Hey gang. It’s Maria here from Goalie Training Pro TV. This is episode 22, and we’re talking about spit today, sort of. We’re talking about Nutrigenomix, which is DNA testing that gives you some really, really cool data.
Check out the video on YouTube here >> https://youtu.be/AuuGJGq98OU
It does not seem so hard, and they don’t even give you a whole hollow tube. And you just have to spit to fill it up, which isn’t very much.
The registered dietician that I have work with our athletes, her name is Lisa Cianfrini. If you’re in the London area, she’s the best. She even works with some my online goalies. But, she’s like, “Okay, just spit to fill this up.” It’s like, “Okay,” and then as soon as I go, there’s no spit. It was like my spit factory turned off.
I don’t know why. I can’t pee in front of people, so apparently, maybe, I just can’t make spit in front of people, either, but we eventually got ‘er.
So, you just spit in the tub, and then you seal it. And then the lid, you can see the blue stuff. You put that on. That’s a stabilizer. We mail it off to the lab, and then the results come back to Lisa. And then we sat down and went over all the results. So, what I’m gonna do is go over these results with you, just to show you the kind of information that you can get from this Nutrigenomix.
So, I have my report. It’s several pages, it’s a 31-page report. It gives us a summary page, but then it goes through everything. So, basically, you’re gonna come out with typical risk factors, elevated risk factors, low risk factors, diminished risk, slightly elevated, and such. It looks at everything.
One of the things that’s pretty cool is – basically, you have genetic markers that give you predispositions to what kinds of foods you can eat, what kinds of activity you’re predisposed toward, so that’s the first part. It’s fitness and physical activity.
It’s your motivation to exercise. Unbelievably, this is a genetic thing. Mine is typical.
Your exercise behavior – mine is typical. So, it’s like you have a typical likelihood to engage in activity. So, if you just don’t ever work out, because you’re lazy, don’t be like, “Ah, it’s probably my genetic.”
Power and strength is typical. So, my potential to engage in power sports is typical.
This interesting, because it said, well, my endurance is enhanced. You have a genetic advantage to excel in endurance sports, which is, yeah, totally. My varsity sport was cross racing, and then I rode competitively after university for several years. So, yeah, I was never the one doing the 100-meter sprint.
It has your pain tolerance, if it’s typical or elevated.
This one stopped me in my tracks a bit. Achilles tendon injury – elevated. So, I will go through a period when I wake up or get up, and I’ll have stiffness right in my Achilles tendon, or if I start running, it’ll be stiff, but I’m like you guys. Yeah, after I run 1/2 mile or so, it loosens up, and it feels fine.
Well, when you have that stiffness and a little irritation, the tissue is remodeling, and it’s remodeling to be a little more plastic, a little less elastic, and that’s how Achilles tendon ruptures usually happen.
So, that was like, whoa. I would have never though of that in a million years, so I really try to pay attention to keeping my calves nice and foam rolled, using the cross ball, and keeping them stretched out. And if they get feeling stiff like that, I don’t ignore it any more like I used to.
Your vitamin A, your vitamin B12, so yeah, vitamin B12 was one that I was elevated. So, then, it gives me recommendations, maybe you could consider a supplement, but it also gives you a little list of foods that are higher in vitamin B12, things that you can get in your natural diet.
She actually said that my results were a little bit weird, a little bit different. She’s like, “You know what. You’re actually one of the few people who probably would do better on more of a paleo-style diet or a Mediterranean type of diet,” which totally makes sense, because my grandmother was Greek. And there were some foods she just couldn’t eat, because she couldn’t digest them when she came to North America.
Vitamin C – typical. Vitamin D, so my risk to be deficient in vitamin D, is elevated. Again, it’s like, hey, I should probably supplement, plus we live in Canada where it’s dark all winter, and sometimes half the spring is dark, too. So, it’s like, “Oh, okay, that’s cool.”
Vitamin E is typical. Folate is elevated, so I need to make sure I’m getting enough folate.
Iron overload, I have a very low risk of getting iron overload. Some people will hold more iron than others, and that can be a problem. It can be a toxic thing for them, but my risk factor for low iron status is elevated. So, that means that I need to be careful that I’m getting enough iron, and that’s even when I skied, I would often be, and I thought it was just because I was skiing so much, but I would have low iron, so we’d have to supplement there (which if you’ve ever had to take iron supplements, not the most fun if you like to poop every so often – I’ll just leave it at that).
This was interesting, too, caffeine. So, my tolerance for caffeine is diminished. So, it’s like, “Hey, you should limit yourself to this much caffeine per day.” Which is 100% true. If I drank even a regular coffee every day, even just a regular sized one every day, then I would get shaking right out of my boots. If I have a Tim Hortons dark roast, I’m gonna be jittering for a good six hours. It’s really, it’s so cool.
Oh, this was cool, too, because probably a year and a half or two years ago, I started not gluten-free, because I knew I wasn’t for sure not celiac, but I just noticed that I did feel better when I ate less wheat products, which also helps you just not eat crappy food, but my stomach did feel a little bit better.
