The Science of Nutrigenomics

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:58):
Are you ready to take your pharmacy practice to the
next level and truly transformyour patient's lives?
Then you're in the right place.
I'm Dr Tamar Lawful, a doctorof pharmacy and certified
nutritional genomic specialist.
In this episode, we'reexploring the innovative field
of nutrigenomics and how it canempower pharmacists to provide
personalized care.
You'll discover how certaingenetic variants influence

(01:20):
health conditions and medicationresponse.
You'll learn practical ways toguide patients toward lifestyle
changes and supplements based ontheir unique biology, and
you'll realize your potential tostrengthen relationships and
truly partner with patients ontheir health journey.
The future of pharmacy is here.
Are you ready to step into yourrole as a pioneer on the

(01:41):
frontier of personalizedmedicine?
Then join me to explore hownutrigenomics can transform your
practice and empower yourpatients.
Welcome to Pivoting Pharmacywith Nutrogenomics, part of the
pharmacy podcast network, amust-have resource for
pharmacist entrepreneurs seekingto enhance patient care while
enjoying career and life.

(02:02):
Join us as we pivot intonutrigenomics, using pharmacy
and nutrition for truepatient-focused care.
Explore how to improve chronicconditions rather than just
manage them.
Celebrate entrepreneurialtriumphs and receive priceless
advice.
Align your values with a careerthat profoundly impacts

(02:23):
patients.
Together, we'll raise thescript on health and pivot into
a brighter future.
Just the other day, I wascatching up with a dear friend
who's also a pharmacist apediatric pharmacist, you know.
As we sat there sipping ouriced coffees and watching our

(02:43):
girls play in the water park,our conversation took a
nostalgic turn.
We were reminiscing about ourearly days in school,
fresh-faced, eager, wearing thatshort white coat, with a sense
of pride, that fire in ourbellies to make a real
difference in our patients'lives.
You remember that feeling,right as our chat wove itself

(03:05):
around years of experiences, ourtriumphs, our teary-eyed
moments, the hustle to keep upwith the ever-changing
landscapes in our respectivepharmacy specialties, a
realization dawned on me Justlike healthcare itself, our
roles as pharmacists havesignificantly evolved.
We are not just dispensers ofmedications, but rather

(03:28):
custodians of comprehensivehealthcare, armed with new,
exciting tools, with a broader,deeper potential to touch
patients' lives.
And that's why I'm here todayto dive into one such powerful
tool.
That, I believe, is the futureof pharmacy nutrigenomics.
We're no longer just stewardsof pills and potions, we're

(03:49):
pioneers on a new frontier wheregenes and nutrition intersect
an exciting realm ripe withpossibilities of personalized
health.
Yes, we're venturing intounexplored territory as
pharmacists and it could be abit scary and overwhelming, but,
my friends, it's alsounimaginably exciting.

(04:09):
So buckle up as we embark onthis journey together towards a
more complete, a more holisticvision of patient care.
So grab your iced coffee or teawe don't discriminate here.
Get comfortable and let's,together navigate this
remarkable field ofnutrigenomics.
Just you, me and our collectivethirst for making the world of

(04:30):
pharmacy a more vital, vibrantspace.
Now, in the last episode, we'donly just started scratching the
surface on nutrigenomics.
Today I want to dive deeper,pass a generic surface and enter
the tantalizing specifics ofthis incredible field.
Nutrogenomics is more than justa fancy term.
It's a revolution.

(04:50):
It equips us pharmacists tocraft personalized, potent
health plans for our patients.
Its transformative potentialcan go beyond outstanding health
outcomes to reshape the veryfabric of the pharmaceutical
world.
You and I, we both know that Ihave to.
Each chunk of us pharmacistsstill wear our conventional
roles like well loved oldsweaters.

(05:11):
You know the kind I'm talkingabout comfortable, familiar, but
perhaps a bit worn out and notexciting anymore.
We're dispensers of medicationspills, potions, powders, you
name it.
We fill the prescriptions but,funny enough, in the process we
might just be filling ourpractices with missed
opportunities.
Why are we so comfortable?

(05:31):
It's what we've always done,always been taught.
True, we've been shaped byyears and years of ingrained
beliefs, tradition-steeppharmacy culture and an academic
and system-wide emphasis onmedications.
Our exposure to broader,potentially life-changing fields
like neutral genomics has beenlimited.

