DNA Fitness and Diet testing eg DNAFit

[Helen]

Has anyone had their DNA examined for the 40-odd genes related to diet and fitness? There are quite a few available now that give recommendations for what kind of training your DNA indicates will have the stongest response with regard to improved VO2Max (some people are total non-responders), strength gains, and fat-loss by examining genes related to proportions of kinds of muscle fibres, sensitivity to various kinds of foods and so on.

DH has suggested it for me as a gift as I'm not fond of 'stuff' for the sake of it when birthday or Christmas comes around.

It was his suggestion that I ask here when he saw me researching reviews on them after he suggested it. Don't want to spend $200 on something that's snake oil in the guise of science.

Being endomorphic, 53years, 4'10" and well into peri menopause, I have more than a triple whammy of factors to hold onto body fat and make dietary needs quite skimpy.

[summer breeze]

I don't know anything about it but it does sound intriguing. I just posted to say what a cute husband you have suggesting this as a gift and then suggesting you inquire about it here at VF. Hubbies like that don't come around too often .

[Helen]

bump - anyone?

[RubyBlue]

I have had this done, as I had already had a genetic test with 23&me a few years ago.

I added on the diet and fitness reports (warning: it was pretty costly! And you can buy the reports separately, at different levels of detail.)

The reports are quite skimpy, with a page of legal disclaimers, pages of info on genetics and what they may influence, and a glossary. So, you get only a few pages of hard data.

Interestingly it told me what I already knew: I respond best to a mix of power and endurance exercises. But it gave interesting information about my aerobic potential (medium), injury risk (high) and recovery time (slow). It recommended a mix of endurance and power exercises (which is not really a huge surprise.)

Regarding diet- not sure how much I can say here- but it suggested a high carbohydrate sensitivity, and high sensitivity to saturated fats. It also gives information on lactose tolerance and celiac risk (both low in my case, which I already knew). Overall it recommended a low GI diet with medium intensity exercise.

It was worth it to me just for personal interest; but there wasn't anything groundbreaking. Anyone who already knows their response to exercise and diet doesn't need this. (And I suspect you could quite easily recommend a low GI diet to anyone!)

Oh, it also recommended more antioxidants; more Vitamn D; and more Omega 3. (Again, I guess most would benefit from this!)

Bottom line- it was fascinating, and I was happy to have it confirm what I already knew. Both my parents have/had significant illnesses with a genetic component so I wanted to know my risk and anything I could do to prevent this.


But it's by no means essential information: I suspect most people aware of their own body could guess at what it says. But for science geeks- fascinating.


Good luck with what you decide!

[runnermom]

I did this with FitnessGenes last january- I got it for a christmas present.

I thought the results were interesting- alot of stuff I knew (like my caffeine tolerance) and was surprised at other things (lactose tolerance). With the results for fitness, like endurance, strength, muscle fiber type, etc- I felt like my results were pretty vague. It could be just the way my genes are- it seemed like I was a mix of strength/endurance, aerobic/anaerobic, etc.

The results themselves were very science-y, telling me the exact gene variant I had and how common in the world those types of genes are. It made me realize just how rare world-class athletes are. There are so many genes that go into a world class athlete and that's before you add in training, nutrition, recovery, etc. They also explained what that gene meant but it was almost too much information for me.

I got a fitness plan that was supposed to be geared towards my genetic type but I feel like it was very generic and not specific. It definitely geared more towards building strength and mass when I was looking for more of a fat-loss program with balanced strength and cardio. My genetic type responds well to cardio and strength supposedly.

I might have had unrealistic expectations for the testing but I still found alot of the information interesting. It didn't really change much of what I do, but really validated things I had always felt about my body and how it responds to exercise.

[videofit]

Did the 23andme test about five years ago. It had health risks, diseases. Only fitness info I saw was that I should be a sprinter.

[Helen]

Thankyou for the replies!! I'm still undecided, but will discuss this feedback with DH.