Dynamic DNA Labs Fitness & Nutrition Review

Getting in shape is hard. Staying in shape is even harder. You may have the right mindset, buy the most expensive training and nutrition plan, follow the plans perfectly, and still not get the results you really want and deserve. Is the plan or diet to blame? Or could your genetics be the culprit? Maybe the plan you originally thought would work for you simply isn’t effective for your body as in individual. After all, health and wellness is a very personal thing. Chances are you don’t have bad genetics, but what you might not know is how to optimize what you do have!

Enter Dynamic DNA Laboratories, the top DNA testing company on the market geared toward helping you find out exactly how to get the most out of what you were born with.

Dynamic DNA offers a multitude of DNA testing services such as nutrition, fitness, skin, pain management, ancestral, and more! Their 15+ DNA tests and panels are designed to help you learn more about yourself from all facets of life!

We had the opportunity to test out their Fitness + Nutrition DNA Test and get some insight into how our own bodies work here at Modern Athletic Health. Keep reading below to find out why we think Dynamic DNA is a must have if you want to get, and keep yourself in the best shape you can be.

Who is Dynamic DNA Labs

Dynamic DNA Laboratory is a state-of-the-art genetics lab that specializes in testing DNA and providing us with answers to fulfill just about any question you could have about yourself. Dynamic DNA offers a full range of services designed to help customers “better understand themselves and ultimately lead them to happier and healthier lifestyles”. Their mission is to promote a positive change in everyone’s life through the use of affordable and exceptionally accurate genetic testing.

Dynamic DNA conducts their tests in a CAP-accredited and CLIA-certified (the highest quality standard and regulation laboratories can have) laboratory while also doing all of their own testing in house. Many other large DNA testing laboratories actually outsource their services, meaning someone else (not the lab you paid) tests your DNA instead!

While DNA testing can get somewhat pricey, Dynamic DNA offers a wide variety of tests all for under a total of $200! The average cost of a DNA test in the U.S (for various reasons) runs between $300-$500 for the test alone! That doesn’t even include costs of transportation, shipping and handling, or costs of materials. Dynamic DNA’s 15+ services can be found on their site under the shop, but we thought we would list them here with their respective price to save you some time.

• Nutrition DNA Test ($149)

• Fitness DNA Test($149)

• Fitness + Nutrition DNA combo test ($249)

• Skin DNA Test ($149)

• Maternal Ancestry DNA Test ($149)

• Parenteral Ancestry DNA Test ($149)

• Comprehensive Ancestry DNA Test ($249)

• Pain Management Panel ($350)

• Cardiovascular Health Panel ($350)

• Mental Health Panel ($350)

• Two Panel DNA Test ($450)

• Comprehensive Panel ($600)

• Paternity Testing ($195)

• Siblingship Test ($195)

• DNA Portrait/Microscopic Artwork ($199)

As you can see, Dynamic DNA Labs has an entire realm you probably didn’t think you could have tested with just a cotton swab and some cheek cells! If you’re interested in learning about all of the services they offer, click here ( https://dynamicdnalabs.com/shop-all-products/ ) to check out their full list and click “Learn More” to find out more about each test. If you want to see a virtual tour of the Facility and find out more about the Company themselves, click this link (https://dynamicdnalabs.com/about/)

What did our tests tell us?

As stated above, we had the chance to try the Nutrition + Fitness DNA testing package.

Upon receiving our results, we were absolutely blown away at the sheer amount of data that Dynamic DNA provides. The Dynamic Nutrition results compiled 48 pages worth of information, from results to references, packed with everything you need to know about yourself. The Dynamic Fitness results were no slouch either; boasting an incredible 37 pages of information about us, and even giving us some sample workouts/exercises that we can use to optimize our genetics.

The Dynamic Nutrition test started with some basic biology information that helps you to understand the more scientific nomenclature listed in your results. Dynamic DNA doesn’t just tell you what works and what doesn’t, but they also include your genotypes for specific tested dietary needs and requirements. Check the categories below for an overview of what we learned from our DNA test

Dietary Requirements: This category told us everything we needed to know about our optimal diet type and the amount of fats and carbs we should be taking in. For us, our genes work best with a low-fat diet that is supplemented by omega-3’s and 6’s and we also learned our body will see increased benefits from higher polyunsaturated fat intake! Along with this information Dynamic DNA gave us a sample meal plan to help us reach those goals.

Exercise and Weight loss: This section provided us with a great baseline of helpful information about our body’s and how it works with diets and exercising. We learned that our metabolic rate is fairly normal, and our ability to gain weight and lose weight are fairly average with no exceptional abilities one way or another. But within this section, we also learned that our body is designed to burn body fat easier with exercise. This section also showed us that we are at an increased risk of obesity because of our genes—something that everyone should be aware of!

Metabolic Health Factors: This section looks at how our genes influence various metabolic traits such as cholesterol and triglyceride levels, as well as blood sugar, oxidative stress, and our body's ability to detoxify itself. Through these tests we learned that we are slightly more susceptible to oxidative stress and our body’s ability to detoxify itself is slightly reduced.

Nutritional Needs: This category told us about important vitamins and minerals that we should be watching out for in our diet. Through this section, we learned that our vitamin B2, B12, A, B6, and Folate all need to be watched because we are at risk for lower levels without supplementation. The good news was our Vitamin D levels were likely to be normal and not at risk for poor metabolism or supply! An interesting (and enlightening) aspect of this section is that Dynamic DNA lists many foods and beverages that you can obtain these vitamins and minerals from, helping you to make healthier choices and not just relying on a multivitamin supplement.

