“Plan your Diet around your GENES?”
Without depth knowledge of genetics, people have been known to blame their body shapes and weight issues on their genes. It’s not unusual to hear the excuse, “I can’t loose weight or I can’t put on weight because of my family, metabolism, etc.” GenoVive is the first diet designed to tailor to each individual’s genome. This personalized diet system involves customized meal plans, weekly food, and exercise routines. Does GenoVive sound too good to be true? Thinking critically, what are some flaws in this diet’s design? What are your thoughts on how the diet would actually be designed?
Do you think it’s the “real deal” in lowering obesity trends in today’s society? If so, how will it be sustained?
watch the video here!: http://www.genovive.com/
I think this idea's theory is a good one, but whether it will actually work in people's lives is questionable to me. There are literally thousands of diets out there, and many also come with an exercise plan and/or a community of participants to try to help people stay on track. These diets have been available for years and some have been around for decades, yet there have been no significant improvements from what I have heard. (I haven't fully done any real research into this so it is very possible that I could be wrong, but from all that I've seen and heard I don't think any of these diets have been amazingly helpful). The idea of incorporating your genes into a diet definitely seems promising to me, but in the article they didn't explain exactly how this is done. The four different meal plans seem very similar to plans I've seen before, so I'm wondering what the difference is? Where do the genes come into play? Also, how expensive is it to test a person's DNA and use it to tailor a diet plan? Would people even be willing to pay that extra money for something that might not even work? I think we need more information on how exactly one's genes are used to create a unique plan. It seems very interesting and like a good idea on the surface, but I'm worried it will be just another failed attempt if the details are fully discussed and shown to make a true difference.
ReplyDelete- Caroline Booth
Caroline, I agree with your points because I've definitely heard/read about and watched people restrict their carb uptake and strictly focus on proteins and fats (like the Carbohydrate Optimized diet) in order to lose weight, so how is this different? I guess the difference is that Genovive "tests" your DNA to see which diet works best for you. I went to the Genovive website and they said that they take a cheekswab of your DNA (so that's not expensive or invasive), but I still don't quite know how or what they analyze within a customer's DNA to discern that particular customer's best diet choice (or how expensive the analysis is). It seems like a good idea, but I'm not so sure if we even have the technology to determine whether our bodies process carbs or proteins in a different way than most people. At this point, I feel that Genovive may just be another one of those diet crazes that is trying to appeal to the population that has tried everything in order to lose weight but has not yet succeeded. It would be wonderful if all this were true and breaking news! It could really help boost people's self-esteem and could potentially be a great breakthrough in nutrition and health. But I also fear that it may grant more pardons/allowances for people to use their genetics as an excuse. Everyone should practice eating healthily, with plenty of vegetables, fresh fruits, and lean meats. I'm not one to favor the complete restriction of one type of food. Carbohydrates, fats, and proteins are all very important in the human diet. But who knows? Perhaps Genovive is on to something.
DeleteCaroline, I definitely agree with many of the things you said as well. I think the idea is a very good one and that the genome does hold many answers to why some people can lose weight easily while others find it difficult to. Although at the present, we have not learned much about nutrigenomics, the branch of science seems very interesting and makes sense. Our genes affect everything to do with our bodies, so it makes sense that they would control how our bodies metabolize, store, and organize our energy and foods supplies. I watched the video on the website and read the short article but I did not think that the company was explicit in explaining how GenoVive works. It explains in theory "it works by working with your genes," but exactly HOW does GeniVive do this? The article left me with many other questions such as:
DeleteHow expensive is this program?
Because it is genetically based, can you use insurance to qualify for this under the claim that obesity is harmful to health and has many implications for other areas of health?
How does GenoVive test the genes and determine the food, etc?
Who are these scientists?? What are their qualifications?
Have any clinical trials been conducted to determine the safety of this product over long periods of time?
...And many more!
I think that GenoVive sounds (right now) too good to be true, and was very vague with their details on the website. Also, people's bodies change as they get older. Will this product/plan be available only for adults? Will they develop plans to help children who may be obese or at risk of becoming obese?
I am also skeptical about the claims made, because nutrigenomics is an up and coming branch of science, as is genomics. How can this company claim to have all the necessary information to tailor to an individual's genes when genomics and the related subjects are still in their infancy?
I think the product may have some valuable ideas to offer, however I am still skeptical about the product and have many questions about it (as listed above). I think this type of product may have positive impacts for society in terms of helping to lower the rates of obesity, however, at this point I am unconvinced that this product works. It will be interesting to see how this type of work evolves and progresses as geneticists continue to study the genome in greater depth.
-Allison Manfreda
I agree at this time with Allison's skeptism, as the diet plans offered are seemingly not that individualized. How can four plans truly work for every individual and their unique genome? I just can't help but wonder if GenoVive is scamming an unsuspecting population, as genes certainly do not account for all factors of an individuals' weight. For example, I have a friend with an identical twin. All their life growing up they were the same height and weight until one twin went to one college and the other to another. All of a sudden one of the twins started gaining weight rapidly due to lifestyle changes he made. Now they are about 100 pounds different in weight, despite the fact that they have identical DNA. An individuals genome does not account for all aspects of their weight retainment. Much of it has to do with personality and willpower, as well as personal surroundings. A diet plan based only upon an individuals genome cannot possibly take into account these factors. I'd be curious to find out what, if anything GenoVive does to control for confounding factors such as the fore-mentioned in the design of their diet program.
DeleteI completely agree that this plan makes itself out to be more personal and specific than the results it actually gives out. I don't think it would make a big impact on society, and if more people were just educated on basic nutritional science and the idea of a balanced diet along with exercise, they would probably get almost as much useful information as they would from this test. The idea of balancing carbs, fats, and proteins is a very basic one and understanding how they work together would be a good basis for starting a diet, instead of a genetic test. A case I think it might be somewhat useful in is if someone has a pre-existing genetic disorder that effects your nutrition in a specific way.
