Disclaimer Recite.
- I can only share with some details, albeit restricted in order to not solicit unintended angst or frowns amongst members of public.
- Nothing that I opinionate, share or disclose ~ may act as health panacea.
My nutrigenomics consult
Total Cost = $900. Time required (initial onboarding + initial questionnaire + waiting for report writing + debriefing) ~ 6 weeks total.
Result? Thought-provoking, revealing and somewhat counter intuitive. Among the most surprising are my Vitamin D status. Extra methylation supports (specific B vitamins – 3,6,12 and 5-MTHF). To the least surprising ~ COMT / worrier side of mental psychology traits. Then among the usual “camp” of the disadvantages ~ MTHFR mutations, and suggestive dairy intolerances. Obviously, summarising 100+ pages is impossible here in this feature writeup. Hence a separate feature writing, alongside the final cut presentations split into multiple parts – will soon follow.
Let’s cover the first basic recommendations ~ B6, B12, B3 niacin / niacinamide, Gingko Biloba, and heavy doses of Krill Oils. Niacinamide has been intriguing both good and bad, that it is ambivalent. Gingko, as I previously wrote as a possible Notropic may help in the testosterone / sexual health per se, but as I may recall from writing in 2017 ~ mega dosing might be a little bit uncomfortable due to its facial flushing. I have also been mixed in my opinion surrounding Fish Oils – as I have neither experienced anything significant between mega and underdosing*.
*I have daringly spent luxurious $20+ for the fattiest offcut salmon on occasional basis. And these ~ did not seem to improve training recoverability, nor mood profiling. Somewhat the opposite – at times I felt met mild but noticeable mental irritation correlating within days where I ate the most salmon. SARDINES however on the other hand, at least I don’t think – ellicit the same response interestingly.
There are certainly other things far too nuanced for me to disclose. I doubt however, readers would be interested at reading beyond this threshold. If they do however, colour me impressed.
The prolonged IF trials.
My two (2) prolonged fasting trial attempts were very surprising for me to reveal what ketosis truly feels like. Tired, but relentless. Alert, focused, yet confusingly exhausted.
Ketones at 5.3 MMOL on first trial. Then 4.0 MMOL on second trial attempt two weeks apart.
For the very first time in my life, I have never ever witnessed such a high ketone reading given that ketone testing have been under my circumstnace for a number of years ¬ a luxury discretion. However, is witnessing such high numbers a a moral badge of honour? No, I do not think so. Despite only two prolonged trials, I came to conclude that ketones or glucose -both are obligate energy sources. Obligated that is, to be utilised one way or another.
This Year’s Downsides
The most overarching of all concerns is the most expected. I am experiencing an overall higher stress levels; impacting my sleep, recoverability (though manageable) between exercise training episodes. But thankfully ~ low episodes of malaise inbetween fasting windows. I get so entrenched, or “ruminating”, if one may call it – during my line of work. I have been grateful for that I have obtained work. But the stakes have never been higher, considering the five or six prior years of stigma applying jobs in multiple fold of hundreds.
Consequently, let’s talk about the elephant in the room ~ potential metabolic stress.
On top of experimenting the new supplementations, one at a time, particularly Nicotinamide at the same time also, I decidedly reduce my compulsive reliance on insulin partitioning supports during refeed days. Such includes chromium, and vanadium.
I am sharing my glucose levels yet once again for this year. Download the entire PDF exports:
Footnotes! Lifesmart has these mandatory labelling “before/afters – breakfast, lunch, dinners”. I am purely tracking (95% of the time) fasting tests, hence just as an FYI. For those not have been aware since 2021 I have been using the Lifesmart as a primary glucose tester for its additional HCT / hematocrit tes on top Abbotts freestyle opimum neo. But I am keeping my Freestyle mainly for their more tolerable pricing on ketone test strips ($14.00 for Lifesmart versus $10.00); considering that each ketone box only gives you ten (10) strips, every cent counts.
