The Role of Genetic Testing

The Role of Genetic Testing

Why do we run genetic tests? The purpose of genetic tests is to evaluate the main genes supporting the major functions of life, and if necessary, recommend nutritional options that have been researched to support these genes. For pathological diseases such as breast cancer, BRCA1, BRCA2, and ER2 genes are some of those tested for that disease. Should you have a family history of those diseases, it is still recommended to have specific genetic testing regardless of the outcome of this program. If you have ever been tested for the flu or any another disease or condition, you want to test negative. Positive means something isn’t working correctly. In the case of genes, ++ or +- means you are positive for a genetic mutation and it is no longer functioning properly. Genes code for amino acids, the building blocks for proteins that make enzymes, neurotransmitters, antibodies and most forms of physiology responsible for life. Without adequate protein, you cease to function properly with a myriad of symptoms, conditions, and diagnosis. This is why some people who work in the same building get sick and others do not or why some family members end up with disease and others do not.

I am a firm believer that people are created to be healthy and your body wants to be healthy. Our testing, treatments, and recommendations are tools to support your innate ability to heal. For instance, when you get a paper cut, do you run to the doctor? Of course not. You say ouch, compress the wound or run it under water. When you get a cut, the surrounding cells send out messages of cell disruption, your body recognizes it and starts healing. You did not consciously tell your body to start the healing process. It was an innate reaction. My job is to help enhance, and in some cases unlock your innate healing and help your body heal itself.

While this report and the subsequent program is not a cure, I believe most people would be willing to spend $3 a day to push back the onset of a serious disease. Here is what we know. Even if you have all the cards stacked against you—genetically, environmentally, nutritionally—inevitably disease can be slowed down or delayed with the correct nutrition. When it comes to serious diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, it currently costs $150,000 per year to manage. Investing just $3 a day for many years is a good investment especially if it wards off this debilitating disease even if for one year.

Although mutations can occur at any time during our lifetime, it is most likely that we are born with these mutations and will have them throughout our life. These inherited mutations have been passed down to us from previous generations (our parents, grandparents and earlier generations) and may be passed to future generations (our children and grandchildren). This may provide an explanation as to why certain traits or diseases “run in the family.” Although we cannot change our genetic code, we can change how our genes are expressed. Research has revealed that our gene expression is not determined solely by hereditary factors, but it is also influenced by our diet, nutritional status, toxic load and environmental influences or stressors. This phenomenon of gene expression has been termed “epigenetics”.

Researchers in the growing field of epigenetics have demonstrated that certain genes can be over- or under-expressed with certain disease processes. Researchers in this field hope that through an understanding of how these genes are regulated and what is influencing them, we may be able to change their expression. Using epigenetic concepts along with a good understanding of the methylation cycle, researchers have begun to make recommendations to optimize gene expression and help to restore health.

What are single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)?

Single nucleotide polymorphisms, frequently called SNPs (pronounced “snips”), are the most common type of genetic variation among people. Each SNP represents a difference in a single DNA building block, called a nucleotide, denoted as A, T, G and C. Everything your body produces is in response to a series of these four nucleotides.  An SNP may replace the nucleotide cytosine (C) with the nucleotide thymine (T) in a certain stretch of DNA.

SNPs occur normally throughout a person’s DNA. They occur once in every 300 nucleotides on average, which means there are roughly 10 million SNPs in the human genome. Most commonly, these variations, also called mutations, are found in the DNA between genes. They can act as biological markers, helping scientists locate genes that are associated with the disease. When SNPs occur within a gene or in a regulatory region near a gene, they may play a more direct role in disease by affecting the gene’s function. Often an SNP is caused by exposure to environmental changes, toxins, virus and other pathogens, chemicals and lack of nutrients consumed.

While most SNPs have no effect on health or development, some of these genetic differences have proven to be very important in the study of human health. Researchers have found SNPs that may help predict an individual’s response to certain drugs, susceptibility to environmental factors such as toxins, and risk of developing particular diseases. SNPs can also be used to track the inheritance of disease genes within families. Future studies will work to identify SNPs associated with complex diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and cancer and are critical for individual and specialized treatments. Below are a few SNP’s and some conditions. Using MTHFR as an example heart disease and neural tube defects are a few risks.