DeleteI completely agree that this plan makes itself out to be more personal and specific than the results it actually gives out. I don't think it would make a big impact on society, and if more people were just educated on basic nutritional science and the idea of a balanced diet along with exercise, they would probably get almost as much useful information as they would from this test. The idea of balancing carbs, fats, and proteins is a very basic one and understanding how they work together would be a good basis for starting a diet, instead of a genetic test. A case I think it might be somewhat useful in is if someone has a pre-existing genetic disorder that effects your nutrition in a specific way.
DeleteAllison and Katelyn both pointed out exactly what I was thinking. The field of nutrigenomics is a new field which has much more work ahead of it before it can make a claim like Genovive is making. Not only that, but how individualized can the system be if it is already limiting itself to 4 diets? How and why 4? If we all have unique genes and Genovive works by "working with our genes", how can only 4 programs be sufficient? Also, what kind of clinical research supports this product? Right now, Genovive seems to be just marketing this product on the intriguing mystique and hopeful possibilities of genetics, but what empirical proof is there that this product actually works with a person's genes to change their weight? Katelyn's example of her twin friends and their drastically different weights isn't a unique case because such differences are seen quite often, which undermines the claims being made by Genovive.
DeleteGenovive sounds too good to be true and I think it's pretty deceptive of a newspaper to write an article basically advertising this DNA diet when it is obviously still in the development phase and has no hard evidence to back it up. I'd chalk it up as another weight watchers type meal program - with a clever marketing twist: genetics. My reply: Nice try, but my faith in science doesn't make me THAT gullible.
This was a very interesting article. I think that at first glance it seems like a great start to the evolution of dieting. Another part of me wonders how much of it is market based. Is it just another "diet" trying to get ahead and start seeing profit? There are other diets out there that provide weekly meals and fitness plans, that seem very similar to the one mentioned in the article. Aside from being less than original, if it is truly possible to pinpoint the way we should eat through exploring our genomes, it's nothing less than spectacular. But then what happens to all the food industries? What happens to people that don't have the time in their daily lives to sit down and eat specific meals at specific times? After going on the website and watching a short clip the phrase "don't give in to gimmicks" caught my attention, what's to say genovive isn't a gimmick?
ReplyDeleteReava has some excellent points that I would like to expand on. First off, there are many diets out there that, if done correctly, can cause weight loss. But the real question is: Are they good for your body? The same could be said about GenoVive. Just because a person is losing weight does not mean that the diet is good for that person's body in the short and long term. The concept of having a diet tailored to one's genetic makeup is one that I don't think is feasible as it is not always obvious, even through genetic testing, which genes will be expressed. For example, I have high cholesterol, but my siblings do not. They may develop the high cholesterol later in life, or not at all. Should they tailor their diet to low cholesterol foods or not?
ReplyDeleteAnother question that I would like to ask about this diet is the concept of maintenance once the diet plan is made. First of all, for those who do not need to diet, this could have bad consequences. If their genetics show that they have no propensity for disease or weight gain, they could eat whatever they wanted. This testing and diet plan is not foolproof. If anyone eats poorly during their lifetime, they will have other health effects that are unrelated to weight gain. In addition, for those who have been told that they can only eat certain foods and must exercise many times a week, will they actually comply? This can be very discouraging, especially for those who are too busy to exercise all the time or too poor to get the foods that they need to eat to lose weight.
However, planning your diet around your genes could be effective. Like weight watchers, it plans your diet specialized for you. These diets seem to work the best because it is centered around your baseline status. I also like that it has an exercise component. So many diets out there today do not incorporate an exercise component that I believe to be very important for weight loss. Just some things to think about. I am torn on whether or not this diet plan is a good one. I am eager to read other people's responses to see what they have to say.
I agree very much with Caroline and Dana about the difficulties in making this diet possible. In particular, I wanted to emphasize what Dana said about maintenance. This diet requires a genetic test (which, if not expensive, will not be very cheap and will be an added cost that other diets do not have) and 6 days/week of meals. This diet is expensive and even if it works (which I somewhat doubt), it may be difficult for people to afford over a long period of time.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Caroline also mentioned that the "four diet types" seem very similar to other diets available. In nutrition we learned that the diet should be 45-65% carbohydrates, as these are essential in providing energy and important in helping people lose weight. Considering that 3 of the 4 diets want to control carbohydrate intake, I am somewhat concerned how much these diets are actually based on nutritional science and how much they are based on the popular conception that anything that says "fats" or "carbs" is bad.
From a genetic perspective, I am also somewhat confused by their claims. Genetic association studies are still a growing field, yet both the website and the news article suggest that science has a much clearer view the genetic associations with diet and metabolism than actually exists. There certainly have been studies about some genes increasing risk of one problem or another but we are far from having a clear and complete view of how genetics controls our diet and metabolism. For people who have an understanding of SNPs, genetic association, gene expression, etc. the information they provide about nutrigenomics has a lot of "may be linked to" and "may affect" but to someone who has not had this type of education, the evidence seems much more convincing than it actually is.
In the news article they described how 55% of doctors would support a diet based on genetic research. I tried to find the survey (which was conducted for Genovive) but I was unable to find it, although the citation at the bottom of the page mentions "102 US physicians. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated." I would be interested to see how the survey was conducted and what it says, because 55% of physicians supporting a genetic-based diet is very different from physicians supporting the GenoVive diet.
