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What is Fiber?

Fiber is well-known for its ability to promote healthy digestion. It helps move the contents in the large intestine more quickly.

Soluble fiber, found in oats, barley, nuts, and seeds, also reduces the absorption of cholesterol, thereby lowering cholesterol levels in the blood. It’s no surprise that this wonder nutrient can aid weight loss too!

Did you know that fiber has 0 calories? Most foods rich in fiber, like broccoli, zucchini, turnip greens, and carrots, are super-low in calories as well!

Fiber Keeps You Full For Long!

Despite being calorie-free, fiber helps you feel full for a much longer time.

How does it do that?

Fiber swells in the stomach, and in that process, provides bulk to foods, thus keeping you full. This makes the stomach expand, which releases the cholecystokinin hormone, more commonly known as the satiety hormone. This hormone signals to the brain that you’re full.

daily fiber intake and satiety

What’s more?

Fiber also gives a nice boost to your metabolism! Fiber cannot be digested by the body. But the body puts in all the work to try and digest it anyway. This process results in burning off those excess calories. 

Despite having such a range of benefits, a lot of people do not meet their fiber needs!

daily fiber intake

Decreased fiber intake has been associated with health conditions like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. A fiber-rich diet has been shown to decrease the risk of all these conditions! Weight loss on fiber is moderated by several factors, like your body weight, lifestyle, other health conditions, and genetics.

Daily Fiber Intake & Weight Loss: The Genetic Angle

FTO is a gene that has been studied to influence weight loss upon fiber consumption. This gene contains instructions to produce Fat mass and obesity-associated protein and has been implicated in conditions like obesity.

People carrying a certain variant of this gene tend to lose more weight on a high-fiber diet than others. Such individuals may benefit more from a fiber-rich diet in terms of weight loss.

Getting a Genetic Test

A simple genetic test can be used to find out what variant of the FTO gene you carry.

Most genetic tests provide your DNA information in the form of a text file called the raw DNA data. This data may seem like Greek and Latin to you.

We, at Xcode Life, can help you interpret this data. All you have to do is upload your raw data and order a nutrition report. Xcode Life then analyzes your raw data in detail to provide you with comprehensive nutrition analysis, including information on your weight loss and weight gain tendencies on different diets.

Video

The skeletal muscle consists of two types of fibers - fast twitch and slow twitch. The slow twitch fibers work efficiently for a long period of time while the fast twitch fibers are responsible for the short and sudden burst of power necessary for sprinting or weightlifting. The ACTN3 gene is associated with the synthesis of alpha actinin 3 protein present in the fast twitch fibers (Type II) of skeletal muscle. The alpha actinin 3 protein is found almost exclusively in the fast twitch fibers.
Specific alleles of this gene are known to either increase or decrease the extent of muscle power based on the synthesis of the alpha actinin 3 protein. People with the C variant of the gene are associated with higher muscle power due to the presence of active alpha actinin 3 protein while people with the T variant of the gene are associated with lower muscle power due to the presence of inactive alpha actinin 3 protein. As a result, sprint or power athletes tend to have at least one copy of the C allele. Both the C and the T allele carriers have selective advantages in different environmental conditions.

ACTN3 Gene in various chip versions

CHIP VersionACTN3 SNPs
23andMe (Use your 23andme raw data to know your ACTN3 Variant)
v1 23andmePresent
v2 23andmePresent
v3 23andmePresent
v4 23andmePresent
V5 23andme (current chip)Present
AncestryDNA  (Use your ancestry DNA raw data to know your ACTN3 Variant)
v1 ancestry DNAPresent
V2 ancestry DNA (current chip)Present
Family Tree DNA  (Use your FTDNA raw data to know your ACTN3 Variant)
OmniExpress microarray chipPresent
GenotypePhenotype
TT[Limitation] Absence of active form of alpha actinin 3 protein [Limitation] More likely to have lower muscle power [Advantage] Better suited for endurance based activities
CT[Advantage] Presence of active form of alpha actinin 3 protein [Advantage] More likely to have moderate muscle power [Advantage] Better suited for sprinting
CC[Advantage] Presence of active form of alpha actinin 3 protein [Advantage] More likely to have higher muscle power [Advantage] Better suited for sprinting and power activities
For people with C variant (High Muscle Power) Greater power due to the presence of the active alpha actinin 3 protein allows you to perform a variety of power based activities like sprinting and weightlifting High-intensity workout will yield better results Most elite sprinters and power athletes have at least one copy of this gene
For people with T variant (Low Muscle Power) Lower muscle power due to absence of the active alpha actinin 3 protein Slow and efficient muscle performance will aid in endurance activities like long distance running, playing tennis, basketball and dancing. Low to mid intensity workouts for longer durations will yield better results

References:

  1. Nan Yang, Daniel G. MacArthur, Jason P. Gulbin, Allan G. Hahn, Alan H. Beggs, Simon Easteal,and Kathryn North; “ACTN3 Genotype Is Associated with Human Elite Athletic Performance”; Am J Hum Genet. 2003
  2. Seok-Ki Min, Seung-Taek Lim, and Chang-Sun Kim; “Association of ACTN3 polymorphisms with BMD, and physical fitness of elderly women”; J Phys Ther Sci. 2016 Oct
  3. https://kohlmanngen677s13.weebly.com/
  4. https://playdna.co.uk/images/Sports%20Brochure%20example%20pages.pdf
  5. https://www.dnafit.com/blog/gene_in_focus_-_part_3:_actn3_3307.asp
Find out which variation of the gene you carry and more at www.xcode.life

Nutrigenetics, fitness genetics, health genetics are all nascent but rapidly growing areas within human genetics. The information provided herein is based on preliminary scientific studies and it is to be read and understood in that context.

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