Making Healthy Easy
AD-FREE! We talk to the elites who've figured out how to stay healthy while being at the top of their industries - massive companies, competing at top levels, or living in the spotlight 🫡
Founders, athletes, operators - these are all people who don't have time for fluff.
The conversations cover training, food, sleep, hormones, routines - whatever's actually working for them. Some of it's science, but most of it is hard-won experience.
No ads. No five-minute intros. We just start talking 🤝
New episodes twice a month. Follow us on Instagram if you want a heads up when they drop.
Calo hosts this, but we're not here to sell you anything. If you're a customer doing interesting things in your field, get in touch - we'd like to hear your story.
Making Healthy Easy
Your DNA Knows Best: How to Eat, Exercise & Live for YOUR Genes | Rachel Clarkson
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What if the reason your diet isn't working has nothing to do with willpower - and everything to do with your DNA?
In this episode of Making Healthy Easy, we sit down with Rachel Clarkson, the UK's leading DNA dietician and founder of The DNA Way. Rachel breaks down the science of nutrigenomics — how your unique genetic variations influence the way your body responds to food, caffeine, exercise, and more.
Here's what we cover:
• What nutrigenomics actually is (and why most diets are built for the "average" person — who doesn't exist)
• The coffee gene: why your caffeine limit could be doubling your cardiovascular risk
• How your FTO gene determines whether a high-protein diet will work for you
• Why some people burn fat through exercise and others simply don't — and what to do about it
• The GLUT2 gene and whether your sugar cravings are genetic or emotional
• Collagen, AGEs, and what your DNA reveals about your skin health
• Why DNA-based nutrition leads to better long-term adherence than any generic diet
• Rachel's personal story: from yo-yo dieting and frustration to finally finding clarity through her own DNA
Whether you've tried every diet going or you're just getting started on your health journey, this episode will change the way you think about food, your body, and what "healthy" actually means for you.
🔗 Try The DNA Way: www.thednaaway.com
🍽️ Try Calo personalised meal delivery — use code CALOPOD for 50% off your trial + 20% off your next order.
#Nutrigenomics #DNADiet #PersonalisedNutrition #GeneticTesting #HealthPodcast #MakingHealthyEasy #RachelClarkson #TheDNAWay
Hi, welcome to the Making Healthy Easy podcast, where we bring in experts to share free information with you on how you can make healthy easy in your own life. We're not just bringing you high-level facts, but we're giving you real tangible science that you can help implement in your day-to-day life. In today's episode of Making Healthy Easy, we're joined by Rachel Clarkson, the leading DNA nutritionist.
SPEAKER_01Not nutritionist.
SPEAKER_02Call me a nutritionist.
SPEAKER_00The UK's leading DNA dietitian and the founder of the DNA Way. Rachel works with clients all around the world, helping them understand how their genes are impacting their lifestyles, health, and fitness. And in today's episode, we cover how your body is impacted by the things you eat, specifically things around coffee, fitness, exercise, and we get through some really tangible and helpful facts. Thank you for making the time today. We've been really looking forward to this. One of the things that we have I guess discovered over the last six guests that we've had on, and then getting a lot of feedback from people. And I think what we've really found is that the experts are what people really look for. I also struggle to pronounce things by the way, sometimes. So neutrogenics.
SPEAKER_02Neutrogenomics.
unknownOh God.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Give us, like in 60 seconds, what neutrogenomics is as a field in general and how that becomes applicable to everyday people.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so apart from being my favorite science that exists, neutrogenomics is the science of why your genes influence how your body responds to nutrients in food, supplements, beverages, and even how your body responds to exercise. So most typical diets are built for the average, but we are not average. And so whilst we are genetically identical as humans, 99.9%, there is still a 0.1% difference in each of us. And that 0.1% actually is over three million different variations of our genes. And it's these small differences in the variations that mean that two people who are following the exact same diet with the exact same effort will have completely different outcomes. So it's why certain diets that are maybe low fat work for certain individuals versus, you know, not working for others, or why certain individuals have, you know, really high spikes of blood sugar after certain foods. So it's really helping us to understand how your body responds to foods, what is going to be best for you and your goal. Because currently most of the population are working with guesswork. And guesswork means that you're basically going to lose so many years to frustration and so much effort that isn't leading to any results that you'd be happy with.