Disclaimer: The information expressed in these documents does not constitute an attempt to practice medicine nor does it establish a doctor-patient relationship. This document is for informational and educational purposes only. Statements made in this document have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The information provided is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure any disease or be used as the basis for treating a particular symptom or disease. Any products discussed or endorsed are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure any diseases or be used as the basis for treating a particular symptom or disease.

The information expressed in these documents is not meant to replace you working with a physician or healthcare practitioner when implementing any protocol discussed throughout these documents. Laboratory test results and comprehensive discussions or analysis of the laboratory results are intended to provide additional sources of information for you, and your physician or healthcare practitioner. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care practitioner with any questions you may have regarding your medical condition or as it specifically relates to implementing any protocols or suggestions discussed throughout this document.

Before getting started: Understanding the Basics

There are two copies of each gene that we are looking at in the profile. One copy comes from each parent. When both copies have a particular Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) or mutation, in other words when both copies are identical, either + + or – – it is called “homozygous.” When you have one copy that is + for the change and the other is – for the change it is called “heterozygous.” The + and – designations themselves refer to whether or not the gene has a change from what is considered the norm. If there is a change from the norm, then it is termed as +. No change is designated by a – sign. The definition of what is the norm can vary from lab to lab. It will depend in part on what the lab uses as a reference database. This is why you are also given the call letter for each SNP. The call letter tells you what base was seen by the lab at a precise location on the gene.

For instance, when we look at the MTHFR gene, and the particular SNP we are interested in is the C677T. The lab is looking at position 677 in the DNA for a change from a C to a T. If there is a change then the call letter will show a T and the designation will be +. If there is no change, then the call letter will be C and the designation will be -. If a different lab considers the change to a T as the norm, then they might show a T in position 677 as a -, as their reference database may feel that it is normal to have a T in that position. This is why the call letter is so important. In cases where there is a discrepancy from one lab to another, the actual call letter will let you know what base was seen at a precise location. This enables you to be certain that tests run from different labs gave the same actual experimental result even if their reference standard for a norm was different.

Assume the following scenario as an example Dr. Trites is 5 feet 3 inches tall. That is equivalent to the call letter in this analogy. It is a precise measurement. If he compares his height to that of a third-grade class, he is taller than all of them but one. Using children as a reference base, Dr. Trites would consider his own height average. However, if he compares his height to that of the rest of the population of his hometown, he is short. Many of the individuals in reference to him are very tall. Using the + + and – – designations, he might be + – if his reference norm was the children or + + if reference database was Dr. Trites’ hometown. In either event, his height, by precise measurement is 5’ 3″ and that will not change. Knowing the lab value allows him to compare his height to other databases in the future.

For the results of your test you can use the following guide:

• Minus “–” represents no mutation (norm);
• “-/-” indicates there is no mutation (Homozygous no mutation);
• Plus “+” represents a mutation (not the standard norm);
• “+/-” indicates there is one mutation (Heterozygous mutation);
• “+/+” indicates there is a double mutation (Homozygous mutation). This is also homozygous but with a lot more impact on health.

The Genetic Program

Step One

The first step is basic preparation, which can be done by anyone, no matter what your SNP’s are, and whether you know what they are or not.

• Focus on a healthy diet, eliminating/limiting excitotoxins (glutamate, glutamine, aspartate, Aspartame, gluten, dairy, etc.) that contribute to neurological inflammation. Make dietary changes that help to balance the neurotransmitters GABA and glutamate to lower neurological inflammation;
• Balance minerals including lithium
• Short-cut supports for BHMT, SHMT, and CBS if you have them (based on symptoms, urinary amino acid levels, taurine and ammonia levels) and ACAT;
• Digestion support strengthens the digestive system to help prepare the body for detoxification, to support impaired systems and aid the body in repairing and generating new neurons including preferred probiotics.

Step Two

While continuing to follow many of the recommendations of Step One, you will move on to Step Two, in which you will begin the process of detoxification.

• Supplementing to bypass mutations included in the long route of methylation, which allows for natural detoxification: MTHFR, MTR, MTRR, AHCY, COMT, MAO-A, SUOX, NOS, and VDR if you have these gene SNPs;
• Supports to address specific gut bacteria;
• As you begin to gradually introduce the supplements customized to your own SNPs along with long route, you will naturally begin to detoxify. This occurs because supporting the methylation cycle makes detoxification more efficient.

