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Saliva and Blood Marker Tests – Indicator of Good Health

Saliva and blood marker tests are the real indicators of good health. In the first of this 3-part series I explained that truly good health is a lot more than just good muscle tone and low body fat. A look inside the body is what is required, and that can be accomplished with genetic marker tests.

The benefit of a saliva test to you include:

1) Identifying what type of exercise and sports will work best for you based on your genes – think sprinting and sports like martial arts (fast-twitch muscle sports) vs. endurance and sports like marathons (slow-twitch muscle sports). This may give you an inclination as to what you would be great at if you don’t already know.

2) Diet that fits you best – think Low Fat vs. Low Carb vs. Mediterranean diet. If you’ve struggled to lose weight throughout your life, this may prove useful. An interesting note from my test is that I carry a gene that gives me a higher sensitivity to bitter taste. This makes sense since I don’t care for things that are bitter, like IPA beers. They taste horrible to me.

I took the saliva test called PathwayFit offered by a company called Pathway Genomics, and some of the gene tests were really interesting. They revealed that people with my genotype tend to be lower in Vitamin B6 as well as B12. What I take from that is I will always be sure to consume these in the form of a vitamin. Another take away is that I am prone to Achilles Tendon tears. So I would never want to skip a warm-up or it could result in serious injury.

I also tend to excel in muscle power sports vs. endurance sports, which is what I have always been best at throughout my life. But I need to be careful as I also carry a genetic variant for obesity, which also makes sense since my mother is obese.

Blood marker tests like Boston Heart Diagnostics or Vibrant America can be done through a doctor like Dr. Steven Brody of the LifeSpan Medical Institute. Located here in San Diego, these tests can reveal even more in-depth info. You can find out if you are at risk for a number of different diseases and conditions like: Anemia (low iron count), Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and lots of other bad stuff.

The reason why you would want to know this is because you can take steps to control these problems actually arising in your life. For example, by running a simple blood panel to detect markers for inflammation, Diabetes, lipids, organ tests (liver, thyroid, kidney), and fatty acid tests, it was revealed to my husband that he carries a genetic marker for Alzheimer’s Disease. Now he can fight this by increasing his EPA and DGA omega acids specifically. And that is worth knowing!

Dr. Brody isn’t your average everyday doctor, for starters he spent 45 minutes with me and said I could ask him all the questions I’d like and take as long as I want! Wow! Can’t remember the last time a doctor told me that! Dr. Brody is the doc you want to go see to maintain good health. Don’t wait until something goes seriously wrong. He is an M.D., a Ph.D., board certified in Endocrinology, and an Ob-Gyn. And plus he’s a great guy that actually practices what he preaches, he’s in great shape. I find it hypocritical for doctors to give advice on health when they themselves are in poor physical condition. You won’t find that at the LifeSpan Medical Institute. Live life to the optimum!