November 19, 2024 • 31 mins
In today's podcast episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with Alex Swanson, the founder of Nutrition Genome, about the incredible potential of nutrigenomics to personalize health and wellness.
Alex shares how his journey, from running a global clinical nutrition practice to creating Nutrition Genome, led to a tool that tailors nutrition and health recommendations based on our unique genetic makeup.
We explore how nutrigenomic testing offers an individualized approach, helping people pinpoint their specific dietary needs and optimize their health. Alex explains how our genes hold a story of our ancestry, guiding our nutritional needs and sensitivities today.
Join us as we dive into how this innovative approach is transforming lives, from cancer patients to those seeking overall health and wellness.
Learn more about Alex and Nutrition Genome:
https://nutritiongenome.com/about/
Suggested Resource Links:
- Nutrition Genome - homepage
- Nutrition Genome - DNA Test Kit
- Roseto Effect Study - NIH article
- BLOG - Nutrition Genome
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ivelisse Page (00:06):
Hi, I'm Ivelisse Page, and thanks for listening
to the Believe Big podcast, theshow where we take a deep dive
into your healing with healthexperts, integrative
practitioners, biblical faithleaders, and cancer thrivers
from around the globe.
(00:35):
Welcome to today's episode onthe Believe Big podcast.
My name is Ivelisse Page, andit's always a pleasure to be
with you.
Today's podcast guest is AlexSwanson, the founder of
Nutrition Genome.
Alex is the founder and creativeof the software generation.
He is a second generationnutritionist and was the co
(00:57):
owner of Swanson Health Center,a private family clinical
nutrition practice that has beenin business for over 40 years.
He is also the creator of theblog, The Health Beat, the
software FidoVest and FidoVestCertified.
Alex ran a global clinicalnutrition practice for 12 years
(01:18):
with a focus on cancer,cardiovascular health, anxiety,
depression, athleticperformance, hormone
optimization, and digestivehealth.
In 2017, Alex closed hispractice to focus on full time
clinical research and innovationfor Nutrition Genome.
Alex has a post baccalaureate innutrition sciences from Basytr
(01:42):
University, an MS in AppliedNutrition and Business
Entrepreneurship fromNortheastern University, a
Certificate in Methylation andClinical Nutrogenomics, and a
Certification in Genetics andGenomics from Stanford
University.
Wow, that's amazing.
Welcome to the show, Alex.
Alex Swanson (02:03):
Thank you for having me.
Ivelisse Page (02:04):
We always like to start our podcast with our
guest's favorite health tip, sowhat health tip would you like
to share with us today?
Alex Swanson (02:12):
My favorite health tip comes from a concept called
the Roseto Effect.
And for those who haven't heardthat before, the Roseto Effect,
uh, was based on these, uh,people from Italy who moved to
Pennsylvania in the late 1800sand they built this town from
scratch.
They called it Roseto,Pennsylvania.
(02:34):
And they basically created thiskind of small Italian village,
just like they had at home.
And the way it was designed waskind of all the homes were open.
So they, there was really nodividing yards.
The porches kind of ran intoeach other.
There were three generations ofpeople living in their, in their
homes.
(02:54):
And there was just this hugestrength of community in that
area.
And during that time, around alittle later, in about the
1950s, heart disease startedskyrocketing in the U.
S.
And it was pretty universal.
And then in this little town,uh, a doctor was giving a
conference and was told you haveto check this place out for
(03:16):
whatever reason, the people inthis town are not getting heart
disease under, you know, the ageof 65 and even over 65, it's
half the rate of the rest of theU S and we don't know why.
And so this doctor startedlooking into it and started
researching it, and they, theywent down the list.
Is it their diet?
Well, their diet isn't reallyanything special compared to the
(03:37):
rest of the US.
Is it their environment?
Um, again, neighboring towns hadproblems, had the same heart
rate issues.
So nothing was really differentabout the environment.
Was it the genetics?
Well, they found people in therest of the U.
S.
who were from Roseto and thebiomarkers didn't, didn't
change.
I mean, they did change.
They were different in terms ofsaying, you know what, it's not
(04:00):
genetics.
These people are having heartdisease, but these people in
Roseto, Pennsylvania are not.
And then they finally lowered itand narrowed it down to this
huge strength of community.
You know everyone was supportingeach other.
There was this cooperation overcompetition.
There was this, you know,everyone was gathering every
week at church.
(04:20):
They were, they had a huge civicduty, you know, within the town
to look after everything.
So there was this powerfuleffect that was protecting them
from heart disease despite allof these other problems.
And that really changed the wayI looked at everything, in terms
of health, because I had been insuch a more, you know, rigorous
scientific side of things.
(04:42):
When I saw that.
I'm like, there's a lot we can'texplain.
And epigenetically, that's thefoundation.
And that was kind of my takeawayis that if we lose that, we lose
our biggest foundation ofhealth.
Ivelisse Page (04:54):
That is such an incredible story.
And I think it just makes somuch sense.
And I think we all focus so muchon the physical side of our
health that we don't many timestake account our emotional side
and even the empowerment thatcomes from being in a community
living together, peoplesupporting each other in so many
ways I mean it makes sensephysically because when you are
(05:17):
supported in a community yourcortisol levels lower, your
stress levels lower because youfeel, you know, that support
from people around you.
So it makes sense, but it'sincredible.
Alex Swanson (05:29):
Right.
And then the fascinating part ofit was the researchers thought
if they started becoming moreAmericanized, as they said, as
the years went on, their heartrates, their heart disease rates
would become the same as therest of the US.
And 20, 30 years later, that'sexactly what happened.
They started building kind ofmore of these mansions.
They had the fences and everyonebecame a little more focused on,
(05:50):
you know, their, their own livesand making money.
And then their heart diseaserates became the same.
Ivelisse Page (05:56):
That's really incredible.
I'm going to definitely linkthat study if you could send
that to us.
Alex Swanson (06:01):
Sure.
Ivelisse Page (06:01):
Roseto Village, just to let people read more
about it if they're interested.
So I, I'd like to get right intoit.
I love what you do at NutritionGenome.
And so I'd like to just to startoff is how does it help
individuals optimize theirhealth, not just people with
cancer, but just in the generalpopulation?
How does it help individualsoptimize their health?
Alex Swanson (06:22):
So, Neutrogenomic testing helps you narrow down
exactly where you need to focus,because it can be really
overwhelming to hear all thesedietary trends.
What is the best diet?
Um, and really the answer tothese questions is what's best
for you?
What is specific to your ownbiochemistry that works?
What kind of environment are youliving in now?
(06:43):
Because really the Neutrogenomictesting is a story.
It's a story of thousands ofyears of your ancestors.
Where they lived.
What kind of environment theylived in, what the pressures
were in that environment, whattheir diet was like.
Um, because that really hasshaped who we all are today and
what our requirements, what our,what our sensitivities are.
