Your DNA, Your Roadmap: How 3X4 Testing Personalizes Health, Nutrition & Fitness

If you've heard about genetic testing in the past decade, it's probably been through the marketing of ancestry companies. There's the allure of finding out where you came from (or uncovering family secrets!), and at-home kits provided by these companies have shown everyday people how easy it is to test their DNA. 

But unfortunately, due to the popularity and widespread marketing of ancestry tests, most people aren't aware of the other benefits genetic testing can provide. While ancestry testing simply tells you where your family came from, genetic testing for health and wellness can lead you to a whole array of actionable insights into optimizing your eating, exercise, lifestyle choices, and more in order to achieve better health. 

I am excited to announce that YBHC will now be offering genetic testing.  Here are a few ways genetic testing can inform your health and wellness!!!

Personalized Care 

A lot of approaches to health and wellness these days focus on a one-size-fits-all approach, prescribing the same diet, exercise, and lifestyle choices to everyone. 

But we are all YOUnique — so shouldn't healthcare be tailored to that unique individual? 

Genetic testing uncovers your genetic variants, which give us insight into how your cells and systems function, show the impact of the types of food you eat and the environment around you, and more. 

Healing at the Root

Many traditional approaches to health focus on managing symptoms — masking fatigue, inflammation, or hormone imbalances without truly asking why they’re happening. From a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition perspective, we don’t diagnose or treat disease; instead, we look for healing opportunities within the body.

Genetic testing offers a powerful window into how your body functions at the cellular level. It helps identify potential imbalances or weak spots in pathways like detoxification, hormone metabolism, inflammation, and energy production — the underlying factors that can contribute to symptoms. By understanding these patterns, we can take proactive steps to support your body’s natural ability to restore balance and move toward lasting wellness.

Losing Weight 

Those who have struggled to lose weight may spend time, energy, and money seeking new ways to get healthy and lose weight when their genes are able to give them all the insight they need. 

Genes are able to give insight into:

• what types of exercise are best for your body (endurance exercises or power exercises?) 

• how your body stores fat

• which nutrients your body absorbs best –to inform which foods to eat  

  
  

Metabolism 

Your genes can also tell you more about your metabolism. 

We know that metabolism has a connection with energy and vibrancy, yet many of us have a "sluggish" metabolism we're not sure how to correct. Knowing your genes can give you insights into how your metabolism is affected by what you eat, how you burn energy, how you store fat, and more. 

The Right Exercise 

What if you've been hitting the gym and trying to get fit, but you've been doing the wrong exercises all this time? 

Getting insights into your genes can actually show you whether your body is more suited for endurance activities, like running or bicycling, or whether your body is more suited for power activities like sprinting or weight lifting. Knowing more about how your body works means being able to choose the right activities for you. 

Caffeine Intake 

We're all affected by caffeine in various ways — some people can drink coffee right up until bedtime, when others have to cut themselves off mid-morning! But do we know why? Our genes can tell us! Our genes are responsible for how quickly we metabolize caffeine, so we can know whether to have that extra cup or not.  Now I know why I had to switch to decaf years ago, I am a fast metabolizer of caffeine and it hits me hard.

Better Daily Choices 

As you can see, knowing your genes and how they affect your body can give you insights into many different aspects of your health and wellness so that you can make better choices each day about actions that affect you. 

For example, did you know that your genes can determine how well your body eliminates toxins, which can help you make choices about what environments to be in? Your genes can also give you insight into your stress levels, and flag if you're not getting enough sleep at night. 

My Personal Story with 3x4 Genetic Testing

Any test I am going to recommend for my clients, I am first going to do for myself.  This helps me to connect deeper with clients because I understand the process and the results. 

So let’s dive into my 3x4 Genetic Results.

I decided to try 3x4 after chatting with a friend in the functional health space.  She raved about it, how it confirmed many things she already knew about her body but then also gave her insight into new dietary and lifestyle changes she needed to make for optimal health.  This friend is already really in tune with her body and has done many functional tests but the genetic test took it one step further. 

I would say that I had the same experience.  I have done many functional tests over the years but I was finally ready to know what my genes are telling me…what I am predisposed to, what I need to fight against, why I need to continue living the healthy lifestyle that I am used to.    

Here are my main takeaways from my 3x4 test. 

The test breaks down the results into specific areas that are top priorities for you, given the genes that were expressed.  The areas that are the most impacted for me are:

•  Inflammation- An anti-inflammatory diet will continue to support my health-sticking with a gluten free, dairy free and low sugar diet will keep inflammation at bay.

• Methylation-Methylation is a biochemical process involved in the production, repair, and behavior of genes and metabolic processes. Based on my results, I am likely not methylating efficiently so a liver support and B complex supplement will support methylation in addition to a diet rich in quality protein and fiber.

• Collagen/Joints- I am more likely to be susceptible to tissue damage.  I need to ensure quality protein and foods rich in vitamins and minerals to support the repair of connective tissue, joints, ligaments, collagen, cartilage, and skin. Low impact exercise will also be more supportive of my joints and tissue. A collagen supplement may also be beneficial.  

Other takeaways:

• Energy Pathway:  This pathway gives us insight into how we consume, absorb, distribute, store, and burn the calories we gain from food.  This varies between individuals, largely because of genetic variation. People respond very differently to calories, exercise, fasting, fatigue, etc. Hunger and feeling full is also experienced very differently. Knowing in what way you're hard-wired to manage food can be a powerful way to enable you to work with your body, not against it.

  
  

This section gave me many “ah-ha” moments. 

-My body responds moderately to exercise and my resting metabolism is also moderate. Basically, I

fall right in the middle when it comes to my response to exercise and that my metabolism is neither

too fast nor too slow.

-My body is more likely to store fat. This gives me great information on dietary and lifestyle choices

I need to make to keep myself from storing too much fat, especially as I age.

-My body will likely respond to weight management techniques-so if I wanted to, I should be able to lose a realistic amount of weight. Another way of saying this, I shouldn’t experience weight loss resistance given my genes. 

• Activity Pathway:  Your genes go a long way in determining how your body responds to exercise. Understanding the best training strategy for your body helps you train effectively while avoiding injury. Your potential for endurance and power-based sports performance provides insights into how you can optimize your training program. Knowing how your body recovers from training will help you achieve your fitness goals in a sustainable way.

  
  

Again, I read through this section and things started clicking for me.

-I have an above average endurance level and respond well to endurance training-I have always felt like this has been a strength of mine-now I have confirmation.

-I am more prone to soft tissue injury based on my genes–hello, years of being in and out of physical therapy. Now this makes sense!!!

-I also need to prioritize recovery every day.  Ensuring rest days every week and proper warm ups and stretch sessions post workout. This is valuable information given my part-time job as a Barre3 instructor.  

I could go on and on as the 3x4 genetic test tests for over 150 genes categorized into 36 pathways that are grouped into 6 health categories or systems. 

More Than Ancestry 

Knowing your genes can reveal a lot more to you than just what's stated above. Additionally, as our knowledge continues to increase around how genes work and how they impact our bodies, the blueprint that genetic testing provides for your optimal health will only become more detailed, allowing you to build the perfect life of health and wellness suitable to you. 

Ready to learn more about how your genes play a role in your wellness?

Schedule a call today to learn more about YBHC's NEW Program: The YOUnique Genetic Blueprint

Schedule your call here: https://l.bttr.to/Y9HOt