What are DNA-based Diets and How Do They Work

If you have been hearing about DNA-based diets and wondering how they work then this is what you need to know. These are personalised diets that are designed based on your genes. And they are going in popularity among those trying to find newer and more accurate ways to get fitter and healthier. The idea is that everyone's genes are unique, so everyone must have a different set of nutritional requirements to achieve optimal health. 

Sakshi Bakshi, founder, Nucros Science & Taste, which not only prescribes a diet plan based on your genes but also delivers customised and freshly cooked meals to people, says, “Our genes literally define who we are- from the colour of our eye, our skin, to our height and weight. Genetic factors are known to influence our food preferences, how effectively we process different foods, nutrient interactions in our body and the nutritional demand of our body. Genetic variability in turn explains why different individuals respond differently to the same foods.”

How does a DNA diet work? 

Inheritance of certain DNAs regulates body’s response to a particular diet plan or type of exercise, explains Sakshi. So, you can achieve effective fitness outcome through a combination of positive factors from your genetics and a few modifications to the diet plan.

This gives rise to the novice area of personalized DNA based nutrition known as ‘nutrigenomics’ i.e. the link between genetics, nutrition and disease. Nutrigenomics, also known as Nutritional genomics, is a science studying the relationship between human nutrition and human genome. “The growing awareness of nutrigenomics will help the modification of food or diet to support health and reduce the risk of disease as not all people respond equally to the diet prescribed to them regarding the same disease. DNA Based diet is a smart way to achieve your health and nutrition goals because it is constructed keeping you in the centre of all the planning, calculations and preferences and offers a new tool to nutrition experts to design and prescribe diets for individuals based on their genetic variation,” adds Sakshi.

The possible advantages of nutrigenomics will be:

Better understanding of macro- and micronutrients.

The prevention of certain disease like cancer.

Knowing the right amount and type of food we need to take that our body requires.

The avoidance of unhelpful dietary supplements that are routinely used by the people. 

Increase in life expectancy. 

Eating healthy food and exercising in sync as per the DNA results will work in keeping you fit, lose weight and even build lean muscles.