(07:06):
And so when you look at thesetests, you're, you're basically
seeing history.
You're reading history.
And, these variants and genesare not something to be afraid
of.
It's something to understand andsay, okay, these are trade offs.
I am who I am, you know, from abiochemical standpoint because
of trade offs to survive.
And I think what you're going toget out of it is I can narrow
(07:27):
down exactly where my, you know,susceptibilities are, where my
genetic weaknesses are, and Ican focus on that.
And that's going to turn into astrength.
And over generations goingforward, they'll become
strengths and that will be thebaseline change in the future.
Ivelisse Page (07:43):
So what inspired you to start Nutrition Genome
and how has your personalexperience, you know, shaped the
company's mission?
Alex Swanson (07:50):
So it, it started around 2012, 2013.
I was, uh, working in theclinical practice.
I was focusing on cancerpatients during chemotherapy and
how to, you know, make them asstrong as possible during that
time.
And, my now wife, she came to mewith, this health issue that she
had in the past, which was shehad a very bad, life threatening
(08:14):
drug reaction to an antibioticand a drug.
And at that time, they, thedoctors could not explain why it
happened, and it was just aterrifying experience.
And she was struggling with itbecause she said, you know, what
if this happens again?
How do I, how do I prevent this?
How do I know what happened?
And she said, do you think, isthere anything genetically that
can explain this?
(08:35):
And that's when I started reallydigging into research and
learning about this field andkind of understanding what's
called pharmacogenomics, whichis how you metabolize drugs, and
then nutrigenomics, how youmetabolize vitamins and minerals
and compounds and thesedifferent rates.
And I was able to explain whathappened.
I was able to actually look ather genetic variants.
(08:59):
See how they interacted, how thedrug interacted, how the
antibiotic interacted, and whatshe experienced.
And that was really eye opening,because I thought, if I can do
this with her, how many types ofcases can I do this for?
What can I help explain that Icouldn't before?
So I started utilizing it inpractice with different clients,
(09:20):
and with these kind of mysterydisorders, or things, again,
that they couldn't reallyexplain why they were having the
issues that they had.
And it was working.
And I just kept building andbuilding this, um, you know,
database of research and, uh,eventually ended up making a
software for it to make my lifeeasier because I was spending
eight hours, you know, per, perpatient, per client.
(09:43):
And doctors started noticingwhat I was doing.
They said, can you do this forme?
And that's kind of how itstarted and how it was really
just to make my job a littleeasier.
I wasn't really thinking ofmaking this company, but it
just, that's what it turnedinto.
Ivelisse Page (09:57):
So can you walk us through the process of
neutrogenomic analysis and whatkind of information can clients
expect to receive from it?
Alex Swanson (10:06):
The, the foundation of the report is
based on, on each section ofhealth, meaning that it's with
digestion and macronutrientmetabolism, toxin sensitivity,
methylation, hormones, DNArepair and protection, uh,
cardiovascular health.
So we separate it out so you cankind of look at it and say,
(10:28):
where do I need to focus rightnow?
You know, I always tell peoplepick three sections.
Start with macronutrientmetabolism where you can see
where your micronutrient needsare higher or lower, your
protein, carbs, fat and fiber,kind of those percentages that
work for your biochemistry.
And these are based on how yourespond to them.
So there are people who, youknow, respond better to more
(10:50):
carbohydrates.
And some people respond betterto less or different types of
fats.
And there's reasons for that.
And a lot of them have to dowith, you know, where we're
from.
Um, but if your focus is, youknow, cancer, for example, you
want to look at toxinsensitivity, you want to look at
DNA repair and protection.
And start there, because it canbe overwhelming to try to go
(11:11):
through everything and try to doeverything.
And we try to make it moresimple by having these priority
sliders, so you can see where,where do I need to focus in the
toxin sensitivity.
Um, Okay, my glutathione, youknow, is a lower baseline level.
That's something that I shouldpay attention to.
Or, uh, you know, catalase issomething that's a high
priority.
(11:31):
I need to be really careful withBPA plastic, for example.
So that's how we kind of lay itout.
So you can just summarize yourfocus.
And then at the end, we put in agrocery list that's customized
to those results.
So you say, here's why the foodsI need to focus on.
Here's blood work that might,you know, be of interest to me
to look at.
Um, and that kind of makes it aneasy way to have those, those
(11:54):
takeaways that you can apply.
Ivelisse Page (11:56):
Yes, I, I found it extremely helpful for me.
Even recently, I had gotten thetest done last, after last fall
when I had my endometrial cancerand, you know, we had the
surgery and, when you have acomplete hysterectomy your
estrogen levels and all of myhormone levels would be
(12:17):
changing.
I was going into surgicalmenopause and one of the
questions, and we actually did awhole podcast on hormone health
is, would it be okay for me, youknow, to take supplementation
of, of, of estrogen?
estrogen, you know, even vaginalestrogen that they said is not
harmful according to surgeonsand others, but because of my
family history I was reallyconcerned especially with Lynch
(12:40):
syndrome that I had.
And my integrative practitioner,I was so grateful for her
because she says, I want to dothis nutrition genome test for
you because before we evenconsider it, I want to see how
you process out estrogens, whatSNPs you have, and do you have
multiple ones or just one thatmight be an issue and it might
(13:03):
be okay to do this cream or thatcream if you absolutely needed
it.
And sure enough, we do the testand she evaluates it.
And, she said, absolutely not.
You cannot.
You, instead of just one, Ithink you have all of them that
would hinder your ability toprocess out estrogens and, and
you know, it would be very moreharm for you than good.
(13:26):
And so it was really such arelief to have a tool that we
can then see for me personally,because everyone's, as an
individual is different.
But for me personally to know,Okay, for my case, absolutely
not.
And I can just go in peace andfind other solutions that would
help with the symptoms that Iwould then be experiencing.
(13:48):
And I then actually had each ofmy kids go through the process
and my husband because I was sofascinated with the information
that was received.
And it also gave me peace and mykids empowerment because 5
percent of cancer is genetics.
So.
I'm part of that 5 percent andpotentially, you know, my kids
(14:09):
could potentially have thatgene.
And so this test was fascinatingto them because they were able
to be empowered to know theseare my weaknesses.
Just because I have thesegenetics does not determine my
outcome.
And so they are empowered tothen go, okay, I'm going to
avoid this.
I'm going to focus on theseaspects of my care and they can
be the strongest self that theycan possibly be physically.
(14:33):
And so it was very empoweringfor them and encouraging to them
to read those reports and, andhave a doctor evaluate that.
And for anyone who's listeningand wants to get a nutrition
genome test, we do havepractitioners at Believe Big
under our integrativepractitioner list that can, you
know, get this information,evaluate it because it does take
(14:57):
time.
And I, I believe in, especiallyin the cancer side, a
professional to really fullyevaluate all of it and really
make a good plan for you.
