Whether you’re living with a chronic heart condition or trying to prevent heart disease with a heart-healthy diet, working with a local registered dietitian can be beneficial. If you have a condition or are recovering from a heart surgery such as a coronary angioplasty, you will work with a local cardiologist in addition to your local family physician. Some patients who have heart disease also benefit from working with a local registered dietitian, because our heart health is closely linked to to what we eat. For example, a diet rich in fried foods can increase your risk of developing heart disease

. A local registered dietitian is a healthcare professional who is trained in nutritional health. A local registered dietitian can help patients with heart disease or obesity reduce sodium, decrease saturated fats and triglycerides, lose weight, get enough protein, understand the glycemic index and more. A local registered dietitian can work with your other healthcare providers, including your local cardiologist, family physician, psychologist or psychiatrist, chiropractor or massage therapist. If you’d like to learn more about how a local registered dietitian can help you manage your heart condition such as COPD, talk to your local family physician or local cardiologist.

Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It includes ingestion, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion. The science that studies the physiological process of nutrition is called nutritional science. Carbohydrates are starches, fibres and sugars that are found in foods. There are different food groups that contain carbohydrates, such as grains and starches, fruits and vegetables and dairy products. They're also found in a food group called other, which contains foods such as cookies and candies

While over the past couple of decades we've recognized through research that our personal DNA affects how we respond to our environment, whether it be medications, diet, supplements or even our response to exercise.  

The field of nutrigenomics is the study of our gene nutrient interactions, so basically how we respond to a nutrient with regard to absorption, digestion, metabolism. And through this we look to improve our health and decrease the risk of many chronic diseases related to nutrition such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and conditions such as high blood pressure.

There are now about two decades of research that show that our own unique DNA will affect the way we respond to our environment. And this includes a dietary response, as well as our response to supplements, medications and even our response to exercise.

And the area specifically related to diet is called nutrigenomics. And nutrigenomics is basically the study of nutrient diet interactions. And from this science has shown that each of us have unique genetic variations that can affect the way we respond to nutrients in our diet.

Nutrigenomic testing is done generally through a saliva test. So you provide a sample of your saliva and that goes to a lab. And then it's analyzed for certain gene nutrient interactions that have been well established in the research. So once we know your genotype or your certain genetic variation, we can then determine how you respond to various nutrients.

So for example, we have one of our main tests that we use as dietitians is your response to coffee. And many of us are at risk of high blood pressure or a heart attack if we're a slow metabolizer versus a fast metabolizer.  

And actually half of the population is at risk. And in addition we have sodium, for example. Some people are at risk for high blood pressure with too much sodium in their diet, again depending on a genetic variation because some people are not.

If an individual has questions or is interested in nutrigenomic testing in order to improve their diet based on their DNA, they can contact a registered dietitian or another health care professional that provides nutrigenomic testing in their practice.