FEATURE our genetic makeup, the emergence of numerous studies examining the cor-relation of SNP variants with disease risk made them relevant to my practice. The potential to improve diagnostic accuracy, more clearly define risk and hone my therapeutic regimens accord-ing to individual genetics was exciting and, in terms of naturopathic medicine, somewhat of a Holy Grail for person-alized health. As increasing numbers of patients both presented with their genetic anal-ysis or elected to complete it having consulted with me, I recognized that this truly was the next exciting frontier of medicine. Patients were unique and did not fit into pre-designed boxes. As I went over their results, explaining why they felt a certain way after different foods, with varying types of exercise and when stressed or losing sleep, their eyes lit up with a recognition that I truly understood them and their indi-vidual issues. Patients for whom I had scratched my head trying to figure out why my protocols were not working were suddenly doing amazingly well with simple SNP-based tweaks to their treatment. NUTRITION One-size doesn’t fit all W Optimizing diet, health and weight through personal genetics BY DR. PENNY KENDALL-REED, ND lifestyle, our diet, our supplements, we can not only optimize the genetic blue-print we have been given but we can actually alter the way genes work. Starting around 2011, I noticed an increasing number of articles referenc-ing individual areas of genetic variation called single nucleotide polymor-phisms, or SNPs. (Pronounced “snips.”) Individual differences in these SNPs are called “alleles” and these alleles provide the basis of your per-sonal genetic coding results from DNA testing. Articles discussed the associa-tion of SNP alleles with metabolic function, weight management and the risk of disease, particularly diabetes. So, although SNPs had been recog-nized for many years as components of PERSONAL GENETIC TESTING DR. PENNY KENDALL-REED, ND is is a naturopathic doctor in Toronto. Dr. Kendall-Reed is the author of five national bestselling books. In 2013 she was voted Naturopath of the Year and in 2018 was the recipient of the top Naturopathic Doctor. 20 Chiropractic and Naturopathic Doctor September/October 2022 www.Cndoctor.ca Photo: lucadp/Adobe stock e used to think there was lit-tle we could do about the genes we’d been given. They were carved in stone and we were at the mercy of their bidding. It was a fatalis-tic attitude often used as an excuse to avoid making changes to our lives. What was the point if our genes were immutable? Well it turns out that we were wrong. Although it is true that we cannot change our genetic code, we can greatly influence the expression of many genes and control the effects they have on our body. By making small changes to our The number of people ordering com-mercially available DNA tests is going up exponentially. In 2014 there were approximately 1 million tests ordered worldwide. By 2019 this number was above 25 million and numbers are more than doubling each year. Ances-try.com and 23andMe comprise over 90% of these tests. Individuals submit a spit sample or cheek swab to the company, which runs the analysis and provides a report of varying content and complexity. Some are more fo-cused on heritage and geographic ori-gin, while others advise on different aspects of health including disease risk, nutrition and exercise. Platforms differ primarily in terms of the genes they test and the advice provided. From my experience, patients often present with their genetic data, confused by the re-port and uncertain how to address many of the health issues they are now aware of. The five cornerstones of health in my practice are metabolism, diet, stress, inflammation and detoxification. Opti-mizing these is the foundation of good
Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor September/October 2022: Page 20
