I’ve been seeing a lot of posts lately on Facebook or Instagram about something called ‘Personalised nutrition’. This is a new trend where companies are offering for a ‘small fee’ (£100 isn’t small to me!) to look at your DNA and tell you exactly what your body needs to achieve certain goals like muscle gain, potential intolerances to food or what “might be making you gain fat”.
Whilst the premise makes sense, I mean after all the things they can do with science now is incredible so why couldn’t I swab a cotton bud in my mouth, send it to a lab and it tells me what I need to do to lose weight. But there isn’t actually any research or evidence to back this up.
In my other life I work closely with scientific researchers at the Imperial College in London (have white coats, goggles, the lot!) and they’re working on some cutting-edge work looking into ‘Personalised Medicine’ again, similar premised, they take some blood from patients and look into how it reacts with certain chemicals determines whether their body would react better to paracetamol rather than ibuprofen for example. It’s a really exciting area of medicine, imagine not having to go to hospitals and not having to hear the words “if this doesn’t help in 3 weeks, come back” they’d know straight away that this would help you, it’d be personalised! However, even this with millions of pounds worth of backing, investment and plenty of boffins working away this is very much in its infancy and will be years away from being able to make a difference.
Personally I now wouldn’t go near these DNA testing kits but in the past I know I would have, searching for answers everywhere and anywhere so if you’re not convinced and want to give them the benefit of the doubt then when you enquire ask them “what guarantee do I get that these results are accurate” I would bet my house on you getting a politicians to answer or one that makes you scratch your end and say “huh!”