We all know well that nutrition plays a critical role in keeping us healthy. But did you know that personalized nutrition can help promote cellular health? Eating well is essential for the proper functioning of all your organs, systems, and tissues–which is necessary to ensure you get the nutrients your body needs to remain healthy and strong.
What is Cellular Health?
Cellular health is the overall well-being of cells in the body. Healthy cellular functioning ensure that our organs and tissues are working effectively and that our body properly absorbs the nutrients from food. A balance must be maintained between cellular material and cellular activity for cellular health to remain optimal.
DNA and RNA are essential players in your cellular health. DNA is responsible for cellular development and functioning, while RNA ensures that cellular instructions are carried out. Though similar, there are some important differences between DNA and RNA. For starters, while DNA is made up of long strands of nucleotides, RNA is composed of shorter strands. Additionally, DNA contains instructions for cellular functioning and development, while RNA acts as a messenger molecule to execute those instructions. Together, these two cellular materials help to maintain cellular balance and stability, which are essential for overall body health.
Inside our body, each cell has the same copy of DNA strands used as the master blueprint that defines our genetic code. Throughout the life of each and every cell, this genetic code is used to make small proteins that are used to help us heal, grow, and function at a microscopic level. To do this, the tightly wound strands of DNA are constantly being unwound, copied, and translated. Each protein has a specific job to help facilitate essential cell functions. It is in this way that our DNA is so important. Without it, a cell has no computer program to tell it how to heal, function, or replicate.
To keep it safe from degradation, each strand of DNA is protected by telomeres that act like the little caps at the ends of shoestrings that prevent our DNA from fraying. The health of our DNA is dependent on our telomeres. Without them, our DNA becomes more susceptible to mutations or even to being degraded itself.
Fun Fact/Did you know?
Your DNA never changes! However, your environment, diet, activity, lifestyle, and even the people around you can impact how those genes are ‘expressed,’ influencing your age, health, and quality of life. This is referred to as Epigenetics, involves your RNA, and is heavily influenced by your diet and lifestyle.
In many studies studying how we age, chronic age-related conditions occur because the number of cells with damaged telomeres becomes very high. Although it’s natural for our telomere caps to get a little shorter as each cell ages, there are ways we can protect them. Depending on the health of your cells - and what is harming them - many nutrients can help extend the shelf life of your telomeres and slow your cellular aging.
RNA stands for ribonucleic acid, a molecule found in all living organisms. It’s composed of strings of nucleotides linked together like a chain, which makes it similar to DNA but much less stable. RNA plays an essential role in cellular health by carrying out instructions from DNA and translating them into proteins or enzymes that help cells do their work efficiently. Without proper RNA activity, cells can become damaged or weakened and are more likely to succumb to poor health.
Food is the Building Block of Optimal Health
Science has shown that eating foods rich in nutrients can help reduce the risk of diseases. You may have heard that our food is our fuel – that everything we consume is digested and transformed into energy. And though that may be the case for much of what we eat, many elements inside our food serve other purposes. In some ways, they’re as, if not more important.
These compounds are small yet mighty. Necessary for life, they’re known as essential nutrients – though you may be more familiar with them as vitamins or minerals, antioxidants, and so much more.
Because our bodies cannot create them, they require regular ingestion of them - and without them, we would cease to exist. Essential nutrients support our human cells and even give our microbes building blocks of their own. They help us create several important compounds we also need for brain, immune, and metabolic health. These days, if you eat a fair variety of foods like fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein sources, you’re most likely ingesting most of your essential nutrient needs. Unfortunately, many of us don’t get enough of these foods. Moreover, commonly consumed, processed, and convenient meals (like fast food) provide little to no nutritive value (and even harmful additives that aren’t good for our health!).
But sometimes the issue isn’t always what you eat, but the ability of your body to absorb it.
Depending on the current state of your body, your digestive system may not be properly prepared for its role in the absorption process. Your system must be primed and ready to go to absorb nutrients properly. This requires a healthy intestinal lining, a balanced gut microbiome, and access to the right nutrients to keep our cells performing at their best. Even with a healthy diet, gaps may be unique to your body’s needs. For many, it can be impossible to figure out exactly what those gaps are without getting insights straight from your body's internal environment.
As we go through life, the impacts can be monumental if we fail to replenish or address these gaps in our bodies. They may influence our gut and cellular health and even impact how well we age.
Health is personal, your nutrition should be too.
Personalized nutrition tailors dietary recommendations based on an individual's unique biological makeup and lifestyle needs. By factoring in each person's biochemical individuality, personalized nutrition considers the many factors that can influence overall health. This includes genetics, environment, stress levels, physical activity, and more—to create a specific and uniquely tailored plan for them. This proactive approach is a preventative measure to maintain and sustain optimal cellular health through diet and lifestyle modifications. A far healthier alternative to waiting until something goes wrong and then addressing any deficiencies with our nutrition.
As part of this process, specialized tests used in personalized nutrition can measure certain biomarkers related to cell health, such as inflammation levels, hormones associated with metabolism and energy production (like thyroid hormones), nutrient deficiencies such as vitamin B12 or zinc levels, food sensitivities/allergies, gut microbiota diversity/imbalance, oxidative stress markers (which indicate how well your body can combat free radicals), and more! These different elements influence how well our cells function, and being aware of them can be beneficial for optimizing cellular health overall.
In addition to promoting cell health, a personalized nutrition plan can help with weight management and overall wellness by providing your body with the right balance of nutrients for optimal performance. Adopting new lifestyle habits, such as mindset practices and stress reduction techniques, combined with healthy eating to promote better overall health and well-being. These practices can also reduce inflammatory responses throughout the body, which helps promote healthy cells. For those looking to take their health into their own hands through proper nourishment, personalized nutrition is definitely worth considering!
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