Step one to better health is to know your DNA. Several services can provide you with the entire book of instructions which makes you, you. There are two reputable providers which will tell you your DNA code and what it all means: those are 23andMe and Vitagene.
DNA is the part of each and every cell in your body where not only the genes with the instructions for the activities of that particular cell are turned on, but where, lying dormant, are also all the instructions to make an entirely new you, just in a dormant state. That is why these genetic test providers can take a skin cell from inside your mouth and tell you everything there is to know about your genes.
Your genes tell your body whether to give you blue or brown eyes; a tendency to gain weight; how tall you will be (with some wiggle room for good/poor diets during the formative years); and whether you will develop diabetes or cystic fibrosis.
Although researchers at Stanford University found that genes cannot predict who might lose weight on certain diets, but there are good genetic tests that can tell if a person will be helped with certain drugs, for instance, if a patient with breast cancer will do well on chemotherapy.
Ideally, the testing service should not make claims that are unscientific, although some of them do. At this stage in our knowledge of the connection between genes and health, it is impossible to know from a DNA test how much exercise you need or what to eat. However, the test can tell you if you have a gene that heightens the risk for breast cancer and Alzheimer’s.
At the stage in the development of DNA analysis, no matter what genes you may have, the advice is the same: get a lot of exercise, eat plenty of fruit and vegetable, stay away from fatty and highly processed food, and choose whole grains over processed, stay away from sugary foods, and eat less meat.
The world of DNA analysis to improve health is brimming with potential. One day, hopefully soon, with some genetic engineering we will be able to eliminate illness in the world.