(05:52):
Now, I'm not saying dump theentire pill bottle out, but if
we keep marching down thissingle-lane path, we're running
the risk of not offering ourpatients that big holistic
health picture.
Imagine you have a jigsawpuzzle but you are only ever
given the corner pieces.
That's what we're doing.
By not expanding our scope,we're limiting the patient story

(06:15):
we can piece together.
We miss crafting a tailored andeffective health narrative for
our patients.
The narrow focus on medicationsalone restricts us from fully
realizing our potential tobetter patients' lives and
ultimately results in lesssatisfying professional
fulfillment.
But there is a better wayneutral genomics.

(06:37):
I may be biased, but I'm goingto explain.
It's the innovative science ofunderstanding how an
individual's genetic makeupinteracts with their diet,
affecting health and diseaserisk.
It resonates on a deeperjust-for-you level.
By leveraging this knowledge,we can create personalized
health plans to guide patientshand-in-hand on a wellness

(06:58):
journey that's tailored to theirunique genetic tune.
Think of it as giving abackstage pass to your patient's
life.
You won't just be thepharmacist behind the counter,
but rather that trusted guidewith a deeper understanding of
how their biology meshes withtheir nutrition.

(07:20):
It's like having a VIP ticketto the concert of their health,
complete with a comprehensiveinsight.
That wasn't possible beforeConnecting those puzzling pieces
of genetics and nutrition.
But here's a sweet spot Withneutral genomics we can go
beyond influencing our patient'swell-being.
It strengthens their confidence,empowering them to claim the

(07:43):
reins on their health journey,transforming them from passive
spectators to activeparticipants.
Who wouldn't want that?
I know change can be a bitdaunting, but rather than see it
as change, I want you to thinkof it as a merger.
You're not leaving pharmacybehind.
You're morphing your skillswith neutral genomics and

(08:07):
joining your patients on a grandadventure.
You aid them in enhancing theirhealth story from cover to
cover, not just managing anillness, but also bolstering
their overall life quality.
It becomes a beautiful duet ofcare.
So how exactly does it work?
What are we looking for?
What helps us guide ourpatient's nutrition and

(08:28):
lifestyle changes?
It's all in SNPs.
Snp a single nucleotidepolymorphisms.
It's a genetic variationoccurring at a specific position
in the genome where a singlenucleotide, that is, a single
DNA building block, which couldbe adenine, guanine, thiamine or
cytosine differs amongindividuals.

(08:51):
For example, a SNP mightreplace the nucleotide cytosine
with the nucleotide thiamine ina certain stretch of DNA.
These genetic variations caninfluence health, disease
susceptibility and individualresponses to medications, making
them a crucial element in thestudy of neutral genomics.
In general, for a variation tobe considered a SNP, it must

(09:13):
occur in at least 1 percent ofthe population, as a SNP is a
germline substitution, meaningit's present in egg or sperm
cells and therefore can bepassed on to future generations,
snps serve as biologicalmarkers, helping scientists
locate genes that are associatedwith particular diseases.
Even though most have no effecton health and development, many

(09:36):
SNPs in the human genome do playimportant roles in defining the
unique traits of eachindividual, including appearance
, personality and predispositionto certain conditions.
For instance, there is a SNP orvariant of the P-PARG gene that
influences how individualsrespond to dietary fat.

(09:58):
Knowing this, we can helppatients with this variant, the
SNP, make dietary adjustments tooptimize their fat intake and
reduce the risk of heart diseaseor obesity.
Research suggests that they mayhave a tougher time dealing
with saturated fats, the kindprevalent in meats, and high fat

(10:18):
dairy products.
But before you start picturinga life to void a flavor for your
patients.
Here comes the twistMonounsaturated fatty acids,
mufas, the fats and avocados ofolive oil and almonds could
actually turn out to be helpful.
So they can still intake thosetype of fats.

(10:39):
They would need to have abalanced intake of the saturated
fats, the Mufas, and also thePufas, the polyunsaturated fatty
acids.
But as resolute as this sounds,remember genetics is not
destiny.
I'm going to say it againGenetics is not destiny, it's
just one bit of the puzzle.

