Natural Healthcare Center

Nutrigenomics & Opus23

At Natural Healthcare Center, our mission is to help you feel better, function better, and live longer. We strive to bring you the latest and most effective strategies to achieve these goals.

What Is Nutrigenomics?

We are now able to personalize nutrition and lifestyle recommendations based on your genetic makeup. Nutrigenomics* allows us to understand how foods you consume affect your metabolism and ultimately your genes, as well as how specific nutrients may support the appropriate gene expression (genes being turned on or off). Understanding this will guide recommendations for the optimal food and lifestyle selections for your individual biochemical and genetic makeup.

*There are two terms associated with how food affects your genes: nutrigenomics and nutrigenetics. Nutrigenomics concerns how the food you consume affects the gene expression while nutrigenetics is how your genetic variations affect response to nutrients (your ability to use certain nutrients, such as vitamins, for example). Technically these terms are very different; however, many practitioners combine both meanings and use the term nutrigenomics.

Why Is Nutrigenomics Important?

Food is information. Your genes respond to your dietary choices, and understanding how this happens may guide more precise nutrition and lifestyle recommendations.
Your genotype may determine food choice-related disease and/or disease risks.
Specific dietary changes may be used for treatment and/or prevention of a particular health condition.

Is a Nutrigenomics Consult for You & How Is NHC Different?

Getting personal with your DNA (genes) empowers you to understand why no matter what you have tried, you still can’t lose the weight—even though you have been diligent with your dietary and lifestyle choices. Perhaps the “healthy” choices you have made are not optimally healthy for your body. Or maybe your genetic makeup does not allow for utilization of certain nutrients you are consuming and the metabolism is not functioning at its optimum.

While you may find multiple genetic analysis services available today, there is only one complex software tool that allows clinicians to “run” the raw data from 23andme and “decode” it into clinically relevant information that helps determine and guide therapeutic and preventative recommendations, such as nutrition and lifestyle modifications, nutraceuticals (supplements), and even which pharmaceuticals (medications) are more suitable for your body (personalized medicine).

This analytical tool is called Opus23, and it was developed by Dr. Peter D’Adamo, Director of the Center of Excellence in Generative Medicine and Distinguished Professor of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bridgeport, Conn. As the science evolves, so does Opus23. The information in the database is constantly being updated so that your clinicians can bring you the most up-to-date, science-based recommendations.

Our clinical nutritionists, Dr. Oscar Coetzee and Dr. Dana Filatova, are certified Opus23 experts trained and certified to analyze your DNA data using the Opus23 tool, which analyzes 700,000 genetic variations or SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) using the 23andme raw genomic data. The tool assesses how your body reacts to nutrients, herbs, medications, and what genetic predispositions pertaining to health risks you may have.