That's a REALLY good point you made about the carbohydrate controling parts of these diets, Sammi. It is very true that our bodies need carbohydrates and studies have been done showing that cutting out carbs may possibly (but not definitely by any means) make one loose weight more quickly, however after five years, these people usually gain all of the weight back which goes back again to the maintenence problem. You also bring up a good point with the "no fat" concept. Fat is extremely essential to our diets. The FDA recommendation is 20-35% of our daily intake. Cutting out fat completely is actually highly dangerous and would leave people feeling very hungry and could lead to bigger malabsorption problems.
Delete- Caroline Booth
Sami,I was curious to see if I could find the link to the study after reading your post, and I could not either. If this study was so supportive of the GenoVive diet then I would imagine that the company would certainly post the results in plain sight for individuals to read. This example only adds to the skepticism I expressed earlier.
DeleteAdditionally, the statement made by the director of Scientific Affairs of GenoVive, "We use DNA analysis to determine the correct macronutrient balance to optimize the body's calorie burning potential," sounds like empty words to me. It has been a well known fact for a long time that macronutrients are great for you and a closer look into this diet shows that the macronutrient levels for each of these diet plans are virtually identical. Strange how the four tailored plans that are supposed to use an individuals genome to determine the correct macronutrient balance for each unique person are all exactly the same...
I think the "DNA Diet" is actually a really cool idea. A lot of people try desperately to lose weight through regular diet and exercise and end up seeing little to no results for various reasons. Having a diet tailored specifically for your bodies needs should definetly have some promising results. I wonder if the test takes into consideration in environmental factors that may affect weight and/or medications the person may be taking.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dana on the exercise component. The diet may even take into consideration genetic factors that influence the individuals physical ability. In other words, it would be nice if specific exercises could be recommended to the individual based on their genetic physical performance.
I really like GenoVive's idea. I'm sure this program costs a ton of money so not a lot of people would have an option of using it. There are many people with low SES who struggle with weight issues because they are unable to afford fresh fruits/vegetables so even though they would really benefit from this, if unaffordable it wouldn't help the population much.
I agree with you Elizabeth about the GenoVive being a cool idea. GenoVive does not sound to good to be true. It’s a completely viable concept and there is a huge market for weight loss and diet programs. I am not sure if GEnoVive will be the go to and sure-fire way to handle weight lose. Some flaws in the diet’s design is it does not take into consideration how much physical activity the individual will do while on the diet. Diet alone can help with weight lose but it will undoubtedly need to be combined with physical activity to achieve the optimal weight for encode by your DNA.
ReplyDeletePersonally I am not a fan of diets that contain meal replacement foods. I've personally been on some of these diets. Instead of educating the individual on how to prepare healthy dishes to be able to sustain the weight loss after being off the diet plan these types of diets are limiting. I do not think GenoVive will be the number one thing in lowering obesity trends in today’s society. It will just be one of the many diet plans along with jenny criag, nutriesystem, lean cusine, and so on.
Thank you Elizabeth for mentioning people of lower SES. Diet plans such as GenoVive and the others I mentioned earlier are not accessible for the population suffering from the highest rates of obesity. That is some serious food for thought!
While the prospect of tailoring someone's diet based on his or her genes is promising, I don't think the way GenoVive is going about it is much too broad. I'm currently working on a nutrition study, and just to keep subjects' weight-stable, they have 5 different calorie levels of balanced meals that the subjects must eat. That's not taking into account how their bodies store different macronutrients. I can't imagine 4 different meal categories that cover both caloric intake AND how a person gets those calories being very specific to one's own genes. It's almost an insult to people who have tried the other fad diets, because it's essentially just those diets again, but maybe with a low-calorie aspect.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, analyzing this gene testing from a epigenetic perspective, the genes that they test for may not have necessarily been switched on or off, and this may skew the results of their broad-spectrum diet. Not taking the environmental effects to the genome into account could cause the opposite reaction to the diets than anticipated, leaving consumers hopeless. GenoVive did not mention they took these changes into account.
Side note: GenoVive LLC provided the article, so there is nothing really backing up their claims but semi-relevant facts from the CDC.
Many good points are brought up in regards to how this may just be another gimmick of a diet, and something that may not be effective. The first I would like to bring up is that the diet is "tailored" to you but in the sense of the meals and exercises you are given. Genovive expects you to fit one of the 4 diet categories, and I feel that people may land somewhere outside of those categories If that is the case what is Genovive's solutions for that?
ReplyDeleteAlso as stated by other people this diet will take up a major part of participants life. You are expected to adhere to this strict diet and even on your 'cheat' day genovive will still have some control over what you eat, without considering the amount of exercise you have to conduct. I personally believe that the main reason peoples diet fail is because of the lifestyle we live in the US. We are always on the run and always eating foods that are unhealthy for us just because we have no time to cook, who is to say we will have time to stop and reheat these meals and eat them?
The third thing that comes up about this diet is the cost. The website states that they have a new year special for your first month of $599.98 down from their regular $749.98 and that you can purchase your recurring monthly packages for $449.98 a month. That is a current yearly cost of $5549.76 without taking into consideration gym membership and other cost. The diet comes to a price of $15.20 a day. Which may be a low cost, but how effective will it be?
As sami brought up the fact about the study conducted by Genovive there are no traces of this study. This would not be the first time that companies will publish the study that has the most benefit for their marketing without hiding other facts. Also only 102 physicians were included? Based on a WSJ in 2010 there were 352.908 primary physicians at that moment in thew US, that means only 0.029% of doctors were included in the study. When seen like that, it almost makes this study insignificant.
Although Genovive seems to be trying to develop a break through in the field of diets, and it has a good idea. Although I feel that there is still much more ground to be discovered in this area. The cost is low but there may be other ways to make it more personalized or find something more effective rather than doing what other diets are doing but saying it is more personal because of a genetic test. A genetic test that is a $150 value according to their website, which when compared to the prices of genetic testing we have discussed in class makes me feel it may no be that in-depth. A good idea, but still long way to go.