Would you agree with that?
Alex Swanson (15:07):
Absolutely.
Ivelisse Page (15:08):
So what are some other common variations, genetic
variations that you've seentalking about genetics
significantly impact, you know,nutritional needs, and how can
understanding them help peoplemake better health decisions?
Alex Swanson (15:22):
I think one that stands out to me is APOE, the
APOE gene in terms of how itimpacts nutritional decisions.
Um, and APOE is a gene thatoften people have heard of
because of its association withAlzheimer's disease.
And APOE, um, essentially it's,so there's, there's three
(15:44):
different forms of APOE.
There's, there's APOE2, E3, andE4, and that's how the genotypes
work.
And what's fascinating aboutAPOE is that the, the E4 allele.
represents a hunter gatherertime period, the E3, E2
represent agricultural timeperiod.
So those, those adaptations thatoccur during agriculture really
(16:05):
show up in a lot of the genesbecause it was just such an
explosive time for adaptation todairy and grains and, you know,
different environmentalpressures that were happening as
we started living closertogether.
And, uh, it really helpsdetermine those sensitivities to
this higher carbohydrate intake,sugar intake.
(16:26):
toxin sensitivity because itreduces that protection against
toxins as well.
Um, alcohol, you know, there'salways this kind of debate on
that one and, and that one seemsto show up consistently being,
no, these, this ApoE4 people aremuch more sensitive to the toxic
effects of alcohol.
And I, I think, you know, we usethat as when on our main page on
(16:48):
the macronutrient page, we firstdesignate, you know, hunter,
gatherer, farmer, with thisunderstanding of this is kind of
where it starts and then we'duse this cumulative value from
there of understanding yournutritional requirements, but
that really starts with a bowie.
Um, another one that everyonereally talks about is MTHFR.
(17:09):
And MTHFR is, is one I reallylike to talk about because I
think it's, it's fairlymisunderstood and I think it has
been for a while, but about 10years ago, you know, that became
a huge focus of nutrigenomictesting and there was a lot of
fear, you know, around thatvariant and say, people, I have
the mutation, you know, I, I, Ineed methylfolate, something's
(17:31):
not working correctly.
It was kind of this impressionof it.
And what I was worked hard withunderstanding was, well, these
variants are fairly common.
and there's a reason for them.
Let's understand the reasoningso we can eliminate that fear
and better target this from adifferent place of
understanding.
And so MTHFR has to do withfolate metabolism and variants
(17:56):
in it increase the need formethylfolate, for example,
folinic acid, um, becausethere's lower folate levels and
that regulates homocysteine.
And homocysteine is a big partof, of, uh, inflammation.
In north, in Northern Europe ornorthern latitudes, you'll see
more of the, what's called thewild type or the normal, you
(18:17):
know, most common genotype ofMTHFR.
As you start to go closer to theequator, the Mediterranean, the
variants become much morecommon.
And if you think about it, innorthern latitudes, there's less
folate rich plants growing andthere's less UV radiation.
As you go down closer, UVradiation goes up.
There's more folate rich plants,rich plants year round.
(18:40):
Um, and that's where you startto see those associations
because as you're getting morefolate, your body down regulates
saying we're getting plenty ofdietary folate, we can put our
energy elsewhere, or there's alot of UV.
Um, you know, damage that canoccur in this environment, we're
going to start putting someenergy towards that.
And then as you go to theeastern Mediterranean, there's
(19:01):
also protection against malaria.
So as you reduce folate levelsin the body, you're more
protected against malaria.
And so you start to see howthese adaptations work.
And I think that's a reallyimportant part of nutrigenomics.
Ivelisse Page (19:14):
That's fascinating.
It really is.
So, what role does epigenetics,and for those who are listening,
epigenetics is the study of howour environment and behaviors
change the chemicals attached toour genes and affecting our
health.
So, what role does epigeneticshave and how do those factors
play in the expression of ourgenetic code and how does
(19:36):
Nutrition Genome factor theseinto the analysis?
Alex Swanson (19:40):
Very important concept to really understand
with this testing is that your,so your DNA is fixed, but the
epigenome is flexible.
So when you see your variants, alot of, you know, sometimes we
get questions are is this thesame for your whole life?
You know, these variants, isthis at birth, does this change?
And so the variants that youhave, that wild type,
(20:00):
heterozygous, homozygous, thoseare fixed.
But the way each gene is, uh,basically express changes
throughout your life, and thatincludes your diet, your
exercise, uh, your environment,your community.
So, your stress and your sleep,all of those are factored into
the actual expression of thegene.
So, when we have our recommendedblood work, you know, the
(20:23):
important note that we say is itdoesn't mean any of these are
going to be out of range.
There's just a, there's a higherchance that they could be if
you're not doing these specificthings.
And our strategies are all best,all based on epigenetics.
It's all based on here are theexact vitamins, minerals,
compounds, lifestyle factorsthat target those genes and to
(20:45):
turn those weaknesses intostrengths.
So, yeah, the entire analysis isbased on that concept.
Ivelisse Page (20:51):
And I just love that because, you know, we've
always said this, you can turnyour genes on and off.
And people at that time, yearsago, were like, what?
You can do that?
And it's a huge thing now.
People are finding out moreabout metabolic health and being
more flexible and how our foodmatters, our environment,
stress, our emotional healthfactors into those genes
(21:12):
switching on and off.
I love that this test is like atangible visual of those things
that you can actually do to shutthem off.
And so I really, I really lovethat.
Can you share an example of howsomeone was able to overcome a
genetic weakness throughpersonalizing nutrition and
lifestyle changes?
Do you know of someone that youcould share about?
Alex Swanson (21:34):
Yes, I was, I was thinking about, you know, the
different, um, testimonials thatwe've had and, you know, what
has really stood out to me.
And the first kind of just as ageneral, um, testimonial
feedback that we get is peoplewill say to me, you know,
intuitively, this is what Ithought was best for me.
(21:55):
And this confirmed that.
And I always thought that waspowerful because we get, it's
easy to get confused and it'seasy to think, okay, is this
better?
Is this better?
But if you really listen toyourself, you know, I think that
is a very strong voice and thiswas confirming and validating
that for people, but we had onerecently where it was a
(22:16):
practitioner who had breastcancer and she was actually told
by a colleague to try this.
And she was pretty skeptical,you know, about how much it
could actually do for her atthat stage.
And she was going through chemoand she followed everything to a
T.
And she said, not only did Isail through that therapy.
(22:38):
I, you know, I've felt, I'vefelt better my whole life and
it's been years and it's in, youknow, cancer's in remission.
She's doing better than she hasher app.
She follows everything in thesame way.
And now it's, you know, she usesit in her practice for every
client that comes in, you know.
And I, I really think that I'veseen consistently that kind of,
that ability to take thatinformation, put it into
(23:00):
practice, but also keep doingit.
And that's really the key.
