-->The DNA Diet
Most of us want to lose weight and it seems there are as many diets as there are people willing to try them. All diets come down to a balance between fat, proteins and carbohydrates, the basic components of food. But what if science could help you determine the diet that would work best for you, whether it’s the Zone Diet or Weight Watchers.
A company called Inherent Health offers a DNA Weight Management test for $150. With a quick swab of your cheek the company can examine six different genes which determine digestion and metabolism rate. By analyzing the genes’ interactions, Inherent Health places you in a particular category and lets you know which diet should produce the best results based on your body.
- Balance of fat and carbs and responsive to moderate intensity exercise
- Responsive to fat restriction and responsive to moderate intensity exercise
- Responsive to carb restriction and responsive to moderate intensity exercise
- Balance of fat and carbs and responsive to high intensity exercise
- Responsive to fat restriction and responsive to high intensity exercise
- Responsive to carb restriction and responsive to high intensity exercise
I took the test and came out in the last category, as far as I’m concerned, the worst one! It also explains why whenever I slack off on cardio the pounds come on fast and furious.
The test is simple: the company sends you a kit, you swab your mouth, seal the sample, and mail it back to the lab. About ten days later you get your results back with your category and suggestions for diets that best suit your DNA.
The test fee also includes a phone consultation. I spoke with Jennifer Siegel, a licensed genetic counselor. Her recommendation for me was a diet of 20 percent protein, 45 percent carbs and 35 percent fat. I’ve been on diets before, mostly in the low-fat category, and the numbers gave me pause. For me, the 35-percent fat allotment works out to 650 calories per day!
I asked Jennifer point blank, “So if I eat 1,500 calories a day, but I do it at the ratio you’re suggesting, I’d lose weight faster than if I ate the same 1,500 calories on a low-fat diet?”
Her answer surprised me. “Based on what your genetics are telling us,” she said, “if you keep the calories the same and switch the profile, it should.”
Wow!
There are some skeptics out there, though. “The nutrigenomic research is not there yet,” said Stella Metsovas, a clinical nutritionist in Orange County, California. “There are over 30,000 genes in the body [and] about 2,000 to 3,000 are related to nutrition and metabolism. How can you just pick six and come up with an accurate diet plan?”
Metsovas went on to explain that just because you have the gene doesn’t mean the gene is active and that “the environment influences your genes.” A person eating a poorly-balanced, highly-processed Westernized diet could turn on some “bad” genes, while if that same person ate a healthy, clean diet, it might never be a problem.
It seems that genetic testing will one day pinpoint a person’s nutritional needs. We’ll know how many calories to consume, what ratio of macro-nutrients to consume, and what our optimal weight should be. But we’re not there yet.
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The science is evolving still and it is just as important to know where you are (in your life) not just who you are (at the nuclear DNA level). I have been working in this area for six years now and have trademarked Carolyn’s The DNA Diet. On my websiteI have a 48 point questionnaire designed to integrate this with genetic variations.www.thednadiet.com/questionnaire.html It is gratifying to have had such a huge amount of interest in the topic after the announcement of this small study. Hopefully this will translate into more useful and actionable knowledge. 4 P Health has a final part – Participation – most of us know what we should be doing but there are challenges in how to implement healthy lifestyles. Unfortunately it is the poor who are hit hardest not the “worried well” who are a few pounds over weight.
Well, this looks promising. So many people want to lose weight, and really, who has the time to try each and every diet? Ultimately, knowing how your body works could be great not only for weight loss, but also on a nutrition and wellness point of view. The more you know what’s your body needs, the better you will be able to make healthier decisions, and this can have a dramatic impact on health and general well-being.
Veronica, I too like the idea of where the testing is going. I just don’t think they’re quite there yet. Still if you were willing to pay the money and it helped to narrow your experimentation down maybe it’d be worth it … I did get the test (for free) and it confirmed what I always suspected. I have to work my butt off and stay away from comfort foods. But that’s no big secret is it? Still it pointed me towards the Zone type of diets and I had never done those before … I might try it, we’ll see.
Lisa