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Adding nutrigenetics to your practice: the process in 6 steps

Reviewed by Dr. Daniel Wallerstorfer, molecular biologist and founder of Novogenia · Updated: 12 October 2026 · Reading time: 10 min

Genes plus guidance: a strong combination

What happens when people know their genes and get personal advice to go with them? In a randomized trial, participants with an unfavorable variant of the ACE gene received gene-based advice to eat less salt. After twelve months, they had reduced their sodium intake considerably more than the control group given general recommendations; the share reaching the recommended target rose from 19% to 34% (Nielsen & El-Sohemy, PLoS One, 2014).

The logical conclusion: a personal, genetic reason makes a recommendation tangible. You walk the path there with your client. Because a genetic report is a map, not a sat nav: it shows the terrain – where the road gets steep for your client and where it stays flat. You plan the route together. Here is how to build a genetic analysis into your counseling in six steps.

The 6 steps at a glance

The genetic analysis does not replace your counseling; it adds to it. It provides information that does not change over a lifetime – such as how your client processes lactose, caffeine or folate. You put it next to what you already collect: eating habits, goals, daily routine and measurements.

Who benefits from a genetic analysis – and who does not

Not every client needs a genetic test. It pays off mainly when there is a specific question that genetics can help answer:

• Metabolism and tolerance: How well does your client tolerate milk? How quickly do they break down caffeine? What about folate and other vitamins?
• Weight: people who have tried many things and are looking for a strategy that suits them – with realistic expectations (more in Weight management and genes).
• Sport and performance: recreational and competitive athletes who want to align training, recovery and nutrition.
• Motivation: people for whom a biological explanation helps them see their own habits in a new light.

Hit the brakes if someone expects a diagnosis, has acute symptoms, may have an eating disorder, or wants the analysis mainly out of fear of a disease. Then the first step leads to a physician.

Step 1: Goal first, test second

In the first consultation, you find out what your client wants to achieve – and whether a genetic analysis will help. These questions get you to the core quickly:

• What is your most important goal for the next few months – and how will you know you have reached it?
• What have you already tried? What worked, and what did not?
• Are there medical conditions, medications, a pregnancy or medical instructions we need to take into account?
• Do you already take food supplements?
• What do you expect from a genetic analysis – and what would you do with the result?

The last question matters most. Anyone hoping the test will reveal “the one right diet” will be disappointed. Clear that up before the test, not after.

Then choose the analysis that fits the question: nutrition, weight, sport and performance, stress or skin. A report that matches the goal does more in the conversation than as many results as possible.

Step 2: Information and consent – no surprises

Before your client hands in the saliva sample, they should know what they are signing up for. Explain in plain words:

• What the lab reads: selected genes that influence how the body handles certain nutrients, exercise or stress. In conversation and in Novogenia reports, these genes are deliberately described as “functioning” or “impaired.” That is a simplification – the technically correct terms are genetic variants or polymorphisms.
• What the analysis is not: not a diagnosis, not a prediction of disease, not a substitute for medical examinations or blood tests.
• How solid the results are: The genetic traits themselves are well documented. The recommendations drawn from them are logical conclusions – not scientifically proven.
• Who sees the report: only your client – or you as well? Clarify this in advance and record it.
• Data protection: Under the GDPR, genetic data belong to the specially protected categories of data. Your client should know who processes which data.

Record the consent in writing. Which rules apply in your country, and which analyses you may offer as a practitioner, is covered in Who may offer genetic tests? and Genetic data and the GDPR.

Step 3: The saliva sample – a little saliva is all it takes

The lab needs nothing more than a saliva sample. Your client can take it at home or in your practice:

Typical instructions concern the time before sampling, such as not eating, drinking or smoking. The instructions in the specific kit always take precedence. Also make sure the sample is clearly assigned to the right person, as the kit intends. More about the kit itself: saliva kit.

Step 4: Analysis in the lab – make the most of the wait

In the lab, DNA is extracted from the saliva, and then the relevant genes are read. At Novogenia, the analysis takes 4 days; after that, the report is available digitally in a secure portal.

Use the waiting time. Ask your client to keep a food diary or fill in a questionnaire on daily routine, sleep and exercise. In the report session, you then put genes and actual behavior side by side – that is where the most productive conversations happen.

If you have access to the report, read it beforehand and mark what relates to your client’s goal. If you do not see the reports, ask your client to bring the report or show you the relevant parts.

Step 5: The report session – start from the goal, not from page one

The report session is the most important appointment. Take your time and work outward from the goal:

1. Collect first impressions: Has your client already read it? What surprised or worried them?
2. Explain the basic principle: Genes show tendencies, not destiny. They are one factor among many.
3. Discuss what serves the goal: What relates to the agreed question comes first.
4. Compare with daily life: Where does behavior already fit the genes, and where not?
5. Agree on priorities: A few changes that succeed beat a long list.

How to explain results clearly and without determinism – with sample phrases and clear rules on when to refer to a physician – is covered in Explaining a genetic report clearly.

Step 6: Plan and follow-up – from knowledge to daily life

A report without a plan is just reading material. Translate the priorities into concrete, checkable steps: “coffee only in the morning” instead of “cut down on caffeine.”

Agree together on how you will measure progress: food diary, weight or waist circumference, training data, how your client feels – or blood values measured by their physician.

Book the follow-up appointment during the report session. There, you review what worked and adjust the plan. Because genes do not change, the report remains a basis months later – for instance when a new goal comes up. If you work with personalized supplements, read From genetic profile to personalized supplements.

What research on personalization shows

Personal recommendations move people more than general ones. The European Food4Me study shows this (Celis-Morales et al., International Journal of Epidemiology, 2017): participants who received personalized advice – in one of the groups, genetic data were part of it – ate less red meat, salt and saturated fat after six months and took in more folate than the control group given general recommendations.

Genes can also help people stick with it: in the NOW trial with 140 participants, the group receiving gene-based advice reduced its fat intake more in the long term and adhered better to fat recommendations than the group in the standard program (Horne et al., BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, 2020).

For your practice, this means: genetic analysis is a building block that opens conversations, gives recommendations a personal reason and can strengthen motivation. Counseling, implementation and follow-up create the success together. So promise better-founded, more personal advice – not guaranteed results. The recommendations in the report remain logical conclusions. More in Genes are not destiny: how genes and lifestyle work together.

Checklist for your process

• Goal and expectations are clarified and documented.
• Reasons against testing are checked: acute symptoms, a suspected disease or eating disorder – in that case, medical evaluation first.
• The right analysis is chosen: lifestyle analyses for counseling; medical analyses only via physicians where the law requires it.
• Your client has been informed and has consented in writing – including who sees the report.
• The saliva sample has been taken according to the instructions and sent.
• A food diary or questionnaire runs during the analysis.
• The report is prepared, relevant results are marked.
• A few concrete priorities are agreed in the report session.
• The follow-up appointment is in the calendar.
• You know where to refer medical questions.

From process to offer

An obvious format is a counseling package of first consultation, analysis, report session and follow-up appointments. How to order the analysis for your clients – through your own partner shop, under your own brand, or with your own product concept – is described in Nutrigenetics as a service: partner and white-label models. You can prepare professionally with the free training program described in Training with the NOVO Academy.

Frequently asked questions

Related: Explaining a genetic report clearly · Who may offer genetic tests? · Offer for nutrition professionals

Note: This guide is general information for 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 on nutrition, micronutrients and lifestyle derived from them are logical conclusions, not scientifically proven. Regulations can change; errors and changes excepted.