Can DNA testing help create a personalized diet and lifestyle?

Some companies are now emerging with the claim that they can analyze a sample of your DNA from your blood, hair, or tissue and provide you with a tailored recommendation of the diet and lifestyle changes you should be making. Caveat emptor: let the buyer beware. According to Jose Ordovas, Director of the nutrition and genomics laboratory at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University in Boston, “We have scientific evidence that the concept is right, that we can provide something along those lines in the future, but we are not there yet.”

There are credible companies that can do genetic testing for determining whether you’re at increased risk for specific illnesses. Now that Dr. Craig Venter had his entire genome decoded, it’s only a matter of time before the cost of doing so becomes affordable for most people. As more information becomes available, your predisposition to developing different illnesses will become clearer. If you find that you’re at higher risk, then this information may be helpful in motivating you to go further toward the healthy end of the Spectrum than you might otherwise be inclined to do.

For example, the Sciona company in Boulder, Colorado, is offering a DNA test kit for $99 that claims to provide you with personalized diet advice for heart health, bone health, or any of three other areas. Sciona asks people to complete a diet and lifestyle questionnaire and collect their own DNA with a cheek swab to send in for analysis. Current testing focuses on nineteen genes.