Nutrigenomics and DNA testing to tailor your Personal Diet

Dieting is indeed a big challenge which becomes especially nerve-wrecking when our weight will not budge or even worse, increases. The answer to your failed diets might lie in DNA dieting and the science of Nutrigenomics. The age of personalized dieting in which your genes decide the diet that is best for you is now with us.

Nutrigenomics and DNA dieting does not in anyway discount the fact that some people are naturally skinny and are lucky enough to have skinny genes and fast metabolisms. Scientists also know that some people are more predisposed to obesity than others. But these cases are not the norm. This is why DNA dieting is proving such a success because it finds applicability to the vast majority of us common mortals.

The concept of a diet suited to your genes is not actually that new. What is new is the fact that it is now an integral part of an effective weight loss program for many.

Genetic health tests which assess how likely you will develop an illness over the course of your life were in fact aimed at reducing the likelihood of developing an illness (for example lung cancer or diabetes) by making certain changes in life style. These changes in life style would often involve changes in eating habits and exercise.

DNA Dieting & Nutrigenomics

Scientists have been studying for a long time the relation between the foods we eat and our ability to lose weight. They have realized that there is a genetic link between the two and that not all people can digest, absorb or eliminate the same foods as efficiently. They have come to understand why many diets fail and what you can do to embark on the most effective diet. This field of research has been termed Nutrigenomics; this field seeks to determine the genetic variations from person to person and how these influence the way they metabolise and digest different food substrates. These genetic variations in the sequence of genetic base pairs in different people are called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).

Let’s simplify this a tad: Basically different people have different genetic make ups and carry different genes. Our ability to digest certain foods may well be dependent on whether we have the gene required to create the enzyme which can metabolize and break down that food. Some of us might simply not have the enzyme or may just not be producing enough of it. If you are eating foods which you body cannot efficiently break down, this may mean your body might be storing those extra calories and adding to the dreaded flab you are trying so hard to get rid of. Eating the foods that do not complement your genes might leave you always feeling always hungry, under nourished, lethargic and a myriad of other unpleasant side effects which you would never have imagined were so strongly linked or caused by the food you ate.

It is important that you undergo such a dietary regime following the results of a DNA diet test with the assistance of a qualified nutritionist who can understand the results on a molecular level and tailor the right diet for you.