All these case studies led to the adoption of the following characteristics of the product:
i) To be a self-deliverable product. Despite capillary blood obtention by finger prick is a very amenable and sustainable sampling procedure, it is more invasive than urinary sampling or other biofluids (e.g. saliva, tears, sweat). However, the lack of common trends of metabolomic signatures, as evaluated in the WP2-resulting database, supported our use of dry blood spots in VAMS device.
ii) To request from the user an ex-ante established type of physical activity. As discussed in the exploratory and implementation strategies (i.e. WP4 and WP5) there were common metabolite signatures after different exercises or sports (cycling, running, indoor fitness, basketball). However, the different length of measured physical activities and the profound effect in several parameters, made us to choose a fixed interval of physical exercise for initial characterization of metabolomics individual response to it.
iii) To offer the user an interactive platform of both physical activity traits and self-delivered questionaries’ on the delivered exercise. This involved the design of software for entering the questions in interplatform, web-based system, with security and privacy constraints.
iv) To generate, for the end-user and the host institution, a system for evaluating major nutrient traits. On pilot experiences, several questionnaires (7-day recall, dietary diaries, frequency intake records) were essayed. The final form delivered a short, although informative enough, close question system, for the definition of protein, lipid, carbohydrate and micronutrient intakes
v) To offer, in a before-after paired analyses, changes impinged by physical activity in the end-user. As discussed below (see WP5 delivered), the type of metabolites examined (which are only a minor fraction of overall measurable) still exceeds what it is present in market for personalized nutrition in physical activity. Thus, the type of information and deliveries, over several major traits, is informative and will help the end-user to adopt responsible and evidence-based measures
vi) To delimitate, across the different dimensions of physical activity and its individual traits, a short list of five major dimensions, comprising relevant aspects for the end-user’s wellbeing and health, such as overtraining, fitness, mental and physical tiredness, and performance.
vii) To generate a continuous and sustainable system. The end-user, when adopting the measures advised in the previous forms, will have a first-hand, personalized system for evaluating the specific changes impinged by adopted measures. This will lead to an overall history of metabolomic traits and responses to training and nutritional advices. For the host institution, this will generate a database to be communicated across society for the best measures and practices to deliver individually suited physical activities, thereby preventing side-effects of unadvised physical activity and sport (e.g. lesions, overtraining, and other well-known consequences of over exercise)
