Patent: Personalized Vitamin Supplement

A well-balanced meal offers the necessary nutrients required for good health. Our forefathers did not suffer from depleted nutrients or face troubles with disorders/illnesses owing to lack of nutrient intake despite being restricted to a limited variety of foods opposed to what we have today-a plethora of food choices and a plethora of diseases/illnesses accompanying them. Such drastic differences in quality of life and health arise due to unavailability of enriched nutrients in the foods we eat and grow-pesticides and insecticides rule over farming, hybrids are grown and adulteration is present in every nook and corner of the food production-consumption chain. The same veggies and fruits that we eat nowadays lack the freshness and health of those that were grown during earlier days. Insufficient nutrients intake, lack of healthy foods and power of processed foods have led to a society which is dominated by weight control issues, nutritional deficiencies and a growing number of illnesses.

Dietitians and nutritionists play a pivotal role in our lives nowadays as we have forgotten how to lead a healthy life. Our lifestyles are haphazard, portion control is well forgotten and fast foods have misled us in every aspect of life. These RDNs develop customized meal plans to meet their client’s nutritional needs. Meal plans are created based on the client’s daily food habits, familial history, health history, fitness regimen and health status. In general, diets are well-balanced and it’s the portions that witness greater changes. But when the client is put on specific diets that their health/illnesses demand, he/she might require supplements to compensate for the lack of food elements necessary for health and well-being. Nutritional issues crop up most probably during pregnancy stage where the pregnant woman requires different vitamins, iron and other nutrients that vary in composition for the healthy development of the fetus; vegetarians might lack in iron levels and omega-3 fatty acids which is majorly found in fish and a familial history of Alzheimer’s disease might indicate a need for vitamin E.

The invention in this patent provides a method of collecting data to provide a personalized nutrition recommendation to the user by getting input from a sensor and an interface of a wearable electronic device of the user. Both, physiological and environmental factors are measured by the electronic device to arrive at results for the input. A processor connected to the sensor and the interface comes up with nutritional deficiencies based on the input. Based on these nutritional deficiencies the processor suggests a personal supplement recommendation for the user.

The food consumed by the user is either entered manually along with the calorie details and quantity, it might be captured as an image where the wearable device calculates calories or could be input into the wearable device from one or more wirelessly connected devices. Exercise and activity levels too can be done likewise-enter manually, calculate using wearable electronic device or receive as an input from the user’s smartphone. Details on the user’s waste excretion, sun exposure and sweat are noted, sleep levels and their details such as time of sleep, time of wake and tossing and turning during sleep (indicates poor sleep quality) are measured, entered or downloaded into the wearable electronic device. The system takes all these details into account and calculates a supplement recommendation that is taken once or twice a day. The time of day when the supplements must be taken is also decided based upon its effect on sleepiness/wakefulness, nausea and their interaction with other medications.

The system even gives suggestions of foods that can replace the need for some of the nutrients in the supplement. For example, a glass of orange juice reduces the need for adding vitamin C in the supplement. But any failure in meeting these demands immediately brings out a pop up suggesting an appointment with the physician. The supplement here would help individuals ensure that their body is equipped with the proper nutrients in proper quantities. It prevents the occurrence of illnesses/diseases related to these nutritional deficiencies as our body is constantly monitored and the suggestions given precisely-either in the form of foods that can compensate for certain nutrients or as supplements that keep nutrient needs in balance. The patent was published on 25/5/2017 and for intricate details on the invention please visit any of the below-given reference sites.

References
United States Patent & Trademark Office: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=%22personalized+vitamin+supplement%22&OS=
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European Patent Office: https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?DB=EPODOC&II=0&ND=3&adjacent=true&locale=en_EP&FT=D&date=20170525&CC=US&NR=2017148348A1&KC=A1
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World Intellectual Property Organization: https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=US197693563&redirectedID=true