Nutrigenomics in Action - Olympic Special
posted 26th July 2024
Nutrition and physical activity are two of the primary influencers which impact athletic performance. However, not all athletes respond to the same diet and exercise regime in the same way. This is where nutrigenomics comes in. It plays a key role in aiding athletes to unlock their genetic capabilities by tailoring personalised nutrition plans and supplement strategies that are specific for them. This concept applies whether you are an Olympic contender or simply an everyday athlete who enjoys building exercise into your daily routine. Nutrigenomics can help you understand the training programme that is best suited to your genetic type, build personal resilience, limit the risk of injury, optimise sleep for recovery and eat the right foods to fuel you correctly. All this will allow you to perform at your personal best.
What is Nutrigenomics
So how is all this possible? Nutrigenomic testing allows us to look in detail at our DNA… the chemical instructions present in every body cell that make us who we are and drive all the functions in our body. This biological code does not just impact the usual things we think are associated with DNA such as height, gender and eye colour. It also tells the body how to do everything including how well we absorb certain nutrients such as vitamins which can affect our nutrient needs. Our DNA also impacts production of sex and thyroid hormones, hormones relating to stress such as cortisol and neurotransmitter production which impacts things like sleep and emotional wellbeing as well as reward and motivation. Our DNA regulates how well our cells grow and repair, how efficiently we produce energy and how quickly we store excess energy as fat. In summary, our DNA is the code to every aspect of our life.
But we are not all made the same and do not all follow the same genetic blueprint. Small variances in our DNA (called single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs) mean we may do certain things more or less efficiently than other individuals with different SNPs. So for example, some people metabolise caffeine quicker than others. Other people detoxify caffeine quicker than others. Understanding these variances can help decide whether something like caffeine is a helpful benefit for sports performance.
Nutrigenomics Athlete Report
The LifecodeGX Nutrigenomics Athlete Report looks at aspects of your DNA sequencing that can affect athletic performance. This enables a more intelligent approach to training, recovery and performance. The personalised genetic results are grouped into three topic areas:-
- TRAIN - Gain insight into how to tailor a training programme that will be effective for you to support cardiovascular adaption, strategic fuelling and structural strength.
- RECOVER - Learn the key personal mechanisms to build resilience and reduce your risk of injury and illness by controlling inflammation, reducing oxidative stress and optimising sleep.
- PERFORM - Techniques to balance stress and stimulation when it matters most to allow you to perform at your personal best.
Medicinal Eating Nutrition, Lifestyle and Supplement Plan
A nutritional therapy consultation takes into account your personal case history, current exercise regime and personal short and long term goals to understand how the genetic variants identified in the Nutrigenomics report can impact you. A nutrition, exercise, lifestyle and supplement protocol is then developed to help support you to perform at your very best and realise your full potential whatever that goal may be!
Next month, we will be looking at a specific clinical case study using Nutrigenomics to support overall metabolic health. You can read more about this in the article Nutrigenomics in Action - Clinical Case Study: Metabolic Syndrome.
You can find out more about Bespoke Nutrigenomics Testing packages here Choose your package.
You can also contact Medicinal Eating and book a free 15 minute Discovery Call.
