DNA

Take your health personally!

How Your DNA Can (And Should) Affect Your Health And Nutrition Goals

“Everybody is a genius.  But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree it, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.”  Albert Einstein

If you’ve ever had a goal, whether it be “strength building” or “weight loss” then you’ve also probably tried something that worked for someone else or something that was recommended by someone else because they got great results and you hoped it would do the same for you.

We are wired with mirror neurons to learn from the experience of others so of course it makes sense that we could think that because something has worked for someone else it will work for us, and sometimes it does.   But many times it doesn’t, and that’s when it gets really frustrating.

We’ve all been there.  

Most people have suffered from a reality hangover at some point, when despite our best efforts, someone else’s perfect recipe for success fails us, and we’re left feeling disappointed, or cheated.   

Nowhere is this truer than in the area of health and diet.  

Ever wondered why there is so much contradictory information out there in the field of health, weight loss, exercise and nutrition?  Ever felt stuck or confused about which way to turn, because on your left is someone promoting low fat and on your right is someone else promoting high fat or paleo or veganism as the best diet?  And all you really want to know is what’s best for you.

Many experts will promote their solution as if it will work for everyone, and as if it’s the perfect or best possible solution, but the reality is, it can’t be.  In fact some people need a low carb diet and other people need a low fat diet, because their body is genetically programmed or wired to metabolise and use one more optimally than the other.

If there is one certainty you can walk away with from this article, let it be,:

“There is no ‘one size fits all’ answer to health, fitness, weight loss or nutrition.

In fact, you should take your health, personally.”

And that is because we are all unique, and your nutrition needs are personal.  

For centuries Scientists have debated whether nature (our genes) or nurture (our environment) is the biggest predictor of everything from personality to performance ability, success and intelligence, through to health and disease.  More recently, research clearly demonstrates in fact that it is a combination of the two.  The science of epigenetics (how our environment affects gene expression) is opening previously secret vaults into understanding what influences or determines who we become, what we are capable of and how long we live, and just how much of that we can influence.

When it comes to your health, your best shot, is not somebody else’s best kept secret but your own!

Most people decide on their health, fitness or nutrition goals first and then look to the world to try to find out the best way to achieve these.  In fact, the better way to do it is the exact opposite.  To get you closer to achieving your health and nutrition goals, you need to know what your personal needs, strengths and weaknesses are, and then highly personalise your nutrition and fitness goals around meeting those.  Everything else flows from there: health, fitness, success, happiness and most of all: RESULTS!  

Play to your strengths

The field of nutrigenomics (how nutrition affects your gene expression) and epigenetics (how your environment and lifestyle affect which and how your genes express) offer new and exciting information and opportunities to literally be the best you can be.  

Nowadays Scientists have isolated a number of genes and can give us all sorts of clues about sports performance, weight control, diet preferences and disease risk just to name a few.

Athletes or sports enthusiasts can get useful insights into how to best train based on their genetics and lifestyle.

For example certain genetic variants may have advantages for athletic performance, while other variants may be more vulnerable to an increased risk of injury or a delayed recovery time. You can use this information to better inform future decisions and goals.  Knowing which variants you have means you can make predictions about your areas of strength e.g. power versus endurance and take precautions to prevent injury and time out of the game, eg. learning what sort of fuel sources, training regime and recovery will be most beneficial for you based on your genetic picture (in the context of other lifestyle factors). This enables you to have more tailored training nutritional recommendations and regimes.

Not everyone has the same strengths and weaknesses, some of us are built to be better at running marathons, or swimming and others of us are built to be better at weight lifting, or “climbing trees”.  There’s no getting away from training, but you can start by playing to your strengths, and building in protection for your weaknesses.

“Strength comes in knowing your weaknesses”.

Most people when they think of DNA, just think about their DNA as determining their eye colour, or how tall they are, or whether they’re more at risk of diseases like diabetes or cancer.

If you’re like most people you might not realise that your DNA can give you important clues and help you make predictions and choices about how to live your life in order to thrive.  

Sometimes this information can inform you about vulnerabilities, for instance,  you may be prone to inflammation.  Inflammation is the leading cause of most chronic disease, including resulting in diseases like arthritis, asthma, heart disease and may trigger some cancers.  Knowing this piece of the puzzle is enough to allow you to be very proactive in preventing or decreasing the severity of these diseases that you may formerly have thought were simply written into your DNA- literally.   In the same way that not all tall people are basket ballers, not everyone with genetic variations, let’s say for example a gene that impacts carbohydrate responsiveness will end up diabetic.  It’s partly your genes, and partly what you do with them.  

