Improving Performance with a DNA Test - The Minimalistic Approach to your Status Quo

Promotion / Ad / Werbung / Kooperation

I want to help promote an easy and widely available way of testing your status quo and learning more about your development. It’s important for me to promote this approach as it will save a lot of time and money for people applying it. The one-fits-all way of supplements and habits might not be the best option. How much better is it to KNOW what is missing, thereby fixing only what is actually broken? That's why I partnered up with a company called Lykon, based in Germany. 

In this article you will learn what I got out of my DNA test with Lykon and why I support this new approach of testing and measuring. Also what the possibilities are and what I hope will come to existence in the future. If you want to look into testing right away, Minimalist Biohacker will support you with a 15% DISCOUNT ON ALL LYKON TESTS. It will be an investment with one of the highest returns for better health, energy levels. strength, stamina, cognitive performance and overall wellbeing. 

Imagine you wake up in the morning, put your finger on your phone and it checks your blood markers to tell you which kind of food to eat or which supplements to take. You take that advice to make the necessary adjustments and feel great and energetic. No imbalances, no lack of anything, no overdosing. Just the optimal amount of nutrients, vitamins, trace minerals etc.

Sounds like science-fiction and too good to be true? Well, we’re almost there with home kits to test your DNA, blood markers and even sensitivity to certain foods. An easy yet effective way to optimize your life, directly from the comfort of home. What a great time to live on this planet!

* Available to residents in Germany, Austria and Switzerland only at the moment. 

For a long time a had recurring problems with my sinuses and throat. Every other month I had to go to the doctor and was prescribed antibiotics. Antibiotics are the typical one-fits-all answer to bacterial infections inside the body and is oftentimes a life-saving remedy. However it does not cure the CAUSE of the weakness. Something I had to find out the hard way. 

• Do you have recurring trouble with illness or gastro internal issues?

• Do you have trouble losing weight or gaining muscle?

• Would you like to generally improve your performance effectively but don’t seem to make progress?

• Are you lacking energy in the morning or throughout the day?

Most of these symptoms have their root causes in our lifestyle. Allergies, sensitivities to certain substances or a lack of ability to process certain foods. Just think of the genetic inability of a lot of Asian people to break down alcohol or the missing enzyme to process dairy. There might be supplements to suppress the symptoms and enable a “normal” function but wouldn’t it be better to leave out such kind of kryptonite in the first place?

Biohacking is an inspiring and motivating world, with lots of things to try. But even the coolest and most promising hacks, like the bulletproof coffee, low carb diet or intermittent fasting, won’t work for everybody. We’re just too individual. Our starting points are different. Instead of looking into our setup and figure out what our bodies need, we tend to aim for the quick fix, adding supplements to cover up the symptoms. This is the approach of fighting fire with fire, which I’ve done for so long and with such ambition. 

I’m a curious person and immediately hooked by a promising product or supplement with a good story. I tried a lot of different dietary approaches like low carb, high carb / low fat, intermittent fasting and of course eating everything at once to finally gain weight and add muscle mass. Still I’m not 100% sure what works best for me. I noticed that I’m losing a lot of weight when doing intermittent fasting with Bulletproof Coffee. On the other hand I hardly gain weight, even when focusing on a higher carbohydrate intake. So I guess my body might not handle fat so well, while easily burning through carbs. I’m also uncertain about my need for recovery. If I work out too often, my muscles get really sore and my performance drops. Do I need more rest? Or maybe less?

Those are all GUESSES. And I finally want to get DATA, to be sure. 

I ordered a DNA Test from Lykon to find out about the best macro nutrition for my body (carbs, fat, protein), my demand for recovery, caffeine sensitivity and many more performance factors. With that info I will know what my optimal food should be like, how much rest I need in between workouts, which kind of workouts deliver the biggest impact and how I react to certain stimulants. 

To wrap it up I’m very curious about:

• Optimal macro split
• Optimal workout split
• Optimal rest time
• Best use of stimulants 

After ordering the DNA Test, a test kit will arrive at your home. Detailed instructions guide through the process (basically fool-proof). Everything is tightly sealed to keep it clean and the probe intact. You take two cotton buds and swipe around your mouth. Afterwards you tightly seal the buds and send it back to Lykon via post. After one or two weeks the results are coming back via mail and in the Lykon account. Very uncomplicated. 

I was already guessing that I can take carbohydrates rather well, as I never had an issue with keeping my weight. And in our Western-European culture, carbohydrates form a big portion of the diet. So my test showed that my optimized diet should consist of around:

• 60% Carbohydrates
• 22% Protein
• 18% Fat

That resonates with my estimation and doesn’t come as a surprise. What comes as surprise though is the fact that I have a high tendency towards being overweight, something I never struggled with. Also the potential for a bounce back after a diet is rather high. My feeling of hunger is in the normal range.

So my optimized diet is centered around carbohydrates and protein, plus an addition of high quality fat. The test by Lykon does a great job of describing what the results mean and how I can directly translate them into my meal plan and everyday life. My main takeaway from the test is that even though my genetic setup prefers the above split, it is mainly about the quality of the macro nutrients.