SPEAKER_00I'm gonna get just proved to you what a Neanderthal I am for a second and ask you some really dumb questions. And that this that might not even make the cut, but honestly, I'm just really interested. Um true or false? Every single person in the world has different genes. No. Who doesn't?
SPEAKER_02Identical to its okay.
SPEAKER_00And and then everybody else has different genes, and and those genes, like just again, really dumb question. Please don't put this in. But like, what are genes? Like, obviously, we've got the genome, but what is what what is um like it's it's at a cellular level? Like, is genes are genes the smallest stuff? Exactly. Exactly. Is there anything smaller than genes? So atoms?
SPEAKER_02So basic, yeah. So basically, we to get quite scientific, when we talk about these different genetic variations that we all have, this 0.1%, these three million different variations, the different variations that we all possess that make us respond differently to the food, the beverages, the supplements, the exercise. These are single nucleotide polymorphisms, or also known as SNPs. So what we're looking at is what are your variations of these genes? What SNPs do you have associated with these genes that really alter how you show up when you take in that certain food or you do that certain activity?
SPEAKER_00And do do some genes impact other genes? So for instance, like you're you're saying that there's three million variants, but you're also saying that all humans have the same, like like I assume that there's also a 99% of our genes are the same, right?
SPEAKER_02That's a really good question. So everyone has the same gene.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02People have different variations of those genes. Okay. So the different alleles are C, T, A. Putting me on the smart one minute. No, no, no, no, it's good. T, C, G, and A. Okay, there we go.
SPEAKER_00And and when the alleles are the SP. Am I getting this right? Yes. The alleles are the alleles are the SNPs. Alleles.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00Got it.
SPEAKER_02So basically the differences in these SNERs will influence how you respond to the foods that you pop into your body.
SPEAKER_0099% of our genes are the same. 1% of variants have have different genome variants. A variable, yes. A variable of those. And that's broken down into the four different categories that I'm not going to remember the letters for.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and that's why we all have different hair colors and eye colors. So we look all different, so we all look differently on the outside because of these different variations. And naturally we show up on the inside differently. So we all have differences when we take in different nutrients, and that being how we metabolize them. So how we absorb them, how we break them down, how we utilize them, transport them, and even excrete them. So understanding your variations in these genes that influence those bodily processes when it comes to nutrient nutrient metabolism is very, very helpful.
SPEAKER_00Got it. Clear. The client comes to you and they you you've taken their DNA profile, let's say it's me, and you have found, like I've done my DNA test before and I found like a bunch of things that were interesting within that. One of the things that came back for me were, I can't remember what they are right now, I wish I'd looked it up, but there were a couple of things that came back that, you know, from a kind of Google search, didn't feel like I could do anything about. Like it was sort of like in, you know, you know, in 20 years from now, this might be a problem or this will be a problem, right? And that and that they said it with some certainty because of X percentage of people that have this gene end up having this problem. What percent of the genes can be influenced by diet and lifestyle and exercise versus what percent can't?
SPEAKER_02I love this question. And actually what you're talking about is disease risk genes. Okay. So this is where you're basically predicting an outcome based on genetic profile.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_02And that's not very helpful. And it's kind of scary too. It's scary, it's anxiety provoking. And don't get me wrong, it's very helpful in the form of maybe rare metabolic diseases. So looking to say heel prick for PKU and children, you know, that's very, very helpful.
SPEAKER_00But if you have you ever discovered those in a client?
