Review: DNAFit

We’re all becoming more and more health conscious and with new nutrition and fitness trends emerging on the market rapidly it can all be incredibly confusing! One-week sugar is the enemy, the next we should be upping our daily intake of fruit and veg to 8 portions a day!

After chatting with Gary O’Brien – founder of Fitness-4-U and our local running superstar (Gary has 7 Half Marathon wins under his belt, including Swindon Half, competed for GB in the World and European Master Champs last year and has won British Masters titles), I was intrigued and 100% on board with having a DNAFit Test!

Gary explained the findings for some of his other clients and how the report has transformed their training and well-being. The results show how responsive we are (according to our genotype) to certain aspects of training and nutrition and delivers a bespoke report covering all aspects of fitness and diet - and even includes a nutrition plan!

Due to having Crohn’s Disease and Ankylosing Spondylitis (both autoimmune conditions), I have regular blood tests but unlike DNA, these are fluid and changeable, whereas your DNA is fixed. I’m also a keen runner and Triathlete so I’m always interested to learn how I can train and eat smarter to feel as fit and well as I possibly can.

The test arrived within a matter of days. I love their branding and the test came in a really functional box containing extremely clear and concise instructions and the swab. I find it mind blowing that they are able to create such an in-depth genotype report on just one swab (basically just slightly larger than a cotton wool bud!).

It’s remarkably simple for such an in-depth report; you simply take a swab of the inside of your mouth straight after waking. There’s no fear of sending back the wrong information as there’s a really handy check list which takes you through every step (of which there are only a few).

After sending the kit off in the pre-paid envelope I eagerly anticipated the results which arrived after just 10 days.

I found the reports really easy to digest as although in-depth, they are presented in a professional report format that can be easily downloaded, so you can refer to them as and when needed. They also provide your results in the form of a stylish infographic which display a snapshot of your results.

Despite the clarity, I found it essential to have an expert like Gary explain the findings with me, to help me understand the impact of the results and the results that were less obvious.

Gary explained each report on his iPad and I really found this mind-blowing; we’re all familiar with our bodies and have an idea of our strengths and weaknesses, but seeing it as a fact in physical/genetic report is really quite something.

We went through the fitness report first. This essentially explains to how your body responds to certain types of training (i.e. explosive/endurance), recovery rate, how prone to injury you are and so on. I found this really affirming as I’ve always known I respond well to speed training but tried endurance training last year which really made me sluggish. The results prove that as well as endurance, I should include power training to make the most of my genetic make-up and gain optimal results. Now I know why I didn’t respond to the ‘zone training’ rather than just guessing why it didn’t improve my fitness. Gary took the time to explain what types of training I should focus on – and importantly discussed recovery and maintenance as my results show I’m prone to injury due to an inflammation gene.

After a detailed explanation of my fitness results, we moved on to Nutrition. I was worried about this one as I’ve heard that a lot of reports show caffeine and bread intolerances and recommending you cut them out completely (I love both!) My heart stopped when Gary turned to this page, however, luckily my DNA means that I process both quickly so I got the all clear there. One thing it did bring up is that I should stay away from grilled meats as these release a chemical known to contribute to some cancers and my genes mean I don’t process the chemical well. Something I would never have been aware of previously!

Due to regular blood tests for my Crohns Disease, I already know that I am lacking in B Vitamins and Folic Acid, the DNA test confirmed this but went a lot further. The test shows specifically what I’m lacking in but also defines what daily intake I should consume vs the daily average (see attached report). I’ve been taking vitamins since the report and I already feel like I have more energy.

As well as a vitamin report, they also provide you with a complete diet plan with recipes – this is seriously good value for money!

Having a DNAFit Test means you are fully armed to make the best of your physical make-up and to therefore have more energy and quality of life.

I strongly believe that the NHS should offer free DNA Testing to everyone. Think of all the people you know that have tried fad diets only to be miserable and pile the pounds back on, or people with diabetes, fatigue, coeliac disease, this list goes on. Prevention is better than cure after all! This is the key to a long term and sustainable diet and fitness plan geared towards each individual’s specific needs.

The test gives you results to work smarter. Knowledge = Power! Some people simply don’t process carbohydrates well and knowing this as a fact would mean they no longer need to go around in circles and be hungry and miserable to lose weight – they could simply lower their carb intake but, if they process fat and protein well, can enjoy a plentiful diet of the foods they process.

The DNA results also show you conditions you are pre-disposed to because of your genetic make-up so you can be aware of what to do to try to avoid or spot certain conditions early.

I trialled the Fitness Premium* and Diet Professional* packages including the consultation which are combined into the Fitness Diet Pro package for a discounted price of £279.

The report included:

• An introduction to the report
• An introduction to genetics
• A disclaimer including the assumptions that the report is based upon
• An overview of key results (see mine below)
• Your results including an explanation, genes analysed, your allele, its relationship to the attribute tested (e.g. carbohydrate sensitivity), and a brief recommendation
• Additional explanation where necessary (e.g. glycaemic index overview when discussing carbohydrate sensitivity)
• Glossary

To speak to Gary or to order your DNAFit report, simply email, call on 07751 470723, or take a look at his website for more info.

If you’re feeling nosy, here’s the overview of my results from DNAFit. (Click to view the full PDFs)

• My Genotype Report
• My DNAFit Diet Report
• Bespoke Mediterranean Diet Plan
• My Genotype Report Analysis Support Guide

And if you want to get ‘geeky’ the below explains how the tests work:

"A gene is a segment of the DNA (short for deoxyribonucleic acid) molecule that contains the instructions for how, when and where your body makes each of the many thousands of proteins required for life.

“Each gene is comprised of thousands of combinations of four letters that make up your genetic code: A, T, C, and G.”

Those letters can be seen in the DNAFit report. The different variations (alleles) can indicate a predisposition to dietary issues or sporting potential.

Click to view full-screen