If something can keep youconsistent, that's everything.
Ivelisse Page (23:06):
Yes.
You know, my, my kids werefascinated because, you know,
they would, they can haveorganic coffee all day long and
I have to stop by noon so that Ican sleep well at night.
Alex Swanson (23:16):
Mm-Hmm.
Ivelisse Page (23:16):
And sure enough, their nutrition genomes came
back saying that they processout caffeine very quickly.
And I'm like, they're like, see,I told you mom, I have no issue
drinking at eight o'clock andgoing to bed at 10 and being
fine And I'm like, so it wasjust, that was just kind of like
a fun part of the report.
So in your opinion, can youdiscuss the impact of food
(23:37):
sensitivities on health and howNutrition Genome identifies and
addresses them in the analysis?
Alex Swanson (23:45):
Sure, so it's a great question because it has
its limitations when it comes tofood sensitivities.
So you can, we can test forgenetic, you know,
susceptibilities to like celiacdisease or lactose intolerance.
Those are very, have very cleargenetic links.
However, food sensitivities areoften the result of an
(24:06):
alteration of the microbiome.
And so if it's not a trueallergy from the beginning, it's
something that occurs later,there's something that has
changed and that's not somethingyou typically can see with
genetic testing.
So a question we often get is,you know, I, well, I can't eat
this food or I can't eat thatfood.
It's on my grocery list.
But you have to also understandthat we can't see that those
(24:27):
changes are going to happen,that there's digestive issues
are going to occur and all of asudden you have allergies or
sensitivities you didn't havebefore.
So it is limited in that regard.
Ivelisse Page (24:38):
So where do you see the future of Nutrogenomics
headed and how do you envisionits role in the larger field of
personalized medicine and cancereven?
Alex Swanson (24:48):
Well, I think the focus on nutrigenomics is pretty
early when you think of thetimeline.
I mean, it, I would say about 12years ago, you know, it really
started, just kind of started toget more known.
And how much has happened inthat amount of time?
I mean, how much I've learnedfrom 12 years ago until now.
I think that the computing poweris just going to get massive
(25:13):
when it comes to looking atthousands of snips.
And using this cumulative valuemodel of high impact and how
they work together as a synergyand lowering and increasing
those risks.
We'll have that data more andmore and we'll get more and more
precise as time goes on.
And I think with cancerespecially, it's going to become
(25:36):
a very powerful tool.
Um, but I'm pretty excited aboutthe future of it and how it's
going to be able to help people.
Ivelisse Page (25:43):
Yeah, I am too.
I find it to be such a helpfultool.
What are some of the mostsurprising findings that clients
discover through theirnutrigenomic reports that you've
heard?
Alex Swanson (25:55):
Surprising findings?
Um, I think that one that standsout to me is we'll have somebody
who's following a specific diet.
And say it's a vegan diet or aketogenic diet.
And they feel like they're maybedoing something that they
thought would be helping them.
(26:15):
They take the test and then theyrealize, Oh, wait a second.
I have a very high need forcholine, for B12, for zinc.
I have a much higher sensitivityto saturated fat intake.
This now explains why my bloodwork, you know, is looking out
of range or why I just don'tfeel well on this, on this diet.
(26:38):
And I think that is kind ofthat, that confirming test again
of saying, okay, this is whythis isn't working.
I can, I can feel better makingthese changes.
Ivelisse Page (26:48):
Now we are coming up to the end of our 30 minutes
of our podcast.
And so I would like to just askyou, is there anything that I
didn't ask you that you thinkwould be helpful to those
listening today aboutnutrigenomics?
And what you do.
Alex Swanson (27:04):
That's a great question.
Um, I think, you know, I'd alsoreally like to hear a little bit
more about how it helps you andwhat exactly, what exactly stood
out to you the most where yousaid, this is it.
This is what I really need totake away from this report,
because I feel like that'swhat's really helpful when
people hear that and they thinkthis was my biggest takeaway
(27:26):
from this test.
And I can tell you mine too.
Ivelisse Page (27:28):
I would say a couple things.
The first is what I shared aboutthe, my hormones and how I
process them out.
And I also really appreciatedthat I had a physician who was
able to evaluate all of itbecause in one section, it said,
you know, that this was astrength and, actually, I'm
(27:49):
sorry.
It says that these are yourstrengths and these are your
weaknesses.
And But what she was able to dowith those weaknesses was
combine them with my strengths.
So it really encouraged me.
Instead of me feeling down aboutwhat weaknesses I had, she
really focused and said, wow,because you have all these
strengths, that really overridesthese weaknesses.
(28:10):
And it really empowered me to,you know, really dive in a
little deeper with those.
But I think also for me, it was,it was peace for my kids.
and their future.
Knowing this information reallyempowered them and that's kind
of what I really wanted them todo is like we as parents can
share with our kids abouthealthy eating, healthy
lifestyles, emotional health,but until they, they're all
(28:34):
adults.
Mine are, my youngest is 21 andmy oldest, goodness, is going to
be 30 this weekend.
But for them to now hold thisinformation and be empowered by
it to move forward in their ownhealth, was such an incredible
gift to me as a parent, so I, Ijust really love that.
And I also like the food listthat you also have, because
(28:56):
sometimes we can get so focusedon the same recipes and same
things that we're making, andwhen I saw the food list and I'm
like, oh, I really need to, um,add this into my diet.
That's super interesting.
And I didn't realize that thisfood was really high in
glutathione or whatever the, theminerals and nutrients that I
needed for my body.
And so that, that aspect wasreally helpful.
Alex Swanson (29:19):
Good.
I'm so glad to hear that.
Yeah.
I just wanted to add, so I havea one and a half year old
daughter and I can already see,you know, that she takes a
little more after my wife's sidein terms of the foods that work
and the foods that don't.
And.
I'm looking forward to doing hertest, you know, when she's two,
where you can actually get aclean saliva swab and
(29:40):
understanding this from thebeginning.
You know, that's informationthat we didn't have before, but
I can look at it in a new lensnow and kind of start her off on
the right foot.
Ivelisse Page (29:49):
That's amazing.
I love this.
Well, thank you so much for whatyou do.
I am going to put a link to thewebsite for anyone who would
like to get more informationabout Nutrition Genome and the
tests that Alex and his companyhave so that you can get a
little deeper dive into your ownhealth or that of your family.
We'll make sure to include thatin the show notes so that you
(30:12):
are able to do this for yourselfand really be fascinated by the
information that that youreceive.
So thank you so much for joiningus this afternoon.
I know you're a super busy manand appreciated you taking the
time to share with us about thisconcept of Neutrogenomics.
Alex Swanson (30:29):
Thank you so much for having me.
Rebecca Arcarese (30:31):
Hi, I'm Rebecca Arcarese, Development
Director for Believe Big.
As 2024 comes to a close, yourgenerosity can make a life
changing difference for a cancerpatient.
