acb

TESTING YOUR GENESMany of us would like to blame our parents or our genes for our weight or health problems. It would
be easy to say that you have the genes for obesity or diabetes, that your parents and grandparents were
overweight or had diabetes or heart disease, so you do, too. But the world of genetics is much more
complicated than that.
Each of us has about 20,000 genes. Approximately 99 percent of those genes are identical to every
other human on the planet; the other 1 percent is what makes us unique. You have about 112 million
variations on those genes, called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs for short), which influence
every function of your body, including your need for vitamins, your ability to detoxify, and your
tendency toward inflammation, heart disease, cancer, and much more. These SNPs also influence your
weight and metabolism and your ability to process or manage fat in your diet.
Every day we are learning more about these SNPs and how they influence our health. We know
enough today to start using genetic tests to help personalize our approach to health and nutrition. Soon
we will be able to take a swab of our cheek, send it in, and for a few hundred dollars know our
whole genome and match our food, supplement, and exercise needs to our own genes, optimizing
function and metabolism. Up to 40 to 50 percent of the variance in body weight among people may be
due to genetic factors, which is why different people respond differently to different diets.12For some of my patients, I order genetic testing to help guide me in personalizing
recommendations. There are some genes that help me tailor my approach for each person. These
specific genes are linked to obesity and the tendency to gain weight, and how cholesterol profiles may
respond to a high- or low-fat diet,13 metabolic rate, absorption of dietary fat, mobilization of fat from
cells, and the ability to burn fat for energy. There are genes that regulate dopamine receptors in the
brain, which control your likelihood of craving carbs and sugar, and genes that can predict levels of
insulin resistance, inflammation, cholesterol metabolism, and even how your body responds to
different types of exercise.
I’ve listed below some of the genes I test for (and that you can easily test for with a home test kit
—see www.eatfatgetthin.com for details):
FABP2: influences your absorption and metabolism of fat
PPARG: affects your insulin function, fat burning, and cholesterol levels
ADRB2: affects how your body mobilizes fat from fat cells for energy
ADRB3: affects how your body breaks down fat
APOA5: regulates your triglycerides
APOA2: affects the risk of obesity, cholesterol metabolism, risk of heart disease, and risk of
diabetes
MC4R: affects your energy intake and expenditure and appetite control
FTO: regulates appetite, temperature, and nervous and hormonal systems
TCF7L2: regulates blood sugar, including insulin secretion and action
ADBR3: affects your responsiveness to exercise and fat burning
PLIN: affects fat storage related to obesity
TNF-A: affects inflammation, which can affect blood sugar control and cholesterol abnormalities
LDL: removes cholesterol from circulation
CETP: regulates metabolism of HDL and the levels of blood cholesterol
APOA1: regulates the production of HDL (good cholesterol)
APOC3: plays a key role in cholesterol and triglyceride metabolism
APOE: plays an important role in the breakdown of triglycerides and cholesterol
DRD2: affects the dopamine receptors in your brain and your risk of addiction to sugar and refined
carbs
Since I am interested in this area, and because I have a strong family history of heart disease and
tend to have higher cholesterol, I wanted to see what my tests showed. Let’s go through my own
results so you can see how this can play a practical role in personalizing your own approach to
health.
On the whole, I discovered I was genetically very lucky. I had only one highly impactful gene that
put me at risk of being carbohydrate intolerant, called PLIN. This didn’t surprise me, since I notice
that if I eat refined carbs or sugar, I gain a bit of belly fat! I also have the MC4Rgene variation,
which makes me likely to overeat. I do in fact have to watch myself.
My triglycerides are a bit higher than I would have expected, given how clean my everyday diet
is. It was enlightening to learn that I have the APOA5 and APOA3 genes; it helps me know that I
should have more olive oil or MUFAs and fewer carbs in my diet.
As you progress through the program, don’t forget to listen to your body. How do you feel? Are
you losing weight? Is your energy dramatically increased? Are your aches and pains better? Is your
brain fog gone? Remember, your own body is the best barometer of what works and what doesn’t.