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Genetic analyses for Heilpraktiker and naturopaths: what your license covers and what it does not

Reviewed by Dr. Daniel Wallerstorfer, molecular biologist and founder of Novogenia · Updated: 15 October 2026 · Reading time: 11 min

A large bunch of keys – with one key missing

A license under the German Heilpraktiker Act is like a large bunch of keys. It allows you to diagnose, cure and alleviate diseases. Just one key is missing: the one to medical genetic analysis. The German Genetic Diagnostics Act allows only physicians to perform diagnostic genetic examinations.

That sounds like a contradiction, but it is a clear division of labor. For you, it means: you can use genetic analyses – as a lifestyle building block that makes nutrition, exercise, stress management and skin care more personal. You do not use them to investigate symptoms. This article shows you exactly where the line runs, what applies to your advertising, and why Austria and Switzerland are entirely different. If you practice as a naturopath in another country, check the rules there before you start. This article gives you orientation but does not replace legal advice in an individual case.

The Heilpraktiker Act in three sentences

• License requirement: anyone who wants to practice the healing arts without being licensed as a physician needs a permit (Section 1(1) HeilprG).
• What the healing arts are: any professional or commercial activity to diagnose, cure or alleviate diseases, ailments or physical injuries in humans (Section 1(2) HeilprG).
• Criminal liability: anyone who practices the healing arts without being authorized as a physician and without a permit commits a criminal offense (Section 5 HeilprG).

The Heilpraktiker is a profession under German law. This becomes important as soon as you work across borders or look after clients from Austria or Switzerland – more on that below.

The line: lifestyle building block yes, investigation no

The Genetic Diagnostics Act does not ask who you are but what an examination is meant to clarify. A genetic examination is diagnostic – and therefore reserved for physicians – if, among other things, it is meant to

• clarify an existing disease or health disorder (Section 3 No. 7(a) GenDG),
• clarify whether genetic traits are present that, together with external factors or foreign substances, can trigger a disease or health disorder (letter b),
• clarify whether genetic traits are present that can influence the effect of a medicine (letter c).

Predictive examinations of diseases that will only occur in the future even belong in the hands of specialists in human genetics or suitably qualified physicians (Section 7(1) GenDG). Because your practice deals with symptoms anyway, it pays to look closely at your clients’ questions:

Watch the way back, too: do not use a lifestyle report after the fact to explain symptoms – that moves it close to a diagnostic examination. Record in writing what the analysis is for, and in your consultations keep a clear separation between your work as a Heilpraktiker and the lifestyle report. Where the line runs for all health professions is covered in What you may offer: lifestyle or medicine.

What you can do with lifestyle analyses in your practice

Within this line, there is plenty of room. Lifestyle analyses on nutrition, weight, sport and performance, stress and skin show how your client’s body handles nutrients, training or strain. From them, you derive logical conclusions for everyday life: which foods to favor, how much coffee suits them, how to plan training and recovery. Genes are one factor among many – your view of the whole person is the other.

• Offer it separately: the genetic analysis is a stand-alone lifestyle offer, not part of your treatment of a disease.
• Inform and obtain consent: what the analysis shows and what it does not, who sees the report and how the data are protected. Record consent in writing; genetic data enjoy special protection under the GDPR (Genetic data and the GDPR).
• Be careful with obvious topics: in naturopathy, topics such as inflammation, allergies or intolerances come up naturally. These are exactly the ones that quickly lead into medical territory – Switzerland explicitly classifies them as medical (Art. 37(2) GUMV).
• Medication stays with physicians: decisions to stop, switch or re-dose a medicine are made by the treating physician.
• Children: for minors, Novogenia performs only non-medical analyses, and only with the written consent of the parents or legal guardians.

How to explain results without unsettling your clients is shown in The consultation: explaining results. The process from initial consultation to follow-up is described in Adding nutrigenetics to your practice.

Supplements in a naturopathic practice: food, not medicine

Personalized supplements are a good fit for a practice that supports people over months. Legally, though, they remain food – even when you recommend them in a Heilpraktiker practice. Three rules follow from this:

• No disease claims: food information must not attribute to a food the property of preventing, treating or curing a human disease, or refer to such properties (Art. 7(3) Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011). This also applies to advertising (Art. 7(4)).
• Authorized claims only: health claims are only permitted if they are authorized and included in the list of permitted claims (Art. 10(1) Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006). Claims that refer to recommendations of individual doctors or health professionals are not allowed (Art. 12(c)). So check carefully how you present your practice brand on the product and your website.
• Honest about their role: supplements are not part of a therapy and do not replace a balanced diet or medical advice. If a client has an illness, takes medication or is pregnant or breastfeeding, a physician should clarify whether they are suitable.

