Unlock Personalized Nutrition: Your Genetic Blueprint Explained

Ever wondered how understanding your DNA could transform your health?

In this episode, we unlock the secrets of your genetic code with nutrigenomics, paving the way to optimal mental wellness. We'll explore how tiny genetic differences influence your body's processes at a cellular level.

Listen in on a segment from my "Ignite Your Mental Wellness" training, where we clarify the differences between genetic variants and mutations, and dive into nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics. Discover how single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) impact your mental and physical health.

We'll also discuss the importance of genetic testing and how SNPs affect traits like detoxification, mood stability, and metabolism. Learn why it's crucial to view SNPs in their biochemical context and how diet and lifestyle can modify your epigenome.

Whether you're new to holistic mental wellness or a seasoned health enthusiast, this episode has valuable insights to boost your well-being.

How to Work Together

• Free Training! 🔥 Ignite Your Holistic Mental Wellness Transformation
• Join Calibrate 🧬 Become Your Own Medicine by Harnessing the Power of Your DNA & Daily Choices for Optimal Health & Mental Wellness (50% off on pre-sale now!!)
• ✨ Book Your Mental Wellness Breakthrough session! This is for courageous folks who are ready to ditch the physical and mental health symptoms, take their life back, and embody their most flavorful, fulfilled life. (New Client Session)

Links & Resources

• Join the Community & Dive Deeper on the Unforked Newsletter (This is where you sign up to receive my potent AF affirmations & more!)
• More Resources & Holistic Wellness Services
• Full Episode Shownotes & Transcripts

Thank you to YOU, the listener, for being here on this journey together.


With a full heart (but always room for a slice of pizza),

Haley Schroth, RDN, LD, CPT, RYT, CMWC | Founder & Integrative Mental Wellness Coach

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Howdy friend, welcome to Unforged, an unfiltered holistic nutrition and mental wellness podcast for evolving folks that crave a delicious life of fulfillment. Haley, here I am, your host, a trauma-informed functional medicine dietitian, holistic mental wellness coach and the founder of the Fulfilled Fork. On this show we dish up insights and activations while learning about sustainable mind, body, soul lifestyle practices. It's sweet, it's savory and it'll spice up your life. To stay connected, make sure you sign up for our unforked email list at thefulfilledforkcom. Forward slash links. Let's dig into the episode. Thefulfilledforkcom. Forward slash links. Let's dig into the episode. Howdy friend, haley here and welcome back to the Unforked podcast. So excited to have you here. As always, if you're new here, also welcome. Equally as excited to have you in the tribe in the unforked, the fulfilled fork community. I'm just so grateful.

Speaker 1: 1:07

Today we are doing something a wee bit different than usual. I am going to take a chunk of my Ignite, your Mental Wellness training, and give it to you in the podcast form. So the little chunk that I have taken out today is about nutrigenomics. That seems to be the most popular topic, obviously, of course, because that's like the main thing that I do here is work through that nutrigenomics, epigenetics-based lens. That's also trauma-informed, of course, and I thought that this would be a great way for you to get some more specific examples on the genetic variation. So on some of the SNPs, those single nucleotide polymorphisms, on some of the SNPs, those single nucleotide polymorphisms, and that way we can talk more about what the difference between nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics is, as well as dive a little bit deeper into epigenetics and give more of an example of how that actually works in the body, of how that actually works in the body, because I can just tell you that it works and that it's science all day. But until you have a grasp on how the science works, how the work actually works, it's not going to land the same. So we're talking about those few things and we are also going to be talking about the difference between those genetic variations, those SNPs, versus mutations, and how the epigenetics influences and how those SNPs, those genetic variants, are influenced by your environment, which then goes on and influences your body's biology, like the biochemical processes that are going on in your body. That's what I mean when I'm talking about this work changes your body at a cellular level. So that's what we are talking about in the snippet today from Ignite your Mental Wellness Training.

Speaker 1: 3:29

And, of course, if we're talking about that before we dive into the episode, I do want to preface this and say, if you have not signed up yet, please go ahead and sign up for that Ignite, your Mental Wellness Training. You are going to absolutely love it, especially if you love any of the conversations we've had on nutrigenomics before, and if you are, if you enjoy this conversation today, you are going to love that training. It just wraps everything up in a nice, pretty little bow. Oh my gosh, it's such a great training packed with information. Oh my gosh, it's such a great training packed with information, absolutely packed. And I just know that you will come out of that feeling like you have more clarity on your next steps in health, not to mention that in the Ignite, your Mental Wellness training one, it is free, if I didn't say that already. Two, that confidence in stepping into your next level of health comes from the work that we do inside of this training. So you are going to absorb some information and then I also give you some actionable steps to move forward with. So it's not just an information dump. I'm actually going to give you tools that you can use to make your next health decision.

