DR.TEGAN MOORE
@WHEELHOUSE
NUTRIGENOMICS
Nutrigenomics is the study of how the foods we eat influence the way our DNA functions for us. At WHEELHOUSE we believe that this is a fundamental starting point of your healing. We gather a host of information associated with epigenetic factors such as your exposure to hormones in the womb, that when combined make you a unique individual with unique dietary requirements.
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- Dr. Moore
THE FOOD YOU EAT IS HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH YOUR GENES.
What is Nutritional Genomics?
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The study of nutrigenomics, or nutritional genomics, was fueled and accelerated by the Human Genome Project of the 1990s, which mapped out the entire length of the DNA that comprises the human genome. Researchers began to study how nutrients, your diet, and your genes interact, and nutrigenomics was born.
Nutrigenomics looks at how the foods you eat can change the way your genes are expressed (how they work). It also looks at how your genes can determine your nutritional needs. For example, an individual with an inherited Genotype that has a higher risk of developing iron deficiency anemia will have a greater need for iron rich animal proteins than an Genotype with increased risks of digestive dysfunction when eating a high animal fat diet.
How are genetics and dietary needs linked?
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You aren’t just stuck with whatever genes you inherit at birth. Your genes respond to environmental influences, including what you eat. The messages your genes receive from food play a role in controlling all the molecules that make up your metabolism. This means that even if certain genetic disorders run in your family, your diet can influence whether those genes get expressed, or “turned on,” and thus influence whether you inherit the conditions or not.
At WHEELHOUSE, nutritional genomics (assisted by some pretty impressive AI software) helps our patients learn how their genes work and, through their food choices, control the functionality of those genes. Wondering how evidence based this personalization really is?
One study from the Institute for Systems Biology sequenced 108 participant’s genomes and gave them personalized nutrition advice. They then measured clinical markers over 9 months and found large improvements, such as a 12% reduction in chronic inflammation markers after six months.
Another study published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) highlighting the potential of nutrigenomics studied links between heart attack risk and coffee consumption. The results suggested that the risk of heart attack increased with coffee intake only for the study subjects who were genetically predisposed to slow CYP1A2 enzyme metabolism.
There’s also a class of conditions known as “inborn errors of metabolism,” which involve known interactions between food and inherited genes. An example is lactose intolerance, a condition resulting from a genetic variation in the lactase gene. It’s treated by manipulating the diet and removing lactose.
Among many other points of data, you will be asked about your subjective experience with caffeine intake as well as your digestive responses to dairy products during your initial visit at WHEELHOUSE. These are only two of the many data points used to help assess your GenoType and hone in on the most personalized nutrition recommendations available in the world of wellness to date.
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References and resources:
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SWAMI GenoType®, North American Pharmacal Inc.®, D'Adamo Personalized Nutrition®, Dr. Peter D'Adamo
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Cornelis MC, El-Sohemy A, Kabagambe EK, Campos H. Coffee, CYP1A2 genotype, and risk of myocardial infarction. JAMA. 2006 Mar 8;295(10):1135-41. doi: 10.1001/jama.295.10.1135. PMID: 16522833.
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Arnold GL. Inborn errors of metabolism in the 21st century: past to present. Ann Transl Med. 2018 Dec;6(24):467. doi: 10.21037/atm.2018.11.36. PMID: 30740398; PMCID: PMC6331363.
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