(11:00):
Everyone will have their ownlifestyle needs, with exercise,
stress management, sleep and soon.
All these play significantparts.
Not to mention there'svariation from one individual to
another.
Let's take a look at a gene.
I'm sure you're probably heardof the MTHFR gene.
Methylene tetrahydrofolatereductase is a key player in our

(11:24):
body's folate pathway withcritical implications for DNA
synthesis and methylation.
Methylation affectsdetoxification, mood hormones
and much more.
How's this relevant to us aspharmacists?
Well, a variant of the MTHFRcan sway folate metabolism and,

(11:45):
consequently, levels of homeassisting another major player
in our body.
Individuals with two copies ofthe T variant could have reduced
MTHFR activity.
Reduction of up to 70% ispossible as well, which may
result in elevatedhome-assisting levels and low

(12:06):
folate levels.
Now the implications are hefty.
Research is hinting towardslinks to health conditions
ranging from cardiovasculardisease to infertility.
It could even change responseto certain medications.
As pharmacists, we can suggestlifestyle modifications, dietary
interventions and also specificsupplements for individuals

(12:26):
with this variant.
They may benefit fromincreasing the intake of folate
or choline and supportingvitamins like B2, b6, and B12.
And this can be done throughnutrition.
They don't necessarily need apill or supplement, for, for
example, folate can be found inadomami, lentils, liver and

(12:46):
various vegetables like broccoliand spinach.
They may also need to besupplemented with the methylated
form of folate methylfolate.
And also, as we mentionedearlier, fats are important
Omega-3s, the polyunsaturatedfatty acids.
This has actually been shown tosignificantly reduce
home-assisting levels.

(13:08):
The beauty of Nutrogenomics liesin its ability to unravel
specific health risks and allowus to make meaningful,
data-driven recommendations thatcater to each of our patients'
unique needs.
However, amid the wonder andexcitement of Nutrogenomics, be
mindful not to fall into a trapof tunnel vision, focusing only
on a single snip at a time.

(13:29):
This can be limiting and mightnot provide the holistic
understanding of the patient'shealth that we desire.
Instead, we need to widen ourlens and view the individual as
an interconnected systemevaluating the implications of
various genetic factors together.
The comprehensive reportsproduced by Nutrogenomic testing
are designed to help you dojust that.

(13:49):
They present a detailedoverview of the patient's
genetic data, enablingpractitioners to consider their
patient's health from a broaderperspective.
These reports even go furtherto provide specific dietary
supplement and lifestylerecommendations specific to your
patient.
This inclusive approach supportsthe development of a

(14:10):
well-rounded and thoroughtreatment plan.
So there's no need to feelintimidated or overwhelmed.
You just have to be ready andwilling to guide your patients
in the implementation of therecommendations found in that
Nutrogenomic report.
So I have a tailored actionplan for you.
Understand the science but,crucially, understand the

(14:34):
individual.
Their lifestyle, theirpreferences, their quirks, work
hand in hand with them to followthe dietary recommendations
specific to their genetic makeup, but also that fit in with
their life, because, my friend,the best tweaks in diet and
lifestyle are the ones thatactually stick.
That is all I have for youtoday.

(14:56):
Thanks for joining me inpivoting pharmacy with
Nutrigenomics.
If you want to connect with mepersonally, hang out with me on
Instagram and LinkedIn.
You can find me at Dr TamarLawful.
If you're ready to become apharmacist who's making a
difference in your patient'slives and you want to work more
hand in hand with them.
I welcome you to explore ourrace of script blueprint program

(15:18):
.
This comprehensive program willguide you on incorporating
Nutrigenomics, personalizedhealth coaching and taking a
patient-centric approach intoyour pharmacy practice.
Discover more and apply atwwwraisethescriptcom.
So thank you for joining metoday.

(15:39):
Now, if this episode spoke toyou, it would mean the world for
you to share it with a friendand if you love the show you've
been listening and you haven'tlet me know how the show is
impacting you.
I would love to hear from youas well.
All you have to do is scrolldown in your Apple app, tap the
five stars and write a quickreview, just one sentence, to
let me know how this show isimpacting you.

(16:00):
It's a fantastic way to addvalue and nurture the
relationship with yourcolleagues in your community,
because we are all in thistogether to elevate healthcare
for our patients.
Be sure to tune in.
Next week we're rolling out oursleeves to tackle a biggie the
mystery of patientnon-compliance.
Just like that elusive pillthat's gone rogue, we're going

(16:21):
on a hunt to find out why somepatients aren't taking their
medications.
So grab your detective spirit,because we are going to crack
this case open.
So join me next week and untilthen, always remember in your
journey as a healthcareprofessional, always raise the
script on health, becausetogether we can bring healthcare
to higher levels.

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