Reactions to Food: We found this section to be one of the most helpful, informative, and important sections of this whole packet! This section tested lactose intolerance (we are more likely to be intolerant) alcohol flush (less likely—SCORE!), caffeine metabolism (ours is slow, so we can enjoy that cup of coffee), and the tests for gluten sensitivity and peanut allergies showed us that we can eat as many peanut butter pancakes as we want with no negative side effects. In all seriousness, knowing potential for allergies as well as gluten sensitivities (among others) are important to understand for more than just fitness reasons. Certain allergies can affect your well-being which is why we appreciate Dynamic DNA searching for these gene traits.

Eating Behaviors: Last, but certainly not least, our section about eating behaviors answered a lot of questions we often ask ourselves. We learned our Eating Dis-inhibition is more likely, meaning we may eat more when under stress, consuming our favorite meal, or eating with a group of friends.

While we had that particular gene, we also were shown that our genes our expressed in a way that also makes us less likely to overeat! Now, we aren’t talking at Thanksgiving or Christmas because who doesn’t like a huge meal? Generally speaking, our genes are not associated with overeating behaviors. Our panel also revealed that our genes express traits that promote more regular satiety, and lower risk of our sweet tooth acting up and having cravings for sugary products. Of course, we couldn’t forget the last part of our panel, the one that told us our genes have an increased risk of snacking frequently. We’re going to pretend that we didn’t read that though as we polish off the rest of this doughnut…

All of that information above was just from ONE of the tests we took, check out our post below to find out about the Fitness portion of our test!

Dynamic Fitness Test: The Dynamic Fitness Test is a must try for any fitness enthusiast looking to take their training to the next level. Dynamic DNA tests 6 different categories: Build, Performance, Cardiovascular, Recovery, Metabolic aspects, and Strength, and gives us feedback on what our genes are geared towards. As we mentioned briefly above, this section provides great information to help you tailor your training style to help you reap all the benefits. While some information may be discouraging, we certainly feel you should continue training at a high level and striving towards your goals. After all, nobody uses genetics as an excuse anymore, right?

Build: As we mentioned above, it's important not to get discouraged with some of the reports. For instance, we learned that we have a moderate risk to high blood pressure, however this can provide a moderate benefit to muscle growth, strength, and power with our training! Although that was good news, our panel showed that our genes are nothing special and we are likely to have average strength and size. However, this isn’t going to stop us from working to be anything BUT average!

Cardiovascular: Again, our cardiovascular panel provided us with information that answered some questions about ourselves. We have always had an easier time with endurance exercises and had a good aerobic capacity. It turns out that it’s all in our genes! Our panel showed that we have a genotype that leads to greatly increased aerobic capacity and our body’s ability to respond to aerobic exercise. While our aerobic panels were great, we learned that our anaerobic responses, blood vessel formation, nitric oxide (NO) metabolism, and general vascular function was just average. The good news about this is we have no inhibitors to stop us from recovering properly post workout!

Metabolic: This panel gave us general information about our body and how we respond to training. For instance, our panel showed that we have an enhanced rate of body fat reduction in response to exercise, but our body also exhibits no insulin response. What does this mean? Essentially, we receive no added benefit in insulin sensitivity from exercising. Aside from that, it was nice to see that our testosterone levels are likely to be in the normal range, and we shouldn’t have to worry about a sudden downward trend in testosterone numbers.

Performance: Quite possibly the most important aspect of this whole panel is how well our body is designed to perform. Our panel discussed that our muscle energy (power) and speed is average based on our genes. With that in mind, our optimum type of exercise is endurance based and high-intensity which makes us perfect for things like CrossFit and high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Our panel also mentioned that we are far more likely to excel in longer endurance-based training programs because of our double “A” alleles! Watch out NYC Marathon, here we come!

Recovery: The recovery panel gave us some interesting feedback—some good, some bad. We learned that our risk for tendinopathy and osteoarthritis was average and nothing out of the ordinary. The same goes for our Achilles tendinopathy and our rate of fatigue from exercise. What we did learn is that our genes show that it takes slightly longer for us to completely repair our muscles and also our sleep cycle is slightly reduced as well. These have a strong correlation to each other and tell us we should use other recovery tools when we can.

Strength: Last but not least on our Fitness Panel, we have the strength category. Our panel revealed that we are nearly average across the entire strength board in categories such as glucose metabolism and muscle strength, muscle growth and development, general muscle size, and our nerve and neuron activity. For us, this just means that without any type of training or fitness activities, we would look quite average!

However, or genes displayed a certain allele that determined our muscles are genetically stronger without the effect of strength training. So, while it may be more difficult for us to gain muscle size and strength (based on our panel) it appears we already have a leg up on those who may have to work harder!

Our fitness panel was not only informative, but really helped us to understand some of the “why’s” of our past training problems. We look forward to taking the information we received, and adapting our training to get the most out of our workouts, while still exploiting those beneficial genes such as our muscular endurance and aerobic capacity alleles. Dynamic DNA may have shown us we won't always be the strongest guy in the gym, but it also told us that our genes are giving us the opportunity to be the best conditioned and in shaped guy there! The detailed information listed within each and every category truly helps you understand how to reach your maximum potential.

Price point

Modern Athletic Health was able to get our hands on a pretty nice discount for your very own Nutrition + Fitness Combo DNA Test. When you enter the code MODERNDNA at checkout, you'll receive an ADDITIONAL $50 off the price of the bundle test kit. Normally $249, you will only pay $199 for BOTH tests with MODERNDNA at checkout!