The health impacts and genetic architecture of food liking in cardio-metabolic diseases

Wenbo Jiang, Hang Wang, Yiding Geng, Meijuan Guo, Yingdong Zuo, Sijia Han, Zijie Liu, Shuaijun Chen, Shuzhen Fan, Shangying Li, Conghui Qiao, Qianzhu Li, Bai Li, Yunpeng Zhang (), Wei Wei () and Tianshu Han ()
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Wenbo Jiang: Harbin Medical University
Hang Wang: Harbin Medical University
Yiding Geng: Harbin Medical University
Meijuan Guo: Harbin Medical University
Yingdong Zuo: Harbin Medical University
Sijia Han: Harbin Medical University
Zijie Liu: Harbin Medical University
Shuaijun Chen: Harbin Medical University
Shuzhen Fan: Harbin Medical University
Shangying Li: Harbin Medical University
Conghui Qiao: Harbin Medical University
Qianzhu Li: Harbin Medical University
Bai Li: University of Ottawa
Yunpeng Zhang: Harbin Medical University
Wei Wei: Harbin Medical University
Tianshu Han: Harbin Medical University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-20

Abstract: Abstract We evaluated temporal and genetic relationships between 176 food-liking-traits and cardio-metabolic diseases using data from the UK Biobank (N = 182,087) for observational analyses and summary-level GWAS data from FinnGen and other consortia (N = 406,565–977,323) for genetic analyses. Integrating observational and genetic results, we identified two detrimental food-liking-traits (bacon and diet-fizzy-drinks) and three protective food-liking-traits (broccoli, pizza, and lentils/beans). These food-liking-traits are associated with habitual food intake and influence cardio-metabolic proteins and biological processes. Notably, we found three genetic links: diet-fizzy-drinks with heart-failure, bacon with type-2-diabetes, and lentils/beans with type-2-diabetes, identifying 54 pleiotropic single-nucleotide-variants, impacting both phenotypes. Our data show the diet-fizzy-drinks and heart-failure link maybe not direct, as diet-fizzy-drinks liking correlates with sweet food consumption and shares variants linked to BMI, adiposity, platelet count and cardio-metabolic traits. The pleiotropic single-nucleotide-variants map to 251 tissue-specific genes, with four showing high druggability potential, highlighting personalized dietary strategies for cardio-metabolic diseases.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-59945-2

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