So smoking and drinking never killed your granny? She enjoyed herself and lived to be 100? Well maybe her genes allowed her to get away with that and a lot more… What about you? Are your genes going to do the same for you?
It’s time you find out.
Modern living comes at a cost
It is true that leading a healthy life takes effort and investment and that’s because Modern life has steered us away from natural ways of living. It is not quite so possible to give up Modern life completely, after all, no matter what you do you will be exposed to it in one way or another. And Modern living has a lot to offer in itself. The main problem is technology, practicalities, easy transport and communication bring with them an unexpected disadvantage: they create challenges for our human physiology. When we had to work the land to get our feed or depended on manual work for most of our daily living, one thing we did not need to worry about was how much exercise we got every day. Another issue that just didn’t exist was excess calories in the form of processed foods. If we look back far enough, we will see that our ancestors worried more about food scarcity. Excess weight and the plethora of modern diseases associated with it (i.e. cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, diabetes, cancer, fatty liver disease and many others) weren’t the concern they are today. It is easy to see that even in as little as 100 years ago. All we need to do is look at Victorian photos and it will be clear that being overweight was the exception and not the norm. These days, most people need to ‘watch what they eat’ and consciously make time and dedicate effort to exercise (many times in artificial settings).
How to escape Modern Diets?
It is clear that our lifestyles are getting in the way of being healthy and they may even start to offset the advances that have happened with better sanitation, better control of infectious diseases and improvements in birth mortality. Healthy living is becoming an issue and more and more we seem to be pressed to do something about it. Whether we need to find time to fit some form of exercise into our routines or dedicate to cooking unprocessed meals inspired on what kept our ancestors strong enough to fight and survive, the challenges of keeping a healthy body in a Modern environment are getting evident.
Why doesn’t everyone gain weight on junk foods?
On top of the lack of time for physical exercise and the expense of organic natural produce, there’s yet a third issue that adds to the challenge. Although many seem to struggle with weight these days, it is quite clear that others seem completely immune to it. We all know someone who eats junk food, smokes and drinks as much as they like and yet they seem to escape the expected decline in health or increase in weight that should go hand in hand with their lifestyles. Although most will see consequences after middle age, the point is their resistance seems much higher. On the other hand, we all know someone who complains of a life-long struggle with dieting and weight gain. These are normally the ones who say ‘I only need to look at food to put on weight’. They may be judged for their ‘lack of will power’ but many will keep trying harder and harder despite the discrepancy between their efforts and the results they yield. There has to be a missing link here. And that’s precisely what I want to focus on.
Healthy eating costs time and money
Besides weight management, other aspects of health also show high variability amongst different individuals. Healthy eating can become a way of living and there never seem to be a limit to how much more we should be doing for trying to clean our bodies from the intake of pesticides, hormones given to livestock, chemicals in the environment, electromagnetic pollution etc. The list goes on. When you have a limited amount of resources and time, it is key to know what to prioritise. Which aspects of ‘healthy living’ affect you most and can make a real difference for you personally? Overall, we should all be avoiding junk foods and environmental pollutants but if you could find out exactly what aspects of Modern life affect your future, you could probably concentrate your efforts with more accuracy. There is plenty of information about how to eat well but what you really need to know is how to pinpoint the individualities and weaknesses of your physiology that make you more susceptible to certain food types and the environment.
DNA Analysis – the ultimate tool in personalised nutrition
And in the same way as Modern life keeps coming up with health challenges, it also brings new technology that allows us to tackle problems in more advanced ways. That’s what DNA analysis is all about: identifying what affects you more on a personal level. Depending on genetic makeup, the consequences of exposure to external factors can be completely different and that is the underlying reason why NO DIET works for everyone. There will always be someone who doesn’t respond to a ‘Mediterranean Diet’ or who develops high levels of cholesterol on a ‘Paleo Diet’ or even who does not respond positively to supplements of omega-3 oils. How long have we searched for the ‘ideal diet’? Or the best form of exercise to burn fat? The reason the debate goes on for so long is simple: no one diet or exercise regime suits everyone. The earlier you find out about your genes, the more you can do about your health and the better the return of your efforts. When resources are limited, you can then prioritise efforts according to your genetic strengths and weaknesses.
How does it work?
The extent to which Genetic Profiling can revolutionise both dietary advice and physical training programmes is unprecedented. It empowers you with crucial information about your own blueprint and makes it possible to achieve optimal results. It sheds light into the exact areas of frustration when it comes to diet and exercise. It then becomes much easier to truly understand your body and work with it.
For example, via DNA analysis it is possible to identify the types of muscle fibres that predominate in someone, making them naturally more adapted towards strength or endurance training. DNA analysis can highlight mutations or missing parts in your DNA which can explain why your body reacts in certain ways, or reveal that your body is incapable of dealing with certain toxins effectively without additional support in the form of diet modification or supplementation. It also means you may be able to chose which areas of diet need more of your attention and investment. DNA analysis is not only about weaknesses but also strengths. You could find out for example that you have a good innate antioxidant capacity and therefore are better protected against oxidative stress and damage generated by lack of antioxidants in your diet. Everybody needs their portions of fruit & veg every day but some people may need them in much higher amounts whilst others will survive well on less.
So DNA analysis serves to identify not only many aspects determining physical performance, fat handling and injury risk, but also the most relevant and effective dietary goals for optimising health. Whilst some people are prone to problems related to the amount of saturated fats in their diets, others will have difficulties processing carbohydrates or eliminating toxic compounds from the environment. The only way to identify the best diet for maximum results with precision is to understand each individual’s metabolic makeup. DNA analysis bridges the gaps currently existing in both nutritional and fitness advice.
Finding out about your DNA – a scary thing?
It is important to make it clear here that no deterministic genes are tested for in any of the genetic profiles available via Cell Nutrition. That means none of the results will cast your fate or predict diseases. They will tell you about your susceptibilities but what will determine your future is a complex interaction between your genetic makeup and the environment. There are many more genes in the genome than the ones used in the profiles done for nutritional and fitness purposes and the progress in this field is ongoing. There isn’t a linear interaction between genes and ‘predicting the future’ through genetic analysis is not what genetic testing is used for in here. Genes that predict someone’s fate in terms of definitive future diseases are not available in any of the profiles. The chosen profiles include only the analysis of genetic mutations that are common in the general population (wide prevelance) and for which lifestyle interventions have been shown to positively modify gene expression. A rigorous selection process is utilised by the laboratories selecting genes for the DNA profiles available, with only the most scientifically relevant genes being considered for analysis.
To find out more about how to get tested for genetic profiling, click here.