SPEAKER_02So we don't do disease risk testing. This is something that we don't recommend and really should be done only with a doctor or a genetic specialist.
SPEAKER_01Got it.
SPEAKER_02A really great example of this was Angelina Jolie, who went and got the BRCA1 gene tested and she had the double massectomy. Basically, uh just making sure that she wasn't at any risk of actually developing breast cancer. And so many people went out and got the BRACA-1 gene tested. And those people who did have the BRACA-1 gene maybe took precautions similar to Angelina, but I love that I'm in first. I love that I'm like first name.
SPEAKER_00The genes that came up for me, it was something to do with like bone health or something like that. And it felt like there was nothing I could do about that. Is that a true statement? Or can all of our genes be influenced or improved by lifestyle and nutrition?
SPEAKER_02What we do is look at nutrigenomic testing, which takes empowering information about yourself, knowing exactly how your body responds to certain nutrients to get an outcome. So take this risk of osteopenia that you're probably speaking about. Well, we can look at, okay, what are your requirements for calcium or vitamin D? Do you need more of this in your diet based on the fact that maybe you don't metabolize it very well? And do we need to add a little bit of K with that? And also, do we need to be thinking about more strength training? You know, there's all sorts of things that we can be thinking about, but it's not very helpful to understand, okay, I'm at risk of this disease without having those actionable steps to take forward in a way that is personalized and right for you.
SPEAKER_00Got it. That's fascinating. I'm interested in like how neutrogenomics shows up in your own life in your own diet. Like, are there specific things that you focus on to improve your lifestyle that are relative to your like testing?
SPEAKER_02The specific changes that I've made in my diet probably start with my cup of coffee. So I'm a big coffee drinker. I love it for the cognitive element. Also, it's a bit of a ritual in my morning. The CYP1A2 gene is a gene that influences how much of the enzyme you have that breaks down caffeine. And I'm a slow metabolizer.
SPEAKER_00I believe it's like 50-50 of the population.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. And so basically, as a slow metabolizer, if I have more than 200 milligrams of caffeine a day, which is basically more than two espresso a day, then I would be doubling my risk of a cardiovascular event in the future. So that's a crazy understanding for me to have, especially when I do have heart disease in my family. So I definitely reduced my caffeine intake. And for anyone out there who's thinking, oh, well, I'll just do that anyway, if you're a fast metabolizer, actually, if you have between 300 and 400 milligrams of caffeine a day, you will be in this like beautiful place of cardio protection, protecting your heart. So, you know, it's not about just guessing again, it's about knowing.
SPEAKER_00Does nutrient show up in your own exercise routine? Like, are you taking up marathon running because you've I mean, one of my genes came back that I'd be good at long, long form cardio or something like that, endurance sport, which doesn't make that much sense to me because I'm like super heavy. But um the the the I cycle a lot, I guess. Um, does it show up in your own exercise regime?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. I mean, I've been always quite an active person, used to swim as a child all the way up into my teenage years and really got into Pilates and weight training in you know my 20s and have carried that on. But it was more of a I enjoy exercise versus being intentional around exercise for my health goals. So when I was able to understand my DNA, I was able to get really granular on okay, how does my body actually respond to the exercise that I'm actually doing? And what I found was that when I exercise, my body goes to fat straight away. So I'm quite lucky in that respect. And so that shifted things slightly for me in terms of my mindset around exercise. And it allowed me to make sure that I was thinking about exercise from a health point of view and also, I guess, an aesthetics point of view as well. But I was more intentional about how much I do, what I do, and for how long.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02And I think this has really helped my clients as well because very often people will be coming to me very frustrated, feeling like they're doing all of the things at the gym, heavy hit workouts, really putting a lot of time and effort into it. And also money, you know, people are spending a lot of money on trainers and they were just not seeing results. And then when we looked at their DNA, we found that actually they don't have these genes that enable them to tap straight into fat. And so exercise isn't going to be as important for their body composition goals. And so they were able to just mentally just breathe again when it came to exercise. And exercise became more of a stress reliever or an enjoyment of their day, a way to build muscle and to feel strong versus I'm exercising to lose fat. And that's where obviously the the nutrition came into play because if you're not going to see the fat loss very well from the exercise, then you must put in the awareness and intentional.
