Ep. 215 How to Use Nutrigenomics to Optimize Health with Kristina Hess

I am delighted to have the opportunity to converse with Kristina Hess today! Kristina is a premier health coach, licensed dietician, and nutritionist with a functional and integrative approach. Everyone should feel free to experiment with different types of nutritional dogma. However, we should always stay open-minded and lean into whatever our bodies need. I love that Kristina has married the trajectory of her life with genetics and nutrition. So I asked her to join me on the podcast to discuss nutrigenomics. In this episode, Kristina shares her backstory and talks about growing up and living all over the world, her history of veganism, and healing her body with a nutrient-dense, whole food, primal/paleo diet. She gives some examples of genetic tendencies and low penetrants. She and I dive into gene variants, nutritional choices that include the use of ethanol or alcohol, seed oils, lifestyle choices, and testing. Kristina also provides recommendations for working with individuals trained in the unique form of genetics and study of nutrition and gene expression, known as nutrigenomics. I hope you will gain a lot from today’s fascinating conversation with Kristina Hess! Stay tuned for more! Special announcement: I will be an honored guest at the Keto Symposium, a one-and-a-half-day event in New York City on the 23rd and 24th of September, to speak, along with others like the amazing Ben Azadi! IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN: Kristina talks about the Keto Symposium, the very first low-carb conference on the ketogenic lifestyle and fasting. She explains why it is so special. Kristina shares her interesting backstory. How Kristina finally realized that the vegan lifestyle was damaging her body. Kristina explains what nutrigenomics is. Some gene variants are older and have not changed or adapted to more modernized food. Kristina explains how lifestyle choices can impact those variants. What can people do to impact their gene expression? It is important to take your gene data to a qualified professional for interpretation and talk to them about your lifestyle. Kristina discusses some of the more common gene combinations she sees that could cause weight loss resistance. Kristina talks about isolated low penetrant gene SNPs. Be a detective and do some testing when in doubt. Kristina talks about alcohol and how it could impact epigenetic signaling. Why should you avoid consuming seed oils? Some lifestyle habits everyone should adopt. Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on Twitter, Instagram & LinkedIn Check out Cynthia’s website Connect with Kristina Hess On her website The Keto Symposium will be taking place in Manhattan on September 23rd and 24th. Buy your tickets now because the space is limited. They are running a promotion for the whole month of June: Use the promo code KETO10 to get 10% off the ticket price!