Genetic Testing
Genetic testing can be an important piece of your healing puzzle, especially if you are experiencing a complex and/or chronic health condition. Among other things, genetic testing can help you to:
- identify which health conditions you are susceptible to, such as celiac disease, mast cell disorders, heart disease, and osteoporosis, among others;
- adjust your dietary and exercise choices based on your genetics (for example, you may benefit from a leptin resistance diet based on certain genetic mutations); and
- identify defects in your body’s methylation pathway, which helps (1) immune function; (2) DNA repair; (3) energy production; (4) detoxification of pathogens, medications, and other toxins; and (3) mood stabilization and inflammation control. Defects in this pathway contribute to many chronic health conditions, such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, mast cell disorders, and neurological conditions.
Many commercial labs now offer genetic testing. The most commonly used test is 23andme, which provides information about various health conditions as well as the complete methylation pathway (some labs test only for metyltetrahydrofolate (MTHFR) mutations).
It’s important to remember that just because you have a particular genetic mutation does not mean you will get sick. Our diet, environment, and lifestyle all affect whether or not these genes “turn off” or “turn on.” That’s why genetic testing can be beneficial – knowledge is power, and it can guide you in making dietary and lifestyle changes that can help prevent the onset of illness or dis-ease.