As interesting trivia lower-than-reference range hematocrits levels has been widely implicated for erroneously high glucose readings (Ramljak, S et al. 2013). My HCT has been consistently hovering in-between 40%, all the way to even at times below 25%. Quite perplexing because I don’t think I’m lacking in red meat intakes at all.
Supplementations (highlights only).
B Vitamins
Those who skipped part one ~ here is a little context. For a good decade (if not more), I have never bothered to supplement on specific B vitamins. I never feel compelled idea. Than just eating, well ~ actual meats that contains good amounts of it. However until now, my nutrigenomics specified me the B’s as recommended – B6, B3, B12 ~ throughout my brief experiences on/off on each of them, in isolation have been a somewhat mixed blessing. Albeit this is still early opinion despite months after the nutrigenomics consult as I’m trying to understand each vitamin’s effect on me both fasting and non-fasting episodes.
As a result? Ambivalent results. But B3 / nicotinamide is interesting. This is the most perplexing of the three. Note I only have the cheap NR / nicotinamide ribosome, not the other one (Niacinamide). TLDR I would say my observations and experiences on these might be too premature.
Difficult to explain, but correlating on days of supplementing NR whenever I listen to my usual end-of-long-work day, music no longer make feeling any “impact” or “feeling” from listening. My brief reading on B3’s effects on mental health is meanwhile, seems generally supportive. Nonetheless another concern worth pointing out is its impact on metabolic health, as per Examine.com’s excellent analysis on B3. On the flip side? Possible training ergogenic. Yes I do feel a “kick” , despite research saying otherwise.
Am I dairy or wheat intolerant?
I always suspect, having excluded and reincluded many suspecting foods as part of intermittent fasting, six years ~ to have some trouble with gluten. However, what came back to me during the nutrigenomics debrief was the completely opposite. But dairy wise, seem to be adversely impacted. Though interestingly the casein part of dairy was more advisable.
Vitamin D Status
And, the most perplexing and surprising of all is Vitamin D. My gene mutations, despite copious amount of supplementations, with K2 and other supporting co factors you name it ~ from potassium, calcium, boron (only dietary source mostly), and magnesium ~ were in the red.
In other words, I am in many regards suspected as not only in low in VIT D status, but severely compromised in utilisation, conversions (presumably from sun exposure > hepatic > renal > VDR receptors) then all the way to storage. For those not up to speed, all my prior years amidst CKD+IF; I supplement at least in the regions of 5K daily though in summers whenever I am exposed to sunlight at least for good 20-30 minutes at a time, I’d forego supplement altogether. Though on winters I intentionally increase to 10k to 15k iu though sporadically.
What is strange is that all my prior blood panel tests on Vitamin D have had always been above reference ranges. So, I suspect either my entire Vitamin D nutrigenomics was somehow a false, (very) expensive mistake, or I may just happen to be naturally fluctuating on these metrics minute-to-minute.
I decided to save up for specific Vitamin D pathology test, privately of course ~ the proper 1,25OHD calcitriol status, then semi active version 25(OHD) calcidiol, PTH, and mineral studies. Result: the 1,25 OHD came back exactly as I envisioned it – high side ~ 145 pmol/L (note: PICO mol ~ reference range = 60-200). The 25(OHD) ~ 141 nmol/L. Parathyroid ~ middle of reference range of 4.4 pmol/L (reference range 2.0-8.5).
All minerals, including calcium were right in the middle of reference.
For more close up look on this I have written (almost an entire mini book length) a four-part article encompassing altogether as my very first “Self’-Meta”. I appreciate your patience.
Conclusion
I am unfortunately not endowed with time detailing the rest that I would have desired.
Hence, wrapping up I would say nutrigenomics is the single most influential decision I have made this year. Despite not their ambivalences even months afterwards – I am still just reading the surface.
That concludes the second part. Click here for the third and ending part.
Live-It-Forward,
AW.