Speaker 1: 4:52

So in that class, besides the nutrigenomics piece, we are also talking about the difference between mental illness and mental wellness. We're diving deeper into the continuum of holistic mental wellness and how I use the nutrigenomics in relation to that continuum of mental wellness for those sustainable results in your health, in your goals, your manifestations, your overall life. We're also in that training, addressing why you're not seeing results yet in your physical and mental health and just overall well-being. Why haven't you had the results? You're not seeing results yet in your physical and mental health and just overall well-being. Why haven't you had the results you're looking for yet? And of course, I'm going to tell you about the foundations of holistic mental wellness and how I take people through my foundations in all of my programs. Of course, whether you're private coaching with me, whether you are doing a program, it doesn't matter what part of my world you're in Like this is the base of the work we do, and so we talk about those foundations of holistic mental wellness.

Speaker 1: 6:04

So again, definitely sign up. If you haven't done so yet, the link is going to be in the show notes. You can also find the free training signup page on my website, thefulfilledforkcom. It's in big letters it says free training. Can't miss it. Go check that out. Just sign up. The video training will be sent to you in your inbox. It's amazing, it is absolutely amazing. Okay, and now one last caveat, little thing I wanted to add before we listen to the. The snippet from the ignite training is that when I talk about the TNF-alpha in the training, I am talking about the TNF-alpha gene variant. So that SNP and I just wanted to be clear that I'm talking about the genetic variant when I'm referring to that in the training, because it could be confusing, otherwise perhaps no-transcript.

Speaker 1: 7:11

We are going to now talk about personalized health and holistic mental wellness. So I mentioned nutrigenomics earlier. I mentioned epigenetics earlier. We're going to dive into that so that way you have a better idea of what the heck I do here. All right, so the nutrigenomics is the study of how nutrients and bioactive food compounds influence gene expression. So gene expression is the epigenetics piece, the turning on or off of genes. We will get into that in a second. And so with nutrigenomics we are looking at how nutrients influence our genes and how those dietary components activate or suppress. So the turning on or off those specific genes. Our genes are highly flexible or epigenomics anyway. So the role of nutrients in regulating the biological pathways and health outcomes is incredible. Nutrigenomics plays this role.

Speaker 1: 8:22

An example of nutrigenomics is going to be omega-3 fatty acids and inflammation. So the gene involved in this example is the TNF alpha gene. And so when the omega-3 fatty acids are consumed so if I eat a salmon, if I have a supplement, an omega-3 supplement, a high quality omega-3 supplement those omega-3s are going to influence the expression of that TNF alpha gene. And the TNF alpha gene is involved in the pro-inflammatory TNF alpha molecule and the TNF alpha contributes to that chronic inflammation. It contributes to inflammation. And so when you consume the salmon, when you consume your omega-3 supplement or any other high-quality source of omega-3s, then you are reducing the expression of that gene, you're down-regulating the gene expression. And when you do that down-regulating or reducing that expression of that pro-inflammatory gene then it lowers the levels of inflammation in people, especially people that are prone to chronic inflammation.

Speaker 1: 9:56

So that is one example of how the nutrigenomics piece works. That is how the nutrient then influenced the expression of a specific gene. So nutrigenetics, on the other hand, is how the genetic variants, how those genetic variants actually influence responses of dietary nutrients in the body. So the gene is then influencing, or the gene variant is then influencing that nutrient metabolism and or nutrient requirements in the body and or nutrient requirements in the body, and this is where we get the personalized dietary recommendations based on an individual's genetic profile. So the nutrigenomic testing is incredible, incredible information for this Incredible information.

Speaker 1: 10:52

And so an example of nutrigenetics would be the caffeine gene. The gene involved in caffeine metabolism is the CYP1A2 gene, and so that is a variant, a genetic variant that changes how your body responds to caffeine. And so, like myself, when I did the genetic test, I realized that, oh my gosh, no wonder I'm so sensitive to caffeine, no wonder I can't sleep if I've had a little bit of caffeine later in the afternoon, or how sensitive I am to it, because my genetic profile showed me that I am highly sensitive to caffeine. I metabolize it slower, and so it has a chance to build up, and that's very different than somebody who is a fast metabolizer of caffeine, and it doesn't impact them as much, like they might be able to drink a cup of coffee closer to bedtime and be just fine. That's a foreign concept to me. I would not sleep, I would not sleep. So that's the difference between nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics, and I do want to add a little caveat here and say that a nutrigenomic test is absolutely incredible information and I highly, highly, highly recommend it.

