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A Dietitian’s Personal Experience with Genetic Testing: Part II

We’re diving into more of the genetic testing options available from Scylex and my personal experience with these tests. In Part I of this series, I discussed the pain, psychiatric, and statin panels, all part of the pharmacogenetic testing options.

In this article, I’ll discuss some of the nutrigenomic testing results, including weight management, fitness, and macronutrient reports.

The final article, Part III will be about the other nutrigenomics reports offered, which include vitamins, minerals, and allergies.

Insights into the Nutrigenomic Reports

Weight Management Report

This report starts with an overview of the weight management traits being studied and the genes assessed. This panel includes what I’ll refer to as “mini-reports”, which are the following: overall obesity risk, the effectiveness of specific diets, hunger and fullness regulation, sweet tooth, ability to lose weight, and more.

Each gene variant or set of genes assessed within each “mini-report” is given a low, medium, or high-risk rating. Most of mine fall into the medium or low-risk category. While I have an FTO gene variant that predisposes me to a moderate risk of obesity, I don’t actually struggle with obesity. As we know, all of these results are meant to guide us in providing information that will help reduce those risk factors. Genes are just one piece of the puzzle.

There is a set of recommendations for each gene variant. My results indicate that I am better off following a low-fat, high-protein diet for improved weight loss effects. There are some brief recommendations on how to do this, but this would be a great place for a dietitian or other healthcare professional to be able to provide a personalized diet recommendation based on my genes.

Other mini-reports go into detail about the likelihood of impaired hunger and fullness regulation, identifying if there’s a sensitivity to bitter-tasting foods, which can explain why someone might not like a lot of vegetables. There’s also detailed information on my ability to lose weight and whether or not the Mediterranean diet would be an effective strategy for losing weight or reducing blood pressure or cholesterol.

These weight management reports give so much detailed information for you to review with your clients who struggle to lose weight. This will give them a clear plan about what is likely to be most effective based on their genetic blueprint.

Fitness Report

Similar to the weight management report, this one starts with an overview of fitness traits and the genes assessed. The mini-reports include muscular strength, endurance, motivation to exercise, bone health, electrolyte balance, circadian rhythm disruption, and more.

Something to note about the results being rated as low, medium, high, is that a SNP identified as high risk doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad thing. One such SNP is the one that predisposes someone like me to high muscle performance. My high risk for this just means I might have increased muscle power performance and some protection from training-induced muscle damage.

There is also a mini report on how quickly your muscles are likely to repair. If a patient has slow muscle repair, knowing this can help them take action to gradually increase the intensity of workouts, avoid overtraining, and ensure a balanced diet with adequate protein.

Another SNP identifies the risk of low motivation to exercise, which leads to a higher risk of weight regain. My genotype suggest that I fall into this category and so recommendations would include starting with short manageable sessions, finding ways to make exercise rewarding, and adopt an accountability partner.

There are even more reports assessing the likelihood of experiencing triglyceride lowering benefits of exercise, the likelihood of experincing low bone density, the ability to maintain fluid balance, and the time of day one’s likely to perform their best in physical activity, among so many others.

Macronutrients

The mini-reports within this panel include the likelihood of healthy blood lipid balance, carbohydrate metabolism dysregulation, risk of low Omega-3 fatty acids, fat metabolism and more.

My results indicate that I am predisposed to a higher risk of dysregulated carbohydrate metabolism, while my response to mono-unsaturated fats (MUFAs) is typical. Therefore, recommendations include that I should strive for a balanced macronutrient intake to get adequate protein and healthy fats to balance out my carbohydrate intake and also focus on exercise to enhance insulin sensitivity.

Another high-risk SNP I have relates to a decreased ability to synthesize omega-3 fatty acids, making it imperative I include them from foods or supplements regularly while limiting intake of omega-6 fats to maintain a better ratio of the two essential fatty acids. I also need to be careful with my saturated fat intake as the results indicate that I have a high risk of being prone to excess weight gain with high saturated fat intake.

These reports and the others included (but not mentioned in detail) in the macronutrient panel are helpful in determining the balance of macronutrients that would be optimal for individual patients. Considering the whole patient picture - health concerns, genetics, and dietary preferences can help us practitioners come up with a plan that is deeply personalized to each of our patients.

Application for Healthcare Professionals

These nutrigenomic reports give practitioners and individuals great insight into managing their health and fitness. However, as I mentioned in my previous article (Part I), be sure to consider that it may be overwhelming for your patients to navigate all of these reports on their own.

Choose a few key genetic results to focus on at a time. Discuss these genetic concerns with your patient, providing a summary and linking it to any of their current health concerns. Then, provide actionable steps they can take to make a difference in their outcomes.

There’s also a lot of great information on dietary and fitness recommendations in these reports that can be used to empower your patients to make changes. Once they see these genetic associations, it will give them a better understanding of how their body works and the steps they can take to manage these genetic predispositions and improve their overall health.

We know that identifying gene variants isn’t the end-all-be-all for diagnosing one’s health. Still, it’s information we can use to best guide patients to improve their health and, most importantly, motivate them to make necessary changes.

Summary

In this second part of my genetic testing journey, I explored how Scylex Labs’ comprehensive testing panel offered a deeper understanding of my weight, fitness, and macronutrient needs based on my genetic predispositions. This paints a comprehensive picture as to what I need to do to lose weight, maintain weight, exercise effectively, and fuel myself properly. As a dietitian, these insights are invaluable to me for my clients as well. They enable me to tailor personalized nutrition plans based on genetics, helping clients optimize their health and well-being.

Curious about how your patient’s genes impact their health and nutrition? Consider exploring Scylex’s genetic testing for personalized insights. Stay tuned for Part III, where I’ll dive into more of my testing results and the recommendations based on my genetics.

Vanessa Imus, MS, RDN