The more we know about our own bodies, the better equipped we will be to manage our health and well-being. Although healthcare is largely a reactive practice, the importance of proactive care is more apparent than ever.
Investigative tools such a lifestyle genetic testing, are becoming increasingly important within this sphere of medical science, as the insights obtained allow healthcare providers to intercept symptoms before they arise.
Your physiology is as unique as your photograph
A critical element to consider when planning any health intervention, is the probability of individual responsiveness to the plan.
Due to genetic variation, every different body will respond differently to specific dietary interventions and daily exercise. This explains the extreme diversity of opinion on the ‘healthiest’ way to live, and the ‘best’ way to achieve weight loss.
The ‘most beneficial lifestyle practices’ are in fact entirely subjective because our genes influence our receptiveness to change.
Our genes dictate our metabolism efficiency, addictive tendencies, satiety signalling, ability to mobilise fat stores from exercise, and optimal sleep requirements, which are only a few of the numerous areas that differentiate us at DNA level.
Thus, the key to any successful health intervention lies within knowing exactly where to focus your attention to achieve positive results. These focal points are unique for every person (even within the same family) and can be conveniently determined through DNA testing.
3X4 Genetics is a preventative screening tool used to examine genetic predispositions that may exist or arise in the future. A 3X4 Genetics Test will allow you to nurture your health according to specific priorities within your unique genetic code.
Your genetic blueprint: A comprehensive user-manual for your body
The 3X4 blueprint examines 36 metabolic pathways, across six categories of health:
- Weight balance: Achieving weight balance starts with your genetic code.
- Fitness and tissue health: Exercise more efficiently and reduce your potential for injury with personalised performance insights from your genetic blueprint.
- Hormone health: Pinpoint the processes of how your body manufactures and breaks down hormones to better understand possible hormonal imbalances.
- Brain health: Confidently navigate mental health with a deeper understanding of the unique way your brain functions.
- Heart health: Identify any potential contributors to impaired cardiovascular function through reliable genetic insights.
- Blood sugar regulation: Understand how your body regulates glucose and insulin based on your genetic results.
This foundational knowledge can identify potential problem areas within your DNA and empower you with intervention techniques to prevent genetic risks from being expressed.
Your health can be shaped by your environment
Genetic expression often depends on environmental conditions. This means that some genetic risks will only manifest under certain circumstances. In other words, you can adjust your risk by changing your environment.
For example, if you are genetically predisposed to cognitive decline with age in the absence of adequate omega-3 intake, then adjusting your daily environment to include mega dosing of omega-3 could mitigate the risk. On the contrary, dietary deficiency of omega-3 over a lifetime would result in expression of that genetic risk, i.e. cognitive decline with age.
Similarly, if you are genetically predisposed to fat storage in the context of a high fat diet, then limiting dietary fat would initiate weight loss. On the contrary, limiting carbohydrates in favour of a high fat diet would induce weight gain. However, if you do not carry a strong genetic propensity for storage of dietary fat, a high fat diet may be suitable.
Lifestyle genetic testing will empower you to make the right decisions for your body.
DNA testing is not a method of disease prediction, but a means of risk assessment
There is no need to fear the results of a 3X4 Genetics Test, as it is not a diagnostic tool. It simply identifies individual risk areas and provides evidence-based intervention guidelines to avert detected risk.
The ability to manipulate genetic risk is defined by a concept called gene penetrance:
- Low penetrance genes impact genetic risk. These genes carry a variable risk, as changes to the environment can change the outcome of such risk.
- High penetrance genes impact biochemistry. These genes carry a fixed risk, regardless of environmental change.
All genes examined by a 3X4 Genetics Test are low penetrance genes, which means that their expression can be manipulated. Discovering which low penetrance gene variants you carry, will enable you to fine tune your environment for optimal health.
Health = genetics + daily choices
Your health is not determined by genetics alone, but by a combination of your genes and your lifestyle choices. The interplay between genetics, nutrition, and health is called nutrigenomics.
Although your daily choices might seem picture perfect, unless they complement your genetic profile, you may not be reaching your full health potential.
No matter where you are on your health journey, enlisting the help of a registered 3X4 practitioner to interpret your DNA can be transformative. Click here for a list of experienced practitioners.
The more you can learn about your body, the less likely it will be that it lets you down.