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GENETICS & NUTRIGENOMICS
Your Genetics Are Information, Not Destiny.
Learn how genetic variation may relate to nutrition, training response, recovery, metabolism, stress response, nutrient needs, and other health and performance tendencies. Then place that information alongside your history, lifestyle, available labs, training, goals, and real-world response for additional context.
You Are Not a Template.
Two people can eat similarly, train similarly, sleep the same number of hours, and still respond very differently. Genetics give us another way to learn about why individual responses may differ. Variants may influence enzyme efficiency, nutrient metabolism, methylation, neurotransmitter pathways, cellular defense, connective tissue, recovery, training response, and other biological processes. Some differences are subtle. Some may have a larger effect on pathway efficiency, while certain deletions can mean a particular enzyme is not produced. That information becomes much more useful when we place it beside everything else we know about you.
WHAT WE EXPLORE
Patterns, Pathways & Individual Response
Nutrition & Nutrient Metabolism
Learn about genetic variants involved in nutrient conversion, transport, metabolism, and utilization, including folate, B vitamins, vitamin D, choline, fatty acids, antioxidants, caffeine, carotenoids, and more.
Methylation & One-Carbon Metabolism
Learn about folate metabolism, methyl-group transfer, homocysteine regulation, choline/betaine pathways, and related genes. MTHFR C677T is one familiar example. Different genotypes can be associated with different levels of enzyme activity or efficiency.
Neurotransmitters & Stress Response
Learn about genes involved in neurotransmitter synthesis and breakdown, catecholamine processing, stress response, and stimulant tolerance. COMT Val158Met is one example where genotype may be associated with differences in enzyme activity and catecholamine metabolism.
Cellular Defense & Biotransformation
Learn about Phase I and Phase II pathways, antioxidant defense, glutathione-related systems, CYP enzymes, GSTM1, GSTT1, NQO1, and related genes. When genetic variation affects one part of a pathway, overlapping systems and related pathways can become especially useful context to understand.
Training, Recovery & Performance
Explore genetics related to strength, power, endurance, muscle characteristics, aerobic response, connective tissue, inflammation, recovery, and training adaptation.
Metabolic & Long-Term Health
Learn about genetic pathways related to glucose regulation, insulin signaling, lipid metabolism, inflammation, cardiovascular function, appetite regulation, energy balance, and metabolic health.
THE LHP APPROACH
Yes… AND.
The body is full of interconnected systems, backup routes, and overlapping pathways. That is why one SNP rarely tells the whole story.
Methylation happens throughout the body. AND genetic variants can change the efficiency of enzymes within that pathway.
The body has multiple antioxidant and biotransformation systems. AND variants or deletions can influence how efficiently individual parts of those systems function.
Neurotransmitters are produced and cleared in everyone. AND genetics can influence how efficiently some of those processes occur.
Sound training principles work. AND genetics can add context around power, endurance, recovery, connective tissue, and adaptation.
The body has overlapping pathways and built-in redundancy. AND understanding those relationships can help us make more informed coaching decisions.
One pathway influences another. Looking at the bigger picture helps us understand where the most useful leverage points may be.
PATHWAYS & LEVERAGE POINTS
Upstream Matters Downstream.
Biology is a network. One enzyme produces what the next pathway needs. Nutrients act as cofactors. Antioxidant systems interact with biotransformation. Methylation intersects with neurotransmitter metabolism. Energy production, recovery, inflammation, hormones, and nutrient status influence one another. That is why learning about upstream pathways can sometimes give us more useful context than looking at each downstream piece in isolation.
BOTTLENECKS & PATTERNS
Genetic variants can influence enzyme efficiency, and some deletions can mean an enzyme is not produced. When multiple findings relate to the same pathway, that pattern may provide useful context about where a pathway could be operating less efficiently.
LOOK UPSTREAM
When several downstream processes depend on the same substrate, cofactor, enzyme, or pathway, looking upstream can help us better understand how the pieces connect.
APPLY THE INFORMATION
From there, genetic information can help inform education and conversations around nutrition, supplement options, sleep, training, recovery, stress, environment, and other modifiable lifestyle inputs.
Precision guidance is understanding which areas are worth prioritizing, how they connect, and what else they may influence downstream.
WHY GENETICS MATTER AT LHP
More Information. Better Questions. More Individualized Decisions.
After nearly 18 years working across nutrition, health, physique, and performance, one thing continues to fascinate me: people can follow incredibly similar plans and have completely different experiences.
Genetics give us another way to explore why.
They can provide information about inherited differences related to enzyme efficiency, nutrient metabolism, methylation, cellular defense, stress response, recovery, training tendencies, connective tissue, and metabolic pathways.
Sometimes that information connects dots that have been sitting there for years. Other times it simply helps us fine-tune what we are already doing.
Where are you already efficient? Where might certain pathways be less efficient? What sits upstream? What is affected downstream? And which areas are actually worth prioritizing?
Ready to Understand Your Genetics?
There is something incredibly useful about understanding more of the biology you have been working with your entire life. Genetic testing can give us another layer of information about inherited tendencies related to nutrient metabolism, stress response, training recovery, metabolic pathways, and individual response. We can place that information beside your history, lifestyle, available labs, nutrition, training, and real-world response to add context and help you better understand the bigger picture. If you have ever wondered why you respond differently, where certain tendencies may come from, or what may be worth learning more about or prioritizing, this can be an incredibly useful place to explore.
FAQ
What can genetic testing actually tell me?
Genetic testing can show inherited tendencies in pathways related to nutrition, recovery, metabolism, stress response, training, and other areas of health and performance. It adds context. It does not act like a fortune teller.
What exactly is a genetic variant?
DNA is built from A, T, C, and G. A genetic variant is a difference in that code. Variants can include one or two altered copies, insertions, deletions, and other differences that can affect enzyme efficiency and how a pathway functions.
How do genetics, labs, and lifestyle fit together?
Genetics show inherited biological architecture. Labs help show what is happening in the body now. Nutrition, training, sleep, stress, environment, hormones, medications, and other inputs influence physiology and gene expression.
Can genetics help personalize what I eat, take, or do in training?
They can help personalize decisions around nutrients, food choices, supplementation, training, recovery, and other inputs when interpreted in the context of the whole person.
If my report shows a less-efficient pathway, what does that actually mean?
It means a genetic variant may be associated with differences in how efficiently a particular enzyme or pathway functions. It does not automatically mean something is wrong or that the pathway needs to be “fixed.” We look at the finding as one piece of information and consider how it fits alongside related genes, nutrition, lifestyle, available labs, training, and real-world response. From there, we can discuss what may be useful to learn more about or prioritize within the scope of LHP.
Am I working with a geneticist or genetic counselor?
LHP provides genetics and nutrigenomics education and interpretation within health, nutrition, lifestyle, physique, and performance coaching. Medical genetics and genetic counseling remain with appropriately qualified professionals.
Genetics and nutrigenomics content provided by LHP is educational and coaching-based in nature and is not a substitute for medical care, diagnosis, treatment, or genetic counseling.