Could your DNA hold the Answer to Health? iamYiam Home DNA Testing Kit
Could testing your DNA provide the health answers you’ve been looking for?
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When I became vegetarian I was constantly asked why I’d done it. I was asked so many times that I basically developed a stock answer based on 4 key reasons. The first of these was health. It is, on average, much healthier to be vegetarian. Vegetarians live longer and contract fewer diseases than those meaty LADS and LASSES out there.
I saw going vegetarian as a big step in the right direction to take control of my health and so far, so good! I definitely haven’t earned the right to be a member of the FitFam and I’m no clean eater: I eat way too much bread, chocolate and drink too much beer for that but I feel like I have a pretty well-balanced diet rich in vegetables which is essential to good long-term health.
But what if you want to go further into finding out exactly what will benefit your, personal health? iamYiam provides a personal health plan based on a DNA test which arrives in the post. One swab of saliva, and a few weeks later you have a personal nutrition and activity plan based on your DNA and around 170,000 scientific papers. iamYiam claim that by analysing your DNA, you can uncover things like intolerances, whether you should or shouldn’t be worried about certain chronic conditions and what the best exercise for you to do personally is.
In the mean time, they have a simple online questionnaire for you to set your health and wellbeing goals. I took the questionnaire; it’s probably guilty of being quite leading with multiple-choice answers eg:
I find these statements a bit vague…What if none of these apply to me? Or several? It’s always a problem with surveys like this.
Despite this I am fascinated with what’s happening in the health industry right now. We seem to be moving away from the idea that one-size-fits all medicines are the answer and that we are, in fact, all very unique and by identifying our specific makeup, we can have a far more focussed and individual approach to our health. I’ve seen several examples mentioned on health documentaries recently like how testing your microbiome (gut bacteria population) can tell you which foods you should avoid. I’ve also seen a similar ‘in the post’ kit to test your blood and form a health plan from that.
What seems to set iamYiam apart is the 360° approach. Once you have your test results and health plan, you also have access to a large database of health studies and articles to help you along the way. They also have a bank of recommended health professionals: from CBT therapists to Osteopaths who you can book appointments with.
If you’re interested to delve deeper into what your DNA can say about your health, iamYiam costs £189 for the full package. As a full disclosure, I haven’t done the test myself. I think as we move forward in health and wellbeing, we’ll see a lot more of iamYiam and other bespoke health plans popping up. Let me know if you try it out!
