Your Genes Cannot Change, but Your Lifestyle Can

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Helix for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Whew! Can you believe it’s already February?! It feels like yesterday but it was last fall we introduced you to Helix and how easy it was to send in our DNA samples to be sequenced (read about that process here). Now it’s time to talk about the fun part…our results!

Just a quick recap, Helix is both a state-of-the-art lab that can sequence your DNA and safely store the data for you, and also a store for DNA products. The store offers many different apps and services powered by your DNA (like family planning and inherited cholesterol testing). Here's how it works: once your DNA is sequenced in the Helix lab, Helix safely shares just the relevant parts of your DNA with the partner whose product you bought so that the partner can generate the insights that you're interested in and share the report with you. You can come back to the Helix store again and again to get new insights from different products, without having to get your DNA re-sequenced every time.

We tried the Fitness Diet Pro product made by DNAFit and available in the Helix store. After mailing our DNA sample back to the Helix lab for them to sequence, it took me (Whitney) about four weeks to get my results from DNAFit. Scott’s first sample was unable to be processed, so he was asked to send in a second sample, but now we both have our reports back and we are excited to share! We received an email once our reports were ready. We were then able to log into the DNAFit website to get our results and reports. We loved how easy the website was to use and also that they offered the option to download the report. We decided to download the reports to our computers. They were very easy to read and described everything in just enough detail!

It was very interesting to see the results. Some we were surprised by, but some confirmed we’ve been doing a lot of things in line with what our DNA says. ;-)

Remember: Your genes cannot change, but your lifestyle can. <<< I absolutely loved that statement from the reports. It’s so true!

Below are some of the results of our reports:

Fitness Report

• Power/Endurance Profile
• Recovery
• Personal Injury Risk

Whitney:

I had a pretty even split between power and endurance response…which is good because this is typically how I train! I’m definitely not a long-distance runner but we do hike some very long distances. When I do run, I typically only enjoy running distances of 3 miles or less. My recovery time was analyzed as very fast and my personal injury risk was analyzed as very low. Interestingly, my personal experiences seem to agree with those. I have to have a quick recovery time in order to take some of the two-week hiking trips we take where we hike over 100 hard miles!

Using this information, I will continue to train the way that I have been using our workout plans (currently using the She Sweats 12-Week Run Builder) because they already incorporate both power and endurance. Having everything already laid out for me ensures I will be getting a good mix of weight lifting, running, sprint training, AND rest days!

Scott:

My report came back that my genetic profile falls more into the endurance activity zone. Which, as Whitney stated, we already incorporate with our hikes and me with my road bike. When many people think of endurance activities they only think of long-distance running but it applies to many different sports. I’m jealous of Whitney’s fast recovery response though! Mine came back as a medium recovery time. As far as my injury report, the results didn't say that I would definitely experience injury, just that I may have a higher predisposition than other people. Considering the fact that I’m currently injured, I would agree with that assessment!

I have been doing our She Sweats 12-Week Transformation plan (yes, a man doing She Sweats…we need to re-brand and change the name!!!!) and will continue since it incorporates a lot of weight training and the cardio that my body needs. I will definitely take rest days more seriously and focus on proper warm-up, cool-down, and stretching to try and avoid injury in the future. Yoga/stretching was something that we had as a goal for our Detox Your Fitness Challenge last month and neither one of us did yoga once! After getting these results back, I think that’s going to change. It will become more of a priority in our lives!

DNAFit Diet Report

• Carbohydrate Sensitivity
• Fat Sensitivity
• Detoxification Ability
• Antioxidant Need
• Omega-3 Need
• Vitamin B Requirements
• Vitamin D Requirements
• Alcohol Response
• Caffeine Sensitivity
• Lactose Intolerance

Whitney:

This one, as you can see with the information listed above, had a lot more information included. I’ll hit on some highlights. I’m proud to confirm that I am lactose TOLERANT! It’s hard when you hear so many people doing all sorts of things with their diets…sometimes you think you should do the same things too. Just because someone else is dairy free, gluten free, carb free, fat-free, etc doesn’t mean that is right for you too! This just confirms that. The report did state that I should limit refined carbs and saturated fats. Since I already eat a clean diet (for the most part), I am already doing this but once again it just reinforces that I am on the right track. Overall, I learned that I could benefit from increasing Vitamin D, Vitamin B, and antioxidants in my diet. I absolutely loved the fact that the report listed real foods that help in these particular areas. Sure, supplementation is an option but trying to get these from whole foods is something I will try as well.

