FOOD
KEEPING IT PERSONAL Have You Joined the Personalised Nutrition Revolution? By Kirsten Flanagan
We are in the midst of one of the greatest transitions ever faced by any generation. Technological disruption is affecting all aspects of our lives, from business to society. Specifically, innovation in medicine and digital biology shows no sign of slowing down, and is enabling us to enhance vitality, counteract disease, and prolong the human health span far beyond what was previously thought possible. For decades, we’ve been bombarded with generic products or pieces of advice with set rules or formulations that ‘actually work’. We’ve been fooled into believing that what works for someone else can work for us, too.
means that every “ Bio-individuality person differs when it comes to health and nutrition. “
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“But how do I know what works for me?” By now, you’ve likely heard of a number of companies that test your DNA by sending a buccal swab to your door and receiving a sample of your saliva in return. With this, they take millions of snapshots of your genome, which looks at your SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms), which are places in the genome that differ between people and are known to influence certain biological functions or infer greater risk to a certain disease. For example, the gene MTHFR codes for the enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), which activates folate (vitamin B9) and converts toxic homocysteine to methionine in the body. MTHFR contains two SNPs known to make a version of the enzyme that functions at a reduced capacity. If your code has a ‘GG’ in the SNP, you have normal MTHFR function, whilst ‘AG’ or ‘AA’ variations confer a 30% or 70% reduction in function, respectively. This results in inactive folate and elevated homocysteine levels which can lead to several health problems.
