I Asked An Expert If Knowing My DNA Could Really Fix My Chronic Health Issues—Here’s What He Said

I like to consider myself clued up about the commercialization of the food industry, contradictions of mass media messaging and biases of certain medical studies. That’s why I eat organic, don’t drink tap water and avoid seed oils, after all. 

So when I started experiencing inflammatory symptoms a couple of years ago, I didn’t just feel hard done by, I felt confusingly unjustified. Suddenly people could make fun of my health hacks or ‘woo woo’ ways because they seemingly weren’t working anyway. 

I desperately wanted to believe health was a one-size-fits-all approach because I simply wanted to live by the rules and be radiant. But while the ancestral living movement may be continuing to trend (especially among the conservative and ‘based’ circles), I was still confused about what was right for me. 

Understanding My Individual Needs

What supplements should I take? Are eggs actually good or totally bad? Should I only be getting fiber from my vegetables and avoiding all fructose? Should I smoothie or not smoothie? 

I had so many questions, and while my mum has been muscle testing her way out of health issues since way before Kourtney Kardashian brought it to the mainstream, I’m still growing my confidence in knowing what works for my body. 

Now, think about actual ancestral living. Did we all live in one way, have one climate, and have the same access to the same resources, weather, and agriculture? No. Our ancestors came from different cultures and countries and had different ways of eating. Enter DNA coaching. 

I first encountered Dr. Anthony Jay when I listened to a Lila Rose podcast episode about how the food industry is trying to poison us. There were no surprises there, I thought, but I was curious to learn how Dr. Jay uses DNA variant information to guide clients in specifying their diets, exercise, supplements, and blood test priority lists to optimize their brain performance, overall health, energy, and sleep.  

Having done a couple of DNA tests years ago to further understand my cultural heritage, I already had the raw data Dr. Jay would need for my report and I wanted to see if I really had tried “everything” in my desire to be radiantly healthy. 

Identifying My Health Goals 

Remember how I said I eat organic? I also try to avoid ultra processed foods, have lowered my amount of bread intake (which was the hardest adjustment) and am slowly coming to terms with the fact that sugar really is more addictive than cocaine — well it turns out, I still hadn’t checked all the boxes, at least not all my boxes. 

The health war might be against dairy, gluten and white rice, but is that what I’m actually allergic to? I was hoping this consultation would help me get to the bottom of it — and it didn’t disappoint. 

Dr. Jay started by going through my report with me highlighting any negative gene variants that I have (from either or both parents) that could show a susceptibility or risk factor.

My results were fascinating. Dr. Jay identified five key areas to discuss further with me: Alzheimer's, alcohol, dairy (specifically cow’s milk), gut and bilirubin. Of course, this list will be different for everyone but these were the areas that he pinpointed for me to be more intentional about in my every day.  

As someone with a naturally vegetarian-leaning palette, hearing that I’d have to give up cow’s milk (I’m half Belgian so I love butter) and pick up meat was hard to digest. Pun intended.

A Definitive Plan

But in my fight against inflammation, I was happy to finally have some definitive tips on what to do next, tailored especially for my genes.

Dr. Jay gave me these 5 very tangible steps:

1. Cut out all cow’s milk products (apart from ghee) and introduce more goat’s and sheep’s milk. Thankfully, halloumi is sheep’s milk and I love goat cheese!

2. Intermittently fast (in the follicular and ovulation phase of my cycle only) FYI, black coffee doesn’t count.

3. Ideally start my eating day with one carnivore meal to help my gut heal.  

4. Avoid gluten since it contains lectin which is a plant toxin. (Google ‘toxins in seeds’ to learn more, and to see why brown rice is almost certainly worse for you than white rice.)

5. Add in some carbs, cooked veggies and flavonoid-rich berries for dinner to lower my cortisol before bedtime. 

I also got a comprehensive list of blood tests I could take in the future to dig even deeper into my current health markers (especially since my DNA and blood test were from over five years ago), as well as a short list of targeted supplements to help my inflammatory healing journey. 

A surprising recommendation I got was to use a tanning bed for one minute every couple of days during the winter months to help with my bilirubin levels. Considering that the World Health Organization has classified sunbeds as a group 1 carcinogen, I’m inclined to wonder if tiny exposure might just be okay for you after all, but I’d need to do my own further research on this. 

Closing Thoughts

With all the conflicting and confusing information out there, my goal was to get specific and actionable ways I could improve my health based on my own DNA code, rather than fads or trends. Having recommendations with practical and useful tips and strategies of what I should do more of and what I should avoid due to potentially weak spots in my genes was equally overwhelming and refreshing. 

The overarching message I heard was that I’ve been eating way too many foods that convert to sugar in my body, so I need to encourage my body to burn fat instead. And seeing that ‘‘hanger’ has been a steady part of my life and personality thus far, I’m enthusiastic about turning this around and not being so beholden to my sweet tooth. 

All in all, looking towards our own ancestral genetics to help us make choices when it comes to our food, disease prevention, gut issues, detox issues and brain optimization makes way more sense to me than relying on social media movements, trending diets or even worse, the state’s advice on health. 

So, next up is actually taking the steps to being disciplined (or to put it in a more feminine framework: ‘devoted’) to making these changes in my day-to-day life to see tangible changes in my health. 

Dr. Jay encouraged me to try for three months and since I remember a friend of mine telling me during a seemingly stagnant part of my life, “just give it a quarter”, I might just follow through. 

Learn more about Dr. Anthony Jay’s DNA Coaching business where he helps unpack your raw DNA data and bloodwork at ajconsultingcompany.com.