Speaker 1: 12:21

This is part of what I do here at the Fulfilled Fork is help people understand the nutrigenomic testing and what is the whole picture, the systems, how, the symptoms and your lifestyle and all of the pieces of the puzzle, how that all fits together and can influence your gene expression and what your risks might be, or where you're already seeing impacts epigenetic wise. Or where you're already seeing impacts epigenetic-wise, like if you have high cholesterol and then you see on your profile that, oh my gosh, I'm really prone to high cholesterol, and then we can say, okay, well, let's do this or let's do that to help regulate that gene expression, to help change the outcome from a cellular level. It's crazy, it's so cool, it's so, so cool. I am so nerdy about this, but I do want to say that, while that nutrigenomic test is incredibly, incredibly helpful information, I highly recommend it. It has changed my life, not only like, of course, I do this work with clients, but it changed my life for me to have this test. My understanding of my body and health is so, so, vastly different than before. I did this nutrigenomic test, and I use this information every single day, and when I say every single day, I mean every single day. It influences my choices every single day, and when I say every single day, I mean every single day. It influences my choices every single day, and so the test is incredibly beneficial. I highly recommend it for everyone. That is to say, though, that do you have to have a genetic test? Do you have to have a nutrigenomic test to influence your epigenome, to see the benefits of healthy eating and the omega-3s, for example? No, you don't have to have the test, but the test is where we get the personalized information. The test is where things get really personalized, really personalized, so that is where you can take it a level deeper.

Speaker 1: 14:51

Okay, so I've mentioned epigenetics a lot. What is epigenetics? We talked about the turning genesome, so the epigenome is a really cool, a really, really, really cool piece of your biology. It is flexible, and what the epigenome does is that it either expands and makes the information in your genetic code more accessible and more able to change, or it contracts and is more rigid and it makes that information unreadable, and so that is the mechanism, in a very simplified way, of turning genes on or off. That is how the epigenome actually works. And so epigenetics is the study of how our behaviors and how our environment actually affect how our genes work, so how it affects that epigenome and turns the genes on or off. That is what epigenetics is. And so with epigenetics, we are able to change our body's expression, our DNA expression, through the factors like diet, nutrition, lifestyle, stress and trauma, all of those things. Yes, trauma and stress I've mentioned nutrition and lifestyle but yes, also trauma and stress influence your epigenome, definitely, influence your epigenome, definitely. So, again, we're looking at the holistic piece. I'm not here just looking at the nutrition piece and saying, oh, let's just eat some good foods. While that's amazing, that is absolutely amazing, we take it one step further here, at the Fulfilled Fork.

Speaker 1: 16:50

And so the SNPs, then, are that, when you get a genetic test, that is what you're looking at. You are looking at the SNPs. And on the genetic test that I use specifically, we're looking at a collection of SNPs in a biochemical pathway. We are looking at these SNPs in these pathways, and I'll explain what the pathways mean in a moment. But first, snps are single nucleotide polymorphisms and that is a genetic variation like almost like a spelling change, like when you spell color with a U versus a color with no U. It's like a spelling change like that. And this SNP is a spelling change in our genetic code and those spelling changes in our genetic code can influence our health traits and our susceptibility to certain illness, disease, health conditions, including mental health, and that is my big area of interest, that is my big specialty, of course, physical health, but really looking at epigenetics and how it influences mental health is just so fascinating to me and that is a lot of the work that I do here with clients at the Fulfilled Fork.

Speaker 1: 18:15

These SNPs they influence our actual biology, such as our blood sugar regulation, our ability to detox like our liver's ability to detox, because our bodies detox naturally our moods, our memories, our levels of inflammation in the body, our ability to use certain nutrients and transport certain nutrients, like vitamin D and folate. Snps influence our metabolism and weight management. Snps influence our fitness and our recovery times. It's crazy and this is all information that you learn from the genetic test and what we really go into depth into in my program, calibrate. That we'll chat about at the end, and so the most important thing to know with epigenetics is that your epigenome can be modified with diet and lifestyle, and that's what we do here. I could stop there, but I won't, but I won't. So we talked about how the SNPs are in um, in the tests that I use, grouped into these biochemical pathways, and when we look at these SNPs in that way, it is showing us the impact, the impact potential, and so when you have a series of SNPs in a pathway such as detoxification, so if you have these different genetic variations in the detoxification pathway, you might be at a higher risk of poor detoxification abilities. Or if you have a lot of these genetic variations in your mood pathway, you might be at higher risk of mood instability, of mood disorders, of addiction, of certain things like that. And so we can use this test to look at risk.

