“These companies often say that it’s worth it for the helpful advice. But I can give you really good advice right now without seeing a single test result: be active, have lots of social networks, do work you enjoy, try not to smoke or drink too much, don’t be overweight or underweight, eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Nobody needs to get tests done to get that kind of basic lifestyle advice.” Margaret McCartney, GP from What I learned from home DNA testing. The Guardian
23AndMe yesterday upgraded its top-selling $99 home genealogy test, allowing users to get more specific results on their ancestral roots from 120 new regions while also providing an interactive map for honing in on ancestral regions. (23andMe is getting more specific with its DNA ancestry tests, adding 120 new regions)
They also announced last December a weight loss intervention study involving 100,000 people “ to better understand the relationship between genetics and lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise.”
Even though the scientific community identified over 150 genetic variants associated with weight–and despite a string of expensive and unscientific DNA-based diets–there isn’t much evidence so far of a connection between genes and weight loss. With this crowdsourced study–what may be the most comprehensive effort yet to understand these links–23andme is hoping to change that. www.fastcompany.com/...
Perusing genetic data to customize diets for individuals could become a huge fad — witness companies such as Habit, Vitagene, EmbodyDNA, uBiome, Viome, Nutrigenomix, LifeNome, and DNAFit — but in the long run, the ‘skinny’ on DNA-based diets has yet to yield scientific credence to this method of customizing weight loss strategies. In short, there is no simple way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight loss.
The science behind the idea that some people respond better to diets high in complex carbs while others do best with high protein doesn't exist, says pediatrician Aaron E. Carroll, author of The Bad Food Bible and professor of pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine.
Even if it did, Carroll says, “there’s no evidence we could detect it” through DNA sequencing.
“I know people in their 40s who have amazing physiques. They’re on restrictive diets and work out regularly,” he says. “It’s hard!”
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by and tell us about your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper. Newcomers may notice that many who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.