SPEAKER_00But if they're exercising, are they like increasing calorie expenditure? And that's like then has a relationship to diet, like they can effectively eat more if they're exercising more and they're still going to lose weight.
SPEAKER_02I think that's a really important point to think about. Okay, yeah, exercising, of course, does increase calorie expenditure, but we know that calories in versus calories out don't doesn't always work. And that's why people are pushing themselves with very restrictive diets, exercising quite crazy amounts and not seeing results. And then if you do exercise to an extent that maybe makes you overly hungry, then you're more likely to probably overconsume what your body needs afterwards, amongst many other things. You know, for women specifically, there's an element of cortisol that can be released when you over-exercise and therefore you get more fat deposition around the tummy. You've also got an element of over-exercising and, you know, ruining hormones and affecting periods. And so it's really quite comprehensive in terms of a complex understanding of exercise and genes. And again, I'm not a personal trainer, so I don't give specific recommendations.
SPEAKER_00But you could say to somebody like me, you might um respond really well to long form cardio based on your genes. And so you might want to speak to your trainer about something like that. Is that what that looks like?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely. So we actually work with a lot of trainers at the moment, and so we basically give the data and what the decision should look like, and they're then they're the ones that actually take it on board.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome. And could you give us one more example? Like where does it show up for you in your diet? Like you've got coffee, but you know, are you avoiding like red meats or like things like that? And and it is that the is that the kind of things that again that you're recommending to customers, to your clients?
SPEAKER_02You know, I was previously following a very high protein diet, but I don't have the AA variant of the FTO gene. So a high protein diet isn't going to be best for me. So I have a moderate amount of protein in my meals. I used to use like spray oil, yeah, the olive oil spray oil, when it came to my cooking. And I found out that actually my body did require certain amounts of these monounsaturated fats, not just for heart health, but to be able to keep my midsection lean. And so it's really about this playful approach of knowing and doing. So taking the data, having the understanding of how it affects your body, and then actually making those decisions whether you want to or not, because you know, we all live. So I eat out, I travel, and so most of the time I'm absolutely eating according to my DNA portion framework. There are a lot of my clients who we actually prescribe Calo for. So we go in and we shift all of the macros specific to what their body needs versus, say, just high protein or low carb. And just to feedback, we actually had an amazing client who came in on Monday after not being able to, you know, gain any muscle. She's a new client of ours, but she was like, I need a meal delivery system. So we put her on Callo and she's actually built out so much muscle over the last few weeks. And again, she went to a conference in that time, she was sick in that time, and so she was so shocked that she basically was able to gain this muscle. Well, even despite the illness, despite the travel. But it was all because Callo was specific to her DNA and her needs.