Speaker 1: 20:39

It is not a diagnosis, by any means. The genetic test is never a diagnosis, ever, ever, ever, ever. That is not what this information is, and also this information is neutral, it's just information. It's not good or bad, it's just information, and that is something that I feel a great need to preface, because I've seen a lot of people go get genetic tests and one.

Speaker 1: 21:06

They look at individual genetic variations versus looking at pathways and connecting it to their lifestyle, their symptoms, their health conditions, their trauma. They just look at one piece of the puzzle and they don't connect everything, and then it doesn't work. It doesn't work that way. You have to look at it holistically, and so don't attach to one snip If you see someone doing that, oh no, oh no, send them here, send them here. So, yeah, don't attach to one single nucleotide polymorphism and look at them in the from a holistic viewpoint. Those are super, super, super important pieces to note, super super important pieces to note, and I do want to mention that a you're probably wondering this a genetic variant.

Speaker 1: 22:09

So a SNP is very different than a genetic mutation. They are definitely not the same thing, definitely not. So SNPs are very common. Greater than 99% of the population has them, the human population and a genetic mutation is very rare. It is found in less than 1% of the population, or 1% or less, I can't remember. And so when you have a genetic mutation, that is like looking at gene for cystic fibrosis or another disease. A genetic variation is very different than the mutation, because the genetic variation can be modified and the genetic mutation cannot be modified. The genetic mutation, it causes disease. It causes disease. And while SNPs can influence somebody's susceptibility to disease, it does not cause them. It is changed by the diet. It is changed by the environment in which someone lives. It is changed by the trauma, it is changed by their lifestyle. So they are two very different things Not to be confused by any means.

Speaker 1: 23:30

All right, my friend, I hope you enjoyed that little snippet of the Ignite, your Mental Wellness training. I hope it brought you some clarity into nutrigenomics, nutrigenetics, epigenetics, all the things. If you have specific questions about nutrigenomics, epigenetics, nutrigenetics, any of the things, all the science, the biochemistry, whatever it is, please drop your questions. I would absolutely love to feature your question on either in my newsletter on forked and or on the podcast, like you might get a double feature and get your question answered. I would love to be able to hear what you are are curious about, hear what you are wondering about. When it comes to genetic testing, if you have questions about well, is it, will it help with this, will it help with that? Like that? That's some of the most common questions that I get. Like recently I had somebody ask if if the nutrigenomic test could help figure out kidney stones and why somebody might be experiencing kidney stones, and so I went into it with her on that and so, yeah, if you have any specifics like that or anything else, just let me know. I would absolutely love to nerd out with you and for you and answer your question here. If it doesn't have to do with nutrigenomics, nutrigenetics or epigenetics, that is a-okay too. You can send me any of your nutrition, mental health, boneless questions. They're all welcome, even creativity. All of it is holistic mental health, right? So, holy cow Cool, I am going to leave this episode there. Holy cow Cool, I am going to leave this episode there.

Speaker 1: 25:24

Next week we are going to continue talking about nutrigenomics. I am just really excited about it, as I have been for years. But I'm really, really excited about it because of an upcoming program I have called Calibrate, where we are going to dive in to your unique genetic code and you are going to learn those foundations of mental wellness and, like, not even just learn them, but master them, embody them, so that all the health pieces of the puzzle, so that those missing pieces can fall into place for you, so you can have the aha moments with your health and have a really clear direction that gives you confidence in taking those next steps with your health. That is what the upcoming Calibrate program is on, and if you're curious about it, it might be up all over the website. Depending on when you're listening to this, it might be in the show notes and or if you're early and you're listening to this one, it comes out. Check out the Ignite your Mental Wellness training, and I do a little bit of a deep dive into it there. Calibrate is currently on presale, and presale means discount, presale means 50% off. So if you are curious about nutrigenomics, definitely head over into the Ignite your Mental Wellness training. Shoot me a message, that's fine too. Send me a message if you're curious about it and or visit the link in the show notes, if, depending on when you're listening to this.

Speaker 1: 27:06

Wonderful, my friend. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode and I absolutely cannot wait to see you next week. Yeah, I just appreciate you so much, my friend. So cool. I hope you have an absolutely phenomenal day. Thank you for listening to Unforged. You can find all resources and links from this episode in the show notes at thefulfilledforkcom forward slash podcast. If you enjoyed the episode, we'd love if you'd send it to a friend and rate and review the show on either Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Then email us a screenshot of your review to howdy at thefulfilledforkcom for a one-time credit to use towards our wellness services at the Fulfilled Fork Chat soon.