I just don’t buy into this because the diet that one needs to follow in order to be healthy is generally the same for everyone. It seems like this is just a way for this company to make money and convince overweight people that there needs to be a gene-specific way for them to lose weight. People in America will view this as another “easy way” to lose weight because it supposedly is specific to their genes. I don’t see how it is different than other fad diets. Either way, burgers and fries are bad for you and leafy greens are good for you. The reason that most diets do not work is because people do not follow them and do not make lifestyle changes, and I feel that people on GenoVive will face the same challenges. I think one of their main weaknesses is the home-delivered meals. I agree with Tamika that this does not help the individual learn how to prepare meals for themselves.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do not believe that this is any different than most fad diets, maybe dieters will take it more seriously because it is personalized specifically to them (similar to Weight Watchers). I think that if they could build on this idea, remove the home-delivered meals and possibly include genetic counseling that this idea could really work in America.
One last point is that I am seeing a common theme so far on the blog; that people of low SES cannot afford these DNA-based health benefits. GenoVive is another expensive health program that is based on genetic tests, which are still very expensive. None of these techniques will benefit those of lower socioeconomic status until genetic testing is cheaper.
I had a similar reaction when reading the this article. Although in hindsight this is is a good idea and it would be nice to know that there is a diet plan out there that would perfectly fit into our lifestyles and adhere to our genome, however, it does seem too good to be true. GenoVive does not seem much different than diet plans that have been around for years such as Nutriesystem, Weightwatchers, etc as Tamkika stated. I find it hard to believe that GenoVives approach to personalized meals and strict dieting will have better results than these other plans. What it essentially boils down to is eating healthy as Hannah said while making other essential lifestyle changes to reach the goals that each individual sets out for themselves.
DeleteI was also concerned about the cost of GenoVives meal plan and I'm glad that Yoal looked into it further. It amazes me how much money an individual would have to spend annually on a diet that may not even work. And what about the people who can't afford it as Liz stated the majority of people who are overweight come from low socioeconomic backgrounds. How will they be able to afford GenoVives meals in order to lose weight? Sure they could eat healthier and exercise but if the GenoVive company is telling people that it is not their fault but their genes they may feel that it doesn't make a difference if they exercise and eat healthy because their genes are out of their control. Ultimately I think that when it comes to any diet people need to be dedicated and stick to a regimen that doesn't only include specific eating habits but also physical activity and a person doesn't necessarily need a GenoVive diet plan for that.
Like several other commentators, I think the GenoVive diet plan is trying to create an "easy way out" for people who are overweight. It's basically a marketing ploy that says, it's not your fault, it's your genes! Let us help you treat this problem. My biggest issue with their diet plan, however, is placing individuals in categories based upon their genetic propensity to benefit from carb, fat, or calorie restriction. Each of these plans have merit in some situations, but the most important factor in choosing a weight-loss plan should be how well it fits into the given individual's likes and lifestyle. If a person loves bread and pasta, it's going to be a lot harder for them to be placed in a carb-restricting diet and they'll be much more tempted to cheat. It will be much easier to stick to their diet if they're allowed to eat some carbs, in moderation, rather than total deprivation. And sticking to any diet, even if it's not one "optimized" to your genetic tendencies, is the most important aspect of weight loss.
DeleteThis is not to say that I doubt there are a number of specific genetic components to individual diet needs, nutritional requirements, and optimal weight loss programs. As Allison said, nutrigenomics could in the future be enormously beneficial for population health. However, at this point, I think GenoVive is not a weight-loss silver bullet as they are hoping to portray themselves.
Yoal, that's a really great point that if the genetic test is only $150, what information is the client actually getting/how in-depth is the analysis? I didn't think about that before. It's great that so many people were critical of the study results and even looked for the study. It's unlikely the average GenoVive client will really interpret those results or know how to critically analyze the statistics and data being put forth. When misleading data is presented, it immediately makes me think that this is a scam (might be too harsh of a word...?). The field of nutrigenetics is promising and I think will benefit numerous people in the future, but this company seems to be using incomplete research for monetary profit. This could result in people doubting the field of nutrigenetics while other information that could be very beneficial for people is being researched more thoroughly. For example, a recent studied showed alcohol consumption in moderation provides health benefits for most adults, but for those who carry a certain genetic variation, regular use can increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
ReplyDeleteI also like that so many people question the fact that this is advertising a personalized diet based on your DNA - yet you are supposed to fall into 1 of 4 categories - so how individually tailored can it be? This would lead us to believe that a person is placed into 1 of the 4 categories based just on one or two mutations (or lack of a mutation). Since we know that many different genes can interact together or our environment can also impact gene expression, there it not enough concrete data to support the claims that GenoVive makes. If sufficient research had been done in nutrigenetics, I think it would be more common for individuals to have these types of genetic tests and receive counseling on their results. Also, GenoVive doesn't seem to mention that our body types are also genetically predisposed - and even with a tailored diet/weight loss program an individual will have a hard time veering from a certain body type.
Personally, this just reminds me of the Nutrisystem diet - where you pay a lot of money and they send you low-calorie meals and if you stick to it strictly you'll most likely lose weight - because you are only consuming X amount of calories. The meals are sent to people based on weight/height/gender/maybe medical background..
Also, with all of the fad diets, the focus is calorie intake and exercise to lose weight - not really considering what's important for your body and what your body needs for functioning and processing. Earlier posts also touched on this, but that was what first came to my mind when reading the article.