Step Three

Once sufficient detoxification has occurred via the Step Two process, which may take months or even years, you can then begin Step Three, which helps the body remyelinate nerves and enhance nerve function.

• Remyelination
• New nerve growth – Maintenance
• If you feel that you cannot handle the Simplified Program, Dr. Trites believes everyone, should at a minimum, take some form of supplemental nutrition and will make individual recommendations. This is based on the very recent article showing that proper methylation prolongs life, lowering ALL CAUSES of mortality. In other words, no matter what you will eventually pass away from, you will live longer if methylation is functioning properly.

Nutritional Methylation Pathway Analysis

The results of genomic testing should help to put your mind at ease by giving you suggestions that you can actually act on. Dr. Trites only believes in genetic testing if it gives you information that translates into positive constructive action. Dr. Trites’ personal belief is that genetic testing without any knowledge of how to address issues that are uncovered is unethical. His goal is to use the Genomic testing as a guide to proper supplementation to bypass genetic weaknesses that are uncovered by DNA test results. The purpose of the Methylation Pathway Analysis is to serve as a tool to help you to understand what supplements, herbs, and vitamins you can use to bypass weaknesses in a particular nutritional pathway in your body. This supplementation is then followed by regular biochemical testing (i.e. urinary, blood test, stool, hair etc.) to monitor progress.

While there are a number of other genomic tests available on the market, what is special about this test and analysis is that it comprehensively looks at one pathway, what Dr. Trites has learned to be called the “Methylation Cycle.” Dr. Trites sees the Methylation Cycle as the intersection of several important pathways in the body, the common point is a need for “methyl” groups. Methyl groups are simply small chemical compounds whose structure is similar to water. Where water is H2O, a methyl group is CH3. The ability to generate and move these groups is critical to health; these groups are needed for many reactions in the body. “Methylation takes place over billion times a second in the body. It is like one big dance, with bio-chemicals passing methyl groups from one partner to another” (The H Factor, Dr. James Braly, and Patrick Holford).

One way to think about the difference between this analysis and others is to think of it in terms of a road map. If you wanted to travel from your hometown to Dr. Trites’ hometown in Kansas, you would need a map with detailed directions. This would be especially important if certain roads along the way were closed due to construction, bridges out because of flooding, or other road detours. It would help to have a detailed map drawn for you that took all of these specific situations into account. Your genomic test tells you where the “construction” sites are located, which bridges are out and where detours are on your individualized map. With this knowledge, you can put together an analysis that will help you get from your hometown to his hometown in Kansas without getting stuck in a ditch or lost on a detour. The more information you have about specific genes in this particular pathway the easier it is to construct your personal map. This is analogous to having the model of your car, knowing how many miles per gallon you get, how often you feel that you need to stop at a rest area and when you need to fill your tank or take a break from driving. With this information, you are in a better position to plan your trip. This is different from other tests that may tell you where your hometown is located and where your destination lies on the map, but without any of the specific information between the two points. Without those details, you do not know if the route you may have chosen has been closed, if the bridge is out, or if there is a detour that will add more time to your travel. Given only a starting and stopping point means the rest of the trip is simply guesswork. The tests are designed to take the guesswork out of your trip to health and wellness. While other genomic tests look at isolated genes in a wide range of pathways, this test is designed to look comprehensively at a very critical pathway in the body and from that construct a personal roadmap to health and wellbeing. Even if you are missing just a single SNP, it is like missing a critical piece of information, such as a route that is closed for construction.

Before we get to the specific results of your genomic test and the supplement suggestions that will help you on your road to health and wellness, it is important to understand that most mutations or SNP variations that are revealed are NOT “all or none mutations.” In other words if you or a loved one has a mutation or an SNP variation, it does not mean that the activity of this gene is completely “off.” It may simply mean it functions at lower efficiency. When you look at the suggested nutritional support you are working to increase the ability of the entire methylation cycle to run properly, keeping in mind that it has been functioning to some degree in spite of any mutations in particular genes. This is a good opportunity to also explain that a variation or maturation does not always mean a gene is not working at optimal efficiency. Rather it may sometimes mean that it is working at an increased level. The basic assumption is often made thinking the gene involved is decreased or impaired; however, changes in the DNA sequence can result in an increased activity in the gene. Additionally, changes in the DNA sequence can result in a lack of normal regulation of the gene involved.

