Need a Diet? Let your DNA Pick One

It seems there a million different ways to lose weight. What it all comes down to, though, is a balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins -- the building blocks of nutrition. We are constantly confused, however, by the shifting advice from experts, from low-fat and low-carb to high-protein and low-calorie plans. But what if a DNA test could make the decision for you and tell you the best diet to follow with just a simple cotton swab inside your cheek?

For the past two months, Inherent Health has been offering a DNA Weight Management test at a cost of $150. I recently took one to determine what diet is best for me.

The test examines six of your different genes. These genes determine digestion and metabolism rate, and some studies have shown a correlation between them. By analyzing the genes' interactions, Inherent Health places you in one of six categories that reflect the food intake and exercise levels that your body will best respond to:

• Balance of fat and carbs and responsive to moderate intensity exercise
• Responsive to fat restriction and responsive to moderate Intensity exercise
• Responsive to carb restriction and responsive to moderate Intensity exercise
• Balance of fat and carbs and responsive to high Intensity exercise
• Responsive to fat restriction and responsive to high Intensity exercise
• Responsive to carb restriction and responsive to high Intensity exercise

My results put me in the last category, which, as far as I'm concerned, is the worst one!

As part of the fee, you receive a phone consultation. I spoke with Jennifer Siegel, a trained and licensed genetic counselor. Her recommendation was a diet of 20 percent protein, 45 percent carbs and 35 percent fat. I've been on diets before, mostly in the low-fat category, and the numbers gave me pause. For me, the 35-percent fat allotment works out to 650 calories! The ratio of fats to proteins to carbs that she suggested for me is similar to the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet, the Zone Diet or the Glycemic Index Diet.

I asked Jennifer point blank, "So if I eat 1,500 calories a day, but I do it at the ratio you're suggesting, I'd lose weight faster than if I ate the same 1,500 calories on a low-fat diet?"

Her answer surprised me. "Based on what your genetics are telling us," she said, "if you keep the calories the same and switch the profile, it should." Wow!

There are some skeptics out there, though. "The nutrigenomic research is not there yet," said Stella Metsovas, a clinical nutritionist in Orange County, Calif. "There are over 30,000 genes in the body [and] about 2,000 to 3,000 are related to nutrition and metabolism. How can you just pick six and come up with an accurate diet plan?"

Metsovas went on to explain that just because you have the gene doesn't mean the gene is active and that "the environment influences your genes." A person eating a poorly-balanced, highly-processed, Westernized diet could turn on some "bad" genes, while if that same person ate a healthy, clean diet it might never be a problem.

The conclusion seems to be that genetic testing will one day be able to pinpoint an array of nutrition information, specific to each individual. We'll know how many calories to consume, what ratio of macro-nutrients to consume them in and what our optimal weight should be. But we're not there yet.

As for me, I have cut back on starches a bit and have been substituting some nuts (high fat) for snacks. I still eat a lot of fruits and veggies (carbs) and have always kept my protein low. I feel good, but I felt good before, too. Like any diet, we'll see how things shape up in a few weeks time.

For the best weight-loss tool in the world," read Jonny Bowden's column this week on the humble apple.