By Valentini Konstantinidou, PhD (Spain) & Charalampos Petras (Greece)
The aim of the present article is to present a new field of health coaching that originates and depends on the genetic predisposition of an individual. This genetic predisposition is assessed by the scientific research field called Nutrigenetics. Nutrigenetics and Coaching integrate and begin their own journey promoting an interdisciplinary, science-based practice for a fundamental purpose: prevention.
Coaching based on nutrigenetic predisposition lies above health coaching and common dietary recommendations. It aims at combining our genotypic and phenotypic information and accompanies each person to perform related-to-health lifestyle changes that will reveal its optimum self. Coach and coachee shake hands and work together to achieve the common goal: personalized healthy living and healthy aging.
The nutrigenetic field of research deals with how our own nutrition influence each one of us, individually, based on our own genetic make-up. Nutrigenetics identifies our specific inherited differences in our DNA (i.e. single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) that can be controlled by our lifestyle and dietary habits. These genetic differences in our DNA cannot be changed throughout life. We are born with them and they consist in our genetic fingerprint. Nutrigenetic research has generated promising results to provide personalized lifestyle recommendations that could include, but not limited to, dietary patterns and physical activity optimizations(1,2). Nutrigenetics identifies these genetic differences (SNPs) that contribute to the predisposition of an individual to develop a certain condition (for example, type II diabetes mellitus). Based on this predisposition, nutrigenetic results can offer an alternative and propose a certain lifestyle modification (for example, Mediterranean diet adherence) to equilibrate and, even, prevent the appearance of this condition(3).
Source: iCN Issue 13 (Wellness & Holistic Coaching); pages 60-62
About Valentini Konstantinidou, PhD
Dr. Valentini Konstantinidou is the Co-Founder and CEO of DNANUTRICOACH, a start-up company, based in Barcelona, Spain that aims at bringing nutrigenetic knowledge closer to society. She owns a PhD in Biomedicine and she has extended academic experience as a scientific researcher and an invited lecturer in prestigious research groups and Universities in the field of Nutritional Genomics. The multidisciplinary, expert team of DNANUTRICOACH proposes lifestyle changes, based on people’s nutrigenetic predisposition that goes beyond following a simple diet. It teaches people how to incorporate new habits into their lifestyle and helps people BE more, not DO more. We translate scientific knowledge into tangible recommendations. We focus solely on doable lifestyle choices that will help people make gradual adjustments in their diet and self-care resulting in major improvements in their health and wellness. For more information email info@dnanutricoach.com
About Charalampos Petras
Charalampos Petras is a Coaching Psychologist, Therapist and EMDR practitioner. He is the founder and director of Athens Coaching Institute, he supervises two accredited courses in Coaching and he works as an Executive and Organizational Coach for senior executives. His expertise is on Performance Coaching, Strength-based Coaching and experiential Coach Training. He is also a Coaching Psychology instructor at the University of the Aegean and the University of Ioannina. His book The Art of Coaching: an Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Coaching Psychology is the first evidence-based handbook for Coaching in Greece.
