How the heck do I interpret my raw data? I cannot afford to pay a practitioner $$$$$$$$$$ to have these interpreted. I just spent $20 for this and would like to know what is going on with my genetics.
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There are roughly 4 to 5 million SNPs in a person’s genome. Even though only some nominal percentage of that is covered in the processed DNA raw data, it’s an enormous number. Further, given the complexity of gene-gene interactions, you must understand that there isn’t a simple means of “interpreting” your data. The Livewello standard variance report is a good starting place for giving some hints, especially if you’re looking for genetic information related to some health condition; but it is ONLY a start.
I’m afraid that one must either “dig in” and read! There is a fair amount of information pertinent to …the genes and gene SNPs processed in your data. Livewello includes extracts from GWAS (Genome-Wide studies), and links to SNPedia, for example. Promethease.com is another place you can upload your raw data, and you can then download a pc-run program to report by disease condition, gene, etc. …and I often use Promethease side-by-side w. Livewello.
There is also a fair amount of information from research on both gene associations / risks, etc. that is readily accessible online.
But one must do the work or pay experts to do it for you.
It’s best to find a practitioner who is trained in interpreting your raw data for many reasons. When I first learned about mutations from my own 23andMe, I was fascinated and excited to learn more. That’s why a couple of years ago, I completed Ben Lynch’s courses to become certified in Nutrigenomics and add this service to my online Holistic Health practice. I continue to take more of his courses to this day because with genetics being a growing field, we are learning more and more as time goes on. It can be tricky and confusing trying to understand what everything means, and attempting to supplement yourself without proper knowledge can actually end up making some of your symptoms worse.
A good practitioner is someone who will explain your polymorphisms in an easily understandable way, look at your current state of health, (diagnosis’s/ symptoms) as well as your combination of mutations in order to ensure that the protocol they recommend to you contains the right forms and amounts.
Every body is different, which is why something that works for someone else may not work for you; hence the importance of an actual person taking into consideration the entire picture of your health before providing you with recommendations.
I understand your concern about not wanting to shell out a lot more money to have your results interpreted. I’m not sure what prices you’ve come across, but I invite you to check out Elevated Health Solutions. It’s online-based, so the price for Genetic Interpretation Reports & a Recommended Protocol is significantly lower than that of seeing a practitioner in their office.
Otherwise, as far as learning more about this yourself, I would definitely recommend taking Ben Lynch’s courses at Seeking Health Educational Institute.
Don’t get too caught up in human gene interpretation. The experts that are now studying the gut biome are claiming that human gene information is about 57% likely to determine whether someone is obese while understanding the gut biome is over 90% able to do that. Kwashiorkor, the severe protein malnutrition characterized by edema and an enlarged liver with fatty infiltrates, in Malawi often presents in one identical twin and not the other. That is because an individual’s gut bacteria determines which gets the disease and which does not, not their human genes or diet, which are essentially the same.
I have concluded, after lots of analysis of my own genetic code, that several things are far more important than human genetics (in my family’s case). At the top of that list is keeping one’s gut biome diverse by eating lots of different types of (organic) foods and to make sure your gut does not leak toxins into your blood. Neither can be done on a standard American diet. Anyone who thinks human genes are the only issue will tend to continue their standard American (or Western) diet and wonder decades later why everything is so awry. My understanding of my family’s genes provides us less than 20% of what we think is important to stay healthy. What we eat, how we sleep and get exercise, and how we avoid unnecessary stresses is far more important.