Just as the physical location of your hometown, it will not change on a map, your genetics also will not change over time. For this reason, this testing will serve as a roadmap for your future. Knowledge of your genetics is like having an ultrasound that allows you to see inside of your own individual DNA and to use this information for the prevention of potential health issues. Suggestions that are made may be valid today, as well as next week, next year or ten years from now. Once you slowly implement your supplementation, your body can start to support the mutations, this helps in supporting the Methylation Cycle to function properly. This, in turn, should help your body to detoxify properly.

However, unlike genetic tests, biochemical tests will change over time. Biochemical testing measures the amount or activity of a particular enzyme or protein from a sample of urine, stool, blood, saliva or hair. Biochemical testing can be used to assess the effect of supplementation on your system. Ideally, the goal is to understand that knowledge is power and knowledge of your genetics, including any mutations, can give you the information you need to make informed decisions on how to supplement and bypass these weaknesses in your system. You can then use biochemical testing to monitor the progress of your supplementation to bypass your mutations.

What makes Dr. Alan Trites’ Protocol Different?

Dr. Trites’ protocol considers that each of us is unique and a one-size-fits-all approach to health is not the answer. This program was designed with a background in both integrative health care and more traditional training. It considers genetic weaknesses as well as the role played by the environment and infectious agents in developing a tailored plan to keep you on the road to health.

Your Individualized Roadmap

It has been Dr. Trites’ experience that most health conditions in society today are multifactorial conditions, meaning that a number of circumstances need to go awry simultaneously for non-ideal health to manifest. Multifactorial conditions stem from underlying genetic susceptibility combined with assaults from environmental stressors and infectious agents. Basic parameters like age and gender, along with other genetic and environmental factors play a role in the onset of non-ideal health. Infections combined with excessive environmental burdens often lead to problems with health if they occur in individuals with the appropriate genetic susceptibility.

Personalized Nutrigenomic Screening

One clear, definitive way to evaluate the genetic contribution of multifactorial conditions is to take advantage of new methodologies that allow for personalized genetic screening. Currently, tests are available to identify a number of underlying genetic changes in an individuals’ DNA.

The field of Nutrigenomics is the study of how natural products and supplements can interact with particular genes to decrease the risk of disease. By looking at changes in the DNA in these nutritional pathways it enables one to make supplement choices based on their particular genetics rather than using the same support for every individual regardless of their unique needs. A knowledge of imbalances in nutritional genetic pathways allows one to utilize combinations of nutrients, foods and natural ribonucleic acids to bypass mutations and restore proper pathway function.

The methylation cycle is a central pathway in the body that is particularly amenable to nutrigenomic screening for genetic weaknesses. The result of decreased activity in this pathway causes a shortage of critical functional groups in the body called methyl groups that serve a variety of important functions.

Your Body’s Personal Mechanic

While the term may seem intimidating, a methyl group is actually just a group of small molecules, similar in size to the water molecule (H2O). Water is a key to life as are methyl groups critical for health and wellbeing. Methyl groups are simply “CH3” groups; they contain ’H’ like in water and a ’C’ like in coal or diamonds. However, these very basic molecules serve integral functions; they have moved around in the body to turn on or off genes.

One way to look at the role of methyl groups is that they serve as your own personal mechanic for your body, helping to repair and direct functions in your body. If we think about your body like a car, then let’s assume that you have just one car that you need to maintain over the course of your life, with the help of your own personal mechanic. The longer you have that car the more outdated it will become. Over the course of a lifetime, the car body will accumulate rust and can rot out. Tires may wear out; the engine may need an overhaul. Alternatively, the problems may be simpler such as the need for more wiper fluid or simply to keep the car filled with gas and to change the oil. In any case, your personal mechanic ensures that your car keeps running, that it can stay on the road...in this case on the road to health. If, however, your mechanic is unable to function, then all of these issues will start to accumulate over the course of the lifetime of your car. The rust may get so bad that car components fall off like your muffler or the tires become so worn that it is impossible to navigate a turn without the fear of blowing a tire. In the absence of your mechanic’s function, you have no way to repair all the large and small problems that arise with your car to the point where your car can no longer function.