Amanda,
DeleteYou made a really good point when you said that the diet plan is not really personalized when they categorize it into 4. GenoVive seems to underestimate the complexity of the human genome and the fact that other factors -genetically and environmentally- must be taken into account when designing each person's diet. I do think that the concept of using one's genes to "determine the correct macronutrient balance to optimize the body's calorie burning potential" is a great idea because a lot of people end up wasting time following the wrong diet plans. Being able to determine your own nutrient level needs can help you understand better how your body works, and it can help you be more vigilant about what you eat. However, the problem with the GenoVive providing prepared meals is that they are providing their customers with limited choices. Customers might not want to explore other options or alternatives because they become complacent with the type of meals delivered to them. What if the person goes out to eat with friends quite frequently? They might not be open to trying other types of food because they are afraid that what's on the menu may not fall under their 'tailored' diet. This is why nutrition education is still important. Americans are be
Perhaps, a better approach to improving quality of life without having a customer become completely dependent on one program would be for chefs and nutritionists to provide cooking techniques to Americans. For example, teaching customers how to incorporate seasonal produce would allow more variations and encourage individuals to try other types of food. This would allow individuals who can't afford to sign up for GenoVive to design their own meal plans in a more practical approach.
-Sophia Pascual
The idea behind this specific diet is unique and sounds like it would be an approach that would benefit people who believe that their genes affects them from losing weight. Although there is clearly a genetic component to body types and metabolism, there are many other aspects that are equally important. The environment has a tremendous impact on the weight and health of a population and it seems to be the leading cause of obesity. The issue with weight gain and loss is that individuals and society as a whole want to find a way to make losing weight as easy as possible when in reality it is something that for most people requires dedication to fitness and self control with diet. This diet while focusing on a different angle, is just another way to make money by catering to peoples desire and give them the reassurance that their excuses are valid and genetics is something that was overlooked with regards to weight and they have a "solution" to this. In sum, to help with obesity from a population perspective, there needs to be a change in peoples mindset. Not a search for an easier way because as history has clearly exemplified it is usually unhealthy to try and manipulate the information that science has given us to avoid doing as much work as possible and controlling the unhealthy intakes that are increasingly surrounding us on a daily basis.
ReplyDeletePlanning your diet and lifestyle around your genes sounds quite extreme. We are already given plenty of resources and ways in how to lose weight. Our society cannot express much more on different ways to lose weight and become the "right shape" that we all expect. Having the new opportunity of genetic testing for the "right way to live" is an eye catching idea. I personally would look more into this opportunity and make the most of it for my needs. I only say this because I have done hair analysis testing to see what foods I am allergic too and what foods are spectacular for my body. The results I received actually seemed to be correct and have fitted for my lifestyle. I have however not followed this testing verbatim, as it is a simple guideline. Saying this, how are they going to test our genes for the proper way to live our life in regards to our diet and activity levels? I believe that there is no way to tell us when we should eat and the certain foods. Getting food delivered seems very extreme and expensive. The dedication that is needed is going to be very high for both the consumer and the producer in this situation. I believe that eating food in moderation and providing our bodies with daily physical activity is proven to be the best way to lose weight. I feel that individuals know their discretion on what is best for them. I believe that this genetic testing on what is best for us could be something great in the long run if an individual is religious to the program. Overall, this program is very similar to other tests, but has an advantage of genes.
ReplyDeleteGenerally I am very skeptical about dieting, but I have to say that an understanding of genetics and a tailoring of a diet to one's genetic ability to metabolize food, lose weight, and keep the weight off is very intriguing and could be very effective. I do subscribe to the belief that a great deal of our diet is due to genetic factors, and taking these into account seems to be a great strength of any plan. Additionally, I was enthusiastic to learn that the plan also includes an exercise component, because studies have shown that dieting along is not enough to lose weight, keep weight off, and maintain a healthy lifestyle, and having personal exercise plans that take into account the food that one is eating during the diet seems to be an excellent way to ensure that people are staying healthy and not hurting themselves or overexerting themselves.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, this new development does bring up some concerns in my mind. The first involves the connection between social factors and health. Certainly, and effective diet and exercise with genes in mind sounds great, but it is not enough for most people, who require a significant behavioral change to induce physical change. Deciding to diet and exercise is always the first step. The second, which is tied into this first idea, is that the plan seems to accuse genes of determining obesity, and while it does to a point, certainly behavioral factors are just as important, if not more so. Giving obese individuals a reason to excuse poor eating habits or lack of exercise could create a dangerous precedent, and may lead to little compliance with this plan. Finally, it worries me that this diet plan seems to be geared towards people of greater means, between the costs of genetic testing, customized meals, and personal trainers. Obesity has been shown to highly correlate with low socioeconomic status, and this plan seems like it would be largely out of reach for such people, who may need this plan the most.
Essentially, it's like communism... it sounds great on paper but may be corrupted in practice.
DeleteOverall, I like the idea of GenoVive as a way to target a healthy lifestyle. I feel that it is a great marketing tactic as well because many people blame their health on their genes. This may be a way to engage a person and get them to buy into a healthy lifestyle. My concern though is what information the test actually provides. As we learned in today's (2/28) class with the AVPR1A gene, there are many other factors that may lead a person to an action or lifestyle related to a certain gene. Just because a person may be predisposed to obesity due to their genetic makeup does not guarantee that they will become obese. Furthermore, GenoVive cannot guarantee that their results are completely related to genetics. They are simply promoting a healthy lifestyle according to that person. This is very similar to many other dieting options available today. Overall, I feel as though its a nice thought but I cannot help but question the execution.