Scott:

As Whitney stated, we do eat dairy products. We try to only consume organic dairy but we definitely incorporate it into our diets in the form of Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, etc. I was pleased to see that I am also dairy tolerant. My report indicated a medium sensitivity to fats, which means that I should watch the amount of saturated fat that I consume (which I already tend to do!). One result that stood out to me was the fact that I should add more cruciferous vegetables to my diet. I do eat a lot of vegetables (thanks to Whitney for making juice for me!) but I don’t eat very many cruciferous vegetables. I will be incorporating more of these into my diet. Unlike Whitney, my need for antioxidants, Vitamin D, and Vitamin B were not elevated.

We will take these results and make a few tweaks to our fitness and nutrition plans. For the most part, we have headed in the right direction already thanks to clean eating and a solid workout plan!

Next, I think we’re going to order the Food Sensitivity+ test from Helix partner EverlyWell! This one measures antibody reactivity to 96 foods (like gluten, wheat, and dairy) as well as genetic influences on lactose intolerance, caffeine, vitamin B12, Vitamin B6, and magnesium. It will be interesting to dig deeper into the food aspect of this and have more foods analyzed!

Learn more about Helix and Fitness Diet Pro so you can start exploring your own results! Use the code HelixcmrU for 30% off any purchase at the Helix store!

DNAFit: Understanding YOUR Body

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Helix for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

You may have already heard for yourself that you can use a DNA testing kit to find out about your ancestors but what would you think if I told you that you might be able to find out how your DNA affects your response to fitness and nutrition changes? Would you feel excited? Intrigued? Mind-Blown? We experienced those emotions too! Helix is making this happen. From search and discovery to sequencing and storing your DNA, Helix is here to guide you throughout your DNA discovery.

So, what is Helix? Helix is a state-of-the-art lab that can sequence your DNA and safely store the data for you. Helix is also a store for DNA products and offers many different apps and services powered by your DNA (like family planning and hereditary cancer screening). We were most excited about Fitness Diet Pro, a product made by a company called DNAFit and offered on the Helix Store. The insights can help you personalize your exercise and nutrition choices. For example, you can learn how your body responds to power or endurance training, your resilience to sports injury, and recovery speed. This will help you make the right exercise choices for you. You will also learn about your genetic response to carbohydrates, saturated fats, lactose, alcohol, and caffeine. Plus, learn whether your genetics indicate an increased need for antioxidants and certain vitamins. Helix was kind enough to send both Scott and I a couple DNAFit Fitness Diet Pro kits so that we could share our experience.

The process was very simple. It took less than 10 minutes from opening the kit all the way to placing it into the mailbox! Once we received the kits in the mail, we both provided a saliva sample, and simply placed the saliva sample in the box for mailing that was included and walked them down to the mailbox. That was it. The hardest thing for us was remembering not to eat or drink 30 minutes before providing the sample. A few mornings we forgot, ate breakfast, and couldn’t send in our sample!

We loved the packaging for the kit and we also have loved the communication so far. We received an email when our kits were shipped, we received an email when they received them back with the saliva sample, and we received an email when our DNA started being sequenced. We are so excited to get our next email with the results! It’s going to be very interesting to see what changes, even if they are small, we can make to improve our health and fitness routines! As soon as we get the results we will share them with you too!

Learn more about Helix and Fitness Diet Pro. You can also use code HelixvW3q to get 30% off any purchase on the Helix Store. The code is good for the first 25 readers who use it.