You can start to see why the proper functioning of the pathway that serves to direct your genes is so important. In addition to the editing of genes, this pathway also serves more direct roles in your body and is thus critical for overall health. While there are several particular sites in this pathway where blocks can occur as a result of genetic weaknesses, thankfully supplementation with appropriate foods and nutrients can help to bypass these mutations to allow for the restored function of this pathway.

By testing to look at mutations in the DNA for this methylation cycle, it is possible to draw a personalized map for each individual’s imbalances which may impact upon their health, see diagram below. Once the precise areas of genetic fragility have been identified, it is then possible to target appropriate nutritional supplementation of these pathways to optimize the functioning of these crucial biochemical processes.

Why You Should Care About Methylation

The Methylation Cycle is the intersection of several important pathways in the body; the common point is the need for methyl groups. Recall that methyl groups are simply small chemical compounds whose structure is similar to water. The ability to generate and move these groups is critical to health; these groups are needed for many reactions in the body.

Methylation is the long-term key. Everything in your body needs to be methylated. Methylation, or methyl groups known in chemistry as CH3, suppresses the expression of viral genes and other harmful stretches of DNA that have been incorporated over time. For instance, if you have one of the well-researched BRCA1 genes for breast cancer, of which there are hundreds of known mutations, that is a mutation. While you are born with the gene, you may not be born with breast cancer. Your CH3 methyl group hangs over the top of this mutation until other viruses, toxins, chemicals, stresses, dietary insufficiencies or other genetic mutations decrease the production of CH3 groups. Now, that mutated gene is exposed and cause, when turned on, a disease. Methylation destruction has the capability to impact three major disease factors, infection, toxicity, and stress. Methylation cycle mutations can lead to chronic disease, increased environmental toxin burden and have secondary effects on gene expression and lead to emotionally unbalanced states.

The main function of methylation is to turn genes on and off, to detoxify, to build and metabolize neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, epinephrine (adrenaline), serotonin, dopamine, and melatonin. Methylation also processes hormones such as estrogen, insulin, and cortisol, and to build the immune cells especially T-cells and natural killer cells. As you age, you require DNA synthesis and repair, production of energy such as CoQ10 and ATP, production of myelin covering the nerves, and maintaining cell membranes is how fast we age. As you see, most diseases and conditions have one or more of these impairments that require methylation.

There are Several Known Factors that Disrupt Methylation

• Lack of nutrients such as zinc, B2, magnesium, B6, B12, folate
• Medications (antacids, methotrexate, metformin, nitrous oxide deplete methyl groups and many others)
• Specific nutrient depleting dietary intake
• Environmental toxicity, heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides
• Genetic mutations
• Stress – over-exertions via physical, chemical, mental or emotional…it doesn’t matter where the stress comes from, as far as your body is concerned, it all counts.

The Role of the Methylation Cycle in Your Body

The methylation cycle is the ideal pathway to focus on for nutritional genetic analysis because the places where mutations occur is well defined and it is clear where supplements can be added to bypass these mutations. In addition to its editing role, the function of this pathway is essential for a number of critical reactions in the body. One consequence of genetic weaknesses (mutations) in this pathway are the increased number of isk factors for a number of serious health conditions. Defects in methylation lay the appropriate groundwork for the further assault of environmental and infectious agents resulting in a wide range of conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, thyroid dysfunction, neurological inflammation, chronic viral infection, neurotransmitter imbalances, atherosclerosis, cancer, aging, schizophrenia, decreased repair of tissue damage, improper immune function, neural tube defects, Down’s syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and autism.

Inflammation, Bacterial, and Viral Infection

When you have bacterial or viral infections in your system, it increases the level of inflammation in your body. Chronic inflammation can exacerbate existing genetic mutations in this same pathway. The inability to progress normally through the methylation pathway as a result of methylation cycle mutations combined with the impact of viral and bacterial infections can further compromise the function of this critical system in the body.

New Cells and the Immune System

The building blocks for DNA and RNA require the methylation pathway to function optimally. Without adequate DNA and RNA, it is difficult for the body to synthesize new cells. New cell synthesis is needed to repair damaged cells, to maintain the lining of the gut, to make new blood cells as well as for your immune system that defends you against infection.

T cells are a key aspect of your immune system and they require new DNA in order to respond to foreign invaders. T cell synthesis is necessary to respond to bacterial, parasitic and viral infection, as well as for other aspects of the proper functioning of the immune system.

