Better Health Through Genetic Analysis

If you know me, it should be no secret that studying health and longevity is a passion of mine. I spend most of my free time researching how I can optimize my health and performance and maximize my time on this planet. If there’s a bit of control that I can exercise on my health, I want to pull those levers.

In an effort to look deeper at myself and optimize my health, I recently bought myself a 23andMe Ancestry and Genetics saliva test kit. I spit into the vial, sent it off, and waited. About 4 weeks later, I received my data. I then uploaded into a third party analysis software (foundmyfitness.com) which shows the DNA sequence, what it represents, and any health risks or advice that can mitigate any risk factors. It’s fascinating and filled with actionable advice for ME to use to optimize my health.

A welcome bonus was my genetic report confirming details that I’ve discovered via trial and error and extensive reading. This gives a road map and way forward to continue to increase my health. Plus it’s fun to know your heritage and some genetic components to your lifestyle choices.

A page of information from my 23andme health data

My Data

It’s not very useful for you to see my data, other than to convince you that you should get this testing done for yourself. Here’s some of my report, and what I’ll do to hedge my bets. The following reports are from FoundMyFitness. I also ran mine on Promethease.com and the data is presented differently. I think FMF is better for actionable health advice.

Well, my DNA is right. I’m a Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor. I have been implementing fasting into my life for years, and will continue to do so. I will be adding resveratrol supplementation.
My vitamin D status is always historically low. I supplement about 5,000 IU daily and will continue to.
This is interesting to me. I usually skip breakfast and lunch, and eat a dinner. I will start eating my first meal early in the day, and stop eating at about 2pm.
It’s important for me to eat my eggs for choline.
I supplement fish oil daily, and will continue to do so. I’m glad I’m not a vegan.
I should concentrate more on nuts and fish and eating leaner cuts of beef. The study seems to be mostly concerned with the ratio of saturated to polyunsaturated, so my fish oil supplementation will help cover me too.

With some simple lifestyle tweaks, I’m eating and living more in-line with what my genetics demands of me. It’s also interesting to note that my heritage is mostly European, and nearly all of the diet recommendations involved eating more fish. It’s almost like I am tuned to thrive on the foods of my people. Bizarre, right?

How Do you get your test kit and report?

There might be some enlightening and scary information in your results. It’s up to you if you want to have a look inside your DNA for clues on optimizing yourself.

  1. Buy a kit from Amazon, or buy directly from 23andme. Occasionally there are price breaks, and it might be worth checking in from time to time.
  2. Run your raw data through a DNA health analyzer like FoundMyFitness or  Promethease for a small fee (~$10).

I hope you found this useful.

Mark

 

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