Your DNA: Creating A Personalized Nutrition Plan
Aug 01, 2016 01:16PM ● By Daphne Olivier
What if you knew how your body was wired — what medical conditions you are susceptible to and how you can prevent them? What if it were easy to identify exactly what foods and nutrients would support your body for optimal health? It sounds like some kind of radical infomercial, yet it is actually possible!
Since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 scientists have been studying nutrigenomics, the study of how nutrition can be used to prevent, lessen, or alter chronic diseases by modifying your genes. By analyzing SNPs (pronounced snips), your DNA can be evaluated to determine how diet related genes can enhance or alter gene expression. You see, while we can’t change our DNA, we can provide information to the genes which will allow them to be “turned on or turned off.”
We think of food as something that tastes good and fills our belly to keep it from growling. However, food is fundamentally information which tells your body, specifically your genes, how to act. Food tells your genes what to do. It gives the information needed to allow these genes to express themselves or not. The food you choose has the power to change your health trajectory in more ways than you’ve ever imagined.
Evaluating your genomics, as it’s called, is done by a simple swab of the inside of your mouth. The genomic labs analyze and provide information to personalize a nutrition program that works for you. Such conditions as Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer, heart disease, and autoimmune conditions in addition to losing weight, optimize the way your body detoxifies, and alter the way your hormones affect your appetite can all be aided through a genomic evaluation. While the caffeine in coffee may be giving you a jolt of energy in the mornings, the way you metabolize it can have an impact on whether or not it contributes to a heart attack
Nutrition has come a long way since the Food Guide Pyramid. We are now able to determine exactly what foods and vitamins will work to keep you feeling refreshed and full of energy for many, many years.