SPEAKER_00Wow. And so I guess with our personalization, there is a relationship there where you can then guide someone on which of the meals they choose from us. And one of the things that we do that is a lot of work is on every meal you've had, I don't know whether you've played with this feature yet, but you can click the meal, click customize, and then remove ingredients that are within there as well. And I guess that could be um helpful to people that have more knowledge about how DNA is like affecting the things that they eat, or is how they're affected by the things they eat because of their DNA. I want to take you back because you were originally working in NHS, so I'd love to hear what that was like. And then there came a point where you went out and did your own thing. So tell me about that turning point as well.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh it was a big, big turning point in my career. I would say that it actually started at a conference, International Conference of Personalized Nutrition in San Francisco. And I was at the time a clinical dietitian in the NHS, and I was sat in this room at this conference amongst brilliant minds, really amazing thought leaders, that, you know, founders, scientists, investors, and really getting excited about the area of personalized nutrition, talking about testing, algorithms, you know, all of the things, the apps, the exciting things that we know exist currently today. And one thing that was really shocking at the time was that there was no one there in the room that would be responsible for taking this personalized nutrition into the real world. And so I think that that was the moment where I thought, wow, you know, this is what I need to be doing. This is the science that I want to be taking to the real world. Because, you know, being in the NHS, I'd, I mean, I'd I'd had two different experiences. I've been in the NHS, I've been providing this advice to patients, generic but very good generalized recommendations. So, you know, we know work, but they only work for the average individual. And so I was seeing a sense of some people who weren't responding to the advice. We were seeing others who were not motivated because it didn't resonate with them. And it's quite disheartening for the individual as well as also the practitioner. And then I also had a personal experience of, you know, constantly yo-yoing with dieting, feeling frustrated, feeling like it was just not achievable to get to my best self, whether it be my body, my health. And so it was a really difficult place to be in. And then, and I guess that that was the moment where I thought, you know, if someone's going to bring this to the real world, I'd love to be that person and bring the science into the real into the real world in terms of personalized nutrition. So that's I guess why the DNA way was built. It's a system, it's a methodology, it's not about just testing, it's about understanding who that person really is from a biological place with their DNA and helping them to make those key decisions day to day, whether it be whether you know they're at home cooking, whether they're traveling, or even just in a restaurant or, you know, getting takeout.
SPEAKER_00I love that. If you would like to try the delicious food that we have been talking about, use the code Callopod for 50% off the trial. So that is a no commitment. You do not have to subscribe. Trial. After the trial, you can decide if you want to commit, and that code, Calopod, will also give you 20% off the next order you make with us. You mentioned that there was like a personal element to that turning point for you. Could you tell us more about that?
SPEAKER_02The personal element definitely came from a place of frustration, probably like most people. So this constant cycling of fads on this, you know, yo-yo, heavily restricted eating, over-exercising, feeling almost like a failure. And I guess when life got stressful, emotionally eating and feeling like I was at square one again, start again mundane mentality. And it was really difficult because I guess at the time I was actually studying biomedical science in Manchester, and so I had this high-level knowledge of the human body, of physiology, cells, inflammation, the way that the human body really shows up. And yet I still couldn't work out how to eat for my body, which is just crazy to think. And so that's, I guess, why I moved into nutrition at a master's level at King's. It was incredible as a course, and I got really obsessed with genetics on that program. Actually, specifically epigenetics, thinking about how lifestyle really turns genes on and off.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_02Ended up publishing in the area which I was, you know, very, very happy with.
SPEAKER_00What was your uh piece on that you published?
SPEAKER_02So epigenetics, basically, the turning on and off of genes specific to hepsidin in the in the liver.
SPEAKER_00What's hepsidin?
SPEAKER_02It's basically what allows the body to understand whether they need more or less iron absorption.
SPEAKER_00Wow, interesting. Yeah, we had a good conversation about ferritin with the doctor that came on here. And particularly for women, that's incredibly important.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. So the body really needs to know how to you know absorb or hold off with iron absorption.
SPEAKER_00Was there a key learning from your thesis that you can share?
SPEAKER_02So we were actually working with cancer cells, so it wasn't really related to the generalized population. So it's not something that would be applicable to the generalized listener. Right.
SPEAKER_00Although I think half of us are going to get cancer, right?
SPEAKER_02This is quite a depressing. So then I went on to study dietetics, taking that science to be able to treat people within a hospital setting, let's say. And at that point, I felt like I had all of the information required to be able to understand what is going to be the best diet for me, for other people, to be able to optimize body and health. But the real turning point was when I actually designed my way of living and eating around my DNA. So at that point, there just became this aha moment and sense of clarity and peace that came with these results that were finally starting to happen. I, you know, I had the best body that I'd ever had. My health was in a great place. My functioning daily was just on a level that I'd never seen before. So my mind was sharp, my sleep was amazing, my energy was constant throughout the day. And I just felt like, wow. It wasn't a willpower issue before, it was that I didn't have clarity. And so that's when it became my mission in order to take this to people that I work with, to be able to help people to eat the DNA way so that they found, so that they finally found that clarity and peace around food. And they had this decision system where they had autonomy around what they should be eating day to day, but with the knowledge and understanding of what would be best for them.