Some genes are predictive, but very often genes tend towards risk of disease or away from and can be predictive.  There is much more information available than ever before on the potential to positively impact our gene expression through better understanding how our genes interact with or may be affected by our environment.  For example people with an obesity gene are most vulnerable to obesity if they are in low socioeconomic environments.  The combination of stress, lack of access to healthy food, poverty, and other biopsychosocial factors contribute to disease risk.  

Genes can be “turned on” (expressed) and “turned off” and can be “turned up” (up-regulated) and “turned down” (down regulated) a bit like a light can be turned on and off, dim and bright with a switch. And just because you have a gene doesn’t guarantee it will be expressed.  

This is where the fields of epigenetics and nutrigenomics come in as they give us information about how we can influence our genes.

Nutrigenomics gives us information about how we can eat to influence our genes (your diet and nutrition can affect how and which genes express and how strongly they express).  For example, if you have an “inflammation genetic variation” that has a tendency to “get stuck on”, you could benefit by eating certain foods that help your body to turn this off e.g. broccoli.  But if you know you have a genetic aversion to bitter foods and you don’t like most green vegetables, even though you don’t really like the taste, you can make an effort to cook the broccoli in ways that you can tolerate it’s taste and texture, because you know it has important health benefits that impact your quality of life. You might also eat more anti-inflammatory foods like turmeric and foods containing omega 3s and less inflammatory foods like deep fried foods or highly processed food or dairy.

Weight loss Success

More than half Australians are overweight or obese and most diets fail.  They fail because they are diets and not lifestyle programs; they usually do not satisfy our hunger, they don’t take environmental, social, psychological and emotional components into account and they don’t take personal genetic variations into account either.  This means they often operate against your genetic coding, because they are not based on your personal health and nutritional requirements.

Imagine you have been overweight your whole life and you’ve tried every diet under the sun without success.  Imagine there was a way to finally shine a light on some of your potential weaknesses so that you could target lifestyle and nutrition solutions to support or minimise them.  

What if you discovered you have genetic variations which mean you battle with appetite regulation, carbohydrate metabolism, and you are vulnerable to depression and you most likely benefit from medium intensity exercise?  

You would then be able to work with a nutritionist who could test your current nutrient status eg. vitamin B, iron and vitamin D status, zinc, copper, folic acid, to give you the best chance of success based on some basic nutritional testing with the context of your DNA results.   (If you have deficiencies in vitamin certain Bs and iron you will typically be low in energy, if you have deficiencies in vitamin D, and folic acid you may be more prone to depression (and other illnesses), consider that in the context of someone who is genetically vulnerable to depression and appetite regulation,  and then has low iron and low vitamin D, they may be more prone to isolating themselves at home, comfort eating in front of the TV, and end up depressed and overweight exacerbating the cycle.)

There are a number of ways our genes and our diet affects our health.  Genetics can affect methylation, your diet can affect methylation, imbalances and the relationship between the two can affect behaviour, cognition, mood. Simple tests and simple corrections can be lifechanging.

Knowing your DNA blue print makes no guarantees, as with most preferences, health risks and genetic traits, there are many complex interrelated factors that affect your health.

Even though your DNA is only one tiny part of a holistic puzzle, the more you know about yourself, your strengths and your weaknesses, the more realistic you can be with your goal setting and lifestyle planning.  Additionally you’ll be informed and deliberate with creating the best habits for the outcomes and results you hope to achieve.

It’s like playing a game of cards.  You can’t control the hand you’re dealt, but depending on who is sitting at the table (your environment) and your level of skill (how you play the game, your choices) you can dramatically affect whether you win, lose or draw.

The secret to being stronger and healthier, is knowing yourself.

· Know your motivations, what gets you up in the morning;

· Know your triggers, what slows you down;

· Know what stresses you, or creates anxiety;

· Know your strengths, what helps you push through;

· Know your weaknesses so that you can avoid situations that don’t serve you or create better support structures to get you beyond them;

· Know what gives you peace, so you remember to take your rest there,

· Know what heals and nourishes your body and what makes you sick.

Where to from here?

Hop on over to the booking page and make a consult or jump on over to the test ordering page and order your tests to get started.

Side note: Always seek out professionals you can trust.  It’s important to only get DNA testing done through reputable, ethical companies and professional practitioners, be well informed about what you are getting tested for and be clear on what you are hoping to find!  The new and exciting information in this field can make huge differences in your life.  Seek out the help of experienced professionals to help you align what you have learned about your DNA with your health and nutrition and fitness goals, in the context of your environment and the way you live your life.  Also choose evidenced based, personalised relevant healthcare offered by qualified professionals.