myDNA Nutrigenomics Testing

To understand what nutrigenomics is, we first have to understand how our body is built.

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You may have heard of DNA or genes, but what are these? Let's imagine you are wanting to build a table, so you crack open a book. The book is divided into different chapters, each one tells you about creating a different part of the table - there's a chapter on making the table legs, a chapter on creating sturdy chairs, and there's a chapter on how to look after the table after you have finished making it. We can think of the chapters like the genes in our body - different "chapters" which tell our body how to do something - like what eye colour we should have, or how to make protein for muscles. The book is written in a language, and that is like the DNA. The way the DNA is combined creates the "chapters" or genes. 

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Now, everyone should have the same number and types of genes, but there are differences between people. We can see this in how people look - some people have blue eyes, some people brown; some people have curly hair, some people straight hair. This is the same with other characteristics that we can't see - some people have a higher risk of diabetes or heart disease than others, some people may respond to certain foods or dietary patterns more favourably than others. This is something we can now assess through DNA testing.

The term "Nutrigenomics" is a combination of "nutrition" and "genomics" (which is the study of those gene "chapters"). So, if we put these two together, nutrigenomics is the area of science which looks at the impact of foods on how your genes are being read and expressed in your body, and how different genes might affect how certain nutrients are absorbed. So, understanding more about your genes can help you understand your specific body needs, and what your body may need more or less of.

Scroll down to see examples of what your myDNA test will be able to show you.

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