SPEAKER_00That's really beautiful and a wonderful like mission to have both yourself and your own like body, but then to be able to take that personal motivation and to share it with other people. I always find it interesting that there really is no shortage of information around health in the world today, but it's clarity that people are missing and then it's personalization that people are missing from that clarity. How do I take all that information and make it relevant to me? And then how do I turn that into actual action in the real world? Um, and I just it's very funny that we have so much science and so much information, yet we we don't have clarity and then, you know, action within our day-to-day lives for most people still. And so it's amazing that you're doing that. How many years collectively were you studying for?
SPEAKER_02A long time. A long time. I think it was close to about seven years.
SPEAKER_00Wow, that's really impressive. Tell me a little bit more about what you look at when you are looking at these gene variants that people that can empower people.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. I mean, we start with macronutrients naturally. These are what we can see on our plate. And so we want to understand if someone's going to respond better to a low carb or a low-fat diet, just to understand, okay, what are those portions looking like? Then we get even clearer on, okay, of those carbohydrates, are they gonna have a really sharp shock in terms of blood sugar spike after the food, or are they gonna be more relaxed? Of the fats that you're consuming, what are the right fats for you and the right portions? Are you someone who's gonna be a hyperabsorber of saturated fat? Not just from a you know heart health perspective, but you know, are you gonna get loads of belly fat from having butter, coconut oil, um, ghee, for example? And so shaping the macronutrients is very helpful. And you spoke about protein. I mean, we all love protein, we love the products, high protein products, we all love to have a sort of high protein diet for all of the benefits. But if you're trying to lose body fat, unless you're an AA variation of the FTO gene, you are not going to see those optimal fat loss results. You're not going to see those enhanced fat loss results. And so what we found was looking at the different variations, those people with the AA variation of this FTO gene, which is actually called the fat mass and obesity gene, by the way. It's not a very nice name, but it's it's an interesting one. Those people who followed a high protein diet actually saw a 220% increase in fat loss compared to those who didn't need a high protein diet. And we also saw shifts around their waist circumference as well. So it's really significant in terms of knowing exactly what is right for you. And that is just the macronutrients. Then we want to think about okay, how is your body showing up for the micronutrients, the vitamins, the minerals that make you feel great today and that will keep you feeling healthy for the future? So, what are the variations of the genes that basically alter the way that you respond to nutrients that support you with energy? So, for example, iron, as you talked about previously, do you need more of it in your diet and where? For example, if you're trying to think about optimal cognitive sharpness, you know, do we need to think about choline and whether you need some more of that to be able to increase acetylcholine in your brain to have more focus, memory, and mood? And then a really interesting one is going to be, you know, do you have sugar cravings? The GLUT 2 gene is an incredible gene to help you to understand. Do you genetically have a sugar craving?
SPEAKER_00I think I do.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Um, this changed things for me completely. I used to think that I had the biggest sugar craving just genetically. And when I found out that I didn't have this risk variation for the GLUT 2 gene, it it just showed that actually it was more of an emotional response to poor sleep and to high levels of stress that was driving.