At Believe Big, we empowerpatients and their families with
significant resources and muchneeded hope.
Your donation today will help usprovide essential care,
education, and a community ofstrength for those in need.
(30:54):
Together, we can help morepeople face, fight, and overcome
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Visit www.believebig.org andmake your gift today.
Thank you.
Ivelisse Page (31:11):
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Be sure to visit believebig.orgto access the show notes and
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Thanks again and keep BelievingBig!
Hi, I'm Ivelisse Page, and thanks for listening
to the Believe Big podcast, theshow where we take a deep dive
into your healing with healthexperts, integrative
practitioners, biblical faithleaders, and cancer thrivers
from around the globe.
(00:35):
Welcome to today's episode onthe Believe Big podcast.
My name is Ivelisse Page, andit's always a pleasure to be
with you.
Today's podcast guest is AlexSwanson, the founder of
Nutrition Genome.
Alex is the founder and creativeof the software generation.
He is a second generationnutritionist and was the co
(00:57):
owner of Swanson Health Center,a private family clinical
nutrition practice that has beenin business for over 40 years.
He is also the creator of theblog, The Health Beat, the
software FidoVest and FidoVestCertified.
Alex ran a global clinicalnutrition practice for 12 years
(01:18):
with a focus on cancer,cardiovascular health, anxiety,
depression, athleticperformance, hormone
optimization, and digestivehealth.
In 2017, Alex closed hispractice to focus on full time
clinical research and innovationfor Nutrition Genome.
Alex has a post baccalaureate innutrition sciences from Basytr
(01:42):
University, an MS in AppliedNutrition and Business
Entrepreneurship fromNortheastern University, a
Certificate in Methylation andClinical Nutrogenomics, and a
Certification in Genetics andGenomics from Stanford
University.
Wow, that's amazing.
Welcome to the show, Alex.
Alex Swanson (02:03):
Thank you for having me.
Ivelisse Page (02:04):
We always like to start our podcast with our
guest's favorite health tip, sowhat health tip would you like
to share with us today?
Alex Swanson (02:12):
My favorite health tip comes from a concept called
the Roseto Effect.
And for those who haven't heardthat before, the Roseto Effect,
uh, was based on these, uh,people from Italy who moved to
Pennsylvania in the late 1800sand they built this town from
scratch.
They called it Roseto,Pennsylvania.
(02:34):
And they basically created thiskind of small Italian village,
just like they had at home.
And the way it was designed waskind of all the homes were open.
So they, there was really nodividing yards.
The porches kind of ran intoeach other.
There were three generations ofpeople living in their, in their
homes.
(02:54):
And there was just this hugestrength of community in that
area.
And during that time, around alittle later, in about the
1950s, heart disease startedskyrocketing in the U.
S.
And it was pretty universal.
And then in this little town,uh, a doctor was giving a
conference and was told you haveto check this place out for
(03:16):
whatever reason, the people inthis town are not getting heart
disease under, you know, the ageof 65 and even over 65, it's
half the rate of the rest of theU S and we don't know why.
And so this doctor startedlooking into it and started
researching it, and they, theywent down the list.
Is it their diet?
Well, their diet isn't reallyanything special compared to the
(03:37):
rest of the US.
Is it their environment?
Um, again, neighboring towns hadproblems, had the same heart
rate issues.
So nothing was really differentabout the environment.
Was it the genetics?
Well, they found people in therest of the U.
S.
who were from Roseto and thebiomarkers didn't, didn't
change.
I mean, they did change.
They were different in terms ofsaying, you know what, it's not
(04:00):
genetics.
These people are having heartdisease, but these people in
Roseto, Pennsylvania are not.
And then they finally lowered itand narrowed it down to this
huge strength of community.
You know everyone was supportingeach other.
There was this cooperation overcompetition.
There was this, you know,everyone was gathering every
week at church.
(04:20):
They were, they had a huge civicduty, you know, within the town
to look after everything.
So there was this powerfuleffect that was protecting them
from heart disease despite allof these other problems.
And that really changed the wayI looked at everything, in terms
of health, because I had been insuch a more, you know, rigorous
scientific side of things.
(04:42):
When I saw that.
I'm like, there's a lot we can'texplain.
And epigenetically, that's thefoundation.
And that was kind of my takeawayis that if we lose that, we lose
our biggest foundation ofhealth.
Ivelisse Page (04:54):
That is such an incredible story.
And I think it just makes somuch sense.
And I think we all focus so muchon the physical side of our
health that we don't many timestake account our emotional side
and even the empowerment thatcomes from being in a community
living together, peoplesupporting each other in so many
ways I mean it makes sensephysically because when you are
(05:17):
supported in a community yourcortisol levels lower, your
stress levels lower because youfeel, you know, that support
from people around you.
So it makes sense, but it'sincredible.
Alex Swanson (05:29):
Right.
And then the fascinating part ofit was the researchers thought
if they started becoming moreAmericanized, as they said, as
the years went on, their heartrates, their heart disease rates
would become the same as therest of the US.
And 20, 30 years later, that'sexactly what happened.
They started building kind ofmore of these mansions.
They had the fences and everyonebecame a little more focused on,
(05:50):
you know, their, their own livesand making money.
And then their heart diseaserates became the same.
Ivelisse Page (05:56):
That's really incredible.
I'm going to definitely linkthat study if you could send
that to us.
Alex Swanson (06:01):
Sure.
Ivelisse Page (06:01):
Roseto Village, just to let people read more
about it if they're interested.
So I, I'd like to get right intoit.
I love what you do at NutritionGenome.
And so I'd like to just to startoff is how does it help
individuals optimize theirhealth, not just people with
cancer, but just in the generalpopulation?
How does it help individualsoptimize their health?
Alex Swanson (06:22):
So, Neutrogenomic testing helps you narrow down
exactly where you need to focus,because it can be really
overwhelming to hear all thesedietary trends.
What is the best diet?
Um, and really the answer tothese questions is what's best
for you?
What is specific to your ownbiochemistry that works?
What kind of environment are youliving in now?
(06:43):
Because really the Neutrogenomictesting is a story.
It's a story of thousands ofyears of your ancestors.
Where they lived.
What kind of environment theylived in, what the pressures
were in that environment, whattheir diet was like.
Um, because that really hasshaped who we all are today and
what our requirements, what our,what our sensitivities are.
(07:06):
And so when you look at thesetests, you're, you're basically
seeing history.
You're reading history.
And, these variants and genesare not something to be afraid
of.
It's something to understand andsay, okay, these are trade offs.
I am who I am, you know, from abiochemical standpoint because
of trade offs to survive.
And I think what you're going toget out of it is I can narrow
(07:27):
down exactly where my, you know,susceptibilities are, where my
genetic weaknesses are, and Ican focus on that.
And that's going to turn into astrength.
And over generations goingforward, they'll become
strengths and that will be thebaseline change in the future.
