I care a lot about my health, as do many, so when I was asked to review the Evergreen Life DNA kit to evaluate my current health status, I couldn’t wait! Evergreen Life is first and foremost a health app to keep you on track of medication, doctors, health records and so on, but they also offer an additional service of a DNA test. This test looks into your diet, metabolism, fitness, and skincare.

A service that allows you to download all your medical details and essentially keep all your health data neat and tidy in one place. As part of that service, you can book doctors appointment, order repeat perscriptions but you can also buy a DNA test to help you keep on track with your health. I was sent a DNA testing kit which was a small box with a little leaflet explaining how to take a sample. I simply needed to swab my inside cheek for around a minute, making sure it had enough DNA on it. The instructions advised I drank and ate nothing for an hour before, to ensure the results were accurate.

How to use the Evergreen life DNA kit

All very easy to do. You popped the sample back in the tube, put it in the self-addressed envelope and sent it back the next day. The instructions were very clear that the sample should be posted back the same day it was taken. Once it got sent back – you wait! The app will inform you when your DNA test is received and keep you in the loop, but it can take up to 8 weeks for them to get your results back.

My results

Initially my Evergreen life DNA test came back inconclusive so they sent me a new one free of charge. I was in no rush, and would rather the correct results, so I was happy with that. I was obviously now a pro at this testing kit, so sent it back asap. Yesterday I got my results back, and was notified by email and through the app. I could logon to the app and see my results in the various categories. The results are broken down into segments; Metabolism, Skin, Fitness, and Diet. Each of these has a specific breakdown giving you more detail into the specific area. I was fascinated by it and a lot of it was actually what I thought but some were surprising. Within each section, it gives you a list of what the DNA test found, when you click on it the results go into further detail. You will find out what gene and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) is contributing to the result.

Diet

Biggest red flag and something I had been burying my head in the sand about was my caffeine intake. When I first got diagnosed with epilepsy, I cut the stuff out completely. When I missed the taste of coffee I had decaf. As my epilepsy become less frequent, the stuff crept back in and ever since it has been my go-go juice on every level. My caffeine intake according to the Evergreen DNA test is too high. I agree. I have about 4 coffees a day, but they are strong because I don’t want to waste calories with too much milk. The Evergreen DNA test has really opened my eyes, and I need to slowly cut down. Plus, my teeth are starting to become stained from the coffee… so it’ll be a bonus all around.

I won’t breakdown each section in so much detail as the one below, but in my diet these are the areas covered and the findings.

• Unlikely to flush alcohol – tell me something I don’t know. I do not do well with drinking. My body hates it actually, so I hardly do it now
• Increased salt craving – I love salty snacks. Pass me the ready salted crisps over chocolate any day
• Faster Metaboliser – this is of caffeine.
• Folic acid deficiency – Something I already know due to me having to take a supplement of 5mg because of my epilepsy
• Lactose Intolerance – likely to be tolerant
• Omega-3 and Omega-6 – Increased risk of deficiency, basically I need to be consumed things like more oily fish and nuts and seeds as I currently don’t
• Sugar craving – typical sugar craving
• The tendency to overeat – unlikely to overeating
• Vitamin B12, B6, E & C deficiency – no increased risk of deficiency
• Vitamin D – Increased deficiency… well we live in the UK!
• Vitamin A deficiency – Overall neutral risk

Metabolism

A few surprising things here in terms of cholesterol, that I am perhaps more prone to having bad cholesterol, and therefore need to watch the intake of processed and high-fat goods. Hopefully, I’m good with that already but it has definitely flagged it with me to be more aware. Likelihood of Weight Gain – less likely to gain weight, but I’m likely to have a higher/typical BMI which means I do need to be careful

Fitness

Loved looking at my fitness levels. According to this DNA test I am actually better with regards to strength training over endurance, however I have increased levels of fitness throughout. This is always good to know! This part of the test looks at muscle strength, mass, growth capability, fat loss and blood sugar.

Skincare

Believe it or not, skincare has been a big concern of mine, being worried about elasticity. I have an increased risk to stretch marks, and I do have stretch marks. I went from being absolutely tiny no shape, to suddenly having hips! On the plus side, I have a typical risk of skin aging – which is better than increased risk!

Overall

I am actually really impressed with the Evergreen DNA test, but I’m also content using the health app now to keep everything I need in one place. Once I started to look into my results I have really taken on board what they’ve told me, the things I need to do better and what I can do to hopefully stop any poor health developing.

The Evergreen DNA test, which includes the four sections I had tested costs £125 from the Evergreen Life website direct. To find out about that and the app visit the Evergreen Life website.