Tests have become a part of the medical field because only with the help of tests, physicians and healthcare professionals diagnose diseases and try to provide the right type of treatments. There is another very important benefit from tests and especially, DNA genetic testing and it is this test can help you lead a healthy life. Let us delve deep into this so you can keep a few points in mind while deciding whether to go for a DNA test.
Benefits of a DNA Genetic test
1. With the help of a test, you can know how your body will respond to various types of foods and exercises. Simply put, it is your gene that determines the way your body responds to the foods you consume and the workouts you do. If you get your DNA tested, you can go for a uniquely customized diet regimen as well as an exercise regimen that suits you. This also means that by choosing a diet regimen or a workout regimen that is perfectly suited to you, you will be able to increase their efficacy by several notches.
Researchers have proved that by getting a mouth swab carried out as soon as you wake up in the morning and before you venture into the task of brushing of your teeth, scan gene variants and more specifically, 45 of them, can be scanned so the response of your body to various types of foods and exercises can be found. You can find out the sensitivity of your body to carbohydrates, saturated fats, salt, gluten and lactose. You can also find out your intolerance risk towards items such as gluten. The test will help you know your needs of vitamins and anti-oxidants and also your caffeine metabolism and alcohol metabolism.
2. If you are a fitness freak, you can find out if you can go for endurance sports such as swimming, running or cycling or choose power sports such as weight-lifting or sprinting. The test will help you know your Vo2 max or the aerobic potential. You may wonder what benefits you will derive by knowing these facts. The answer to this question is that they will let you find out how quickly your body can recover from your workouts.
Fitness experts nowadays insist on recovery of the body after workouts because only if your body fully recovers from the stress of your strenuous workout, you can carry on with your day-to-day work. Not only that, if you allow your body to remain fatigued after a strenuous workout, you will not be able to do your workouts during the next sessions.
Are genetic tests accurate so you can have the diet and workout regimens that are best-suited to you?
Experts opine that the results of a DNA test that is targeted towards the aim of customizing a suitable diet regimen or a workout regimen are fairly accurate. For example, the test will help in knowing the response of the body of a person to saturated fats. For this, the test has to focus on the “fat gene” or the FTO gene, in which there are three types.
Researchers have found that the body of those people who have the AA variant may store body fat more readily when they consume saturated fats. On the contrary, those with the AT type of the fat gene are only moderately sensitive which means their body may not readily store fat when they consume saturated fats. But the folks who have the TT type are the blessed because their body may have a very low sensitivity which means their body may not store fat even when they consume saturated fats.
Similarly, genetic testing can help in finding the response of your body to other types of foods and other types of activities as well. This means you can use the results of a DNA genetic test for designing a suitable fitness regimen as well as a diet regimen so you can lead a healthy life.