One of the latest trends in dieting is the nutritional DNA test (also known as the nutrigenetic test).
This test is based on the assumption that each individual has different genetic information, so their nutritional needs will be different and the same diet can have different effects depending on who follows it.
Theoretically, we will be able to discover the needs of our body by analyzing our DNA.
What is nutrigenetics?
Nutrigenetics is based on these DNA nutrition test to develop personalized diets. It studies the relationship between the individual genetics of each person and nutrition, checking how the body reacts to certain foods.
The objective of this specialty is to know each body to determine the best foods to maintain a healthy weight, avoid being overweight, and prevent certain diseases from a correct diet.
For example, one of the genes that is analyzed is the GC gene. Some variants of this gene are associated with low levels of vitamin D in the blood, essential for calcium absorption. This specialty advocate increasing the consumption of foods rich in vitamin D or consuming nutritional supplements to improve this supposed lack of these variants of the GC gene.
Currently, there are many nutrition experts and clinics that offer this technique to lose weight when no diet has been able to achieve it. Depending on the objective you pursue, the test that they will offer you will give you a series of keys or others for your food.
What is the DNA nutrition test?
As a general rule, it will be like any other DNA test. The saliva sample will be taken or, failing that, a blood sample. It could also be done with samples of other tissues, but it is not the most frequent. This sample will be analyzed in a laboratory and, in a few weeks, the results will be delivered with some recommendations.
Some clinics will offer an expert to explain the results and indicate the diet to follow. However, this may not be the case in all centers where this test is performed.
This type of test is usually between €300 and €500, depending on the depth of the analysis to be carried out in the laboratory.
Can diseases be prevented with a DNA nutrition test?
There are a series of DNA tests focused on detecting diseases or finding out the predisposition of a person to suffer from certain ailments.
They are specific tests for this, depending on the disease that we want to analyze. With DNA nutrition, however, we will not achieve this goal.
There is no doubt that there are diseases closely linked to poor nutrition:
· obesity,
· diabetes
· celiac disease
· nonalcoholic fatty liver
· atherosclerosis
· etc.
Although many of these diseases could come from birth and, in many cases, it is due to poor nutritional habits.
In this sense, in what a DNA nutrition test with its corresponding diet can help us, it will be in prevent poor food health that could lead to these diseases. We should not underestimate the role of nutrition in our health.
With this, we do not want to encourage the use of this type of test. The reality is that a varied and balanced diet is the key to maintaining weight and avoiding complications in our bodies. Experts never tire of saying that there are no miracle diets, but the acquisition of healthy lifestyle habits.
The scientific basis of the DNA nutrition test
Some may wonder to what extent we could personalize a diet with an analysis of our genes. The reality is that, although DNA is a great source of information about a person, this technique is still in a very early stage of research.
There have been studies that support a link between genetics and nutrition. These seem to show that there is a real impact of what we eat on our genes.
When ingesting nutrients, they will be absorbed and metabolized and will have regulatory and structural functions in our body. However, some nutrients (such as proteins) will be able to modulate gene expression.
This could serve to "control our body or our predisposition to certain situations."
However, these results are not representative enough to be able to affirm whether there are variations that determine our body weight.
Currently, few things can be convincingly assured in this area. Although medicine and research advance every year, this issue should be taken with great caution at the moment.
With or without a nutritional test, we recommend always going to a nutrition specialist. He will advise you on the habits you should acquire and will be able to analyze the results of your test well and, if he sees fit, he will be able to decide whether to adapt some information from the test to your diet.