SPEAKER_00That's interesting. The other side of the equation, right? Because it's, oh, I'm I'm I've got these cravings or I I want to eat more meat all of the time or something like that. And then when you realize that it's not your genetics, it's actually then something that's more psychological. So I think that that's that's really interesting to me because there is this argument, and and and I know there's a lot of science that's coming out around this saying that lifestyle, sleep, exercise, you know, have the biggest influence on your health outcomes and not your genes. What I find fascinating about what you just said is that, you know, by realizing that maybe understanding your genes helps you realize what is being influenced by your lifestyle, you know, by by looking at the other side of the equation. But, you know, how how do you kind of handle that pushback that a lot of the things that are a lot of your health outcomes are actually simply influenced by sleep, diet, and exercise versus your genes?
SPEAKER_02I don't think that it's a conversation around whether it's genetics or lifestyle. I think it's about genetics and lifestyle. So before we're personalizing anything, we're thinking about the foundations that are so core to health. So sleep, stress, and even gut health. And so it's not about this or that. It's about working with everything in combination. And to speak about something like microbiome, which is obviously such a hot topic, it's an incredible area of science with so much science coming out. Again, we've got to look at the science. And the science shows us that, you know, take the predict trial, which is obviously a very well-known and well-respected study. And they found that genetics was the second strongest predictor of blood sugar control after only second after total meal composition. And microbiome actually influenced much, much lower down on the table.
SPEAKER_01That's fascinating.
SPEAKER_02So it's really interesting. But again, we also have to note that genetics influences your microbiome. And so it's quite tightly interrelated. But if we think about the strongest predictor for how you should be showing up with your diet, with your exercise, with your wellness, we've got to think about something that is the strongest with the science and also that doesn't change your genetics, your nutrigenomic variations do not change. And therefore, if you find this information out about your body and you understand how to just, you know, live life according to clarity, not guesswork, then you're gonna have better results, you're gonna feel more motivated, and you're not gonna have to keep testing, which you have to with other certain tests in the personalized nutrition space.
SPEAKER_00And so kind of speaking of testing, if somebody's listening to this and they're thinking, wow, if I understand my uh if I understand my genes, I'll be that'll that will help me understand myself more, and that will help me, you know, with my day-to-day actions in lifestyle fitness or health. How would somebody get started? I mean, is the is it appropriate to simply go for like, I think I did the DNA fit test or something like that, and then they sent me a PDF. Is that something you recommend to people in terms of like an easy access to this? Or would you tell people to steer away from it because it doesn't come with the kind of enabling um consultancy of or the enabling advice that comes with those data points?
SPEAKER_02Actually, the British Medical Journal published an amazing paper, which showed that actually taking a gold standard diet that we use in the NHS, for example, and comparing that to the same diet plus DNA recommendations that were translated by a healthcare professional with an expertise in the field, they showed not just enhanced results in terms of better weight loss, enhanced waste circumference reduction, but also improved adherence. People did not fall off, which we know is the biggest issue when it comes to dieting. The people who had the DNA-based recommendations lasted so much longer. They adhered to the dietary advice for longer. Why? Because they felt like it was for them. And this is something that we don't see amongst these generic diets. We, you know, have friends or family members, colleagues that tell us, oh, this worked for me. You should try it. People try it, they don't see results, and then they just fall off.
SPEAKER_00What's the most common variant that shows up that uh changes the like I recently just changed my moisturizer and my skin's gotten better, I swear. Um, and I was buying like a really expensive moisturizer, like it was like totally overpriced. It was Dr. Grossman's or something like that.
SPEAKER_01Dr. Grossman's like 80 quid a job.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, Dr. Dennis Grossman, right? Anyway, now I switched to Cera V, uh, whatever, and and my skin, in my opinion, has gotten better. That's obviously got to do with my genes because I've got a certain skin type, but then there's also lifestyle impacting it, sun diet, etc., etc. What what do you see that commonly shows up where it's a mistake people are making with this with their skincare relative to their genes?
