The Nutrition Centre says that you do not need to take any food supplements if you eat a varied diet.
Only pregnant women (folic acid and vitamin D), young children (vitamin D) and the elderly (vitamin D) are advised to take supplements.
But the Voedingscentrum bases itself on scientific insights that apply to large groups of people.
Does what applies to the average Dutch person also applies to you? Or can you optimise your health?
You can adjust your lifestyle based on your individual DNA profile.
To live as long, healthy, fit and happy as possible.
But how do you find out what your profile is? And which food fits that profile?
What is Nutrigenetics?
Nutrigenetics is the profession that involves eating healthy based on your genes.
There are big differences from person to person.
The DNA-Expert Nutrition Test will tell you how to eat healthily based on your genes. The results will also tell you which food supplements you need.
But how do you find out what your DNA profile is? And which food matches that profile?
We explain that here....
An example:
Generally, people think they know what a healthy diet is. Because they eat healthy, lots of vegetables and low fat foods with few calories. Unfortunately, it's not that simple .
Here is an example of 3 people with a genetic disease. The general dietary recommendations can be very different for them;
- Person 1 is lactose intolerant to milk.
- Person 2 is gluten intolerant, so reacts badly to wheat.
- Person 3 has an iron deficiency disease, which means he takes in too much iron from food.
These are three genetic disorders. The nutritionist will only be able to give general dietary advice and will say that dairy products are a healthy source of calcium. That's right..., dairy products are healthy; they contain a lot of calcium and that's good for your bones. But for someone who is lactose intolerant, this is the worst thing you can do to them. For this person, because of his genetic predisposition, dairy products contain lactose, which is bad for him. He should eat other sources of calcium, like broccoli. For someone who has an intolerance to gluten, lactose is not a problem and neither is the person with the iron deficiency.
How did a nutritionist work until now?
The nutritionist will tell you that whole wheat bread is healthy, it contains a lot of fiber and is good for digestion. This is absolutely true for someone who is lactose intolerant. But for someone who is gluten intolerant it can lead to the worst digestive problems.
For someone with iron deficiency it is a good advice, because of the large amount of fibre. Red meat is low in fat and it is a good source of iron, so it is healthy, especially for people with iron deficiency. This also applies to people with lactose intolerance and gluten intolerant people. But again, not for those with iron deficiency disease.
In this example we show that only with 3 genetic differences, three different nutritional recommendations apply.
Is Nutrigenetics something new?
With nutrigenetics, the ability to look inside a gene, you can find out what your genetic risks are and adjust your diet accordingly. Some critics say that nutrigenetics will be the future, but that it's still too early, that there's too little nutrigenetic information available.
But nutrigenetics is already an integral part of our lives.
Lactose intolerance, for example, is the most common food intolerance in Europe. One in five people are lactose intolerant and will experience strong side effects from a lactose-rich diet. If you omit lactose from your diet because of this then you are actually already on a nutrigenetic diet.
How nutrition can slow down ageing
By nature, our bodies are set up by our genes in such a way that we can break down toxic substances that we ingest through food or the environment.
Oxidative stress produces free radicals. This is a toxic chemical that damages tissue and causes aging, for example. It can also cause cancer.
So it's important to be protected from oxidative stress.
For this we have genes, like gpx1 and sod2, that protect us from this oxidative stress. We also have genes that keep the immune system under control, not being too aggressive against our own body and only fighting against bacteria . This protects our tissues and cells.
Homocysteine is a type of cholesterol. A high level in the blood is bad for the health of the heart and that is why nature tells us to regulate it properly. And there are some genes that keep the amount of homocysteine in the blood under control, so that the homocysteine level does not get too high. This protects the health of the heart.
Other toxins like heavy metals can enter our body and they can cause cancer, or poisoning symptoms. That's why we have genes that recognize these poisons and remove them from the body
If you have genetic defects, the genes that are supposed to protect you from bad external influences do not work properly. You are missing
the natural protection. The free radicals can cause damage to your body This can lead to premature aging or cancer.
There are antioxidants like vitamin C, E Alpha lipoic acid etc. which can cling to the free radicals. These good nutrients can neutralize the free radicals. So the good news is.... If you are not protected by your genes , you can counteract your predisposition with a higher dose of certain antioxidant vitamins.
By eating a healthy diet with more antioxidants, you can help balance the genetic deficit you have.
DNA-Expert Nutrition saliva test
The DNA-Expert Nutrition test is a comprehensive genetic test. We test fifty-two different genes.
Another example: Bone health (risk of osteoporosis) has to do with calcium, vitamin D and magnesium. These nutrients are good for your bones. The DNA-risk has to do with substances like phosphate, cysteine and methionic acid, because these substances are not good for your bones. So we know that if you have a high risk you should avoid these nutrients.
From DNA research to nutritional advice
The nutrition table of the uitslat shows which foods are important for you according to your DNA profile. You can also read which substances you should avoid
Our leading European laboratory Progenom, with offices in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, has analysed 1,000 food products in recent years to find out exactly what they contain.
Based on your results, you will receive a clear overview of which food products are healthy for you personally and which you should avoid as much as possible.
A personal nutrition plan that will benefit you for life, because your DNA will not change.
But you can counteract your predisposition by eating healthy.
The lab and safety
Progenom offers state-of-the-art prevention diagnostics
Progenom's genetic analyses are developed by renowned physicians, natural scientists, geneticists and molecular biologists. Progenom complies with the strictest European privacy legislation and the material is destroyed after analysis.
Are you curious how such a result looks like? Download an example here.
Adam Van Hoof
at 21 Dec 2020