Whenever I go to the doctor, the part of the visit that takes the longest isn’t when I air my latest health grievance or the two of us discuss options; it’s the family history portion. Cancer? Check. Type 2 diabetes? Check. Hypertension, heart disease, and obesity? Triple check.

And that’s just my dad’s side of the family.

I accepted early on that I’m at increased risk for everything and that my genes have doomed me. But instead of worrying about it, I’ve tried to live a healthy lifestyle—and hope for the best. After all, most of my great-grandmothers lived well into their 90s with relatively few health problems, so there’s some hope for my siblings and me.

When I first heard about genetic testing, which gives you a better understanding of your own personal biology, the idea took hold that I could find out how “bad” my genes actually are in terms of likelihood of developing all the family diseases. I kept it in the back of my mind as I got older, and then finally decided to just do it: take the test and see what secrets my DNA had to tell.

Taking the test

Shed offers several genetic testing kits, depending on which area(s) you’re interested in learning more about. I wanted as much information as I could get, so I chose the Total Wellness Kit. It provides personalized insights into how your body responds to nutrition, stress, fitness, sleep, and overall wellness.

The test itself is super simple, especially since you can do it at home! Once my kit arrived, I did a thorough cheek swab, inserted the swab in the vial provided, and then shipped everything to the lab. 

About a month later, I got my results. Which confirmed a lot of what I already knew—and included a few surprises.

What’s included with your results

If you’ve struggled to interpret doctor’s notes and test results in the past (raises hand), don’t worry—this test isn’t like that. Each report includes an overview of what is being measured, why it matters, and context to help you understand your genetic predispositions.

Next, you’ll see your personalized insights, showing you where you fall on the sliding scale compared to average, with easy-to-understand explanations of what your results mean and accompanying lifestyle recommendations.

Finally, a genetic summary for each report is included at the bottom so you can see exactly what SNPs, markers, and genotypes you have. (This can come in handy if you want to discuss your results in more detail with a provider.)

Also included are educational materials on relevant-to-you topics that you can study at your leisure. These resources are meant to be an additional support in helping you understand how your body works and the best ways to support it.

What I expected to see

Reading through my reports felt a little bit like analyzing the results of an online personality test. Only this “test” was based on hard data, not my own answers I inserted to try to trick the test into giving me the results I wanted.

Many of the reports confirmed what I already knew. For example, it was zero surprise to discover that one of my biggest problem areas is sleep. After a lifetime of struggling to fall asleep, always being woken up by other people’s alarms first despite my hearing loss, and a memorable sleep test that somehow determined that I have sleep apnea despite the impossible-to-sleep-in conditions of the test, I don’t need more proof that I’m not a good sleeper.

My test also “revealed” that my body has a poor response to caffeine. Something my siblings gleefully discovered during my teen years after a few accidental sips of a caffeinated beverage turned their normally quiet, laid-back sister into a crazed maniac who literally bounced off the walls (and who didn’t sleep a wink until the stimulant was 100% out of her system).

Still, it was validating to see that I really can blame genetics for some of my quirks. Seeing these results also gave me hope that in some cases, lifestyle can override your genes somewhat. After all, I figured out how to sleep eventually—the last four or five years have been the most well rested of my life, though it took a lot of trial and error to get to this point, work that most of my peers haven’t had to do. As for caffeine, there’s a simple fix for that: just don’t drink it. 

What was nice to see

My genetic test also revealed some things I was hoping to see. Which is that I’m genetically predisposed to be pretty average in ways that are great to be average (fitness, stress response, and longevity), and that I’m above average in ways that I have to admit I’m a bit smug about. 

I’m talking about being descended from a long line of sweet tooths (on my mom’s side, where diabetes is largely absent). Some of my relatives could win Olympics medals for their ability to eat massive amounts of sugar in one sitting and be (mostly) fine. It would appear that my genes are cut from the same cloth, as my test concludes that I’m likely to have better blood sugar control and sustained energy levels due to my body’s above-average ability to process carbs. This could explain my curious lack of experience with sugar rushes and the resulting energy crashes—I’m not really sure I’ve ever experienced either. 

What surprised me

And now for what I didn’t think I’d see. First off, it appears that my body doesn’t like to hang on to the B vitamins I consume. I got my first inkling of this at a biometric screening years ago when my sole recommendation was that I eat more meat and dairy products (which was perplexing, because those are two of my favorite food groups), and then again a few years ago when I wasn’t allowed to donate blood after my hemoglobin levels tested too low. Again, they told me to eat more meat, dairy, and leafy greens, all foods that are a regular part of my diet (although there’s definitely room for improvement on the vegetable side of things).

Then came the report that stopped me in my tracks. One of the last reports I looked at was my obesity risk. I was feeling pretty confident up to this point, having just seen that I was at neutral risk for developing insulin resistance, at very low risk for emotional eating, and there’s my aforementioned superhuman ability to process carbs. So I thought I had beaten the metabolic odds against me and expected more of the same from my obesity report, especially since I’ve had a healthy BMI my entire life.

Then I saw it: very high genetic risk for obesity. I was at the very end of the “bad” end of the scale, which was even worse than my sleep measurement.

Considering my family history, this part shouldn’t have surprised me. But alas, we all like to think we’re the exception to the rule—yet here was hard proof that I was not, in fact, off the hook.

Where I go from here

We often talk about genes like they determine our destiny. While it is true that there are some things about ourselves that we simply can’t change, we have more control over our lifestyles than we might think. 

Seeing my genetic test results didn’t make me feel doomed; rather, I felt empowered. I may be genetically predisposed to poor sleep and obesity, but I can use these facts to shape my decisions, instead of just succumbing to the inevitable. Because lifestyle habits do make a difference. I’ve already seen the impact this has had on my sleep. Who’s to say the work won’t pay off in other areas as well?

Final takeaway

Knowledge isn’t power unless you do something with it. Now that I have a better understanding of how my genes are working for and against me, I know where to put my focus, which health goals to prioritize, and what questions to ask my doctor the next time I make a visit. When you’re taking the long view on your health, a genetic test is one of your best armors against what could be waiting for you, and I’m glad I took the test when I did.

If you’re interested in taking a genetic test yourself, visit shedsupplements.com to learn more.