductive health, but current evidence is largely associative and non-representative; longitudinal, diverse, multi-omics research is needed to enable equitable, evidence-based personalized nutrition for women
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