ReplyDeleteThe GenoVive diet sounds like it has quite a few promising aspects that would make people hopeful that trying it out would result in successful weight loss. However, I feel that if someone wants to lose weight, they should just try their best to find which specific diet works for them. Every person is unique, and just because this diet is supposedly based on your genes, doesn't guarantee that it will work for you. People have to remember that even though you have a certain gene, it may not be expressed in the way that GenoVive would need it to in order for their diet to work. As we have been learning throughout this course, gene expression is a necessary process in your genetic make-up and environmental exposures are crucial in determining which genes are expressed. If you have the gene(s) that makes one of the GenoVive diets a viable option, what happens if that gene wasn't expressed or has a mutation? How would the diet work then? I feel that GenoVive is not disclosing enough information about how the diet actually works with someone's genetic makeup, and should do so in order to make their diets more believable. Until then, it's basically just another ordinary diet plan along with the multitude of others out there.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth and Tamika bring up what I think is the biggest issue with GenoVive diet, and that is that it will most likely be unaccessible to the most at need population, people of low SES. GenoVive's claim is that this "revolutionary program provides new hope to the 200 million Americans who are overweight and the nearly one-in-three who are clinically obese." However, the cause of many people's obesity is poverty and being unable to purchase healthy foods/ having to choose fast foods. It is unlikely that most of the people that GenoVive hopes to reach will be able to pay for their costly services, or even be aware of them. Instead, I think that their diet service will be used by wealthier people who can afford to dedicate the money and time that genetic testing and personalized diets take. Additionally, on the website they say that many diets fail long term because of a person's genetic makeup, but I think a big part of it is that many people stop dieting once they reach their weightloss goals.
ReplyDeleteWhile the idea of a gene based diet plan sounds great and very personalized in theory, with the current information available, it looks like it may just be another fad diet as others have suggested.
As with any diet program or supplement available today, I agree with Jessica that the GenoVive diet program does have the potential to work successfully for some who take it. But as previously stated by my classmates, the more important issue here is the fact that GenoVive is not disclosing all of the appropriate information concerning genes and manipulating gene expression. Gene expression is dependent not only on your genetic make-up but also environmental factors that ultimately determine how and when certain genes will be expressed. Therefore GenoVive cannot ensure the success of their diet program when there is no way to manipulate gene expression in each individual using the program for multiple factors such as place and time of gene expression and even mutations will contribute and ultimately determine the overall success of this diet system. Also considering the diet plan established by GenoVive only places each individual into one of four food categories, they are continuing to generalize the genome and not account for a wide range of possibilities specific to the individual that could affect the benefits and risks associated with the diet program.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Caroline and Allison. The overall idea of this product looks like a great one. With all the updates about genes in the news and the Human genome project I think a lot of focus has been on what can we do with all this knowledge?? GenoVive is definitely trying to use what information they have to help people become healthier. Although this may be their mission…it seems a little far fetched. As everyone has mentioned there are a zillion diets out there. There are the cleanses, the no carb diets, no sugar diets, the 7 day diets….there are so many options. I think this diet plan is trying to seem like a stronger /more likely way to lose weight by making it personal and “unique”. When I goggled Genovive I watched the youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDAPp7aXlcg) and they focused on telling people to stay away from the “gimmicks” and to “trust your DNA”. To someone who doesn’t know much about DNA and is probably sick of wasting money on other useless diets, this seems like the way to go. I feel like DNA is there gimmick and it works because I think people aren’t going to question their own DNA.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Kaitlin that our genes aren’t everything. Environment is a huge key factor. Her story about her twin friends gaining/losing weight after going to different colleges definitely contributes to this argument. The 4 plans the diet offers seems very general. That can’t possibly apply to every human being regardless of the combination. I would also like to know how GenoVive came up with plan or what characteristics contribute to a certain plan and not another. People change, their diets change, their environments change….how does environment play into the diet? What if you change environments mid diet?
I think one of the biggest questions is how much is this diet? People want to lose weight and they want to lose it fast which means they will probably pay a lot for a diet; especially one that is supposedly based on their DNA. According to the website it’s less than $20 a day…which probably means its like $19.99 without shipping and handling…and that adds up. And who will be able to afford it? Like Tamika and Elizabeth said how can we make it accessible if it indeed works.
In addition success stories and celebrities are great ways to advertise diets and Genovive doesn’t have a lot. There are only 2 on the website and there are no celebrities promoting it either. I also think it’s important to add that the people who are writing/saying their success stories work for the companies as ambassadors. So is it really working or are they just getting paid to say so?
Like the posts before me I also have a lot of questions! Who are these scientists? What are their backgrounds? When you first go on the site it says that 55% of doctors would support a diet based on genetic research but that doesn’t necessarily mean they support GenoVive. Like Sami, I would like to get more information on the survey to see what they asked and who they asked.
In general, I think the product may have some valuable ideas to offer and with more research maybe this could work….maybe it has worked! But I am not 100% for it yet. I need more information about the product and how it works because right now it sounds too good to be true. The diet isn’t very clear on the criteria for how it’s “unique”. I also feel like besides the DNA sample they should also look into family history as well. But like many diets…people might lose weight and if this product could mentally convince people that it will help them to lose weight then maybe it will. I could see it being more of a psychological product. Thus it could lower obesity trends in today’s society but it probably won’t last for long. People get bored or lazy or both and sooner or later a “cooler” more “advanced” and “unique” product will come out and be the center of our attention!
I think that GenoVive is a good start to helping reduce the rate of obesity in America. It makes a lot of sense, but I think that, like many other advances in genetics, more research needs to be done. I agree with Kristely that it sounds too good to be true, and I would also like some more information. The design of the diet has to do a lot with constant online activity (the exercise routines) and I feel that people are responsible for their own exercise. Two problems that I have with this product is that often when people are responsible for their own exercise and following routines, they often do not perform them correctly and do not get the most out of them. Therefore the whole design of the product would not be implemented. Another problem I have with this product is that often the food that is delivered in diet delievery programs is not as healthy as people think it is. It is most likely mass produced and probably has a lot of additives in it. Overall I find the idea of tailoring diet to genetics is a very good idea and with more research could definitely work, I am just not sure about how good GenoVive is.
