Nutrigenomics and Naturopathic Medicine
What your genetics can tell you about your health
Learn how your personal genetic code influences which nutrients may be best for your body
Did you know your genes may provide clues into how your body processes nutrients, how your hormones and neurotransmitters are produced by your body, and what your foundational blueprint for health is, unique from someone else?
Having deep insight into your personal genetic code can provide a wealth of insight and clues into how your body functions optionally (and how it can seemingly work against you!)
The study of understanding how your personal genetic code impacts your dietary, vitamin, and nutritional needs is called Nutrigenomics.
What is Nutrigenomics?
Every person has a unique genetic profile that helps make us who we are as an individual. From a health perspective, our genes are a major determinant of our health. Fortunately, there are many dietary, nutritional, and lifestyle factors that may help shape genetic expression to maximize health and well-being.
Nutrigenomics is the study of how nutrients affect genetic expression and how individual genetic differences uniquely affect our physiology, metabolism, and health.
Nutrigenomics may help you better understand what fuels your body and what doesn’t.
What is a SNP?
A single-nucleotide polymorphism, better known as a “SNP,” is a variation in a gene. A single variation is called a heterozygous mutation and two variations of a gene are called a homozygous mutation. Generally speaking, a homozygous mutation is more likely to impact your health.
SNPs may help determine our tendency or susceptibility to imbalanced health, illness, or certain diseases. The severity of our health concerns and the way our body responds to specific nutrients may also be manifestations of genetic variations.
Nutrigenomics is a fantastic guide to how we can best target specific aspects of our metabolism to promote healthy genetic expression and get our health back on track.
Nutrigenomics as a part of your care plan at Lewis Family Natural Health
Dr. Eric Lewis has been studying nutrigenomics for several years and keeps up with the constant advances in this rapidly changing and growing field.
He advocates for not making blanket recommendations for everyone with the same SNP, but rather customizes his interpretation within the context of each patient’s unique story and health concerns. He can offer vital connections between what all these different genes might mean and provide insightful information to support each person’s genetic predisposition.
How does a Nutrigenomics evaluation work?
The first step is to become established as a patient at our office, as nutrigenomics need to be interpreted within the context of your overall health. Learn more about becoming our patient.
If after becoming a patient your naturopath determines this might be a good next step for you, they will provide more information about how to get your unique genetic data into a secure format that is accessible for interpretation.