Ivelisse Page (07:43):
So what inspired you to start Nutrition Genome
and how has your personalexperience, you know, shaped the
company's mission?
Alex Swanson (07:50):
So it, it started around 2012, 2013.
I was, uh, working in theclinical practice.
I was focusing on cancerpatients during chemotherapy and
how to, you know, make them asstrong as possible during that
time.
And, my now wife, she came to mewith, this health issue that she
had in the past, which was shehad a very bad, life threatening
(08:14):
drug reaction to an antibioticand a drug.
And at that time, they, thedoctors could not explain why it
happened, and it was just aterrifying experience.
And she was struggling with itbecause she said, you know, what
if this happens again?
How do I, how do I prevent this?
How do I know what happened?
And she said, do you think, isthere anything genetically that
can explain this?
(08:35):
And that's when I started reallydigging into research and
learning about this field andkind of understanding what's
called pharmacogenomics, whichis how you metabolize drugs, and
then nutrigenomics, how youmetabolize vitamins and minerals
and compounds and thesedifferent rates.
And I was able to explain whathappened.
I was able to actually look ather genetic variants.
(08:59):
See how they interacted, how thedrug interacted, how the
antibiotic interacted, and whatshe experienced.
And that was really eye opening,because I thought, if I can do
this with her, how many types ofcases can I do this for?
What can I help explain that Icouldn't before?
So I started utilizing it inpractice with different clients,
(09:20):
and with these kind of mysterydisorders, or things, again,
that they couldn't reallyexplain why they were having the
issues that they had.
And it was working.
And I just kept building andbuilding this, um, you know,
database of research and, uh,eventually ended up making a
software for it to make my lifeeasier because I was spending
eight hours, you know, per, perpatient, per client.
(09:43):
And doctors started noticingwhat I was doing.
They said, can you do this forme?
And that's kind of how itstarted and how it was really
just to make my job a littleeasier.
I wasn't really thinking ofmaking this company, but it
just, that's what it turnedinto.
Ivelisse Page (09:57):
So can you walk us through the process of
neutrogenomic analysis and whatkind of information can clients
expect to receive from it?
Alex Swanson (10:06):
The, the foundation of the report is
based on, on each section ofhealth, meaning that it's with
digestion and macronutrientmetabolism, toxin sensitivity,
methylation, hormones, DNArepair and protection, uh,
cardiovascular health.
So we separate it out so you cankind of look at it and say,
(10:28):
where do I need to focus rightnow?
You know, I always tell peoplepick three sections.
Start with macronutrientmetabolism where you can see
where your micronutrient needsare higher or lower, your
protein, carbs, fat and fiber,kind of those percentages that
work for your biochemistry.
And these are based on how yourespond to them.
So there are people who, youknow, respond better to more
(10:50):
carbohydrates.
And some people respond betterto less or different types of
fats.
And there's reasons for that.
And a lot of them have to dowith, you know, where we're
from.
Um, but if your focus is, youknow, cancer, for example, you
want to look at toxinsensitivity, you want to look at
DNA repair and protection.
And start there, because it canbe overwhelming to try to go
(11:11):
through everything and try to doeverything.
And we try to make it moresimple by having these priority
sliders, so you can see where,where do I need to focus in the
toxin sensitivity.
Um, Okay, my glutathione, youknow, is a lower baseline level.
That's something that I shouldpay attention to.
Or, uh, you know, catalase issomething that's a high
priority.
(11:31):
I need to be really careful withBPA plastic, for example.
So that's how we kind of lay itout.
So you can just summarize yourfocus.
And then at the end, we put in agrocery list that's customized
to those results.
So you say, here's why the foodsI need to focus on.
Here's blood work that might,you know, be of interest to me
to look at.
Um, and that kind of makes it aneasy way to have those, those
(11:54):
takeaways that you can apply.
Ivelisse Page (11:56):
Yes, I, I found it extremely helpful for me.
Even recently, I had gotten thetest done last, after last fall
when I had my endometrial cancerand, you know, we had the
surgery and, when you have acomplete hysterectomy your
estrogen levels and all of myhormone levels would be
(12:17):
changing.
I was going into surgicalmenopause and one of the
questions, and we actually did awhole podcast on hormone health
is, would it be okay for me, youknow, to take supplementation
of, of, of estrogen?
estrogen, you know, even vaginalestrogen that they said is not
harmful according to surgeonsand others, but because of my
family history I was reallyconcerned especially with Lynch
(12:40):
syndrome that I had.
And my integrative practitioner,I was so grateful for her
because she says, I want to dothis nutrition genome test for
you because before we evenconsider it, I want to see how
you process out estrogens, whatSNPs you have, and do you have
multiple ones or just one thatmight be an issue and it might
(13:03):
be okay to do this cream or thatcream if you absolutely needed
it.
And sure enough, we do the testand she evaluates it.
And, she said, absolutely not.
You cannot.
You, instead of just one, Ithink you have all of them that
would hinder your ability toprocess out estrogens and, and
you know, it would be very moreharm for you than good.
(13:26):
And so it was really such arelief to have a tool that we
can then see for me personally,because everyone's, as an
individual is different.
But for me personally to know,Okay, for my case, absolutely
not.
And I can just go in peace andfind other solutions that would
help with the symptoms that Iwould then be experiencing.
(13:48):
And I then actually had each ofmy kids go through the process
and my husband because I was sofascinated with the information
that was received.
And it also gave me peace and mykids empowerment because 5
percent of cancer is genetics.
So.
I'm part of that 5 percent andpotentially, you know, my kids
(14:09):
could potentially have thatgene.
And so this test was fascinatingto them because they were able
to be empowered to know theseare my weaknesses.
Just because I have thesegenetics does not determine my
outcome.
And so they are empowered tothen go, okay, I'm going to
avoid this.
I'm going to focus on theseaspects of my care and they can
be the strongest self that theycan possibly be physically.
(14:33):
And so it was very empoweringfor them and encouraging to them
to read those reports and, andhave a doctor evaluate that.
And for anyone who's listeningand wants to get a nutrition
genome test, we do havepractitioners at Believe Big
under our integrativepractitioner list that can, you
know, get this information,evaluate it because it does take
(14:57):
time.
And I, I believe in, especiallyin the cancer side, a
professional to really fullyevaluate all of it and really
make a good plan for you.
Would you agree with that?
Alex Swanson (15:07):
Absolutely.
Ivelisse Page (15:08):
So what are some other common variations, genetic
variations that you've seentalking about genetics
significantly impact, you know,nutritional needs, and how can
understanding them help peoplemake better health decisions?
Alex Swanson (15:22):
I think one that stands out to me is APOE, the
APOE gene in terms of how itimpacts nutritional decisions.
Um, and APOE is a gene thatoften people have heard of
because of its association withAlzheimer's disease.
And APOE, um, essentially it's,so there's, there's three
(15:44):
different forms of APOE.