ReplyDeleteAt first glance, I thought the GenoVive product was similar to other weight loss products that have been introduced to the market. GenoVive uses similar marketing strategies like appealing pre-packaged food and fit models who have probably never used the product but are paid to be on the video. Although, looking beyond the marketing strategies of GenoVive, I think the product is scientific and would be useful. They are telling the truth when they say genes do play a part in body shape and metabolism. Therefore, I think the product would help people, but only as a quick fix and to a certain extent. The problem with pre-packaged meals is that people become dependent on them and when they run out, they will go back to eating fast food or unhealthy microwave meals with additives. GenoVive is like other weight-loss products in the way that it sounds appealing, and actually does work, but only for a short time. It does not teach healthy eating and living habits, so once the customer has reached their weight loss goal on GenoVive, they will quickly gain the weight back once meals are stopped being delivered.
ReplyDeleteGenoVive at first glance sounds like an intriguing idea, much like other weight loss programs already available. Although I agree with Allison that genetics do, in fact, play a role in management of weight and overall health, I also believe that many other factors come into play. It is not simply enough to say because a person has a family history of diabetes that they should eat a certain way. You would also have to take into account the physical activity the person does on a regular basis, which GenoVive would not be able to do. For example, if a person with a family history of diabetes already takes preventative measures to make sure the condition doesn't develop, GenoVive could have negative affects including malnutrition. If this athlete was given a low calorie diet and working out extreme amounts, it is possible that GenoVive would not provide the proper calorie count the athlete needs in order to maintain body weight/health. This could, in turn, create more harm than intended by lack of nutrition offered in these pre-packaged meals.
ReplyDeleteOverall, it sounds like a good idea with much room for improvement.
-Rachel O'Canas
These type of things are already out there.
ReplyDelete1. there are blood type diets
2. Another type is : you take a question quiz and it determines if you are body type A, B , C or D. Based on what letter it tells you how your metabolism works and how you should eat if you want to loose wait.
So looking at this GenoVive they might do some tests but how do I know if they will just use existing nutritional knowledge like I provided above to just tell you what you should eat.
I do like the idea and where they are going but I do not trust it. I don't really know what they are testing for and also when they are sending pre-packaged meals similar to nutrasystem, people are going to lose weight since there caloric intake is reduced and the nutritional value is most likely better then what it is currently since they are looking to lose weight .
I do believe that there are differences in people that make it easier or harder for people to lose weight, but I do not think the technology we have now can really tell you what is best ( especially for only 20 dollars a day). If this system of cutting edge I think there would be more word about it.
I think it is easy to take a critical view of the various "revolutionary" diet fads one can find in America these days. But, I have to say, this one actually sounds like a great idea. I don't think anyone can say that genes do not play a role in weight gain and loss. If this can somehow be incorporated to improve the health of individuals, then I say go for it! Of course, there are several issues with this service. Genovive is not exactly a cheap option for dieters, considering the start up package is around $600, and monthly meals add up to $500. If people can afford this and stick to the regimen, they would probably experience real results. But the issue of gaining back weight at the end of the program still needs to be considered. Genovive should incorporate some kind of "weaning off" program for the people utilizing their service. Sure, losing weight sounds easy if you get all your meals shipped to your front door- but what happens when the meals stop coming? What is stopping people from going back to their normal eating habits? Another issue is the exercise portion. People who have never exercised before are not just going to jump into a routine regimen. This is all a slow, step-by-step process. People need support and encouragement, for example from a personal trainer or a nutritionist. Genovive is missing the personal connection some people might be looking for when embarking on such an intense lifestyle change. I do maintain that in theory, the idea is good. How successful it will actually be remains to be seen...
ReplyDeleteWhen I first browsed the Genovive website, it definitely was intriguing but I personally have always been against pre-packaged meal diet plans. The most important thing in embarking on a diet is committing oneself to a lifestyle change. What first came to mind is what someone would do once they have reached their goal weight and decided to end the program, and therefore stopped receiving the packed “natural” meals.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed what Rachel O. said, and strongly agreed with her point about how this diet plan needs to cater to various lifestyles. I personally, am training for half marathon and because of my extensive mileage every week, this would be an impossible plan for me to follow. I think Americans focus too much on “dieting” and instead should focus on eating foods that are more natural and minimally processed (grains, protein sources, and fruits and vegetables.)
I think this idea has potential. What could be a more advanced product would be a diet plan that was constructed based on your DNA, so that individuals on the plan could cook and prepare their own foods and experience positive results. This could also be effective, because it could be altered for different lifestyles, for example athletes.
-Hope Ladd
I can see that everyone has their skepticism with this diet plan but I definitely am on the same page with Hope. The whole pre-packaged meal diet plan personally never swept my off my feet because it takes away from the freshness that I would like to expect in anything I consume. A lot of people already touched based in reference to the DNA of this plan so I would like to bring up another point- as intriguing and innovative as this sounds, I'm not entirely for the whole idea of incorporating this diet plan into the mainstream because the common lay person is not likely to completely understand exactly how our DNAs come into play. I showed a friend, who has no special science background, the part under "How it Works?--"It Starts with DNA" and I asked her if she would like to partake in this diet or if it sounds promising. Without surprise, she wasn't too convinced because words such as "SNP" or "nucleotides" didn't sound familiar nor promising to her.
DeleteThere is already a government sponsored guideline called "SuperTracker" which personalizes accounts for anyone and everyone. https://www.choosemyplate.gov/SuperTracker/default.aspx
Via that link (free and easily accessible), anyone can enter their personal information (including level of physical activity) and more comprehensive information provides precise recommendations of what and how much we should eat in our daily diets. We can keep track of it daily and adjust our diets to reach our goals to either maintain our weight, lose weight, or gain weight. I think this already well-established government regulated plan is superb but the lack of incorporation of it into the common person's daily lay leaves room to doubt the likelihood of a much more complex diet plan succeeding in entering the mainstream.