So, then this came back, and I’m at an elevated risk. I have some trouble digesting whole grains, and I also have trouble metabolizing starch. So, it has nothing to do with gluten. Actually, my risk for gluten intolerance was very low, but it’s the grains and the starches that I have some trouble digesting. So, that was pretty cool.
Sodium, I need to watch my sodium intake. Calcium is typical. Omega-3 fatty acids, typical. Saturated fat, typical. Energy balance, typical. Back into physical activity, protein metabolism is typical. It tells you, consume 20 to 30% of your energy from protein.
My fat metabolism is typical. So, since you possess these variants of this specific gene, I have a typical wight loss response based on my fat intake. However, to help ensure that I’m consuming a health, well balanced diet, consume 20 to 35% of my total daily energy needs from fat as part of a controlled energy diet.
Then it goes into saturated fats, and on saturated fats. I have an enhanced response. Since I have these variants of the gene, I can enhance my weight loss by limiting saturated fat intake to less than 10% of total energy intake and consume the rest of my recommended daily intake from unsaturated fats.
So, I need to watch saturated fats, because my body will tend to store them more. It’s funny, because I’m having pictures in my mind, because my Yaya, she was only 4’8″, but she weight probably 165-175 pounds in her day, so she was a large woman. So, I keep thinking, “Hey, I wonder if when I’m …” because I probably don’t remember her until she was like 65. I’m like, “Wouldn’t that be hilarious when I’m 65, I’m just like round, and my fingers turn into sausages like hers, and it would be kind of fun.” I might start speaking with a Greek accent if that happens and wearing a babushka or something.
But, yeah, so it’s like, “Okay, that’s good.”
Monounsaturated fats – normal. Lactose – slightly elevated, so actually, this was one thing. My Yaya couldn’t drink cow’s milk, actually didn’t really drink any milk.
Lisa said when she went over this all with me, she said that I shouldn’t stop drinking milk or eating dairy products, because then I really would lose the ability to metabolize them, probably, or digest them, I should say. So, she said, but just have an eye, and then maybe probably as I get older, I might get more sensitive to it.
So, if I start noticing that oh, jeez, every time I have milk, or whatever, I get an upset stomach, that may be why. But I don’t drink a lot of milk, anyway. I usually have almond milk, and I like feta cheese with our snack every day.
Gluten, I’m good to go. I’m low risk of gluten intolerance. It says so right on the paper.
This is interesting, fat taste perception. Some people can’t taste the fat in foods, and then they might overeat fatty foods, but this one for me was typical. So, it’s like, yeah, if I’m eating hamburger, I know the hamburger.
It has for sugar preference. So, yeah, some people are just really … That sugar taste, it actually hits pleasure centers in their brain, and they’re just like, “Yes!” I’m just kind of normal, like yeah, it’s sugar, whatever.
Eating between meals, I’m at an elevated risk for eating between meals. Which is kind of funny, but I eat that way anyways. I eat my breakfast, a small breakfast, and then I have my snack, like some almonds and a small piece of cheese at around 8:30. Then, I have my lunch around 11:30/12. Then I have my milkshake around 1 or 2:00, and then I have my supper.
So, I kind of do that anyway, but this tells you, though, that if you know that you often go and get the cheeseburger, or you don’t plan for that eating in between, then you’re gonna grab chips or a chocolate bar, or something. It’s like okay, you gotta really just be aware.
There’s starch. Since I possess this variant of the gene, I have a decreased ability to digest and metabolize starches. Focus on vegetables, fruits, and grains that are low in starch to meet my carbohydrate needs. Limit my intake of high starch foods, which I thought was pretty cool.
And it tells you, too … It says one in 10 people have that variant. In some, it’s like one in two people have this variant, or whatever, so it lets you know if you’re a special snowflake or not.
Motivation to exercise – typical. We went over that. Power and strength – typical. Endurance – enhanced. Yeah, tolerance and pain is typical. Achilles injury is elevated.
So, it’s pretty cool, and then I asked Lisa, too, and I asked her sincerely because my grandad was an alcoholic and not that we drink a whole bunch, but it was like, “Hey does this tell you, too, if genetically you’re at risk for heart attack or alcoholism or depression or any things like that?”
And she’s like, “It could, but they don’t put it in the thing, because we don’t really want to be having that discussion with people.”
But, it’s pretty interesting. It’s called Nutrigenomix, and you spit in the tube. Then, it tells you this.
I’ve had the results for probably a year or so, and it has changed the way I eat. It’s definitely changed the way I look out for my achilles tendon and my calves. Yeah, I do feel better.
So, that’s the scoop, gang. Have a good one. I’ll catch you later. This is Goalie Training Pro TV.
If you have any questions or want to see any other content, a suggestion for an episode of Goalie Training Pro TV, then just put that in the comments section. I answer all the comments myself, so we’ll see you there. Bye.