If you sell under your practice brand, you are responsible for the label and the claims, because responsibility always lies with the company under whose name the product is marketed. Which notification duties apply is covered in Notifying food supplements. Check with your professional association whether and how you may sell products in your practice.

Advertising: the HWG applies to your practice

One point sets you apart from coaches and many nutrition consultants: your practice advertising often has to do with diseases – and then the German Act on Advertising in the Health Sector (Heilmittelwerbegesetz, HWG) applies. It covers advertising for procedures, treatments and other products insofar as the advertising statement refers to recognizing, eliminating or alleviating diseases, ailments, physical injuries or pathological complaints in humans (Section 1(1) No. 2(a) HWG).

For your genetic analyses, this means above all: nothing misleading. Advertising is prohibited if it attributes effects to procedures or products that they do not have, or falsely creates the impression that success can be expected with certainty (Section 3 HWG). A sentence like “Our genetic test detects diseases before they develop” therefore has no place in your advertising – and would be wrong for a lifestyle analysis anyway. Unfair competition law always applies, including to lifestyle offers without any reference to disease. Which further HWG rules, title questions and health claims you should know is covered in Professional law and advertising: titles, claims.

Austria: the profession does not exist there

If you look at Austria with a German Heilpraktiker license, you will find a clear answer. Austria’s Supreme Court (OGH) has held that the Heilpraktiker profession is unknown to the Austrian legal system. Practicing as a Heilpraktiker is prohibited in Austria, and no provision allows the use of the professional title acquired in Germany (OGH 4 Ob 70/02a). The court relied on a ruling of the European Court of Justice that a member state may reserve an activity such as that of a Heilpraktiker to holders of a medical diploma (Case C-294/00).

The basis is the Austrian Physicians Act: examining for diseases, treating them and preventing them are part of medical practice (Section 2(2) ÄrzteG 1998), and independent practice is reserved for physicians (Section 3(1)). Anyone who carries out such activities without authorization commits an administrative offense (Section 199 ÄrzteG 1998). Anyone who, without medical training, commercially carries out an activity reserved for physicians on a larger number of people commits the criminal offense of quackery (Kurpfuscherei, Section 184 StGB).

Lifestyle counseling is not ruled out in Austria – but not under the title Heilpraktiker. Before you start, check under which profession or trade you offer it. More in Austria and Switzerland: different rules.

Switzerland: naturopaths are not on the list

Switzerland has naturopaths (Naturheilpraktiker), including some with a federal diploma. For genetic analyses, however, a different question counts there: who may order them? Even lifestyle analyses on nutrition, sport and well-being may only be ordered by health professionals who are authorized to practice under their own professional responsibility and have acquired knowledge of human genetics (Art. 34(1) GUMG). Which professions these are is set out in Art. 40 GUMV: physicians, pharmacists, psychologists, druggists HF and, for physiological traits, nutritionists FH, physiotherapists FH, chiropractors and osteopaths.

Naturopaths are not on this list. For you, this means: you work with a listed professional who orders the analysis. The sample is taken in their presence (Art. 34(3) GUMG), and a home test is ruled out (Art. 13 GUMG). Topics such as food intolerances, allergies or inflammation are classified as medical there anyway (Art. 37(2) GUMV). More in Austria and Switzerland: different rules.

Checklist for your practice

• Every genetic analysis in your practice has a lifestyle purpose, and it is recorded in writing.
• Symptoms, disease risks and medication are clarified by a physician – not by the genetic analysis.
• Your client has been informed and has given written consent, including on who sees the report.
• You advertise supplements without claims of prevention, treatment or cure, and only with authorized claims.
• Your advertising promises no guaranteed success and does not link genetic analyses to diseases.
• You look after clients in Austria or Switzerland only according to the rules there.
• You have checked with your professional association whether you may sell products in your practice.

Frequently asked questions

Related: Who may perform what? · Advertising genetic tests: what is allowed · Offer for naturopaths

Note: This guide is general information for businesses and professionals and does not replace medical or legal advice. The genetic traits determined in a genetic analysis are well documented (each gene included is backed by at least three independent studies); recommendations derived from them are logical conclusions, not scientifically proven. Regulations can change; errors and changes excepted.