The first thing I thought of after reading the statistics that GenoVive’s article put in the sub heading—35% of Americans have dieted an average of six times in their life with little to no success—is how many are those unsuccessful cases are due to our DNA? I have some friends who have high metabolism that no matter how much they eat for one meal, they will be hungry by the time of the next meal, whereas some other have slower metabolism and don’t eat much before they are full. There must be something in our DNA that determines how fast our metabolism works in our body. But in terms of dieting, I believe that our environment and socioeconomic status plays a bigger role that our DNA does. Many of those people who failed to lose weight, especially in long term, may be factored by their life style, socioeconomic status, culture, physical activity level, health education, diet and nutrition knowledge, etc. I think GenoVive is a good idea, however, there are many other factors that we need to take into account before tailoring individual diet plan since they are much more than our DNA that determines our health.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, it is hard to see GenoVive as more than just another diet craze. I think that, in America especially, people have come to rely on experts—food scientists—to tell them what to eat. Every few years, nutrition researchers comes out with new information on what we should be eating; one nutrient that we thought was good is now bad, and another nutrient is now good. Companies then take advantage of this, marketing new diet programs based on the latest research, and people buy into it. Thus, over the years, we have gotten a series of fad diets. For example, when research suggested that it was carbohydrates, not fats, that contributed to weight gain, the Atkins diet craze took over. Now, with the Human Genome Project, genes are in vogue, so we have companies such as GenoVive taking advantage of the growing research in genomics and marketing DNA-based diets to consumers.
ReplyDeleteIn one sense, GenoVive incorporates many of the elements that other diet programs have already used and that have found the most success with consumers: prepackaged structured meal plans, reduced-calorie diets, and community support. But what sets GenoVive apart from the others is that they integrate people’s genetic information into their diet plan. So maybe this does have the potential to make GenoVive more successful than other diet programs. However, I am wondering if it might be more of a psychological thing, rather than the actual science behind GenoVive, that might make it more successful in helping people to lose weight. People have blamed their genes for their inability to lose weight, so now, if they see a diet that takes into account their genes (that is, a diet that has been personalized to their genes), perhaps they will be more motivated to go on the diet and comply with it. Will success be based on psychological undertones of the whole genetic concept of the diet or will the success be because their diet has been optimally designed according to their genes?
(continued)
ReplyDeleteAfter reading about the GenoVive diet, another question I have is, how important a role do genes actually play in a person’s ability to lose weight (and in the overall picture of weight management)? Are the variations in people’s genes (for how they metabolize the different macronutrients) significant enough that we need to test people’s DNA and make individual recommendations (rather than have the more general dietary reference intakes/acceptable macronutrient distribution ranges)? Is it really necessary to know your genetic make-up in order to have a healthy weight, or is it enough to eat healthy foods, watch how much food you eat, limit unhealthy foods, and exercise?
On that note, the testimonies on the GenoVive contributed to this curiosity. When I read the two testimonies on the GenoVive website, I was not surprised that these people lost weight on the GenoVive diet. In one “success story,” Angie went from a diet of fast food to a diet of GenoVive food, which presumably is healthier food (whole grains, lean protein, etc.)—and fewer calories—than what she was consuming. Angie also began exercising. So in essence, she adopted a healthier lifestyle on the GenoVive diet…no wonder she lost weight. The same goes for Ernie, GenoVive’s other “success story.” Before GenoVive, he was eating a high fat/high carb/high calorie New Orleans diet. Once on GenoVive, he not only changed the foods that he ate, but he also began exercising—and unsurprisingly, he lost weight. So, can we necessarily attribute Angie’s and Ernie’s weight loss to the fact that their diet was supposedly tailored to their DNA? Or is it that they ate healthier foods and began exercising more?
I think the idea of GenoVive to individualize one’s diet based on their genes sounds like a good idea. However since the article does not go into that much detail about how the genome is actually incorporated into the diet it leaves us asking if this is just another diet plan promising to work for everyone. There is still so much about nutirgenomics that we have yet to discover and I think it is too soon for this type of program. We also have to consider that our genome only plays a small part in our diet and weight. A large part is based on our personal lifestyle and surroundings. Even if GenoVive were to be able to construct a diet plan based on our DNA, it would only go so far. We can also only assume that this type of program would be quite expensive since the diets will be customized.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand if GenoVive was to actually work and be marketed it could have very promising results. However I don’t think that it would make much of a change in today’s obesity trend. Many successful diet and weight loss programs have been developed in the past years yet obesity has nearly tripled in the last fifty years and only continues to rise. I feel this would only be beneficial to those that could afford it.
GenoVive sounds like a great idea in theory, but I'm a bit skeptical about its efficacy. As we have discussed in class there are a lot of other factors that control health outcomes in addition to genetic makeup. Environmental factors, epigenetics, exercise, lifestyle etc. all have a lot to do with health, particularly with regards to weight management, so I think it is rather short sighted and narrow minded to think that a genetically engineered diet is going to produce exactly the results that you want in terms of weight and health outcomes. GenoVive could be a good tool if used properly in a medical context with the assistance of a physician, but I think it really has some shortcomings in terms of its ability to act as a comprehensive diet guide.
ReplyDeleteGenoVive sounds relatively realistic since so much is already known on how to eat and life a healthy life. Although people differ in what works best for them, the human race overall has the same needs and requirements. The diet will mostly be based on current information already offered such as RDAs. Many diets designed today do consider the individual when making prescriptions just like GenoVive could.
ReplyDeleteGenoVive will probably have the same issues as all other diet programs. For example, Jenny Craig provides you with a specific limited caloric intake but it is up to the individual to actually follow it. I think that it could help to reduce obesity trends but I do not think genetics is the real issue of the increasing trends. There needs to be a change in factors in society such as portion sizing and advertising of unhealthy foods.
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