Herpes, Hepatitis, and Other Viruses

In addition, decreased levels of methylation can result in improper DNA regulation. DNA methylation is necessary to prevent the expression of viral genes that have been inserted into the body’s DNA. Loss of methylation can lead to the expression of inserted viral genes such as herpes and hepatitis among other viruses.

Sensory Overload

Proper levels of methylation are also directly related to the body’s ability to both myelinate nerves and to prune nerves. Myelin is a sheath that wraps around the nerve to insulate and facilitate proper nerve reaction. Without adequate methylation, the nerves cannot myelinate in the first place, or cannot remyelinate after insults such as viral infection or heavy metal toxicity. A secondary effect of a lack of methylation and hence decreased myelination is an inadequate pruning of nerves. Pruning helps to prevent excessive wiring of unused neural connections and reduces the synaptic density. Without adequate pruning, the brain cell connections are misdirected and proliferate into dense, bunched thickets. When nerves grow in this unregulated fashion, it can cause confusion processing signals. Synesthesia occurs when the stimulation of one sense causes the involuntary reaction of other senses, basically sensory overload.

Serotonin, Dopamine and ADD/ADHD

Methylation is also directly related to substances in your body that affect your mood and neurotransmitter levels of both serotonin and dopamine. In addition to its direct role as a neurotransmitter, dopamine is involved in assuring your cell membranes are fluid and have mobility. This methylation of phospholipids in the cell membranes has been related to ADD/ADHD. Membrane fluidity is also important for a variety of functions including proper signaling of the immune system as well as protecting nerves from damage. A number of serious neurological conditions cite reduced membrane fluidity as part of the disease process including MS, ALS and Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, phospholipid methylation may be involved in modulation of NMDA (glutamate) receptors, acting to control excitotoxin damage.

In general, single mutations or biomarkers are generally perceived as indicators for specific health issues. However, it is possible that for a number of health conditions, it may be necessary to look at the entire methylation pathway as a biomarker for underlying genetic susceptibility for non-ideal health. It may require expanding the view of a biomarker beyond the restriction of a mutation in a single gene to a mutation somewhere in an entire pathway of interconnected function.

This does not mean that every individual with mutations in this pathway will have one of the health conditions listed above. It may be a necessary but not a sufficient condition. Most health conditions in society today are multifactorial in nature. There are genetic components, infectious components, and environmental components. A certain threshold or body burden needs to be met for each of these factors in order for the multifactorial disease to occur. However, part of what makes the methylation cycle so unique and so critical for our health is that mutations in this pathway have the capability to impair all three of these factors. This would suggest that if an individual has enough mutations or weaknesses in this pathway, it may be sufficient to cause multifactorial health issues. Methylation cycle mutations can lead to chronic infections, increased environmental toxin burdens and have secondary effects on genetic expression.

Again, nutrigenomic test results should help to put your mind at ease by giving you suggestions that you can act on. Nutrigenomics is a form of genetic testing that supplies information that can translate into positive constructive action. Dr. Trites sees the ultimate goal of nutrigenomic testing to serve as a guide toward proper supplementation to bypass genetic weaknesses identified by SNP results.

Different Methodologies for Genomic Testing

There are discrete reasons why Dr. Trites chooses to use saliva and BeadChip technology for the majority of screening. At this time blood testing through MassArray technology screens for less but more specific SNPs rather than broad-spectrum saliva samples and BeadChip technology. This is not to minimize the value of either technology. They are wonderful tools for what they are designed.

Remember your DNA does not change. This is a test is run run ONCE in your lifetime although you may have both saliva and blood spot testing. Unlike the follow up biochemical testing that you run routinely to check that the supplementation you are using is actually making a difference, a nutrigenomic test focusing on the methylation cycle is something you will run only one time. You will work with your doctor to determine supplementation based on these SNPs for the rest of your life.

Additional Scientific Background and Further Testing

As already explained, your DNA will not change so once you have nutrigenomic test results those will not change over your lifetime. Unlike genetic tests, biochemical tests will change over time. Biochemical testing measures the amount or activity of a particular enzyme or protein from a sample of urine or stool or hair. Biochemical testing can be used to assess the effect of supplementation on your system. Ideally, the goal is to use the knowledge of your genetics to make informed decisions on how to supplement and bypass weaknesses in your system. We then use regular biochemical testing to monitor the progress of your supplementation to bypass mutations.