• Good Carbs: Complex carbohydrates with a lower glycemic index (e.g. potatoes, veggies, nuts, legumes)
• Good Protein: Whey, nuts, fish, meat
• Good fats: Mono- and poly unsaturated fats found in fish oil, linseed oil, chia seeds and walnuts are important parts of the diet. Coconut and olive oil are also very important.

So of course I still incorporate healthy fats into my diet. What I will stop is strictly reducing carbohydrates, as suggested by the Bulletproof Diet for example. The test confirms to me that each and every one of us is far too individual to just apply any type of diet. What might work well for one type of person, might be a mistake for another person. What generally applies though is: Food quality matters! Also, balance is key and interchanging different dietary protocols will provide benefits. That means I will still go with a bulletproof coffee every now and then or avoid carbs for a meal, even though I wouldn't have to according to my genetic setup. 

The list of foods which are more or less beneficial according to my genetic setup, seems a bit generic. I recommend an additional igG4 test to really look into food sensitivities and what your body can absorb well. For example my DNA test suggested dairy products, while my igG4 test showed an immune response to a lot of products like milk and cheese. Of course it is a DNA test and the antibodies are produced in the digestive track, so the cause of the food sensitivity is not genetic but rather a result of lifestyle. The food sensitivity test in combination with the DNA test provide the most powerful insight.

The sport type “Strength and Power” comes as a surprise to me. I would have guessed that my body is set up to perform cardio or something in between, as I’m rather slim and have a hard time gaining muscle. What I absolutely resonate with is the high potential for fast-twitched muscle fibers. I’ve always been drawn to high intensity sports with fast stop and go action (soccer, martial arts, HIIT, parkour,…). According to the test, my optimized workout schedule should consist of around:

• 80% Strength, Interval or explosive sports
• 20% Cardio

This already reflects my current training schedule of 4x strength / movement and 1x cardio per week so I can stick with my current regimen. According to the test I require a moderate amount of time to stay fit and become stronger, which resonates with me. What I would have wished for is more info on how much recovery I require after a strength session. This is something I had a very hard time with in the beginning of my training journey. How often should I train and how much recovery time does my body need? The test doesn't provide clear answers for that.

Minimalist Biohacker is in a partnership with Lykon for a good reason: Getting data on your status quo in terms of genetic setup, sensitivities and blood markers does something very important - it puts health into YOUR OWN HANDS. It will help you avoid unnecessary purchases in the food and supplement industry as well as save you thousands of hours of ineffective sport throughout your life. Imagine you are constantly trying to lose weight by running, while your body is reacting well to strength training. Will that be effective? Ask yourself the following questions:

• How much energy will be wasted when I’m guessing instead of measuring?
• How many hours could I have saved by knowing my strength and nutrition setup and applying this knowledge to my meals and the sport I engage in? 
• What is that knowledge worth to me?

I can recommend starting the journey with a DNA Test, followed by a food sensitivity test. If you integrate the insights into your life, you will feel great differences and a huge increase in performance. If you want to further increase how you feel and perform, for example with the use of supplements, I recommend the blood test with the most biomarkers. That will avoid any guesswork with respect to deficiencies (like in: Do I get enough magnesium from my diet? Am I deficient in zinc?). 

If you are not willing to invest that kind of money into the tests, start by writing a food journal to identify beneficial and harmful foods for your type. By noting down your subjective feeling in combination with the things you ate and by narrowing down the suspicious foods,  you will find out what you need over time . That approach is free and will also improve your performance.

I’m sure we will experience drastic development in the field of testing and collecting health data in the future. Blood tests for everybody at any time will become standard and we will all know about our genetic setup. This will greatly enhance the field of application for the biohacking world and open up a lot of opportunities. The first step is done with tests like the ones from Lykon. I can only recommend to take such a test yourself to find out about

• Your genetical setup and how you can process carbohydrates, fat, protein as well as stimulants. Also what kind of training works for you and how much focus to put on recovery. 
• Your blood and the different markers like cholesterol (HDL/LDL), testosterone levels, vitamin D, magnesium, vitamin B12 or even the stress hormone cortisol. 
• Your reaction to certain foods (IgG4 antibodies in the digestion track indicate a sensitivity to food and therefore an immune response)

The antibody test on food helped me to overcome an almost chronic (or already chronic, I’m not sure) sinusitis and constant inflammation. Milk products, which I suspected but at the same time loved, most likely caused that kind of immune reaction, thereby overloading my system. 

Instead of trying and testing countless different approaches to nutrition or spending lots of money on technology and supplements, start with the basics and test your status quo. The actions taken afterwards will be a lot more targeted as you will have deep insight and a better understanding. If you would like to start on this journey, let Minimalist Biohacker support you with the coupon code below. You will save -15% ON ANY TEST FROM LYKON and immediately benefit from the insights gained.

Spread the word to you friends if you like the effect on your life. Much appreciated if you send them over to Minimalist Biohacker to get their share of optimized performance. 

* Available to residents in Germany, Austria and Switzerland only at the moment. 

If you liked the article and got some benefit out of it, I would be grateful if you would recommend it to people who should get that info, too. You help someone you love and at the same time spread the word about optimized performance.

If you're interested in daily updates on better performance, follow @minimalist_biohacker on Instagram.