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Can DNA Predict Your Perfect Diet?

By on 30 July, 2018 in DNA Diet
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Posted 30 July 2018

Nutritional genomics would mean the end of dietary guesswork, but science hasn’t quite caught up to the hype

Markham Heid The Medium

Which diet is best for weight loss: low carb or low fat?

It seems like a straightforward question — one that a single well-designed study should be able to answer. But after nearly 20 years of such studies, the debate rages on. Taken together and applied to big groups, existing research suggests the two diets are about equally effective. But at an individual level, the effectiveness of these plans varies dramatically; some people lose 50 pounds or more, while others on the same diet end up gaining weight.

If only dietitians and doctors could predict how a patient would respond to a specific diet — in terms of weight loss, but also longevity, disease risk, and other health outcomes — it would … Read the rest

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DNA Diet does not work!

By on 22 February, 2018 in DNA Diet
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Posted 22 February 2018

On February the 8th we published the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in which they stated “the use of nutrigenetic testing to provide dietary advice is not ready for routine dietetics practice”.

We commented: As far back as 2011, we pointed out that the evidence in support to the DNA diet, marketed, promoted and sold by Dr. Daniel Meyersfeld, Yael Joffe, (DNAnalysis) was inadequate, i.e., there is no proof that their diet would benefit or work.

A study has just been published in which a low-fat diet was compared with a low-carb diet. The researchers assessed whether DNA diets were able to predict a beneficial diet.

People in both groups did lose weight over the course of a year: an average of 11.7 pounds for the low-fat group, and 13.2 for the low-carb set. But the difference between how … Read the rest

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DNA Diet – Does it work? Update

By on 8 February, 2018 in DNA Diet
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Posted 8 February 2018

As far back as 2011, we pointed out that the evidence in support to the DNA diet, marketed, promoted and sold by Dr. Daniel Meyersfeld, Yael Joffe, (DNAnalysis) was inadequate, i.e., there is no proof that their diet would benefit or work.

Now, 7 years later, the following position statement has been issued by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:

It is the position of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics that nutritional genomics provides insight into how diet and genotype interactions affect phenotype. The practical application of nutritional genomics for complex chronic disease is an emerging science and the use of nutrigenetic testing to provide dietary advice is not ready for routine dietetics practice.

If you have had testing done by this group, I would suggest you ask for your money back.

… Read the rest
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The trouble with genetic testing

By on 19 July, 2017 in DNA Diet
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Posted 19 July 2017

We have been highly critical of DNA testing as a means for creating weight-loss diets, arguing that some of the genes occur at very low prevalence in certain population groups, or not at all, or may be influenced by other triggers or environmental factors. In spite of the lack of evidence for the accuracy or benefit for these DNA based diets, the companies continue to market these products duping consumers.

In this newspaper article, titled, ‘We are all mutants now’: the trouble with genetic testing With so many unknowns in our DNA, using genetics in medical testing doesn’t always bring the answers – sometimes it brings only doubt, written by Carrie Arnold and published in The Guardian, she addresses the accuracy of DNA testing for other conditions.

She writes: To get a better handle on all the variation in humans, scientists are going to need … Read the rest

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DNA DIET – ASA breach ruling

By on 11 March, 2015 in DNA Diet
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Posted 10 March 2015

Meyersfield-JoffeWhat does one say about two health professionals who continue to market a test that claims to be effective for assisting consumers with weight-loss, without any independently, peer reviewed, published evidence that the test is able to indeed fulfill this claim? We would expect that ethical health professionals would desist from doing so, in particular after an ASA ruling. But this is not in the case of Dr. Daniel Meyersfeld and dietician, Yael Joffe. A breach complaint was laid with the ASA.
… Read the rest
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DNA Diet, bad news 4 years on

By on 3 February, 2015 in DNA Diet
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Posted 03 February 2015

Dna-MeyersfeldDna-YoffeIn 2010, CamCheck highlighted the claims for a diet based on genetic testing offered by Dnalysis, “the second company in the world to offer a DNA diet”, according to its CEO, Dr Daniel Meyersfeld, and Yael Joffe. We called it a scam for the science did not support the claims. The ASA ruled against the claims for the company, and subsequently, a breach ruling of the previous ASA ruling. Well that has not stopped these two from marketing the claims, as these are still evident on their website.

The reason for this post? In an article published in the highly reputable journal, Obesity, titled Genetic association studies of obesity in Africa: a systematic review, the authors conclude that “[A]ccording to this data, over 300 polymorphisms in 42 genes have been studied in various population groups within Africa . . “, “[O]f the 36 … Read the rest

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DNA Diet – Does it work??

By on 5 April, 2012 in DNA Diet
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Posted 04 April 2012

The individuals behind the DNA diet (Dr. Daniel Meyersfeld and Yael Joffe) give what may appear to be a "convincing" argument in favour of the DNA diet. The ASA have ruled against the claims for the product. Now one of South Africa's most respected nutrition experts, Prof. Marjanne Senekal, Associate Professor; Head: Division of Human Nutrition; Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, weighs in:

"Of note is that the combined effect on body mass index of the  single-nucleotide polymorphisms at the currently confirmed 32 loci is a modest 1.45%, bearing in mind that the estimated heritability of obesity is 40-70%. Conclusions formulated by various researchers on the translation of nutrigenetics research into personalised nutrition, including obesity prevention and management, indicate that scientists hold the opinion that more research is necessary before evidence-based practice in this area can be guaranteed.… Read the rest

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DNA Diet – Does it work?

By on 28 June, 2011 in ASA (SA) Rulings, DNA Diet
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Posted 28 June 2011

 DNA determines all your physical characteristics such as the colour of your eyes, hair and skin. Two strands of DNA are coiled together inside cells. These two strands contain 46 chromosomes and the result is the human genome – or a unique set of genes that make up each individual. But can we take samples of your DNA, select a sample of the genes and work out a special diet which would help you lose weight?

Wow, would that not be wonderful!

The short answer is no, or at least, not yet. 


However a “DNA diet” has been constructed and marketed on this very basis. Is there enough evidence that the selection of genes accurately predicts whether a diet constructed around the results works? I argued to the ASA that although there is good science behind the assessment of genes, at present few genes are definitive … Read the rest

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