There's, there's APOE2, E3, andE4, and that's how the genotypes
work.
And what's fascinating aboutAPOE is that the, the E4 allele.
represents a hunter gatherertime period, the E3, E2
represent agricultural timeperiod.
So those, those adaptations thatoccur during agriculture really
(16:05):
show up in a lot of the genesbecause it was just such an
explosive time for adaptation todairy and grains and, you know,
different environmentalpressures that were happening as
we started living closertogether.
And, uh, it really helpsdetermine those sensitivities to
this higher carbohydrate intake,sugar intake.
(16:26):
toxin sensitivity because itreduces that protection against
toxins as well.
Um, alcohol, you know, there'salways this kind of debate on
that one and, and that one seemsto show up consistently being,
no, these, this ApoE4 people aremuch more sensitive to the toxic
effects of alcohol.
And I, I think, you know, we usethat as when on our main page on
(16:48):
the macronutrient page, we firstdesignate, you know, hunter,
gatherer, farmer, with thisunderstanding of this is kind of
where it starts and then we'duse this cumulative value from
there of understanding yournutritional requirements, but
that really starts with a bowie.
Um, another one that everyonereally talks about is MTHFR.
(17:09):
And MTHFR is, is one I reallylike to talk about because I
think it's, it's fairlymisunderstood and I think it has
been for a while, but about 10years ago, you know, that became
a huge focus of nutrigenomictesting and there was a lot of
fear, you know, around thatvariant and say, people, I have
the mutation, you know, I, I, Ineed methylfolate, something's
(17:31):
not working correctly.
It was kind of this impressionof it.
And what I was worked hard withunderstanding was, well, these
variants are fairly common.
and there's a reason for them.
Let's understand the reasoningso we can eliminate that fear
and better target this from adifferent place of
understanding.
And so MTHFR has to do withfolate metabolism and variants
(17:56):
in it increase the need formethylfolate, for example,
folinic acid, um, becausethere's lower folate levels and
that regulates homocysteine.
And homocysteine is a big partof, of, uh, inflammation.
In north, in Northern Europe ornorthern latitudes, you'll see
more of the, what's called thewild type or the normal, you
(18:17):
know, most common genotype ofMTHFR.
As you start to go closer to theequator, the Mediterranean, the
variants become much morecommon.
And if you think about it, innorthern latitudes, there's less
folate rich plants growing andthere's less UV radiation.
As you go down closer, UVradiation goes up.
There's more folate rich plants,rich plants year round.
(18:40):
Um, and that's where you startto see those associations
because as you're getting morefolate, your body down regulates
saying we're getting plenty ofdietary folate, we can put our
energy elsewhere, or there's alot of UV.
Um, you know, damage that canoccur in this environment, we're
going to start putting someenergy towards that.
And then as you go to theeastern Mediterranean, there's
(19:01):
also protection against malaria.
So as you reduce folate levelsin the body, you're more
protected against malaria.
And so you start to see howthese adaptations work.
And I think that's a reallyimportant part of nutrigenomics.
Ivelisse Page (19:14):
That's fascinating.
It really is.
So, what role does epigenetics,and for those who are listening,
epigenetics is the study of howour environment and behaviors
change the chemicals attached toour genes and affecting our
health.
So, what role does epigeneticshave and how do those factors
play in the expression of ourgenetic code and how does
(19:36):
Nutrition Genome factor theseinto the analysis?
Alex Swanson (19:40):
Very important concept to really understand
with this testing is that your,so your DNA is fixed, but the
epigenome is flexible.
So when you see your variants, alot of, you know, sometimes we
get questions are is this thesame for your whole life?
You know, these variants, isthis at birth, does this change?
And so the variants that youhave, that wild type,
(20:00):
heterozygous, homozygous, thoseare fixed.
But the way each gene is, uh,basically express changes
throughout your life, and thatincludes your diet, your
exercise, uh, your environment,your community.
So, your stress and your sleep,all of those are factored into
the actual expression of thegene.
So, when we have our recommendedblood work, you know, the
(20:23):
important note that we say is itdoesn't mean any of these are
going to be out of range.
There's just a, there's a higherchance that they could be if
you're not doing these specificthings.
And our strategies are all best,all based on epigenetics.
It's all based on here are theexact vitamins, minerals,
compounds, lifestyle factorsthat target those genes and to
(20:45):
turn those weaknesses intostrengths.
So, yeah, the entire analysis isbased on that concept.
Ivelisse Page (20:51):
And I just love that because, you know, we've
always said this, you can turnyour genes on and off.
And people at that time, yearsago, were like, what?
You can do that?
And it's a huge thing now.
People are finding out moreabout metabolic health and being
more flexible and how our foodmatters, our environment,
stress, our emotional healthfactors into those genes
(21:12):
switching on and off.
I love that this test is like atangible visual of those things
that you can actually do to shutthem off.
And so I really, I really lovethat.
Can you share an example of howsomeone was able to overcome a
genetic weakness throughpersonalizing nutrition and
lifestyle changes?
Do you know of someone that youcould share about?
Alex Swanson (21:34):
Yes, I was, I was thinking about, you know, the
different, um, testimonials thatwe've had and, you know, what
has really stood out to me.
And the first kind of just as ageneral, um, testimonial
feedback that we get is peoplewill say to me, you know,
intuitively, this is what Ithought was best for me.
(21:55):
And this confirmed that.
And I always thought that waspowerful because we get, it's
easy to get confused and it'seasy to think, okay, is this
better?
Is this better?
But if you really listen toyourself, you know, I think that
is a very strong voice and thiswas confirming and validating
that for people, but we had onerecently where it was a
(22:16):
practitioner who had breastcancer and she was actually told
by a colleague to try this.
And she was pretty skeptical,you know, about how much it
could actually do for her atthat stage.
And she was going through chemoand she followed everything to a
T.
And she said, not only did Isail through that therapy.
(22:38):
I, you know, I've felt, I'vefelt better my whole life and
it's been years and it's in, youknow, cancer's in remission.
She's doing better than she hasher app.
She follows everything in thesame way.
And now it's, you know, she usesit in her practice for every
client that comes in, you know.
And I, I really think that I'veseen consistently that kind of,
that ability to take thatinformation, put it into
(23:00):
practice, but also keep doingit.
And that's really the key.
If something can keep youconsistent, that's everything.
Ivelisse Page (23:06):
Yes.
You know, my, my kids werefascinated because, you know,
they would, they can haveorganic coffee all day long and
I have to stop by noon so that Ican sleep well at night.
Alex Swanson (23:16):
Mm-Hmm.
Ivelisse Page (23:16):
And sure enough, their nutrition genomes came
back saying that they processout caffeine very quickly.
And I'm like, they're like, see,I told you mom, I have no issue
drinking at eight o'clock andgoing to bed at 10 and being
fine And I'm like, so it wasjust, that was just kind of like
a fun part of the report.
