Have you ever wondered what drives your decisions on what, when and how you eat? Most of my clients say not really, that the habits that were formed as children stuck around, and serious consideration of dietary habits have never been challenged. Changing bad habits is hard, and dietary information can be conflicting enough to make you wonder..."why bother?" Well, your health, life, longevity, and avoidance of disease are very good reasons to examine what your doing and consider how it could be done better.
But generalizations in dietary advice lead to loads of confusion! Can I eat eggs everyday? Should I try a keto diet to lose weight? Wait, are carbs good for me or bad? What's the deal with cholesterol in seafood? All excellent questions and the generalized answers are out there. But actually, some of us really should not be trying a keto diet- at all. And some of us should be paying very close attention to the types of carbohydrates we consume on a regular basis. This is where the knowledge of your genetic makeup can inform the most healthful eating pattern that ensures the greatest benefit - for you specifically. It's powerful information that is personalized, accurate, science-based and actionable through diet and lifestyle modification.
The first aspect of the 3x4 Genetic test result I share with my clients is the Pathways-Based Results overview.
Here's what's going on with this report: remember the 3x4 Genetic Test studies 160 individual genetic variants, called SNPs, each one representing a gene that codes for a protein that had a specific function in the body. The results of all the SNPs that affect a certain system, like inflammation or blood pressure, are group together and scored to determine the impact those SNP variants have on how well that system functions genetically. For example, the score for "Inflammation" includes the results of 22 SNPs while the score for "Blood Pressure" includes the results of 5 SNPs. The genetic findings are analyzed and an Impact Score is determined. There are 4 Impact Scores: Low, Medium, High, and Very High.
One thing I love about this 3x4 Genetic Test is that there are 2 main criteria they use to include a SNP into the analysis: 1-that it is well-researched and scientifically valid data and 2-that the information gained from examining the SNP leads to an actionable response, known as clinical utility. You need both for this test to have meaning to the person who decides to have it.
This is one page of 31 in this result, but provides a great overview of where we need to focus our attention to improve your diet and lifestyle to work in harmony with your genetics and overcome genetic liability. Next time we will take a Very High Impact pathway from this sample report and discuss how to make it "actionable" to help you begin to reach your personal health goals.
Interested in discussing how nutrigenomic testing and nutrition consultation may benefit you now? Schedule an appointment by clicking the button below.
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