DNA testing is not a new term for developed countries such as the US & many parts of Europe. However, in a lot of countries the concept of DNA testing is still at a nascent stage. Having said that using genetic testing & your genetic insights derived from them to personalise what you eat & how you sweat is still not heard of in many countries.
After reading this blog, you would be able to understand why DNA testing is important & how it can be used to know what works for your body.
Let us start the discussion with chromosomes
We all have studied chromosomes during our high school. Briefly, chromosomes look like thread living inside the nucleus of most of the cells. Each chromosome is made up of DNA-deoxyribonucleic acid & protein. Human beings have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Each pair has one chromosome from mother & other one from father. In all we human beings have 46 chromosomes. The unique shape of chromosomes keeps DNA wrapped around roller-like proteins, histones. Without this wrapping structure, DNA would be too long to fit inside cells. For us to function properly, we need chromosomes to keep our DNA intact while our cells divide & produce new cells & replace old cells. During division of cells, it is important that our DNA remains intact so that it is evenly distributed among different cells.
Here is how you can use genetic testing to structure your fitness plan
- Genetic testing gives you a cheat sheet for life: A DNA test can help you keep stress out of your life. Our genetic report gives your genetic code & composition on a user friendly dashboard. The report tells you what works for your body- what you should eat, how you should exercise & how to sleep better. You can take the stress out of making healthy meals by ready access to our meal planner private dashboard. Our reports with insights such as sensitivity to dietary fat, gluten tolerance, PUFA sensitivity, lactose intolerance & many others will tell you which diet you should adopt- low carb, low fat or meditteranean. Many of us have tried countless diets that simply do not work since everyone is genetically different & cannot follow a standard diet & workout schedule & expect to lose weight. Your myfit gene report will tell your genetic predisposition to various nutrition related parameters that will tell you the optimal diet for weight management so you can fit into those jeans you have been trying hard to fit into.
- Our DNA reports are your permanent workout partner: Our reports will stick closer with you than your brother. The DNA kit goes deeper into your DNA to let you know how you can optimize your health, lead a healthy lifestyle & bring you close to your fitness goals. It will tell you your muscle fibre type, aerobic potential, VO2 max store, recovery period & injury risk. These all insights will help you structure & personalise your workout plan/schedule & help you meet your fitness goals.
- Aerobic Potential: VO2 max is used to measure the maximum rate at which your body can use oxygen during exercise. This is used to determine your aerobic ability. The genes we use to test include ADRB2, PPARGC1A & VEGF. These help us in getting insights on our natural VO2 Max capacity & help us learn if we are more effective in meeting our fitness goals using Aerobic workout or Anaerobic potential. Our coaches leverage on these insights to personalise your workout program & deliver the same through our live online coaching model
- Recovery Period: Have you ever wondered why you cannot workout everyday while your friends can workout everyday for 2 hours? This is attributed to genetic variations to post workout recovery. In order words, in case of some individuals, their genetic makeup infers a delayed post workout recovery period. Genetic insights from your report will tell you how your body recovers & advise on which antioxidant will help you recover better. Using these insights, your workout schedule will differ from that of your workout buddy- you may workout 4 days a week while your buddy may exercise for 7 days a week.
- Injury Risk: What are the chances that you will get injured while training? This is vital when you workout regularly to stay fit. Insights on these parameters will tell you nutrition needs post workout & quantity of each micronutrient.
- Unwrap your fitness potential: Are you a fitness freak or just focussing to keep yourself healthy? Our genomics reports can help you unlock your fitness potential. ACE gene we test will help you determine whether you will thrive more from power or endurance training. These are great insights since it will guide you on how you should sweat. It is so awesome when you will exclude exercise from your workout schedule that will never work for your body. Our international coaches will structure your workout schedule after evaluating your genetic report to make sure that only those exercises are part of your fitness pack that work for your body.
- ACE gene: ACE gene checks your genetic predisposition to 3 main factors- power or endurance training profile, carbohydrate sensitivity & salt sensitivity. This report shows variation with information on either inclusion or deletion from the gene. This is an important gene to evaluate your sporting performance & when you are trying to change the way you train yourself. People with I allele can see great improvements through endurance training while those with D allele can see fantastic performance through power training (high intensity). Besides, this gene also impacts sensitivity to carbs in case of certain people. Those with DD genotype are more likely to suffer from lower insulin sensitivity which can increase risk of type-2 diabetes. In addition, this gene also plays a role in blood pressure control & is also responsible for salt sensitive hypertension.
- Lactose intolerant: Most of us are lactose intolerant & we are not even aware of it. Enzyme lactose is produced only in the first few years of life. Essentially, we only need this enzyme when we feed on our mother’s milk. Therefore a lot of us are lactose intolerant. Our genetic report will guide you if you are genetically predisposed to this peculiar intolerance. These insights will help our nutritionist schedule a plan that will include alternatives to milk & milk produced in case you are lactose intolerant. We have discussed this in our earlier blog.
- Alcohol Sensitivity: We all know “too much” alcohol is bad for health! But how do we know what “too much” is? Your gene would not tell you to completely stop drinking or for matter of fact binge drink. A particular variant of ADH1C is said to have a positive impact on HDL when consumed in moderation.
- Inflammation: What role does gene composition play in the way that can help you recover from inflammation? Your genetic report will be able to tell you which good fats can help you with inflammation. Our fitness coaches, based on these insights, will personalise your diet plan to include the right amount of good fats that can help your body tackle inflammation.
With these volumes of insights & their application in your daily life, you would transform your lifestyle & lead a healthy life. So go for it- Discover your personal traits with our genetic based personalised fitness program.
Whether you are a busy professional, homemaker or a sportsperson/athlete, by subscribing to our Transformation, Athlete pro, Get that X-factor or Get Toned personalised fitness programs, you will not only receive information about genetic response to various aspects of nutrition & fitness but also be coached by an international fitness coach who will cover both genetic powered nutrition & exercise aspects of the program. Sign up here.