So in your opinion, can youdiscuss the impact of food
(23:37):
sensitivities on health and howNutrition Genome identifies and
addresses them in the analysis?
Alex Swanson (23:45):
Sure, so it's a great question because it has
its limitations when it comes tofood sensitivities.
So you can, we can test forgenetic, you know,
susceptibilities to like celiacdisease or lactose intolerance.
Those are very, have very cleargenetic links.
However, food sensitivities areoften the result of an
(24:06):
alteration of the microbiome.
And so if it's not a trueallergy from the beginning, it's
something that occurs later,there's something that has
changed and that's not somethingyou typically can see with
genetic testing.
So a question we often get is,you know, I, well, I can't eat
this food or I can't eat thatfood.
It's on my grocery list.
But you have to also understandthat we can't see that those
(24:27):
changes are going to happen,that there's digestive issues
are going to occur and all of asudden you have allergies or
sensitivities you didn't havebefore.
So it is limited in that regard.
Ivelisse Page (24:38):
So where do you see the future of Nutrogenomics
headed and how do you envisionits role in the larger field of
personalized medicine and cancereven?
Alex Swanson (24:48):
Well, I think the focus on nutrigenomics is pretty
early when you think of thetimeline.
I mean, it, I would say about 12years ago, you know, it really
started, just kind of started toget more known.
And how much has happened inthat amount of time?
I mean, how much I've learnedfrom 12 years ago until now.
I think that the computing poweris just going to get massive
(25:13):
when it comes to looking atthousands of snips.
And using this cumulative valuemodel of high impact and how
they work together as a synergyand lowering and increasing
those risks.
We'll have that data more andmore and we'll get more and more
precise as time goes on.
And I think with cancerespecially, it's going to become
(25:36):
a very powerful tool.
Um, but I'm pretty excited aboutthe future of it and how it's
going to be able to help people.
Ivelisse Page (25:43):
Yeah, I am too.
I find it to be such a helpfultool.
What are some of the mostsurprising findings that clients
discover through theirnutrigenomic reports that you've
heard?
Alex Swanson (25:55):
Surprising findings?
Um, I think that one that standsout to me is we'll have somebody
who's following a specific diet.
And say it's a vegan diet or aketogenic diet.
And they feel like they're maybedoing something that they
thought would be helping them.
(26:15):
They take the test and then theyrealize, Oh, wait a second.
I have a very high need forcholine, for B12, for zinc.
I have a much higher sensitivityto saturated fat intake.
This now explains why my bloodwork, you know, is looking out
of range or why I just don'tfeel well on this, on this diet.
(26:38):
And I think that is kind ofthat, that confirming test again
of saying, okay, this is whythis isn't working.
I can, I can feel better makingthese changes.
Ivelisse Page (26:48):
Now we are coming up to the end of our 30 minutes
of our podcast.
And so I would like to just askyou, is there anything that I
didn't ask you that you thinkwould be helpful to those
listening today aboutnutrigenomics?
And what you do.
Alex Swanson (27:04):
That's a great question.
Um, I think, you know, I'd alsoreally like to hear a little bit
more about how it helps you andwhat exactly, what exactly stood
out to you the most where yousaid, this is it.
This is what I really need totake away from this report,
because I feel like that'swhat's really helpful when
people hear that and they thinkthis was my biggest takeaway
(27:26):
from this test.
And I can tell you mine too.
Ivelisse Page (27:28):
I would say a couple things.
The first is what I shared aboutthe, my hormones and how I
process them out.
And I also really appreciatedthat I had a physician who was
able to evaluate all of itbecause in one section, it said,
you know, that this was astrength and, actually, I'm
(27:49):
sorry.
It says that these are yourstrengths and these are your
weaknesses.
And But what she was able to dowith those weaknesses was
combine them with my strengths.
So it really encouraged me.
Instead of me feeling down aboutwhat weaknesses I had, she
really focused and said, wow,because you have all these
strengths, that really overridesthese weaknesses.
(28:10):
And it really empowered me to,you know, really dive in a
little deeper with those.
But I think also for me, it was,it was peace for my kids.
and their future.
Knowing this information reallyempowered them and that's kind
of what I really wanted them todo is like we as parents can
share with our kids abouthealthy eating, healthy
lifestyles, emotional health,but until they, they're all
(28:34):
adults.
Mine are, my youngest is 21 andmy oldest, goodness, is going to
be 30 this weekend.
But for them to now hold thisinformation and be empowered by
it to move forward in their ownhealth, was such an incredible
gift to me as a parent, so I, Ijust really love that.
And I also like the food listthat you also have, because
(28:56):
sometimes we can get so focusedon the same recipes and same
things that we're making, andwhen I saw the food list and I'm
like, oh, I really need to, um,add this into my diet.
That's super interesting.
And I didn't realize that thisfood was really high in
glutathione or whatever the, theminerals and nutrients that I
needed for my body.
And so that, that aspect wasreally helpful.
Alex Swanson (29:19):
Good.
I'm so glad to hear that.
Yeah.
I just wanted to add, so I havea one and a half year old
daughter and I can already see,you know, that she takes a
little more after my wife's sidein terms of the foods that work
and the foods that don't.
And.
I'm looking forward to doing hertest, you know, when she's two,
where you can actually get aclean saliva swab and
(29:40):
understanding this from thebeginning.
You know, that's informationthat we didn't have before, but
I can look at it in a new lensnow and kind of start her off on
the right foot.
Ivelisse Page (29:49):
That's amazing.
I love this.
Well, thank you so much for whatyou do.
I am going to put a link to thewebsite for anyone who would
like to get more informationabout Nutrition Genome and the
tests that Alex and his companyhave so that you can get a
little deeper dive into your ownhealth or that of your family.
We'll make sure to include thatin the show notes so that you
(30:12):
are able to do this for yourselfand really be fascinated by the
information that that youreceive.
So thank you so much for joiningus this afternoon.
I know you're a super busy manand appreciated you taking the
time to share with us about thisconcept of Neutrogenomics.
Alex Swanson (30:29):
Thank you so much for having me.
Rebecca Arcarese (30:31):
Hi, I'm Rebecca Arcarese, Development
Director for Believe Big.
As 2024 comes to a close, yourgenerosity can make a life
changing difference for a cancerpatient.
At Believe Big, we empowerpatients and their families with
significant resources and muchneeded hope.
Your donation today will help usprovide essential care,
education, and a community ofstrength for those in need.
(30:54):
Together, we can help morepeople face, fight, and overcome
cancer.
Visit www.believebig.org andmake your gift today.
Thank you.
Ivelisse Page (31:11):
If you enjoyed this episode and you'd like to
help support our podcast, pleasesubscribe and share it with
others.
Be sure to visit believebig.orgto access the show notes and
discover our bonus content.
Thanks again and keep BelievingBig!
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