SPEAKER_02Well, let's talk about collagen.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So, first of all, what is collagen? We have got type one, type two, type three, and type four. Type two is predominantly around optimizing joint health, but type one, three, and four, it's all about the skin. That's why we're all taking it. You know, collagen coffee, collagen shots, collagen powders, all the things. But actually, there are only certain people who actually require this. So we see in the genetic testing that there are some people who have what we call risk variations to this gene that enhances collagen breakdown. And so those people are gonna really benefit from increasing collagen in their diets through supplementation, for example, versus other people who maybe don't need it. And so that's gonna be all about the elasticity and that sort of plumpness in your skin. So, again, thinking about how can genes influence your daily decisions that you're making around your wellness. And my actual favorite is gonna be all about how diet further influences your skin. One of my favorite insights into the skin DNA panel is really thinking about how your body responds to ages, advanced glycation and products, and these form when glucose or fructose bind to proteins like elastin or collagen. And this basically causes cross-linkages. And this shows up in the skin as loss of elasticity, fine lines and wrinkles, you get almost like this fragility and thinness of the skin, which ultimately is why people hate aging. And so, what we do with the testing is we understand do you have enough or not so much of the enzyme that breaks these ages down? So, understanding this can help us influence how we should be eating for our skin. And what we can do if you are someone who is at risk of these ages forming in higher levels because you don't have a lot of the enzyme is we can naturally bring down your carbohydrate in the diet and stay away from natural age foods, which will be things like caramel or burnt foods. So don't burn your toast, no more barbecues, and no mel caram, no more caramel sauce. You know, it's not about full restriction, but enabling someone to know this about their body, if they're really interested in skin health, can be very powerful.
SPEAKER_00Red light therapy, is that something that everybody should be doing, or is that also relevant to your DNA?
SPEAKER_02It's not relevant to DNA, but it's something that ultimately is definitely a hot topic. I think that red light therapy is really exciting if done correctly with the right device. There must be a specific wavelength that you're actually reaching and also a Do you do it? I do. I do, and I have a really great device. It's a clinical grade device called Soluma. And the reason that I I did purchase that was because ultimately, unless you're doing it with the right wavelength and the right product, you're just not going to have that benefit. And if you think about what the benefit is, you're basically powering the cells, the powerhouses, the mitochondria within the cell. And ultimately, unless you're doing it with something that is a great product, then you're just lead in bed, looking crazy.
SPEAKER_00Well, you've got fantastic skin, so I might have to look into it. You had you signed up to Callo. Thanks for being a customer. One of my questions that I have for all of the guests that are here is if you had my job next week, what's the first thing you'd change? And I wanted to get a really honest answer from you, um, particularly around like the custom macros and things like that.
SPEAKER_02Thinking about how you could build on what you're currently doing, you know, I'd love a way for us to be able to play around with the micronutrients, you know, based on someone's genetics and what they need to be able to enhance energy or cognition or sleep, for example. Maybe they have the risk variation of the clock gene. How do we optimize their sleep? Can we add extra things into their Callo delivery? And so, I mean, this is what we do currently within, you know, our our clients, but it would be really great to be able to do that with Callo.
SPEAKER_00That sounds like the next level of personalization and might be coming. So keep your eyes peeled, particularly as we start to introduce more AI to Callo. I'm interested, what would you tell Rachel in her 20s today if you could go back and speak to her?
SPEAKER_02Well, Rachel in her twenties, despite all of the education and the pursuit of science, was very frustrated, very disheartened, very unhappy with her body. And the way that I was able to show up, even in terms of energy and mood, and you know, the daily living issues that many people are uh are experiencing. I probably tell her that you know, it's not her fault, it's not about willpower, and that with time and with discovery you will start to know your body, understand your biology, and everything will just feel right, and you'll have the best relationship with food, the best relationship with your body, and you'll be sharing this with others to help help other people also achieve that.
SPEAKER_00That's really beautiful. And the best answer we've had to that question. I think that's right, particularly for young women to to hear. Um, and that there are answers to the questions they've got, particularly that they can find them um within their DNA as well, I think is uh is like exciting for people and gives a lot of hope as well.