Maybe you’ve read that eating more protein means more fat loss and muscle gain, but you’ve tried that and didn’t find it to be true. Perhaps you’ve heard from well-meaning trainers that lifting more and heavier weights is better than doing more cardio, but that also has proven to be questionable advice.

Although there are many factors that impact your metabolism, there are 9 genetic factors that will help you zone in on the best foods, exercises, and recovery strategies for your unique metabolism and body.

To understand these factors, you must first realize that your metabolism is a direct reflection of how much muscle you have. Muscle burns more calories than fat and thus increases your metabolism, which is really just the amount of calories your body burns to function.

Once your DNA report reveals your metabolic rate you can look to the following 9 factors to enhance your metabolism and in turn your health and fitness results.

How Protein Carbs and Fat DNA Affect Metabolism

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The first factor affecting metabolism is the ratios of macronutrients in your diet: carbs, protein, and fats. Although online diet platforms based on the AMDR say that everyone needs the same balance of macros, your diet should actually be unique to your body’s needs.

Genetic testing eliminates the guessing of macros by breaking down what percentages, grams, and calories of each food group will help your metabolism to function best, to lose weight, or to get super fit.

Now, you may ask, how genetic testing can determine the best macros. The answer is in the next three factors which are carb utilization, protein utilization, and fat utilization. Instead of just thinking that some food groups are more healthy (i.e. protein is better than fat, carbs are better than fat, etc.) your macronutrient utilization results uncover how your body actually utilizes each food group.

So if your body can digest and absorb carbs very efficiently, you will likely do better on a diet higher in carbs. If your body utilizes fats well, then you should probably consume a higher fat diet.

The same goes for protein utilization; if your body is not protein enhanced, you won’t see a difference in weight loss or muscle gain at a higher or lower protein diet. It can be difficult and time consuming to determine on your own how the body utilizes food.

All the conflicting diet advice online makes it more complicated too, but genetic testing narrows it all down to a reasonable diet that will optimize your metabolic function. This in turn simplifies your health and fitness planning and removes a ton of obstacles and setbacks.

How Cardio vs. Weights DNA Impact Metabolism

The next three factors affecting your metabolism have to do with how your body responds to exercise. The primary exercise factor is fat loss response to cardio, which basically means how well your body shreds fat in response to cardio.

On a genetic testing report, your response to cardio can be “enhanced”, “average”, or “below average”. So while some people may benefit greatly from a daily run, others may do better by hitting the weights more.

This brings us to the next important factor which is how strength training affects your body composition. If you are enhanced in this area, then your genetics allow you to build muscle and shred fat easily when lifting weights.

If you are below average you may actually need 4x the amount of weight training as somebody who is enhanced. The truth about your DNA will truly set you free from the wrong types of workouts and unrealistic training expectations.

How HDL, Insulin and Glucose DNA Impact Metabolism

Lastly, let’s talk about how exercise and nutrition affect one another and your metabolism. How well your body maintains HDL in response to cardio, and how well your body produces insulin and digests glucose (sugar) in response to cardio are both key for getting that metabolic response you need for fat burning, lean muscle, and better fitness levels.

If you are “enhanced” in these categories, then your genetics are telling you that cardio is very beneficial in digesting sugar well, and that less fat is stored. Yay you! If you are average or below average in these areas, then strength training is going to be more beneficial, so also yay you!

Your body is unique, so following your genetic make-up is truly going to be your best option for a higher metabolism, more fat burning, improved body composition, easier weight loss and maintenance, as well as improved overall health and fitness levels.

Ultimately, your metabolism is affected by your body’s composition of fat and muscle which is impacted by ALL the factors we just covered so be sure to keep all these in mind when choosing daily behaviors and habits for your health and fitness goals.