23andMe Health Review: Game Changer or Snoozer?

Article at a Glance

• 23andMe was built with a focus on ancestry, health predisposition, and carrier status, not “biohacking,” nutrition or longevity.
• The company has come out publicly on its blog against methylation and MTHFR testing and doesn’t offer these reports even as they have gained popularity with consumers.
• 23andMe offers FDA‑authorized reports on certain single‑gene conditions.
• Don’t expect a deep dive into nutrition with 23andMe. Instead, you’ll get a general overview of wellness traits, such as caffeine metabolism and whether you flush when drinking alcohol. The reports will be too basic for many health enthusiasts.

Genes Mentioned

• MTHFR
• CBS
• COMT

23andMe offers various health reports that center on disease risk and population-level genetics. What they don’t offer is much, if any, individually tailored nutrition or lifestyle guidance.

Why do so many people choose 23andMe, then?

Well, for one thing, the company has been around a long time and has been very adept at branding itself! And for many people, the service 23andMe offers is perfectly fine for what they’re hoping to get from a genetic analysis.

Put simply, if your goal is to learn about your ancestry and carrier status for common diseases, check out 23andMe.

However, if you’re hoping for a bit more insight, other services are a better bet. For instance, if you want help with an evidence-based overhaul or tweak to your diet, Gene Food is where it’s at. If you want a whole genome analysis, consider Nucleus Genomics, Nebula, or other provider.

What about if you’ve already taken the plunge and ordered a 23andMe kit? Get the best of both worlds by using 23andMe for the analysis and then uploading your raw data to Gene Food.

Below, we dig into 23andMe’s health reports to see what they offer and why they can be perfectly adequate for folks who are a little curious about their ancestry and disease risks.

Intended use

23andMe was built with a focus on ancestry, health predisposition, and carrier status. There are a few wellness traits sprinkled in for good measure, but this is not the main intention of a 23andMe report.

Don’t expect a deep dive into nutrition with 23andMe. Instead, you’ll get a general overview of wellness traits, such as caffeine metabolism and whether you flush when drinking alcohol.

Clinical vs. lifestyle

23andMe offers FDA‑authorized reports on certain single‑gene conditions. These include looking for BRCA1/BRCA2 variants linked to breast cancer risk, and variants linked to hereditary amyloidosis.

For a handful of conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, 23andMe offers a polygenic risk score. This means that the 23andMe algorithm considers several genes known to affect the risk of certain diseases, rather than focusing on a single gene.

How do the tests work?

23andMe mails out its spit test tube when you purchase a kit. You have to produce quite a bit of spit for the sample, which can be tricky for some people.

Once you achieve the desired saliva level, seal the sample tube and send it back for analysis. You then register the kit online to access your portal and await the results.

What do reports look like?

A typical 23andMe report features information on:

• Health Predispositions – offering polygenic and single‑variant risk reports for type 2 diabetes, celiac disease, age‑related macular degeneration, etc.
• Carrier Status – reports looking at whether an individual carries genetic variants linked to cystic fibrosis, Tay‑Sachs, and dozens of other diseases.
• Wellness Traits – reports on alcohol flush, caffeine metabolism, sleep movement, saturated fat, and weight.

These reports focus on giving information rather than guidance, so don’t expect any dietary suggestions or supplement protocols.

MTHFR and methylation

If you want detailed insights on methylation and MTHFR, Gene Food has the edge over 23andMe.

23andMe deliberately avoids interpreting MTHFR and methylation data. It does not provide an official methylation or MTHFR report. You can, however, dig through your raw data to find details of your MTHFR variants and interpret them yourself.

Disease and carrier status

23andMe is very disease-focused and has a main report that details carrier status and disease risks. This information is clinically relevant and can help inform major healthcare decisions when used in conjunction with a qualified healthcare provider to help interpret the results.

What about privacy and security?

23andMe uses some advanced security protocols to protect its users’ data. However, it also uses aggregated user data that is de-identified to support its pharmaceutical partners in drug discovery research.

Gene Food vs. 23andMe

Gene Food’s test kit is a CLIA‑certified cheek‑swab kit that is also mailed to you to complete and return for analysis. If you already have a genetic analysis from 23andMe, Ancestry, or another compatible provider, you can upload that raw data to the My Gene Food platform for additional analysis.

Gene Food aims to inform consumers about the interplay between their genes and their dietary choices. Unlike 23andMe, we don’t have partnerships with large-scale pharmaceutical companies or manufacturers and don’t sell users’ data.

We designed Gene Food to address the persistent issue of a one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition and supplementation. The reports we offer are thoughtfully curated to help every individual choose foods and supplements that are compatible with their genetics.

This means looking at how genetic variants influence how the body handles:

• Carbs, fats, and proteins
• Micronutrients
• Sulfur, histamine, and methylation.

Gene Food doesn’t claim to diagnose disease. Instead, the focus of the reports is on genes that impact methylation, such as:

• MTHFR
• MTR
• MTRR
• AHCY
• CBS
• COMT.

The reports link these with how you’re likely to handle homocysteine, B‑vitamin supplements and dietary intake, and your detoxification pathways.

A typical Gene Food report uses polygenic scores for traits such as dietary fat metabolism, carbohydrate response, lactase production, APOE4 status, and histamine metabolism to assign an individual to a ‘type’ of diet.

The diet type provides a broad overview of the dietary pattern most likely to benefit the individual.

Digging deeper, the reports also offer more detailed insights into:

• Cholesterol and plant sterol absorption
• Carb and fat metabolism
• Uric acid and gout risk
• Sodium and blood pressure
• Sulfur metabolism (CBS)
• Glutathione and detoxification pathways
• Micronutrients
• Arthritis risk.

Gene Food reports also include a methylation and homocysteine panel, testing multiple single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in methylation genes.

The report offers detailed supplement and diet guidance, including:

• Preferred forms of B vitamins
• Sulfur load
• Glutathione support.

Gene Food reports don’t diagnose diseases; instead, they offer information on relative tendencies for factors like inflammation, cholesterol absorption, and gluten tolerance.

Final thoughts

If you already have 23andMe data and find its nutrition reports lacking, consider uploading that data to Gene Food for actionable diet and methylation guidance.

If you don’t have raw data and are mostly interested in nutrition and methylation, Gene Food offers a full service, from sample analysis to comprehensive reports.

If, however, you’re keen to uncover medical risks and ancestry, 23andMe health reports are the more efficient option. You can always add on a Gene Food report later if you become curious about methylation and diet.

Category	My Gene Food genetic reports	23andMe health reports
Type of analysis	SNP genotyping focused on nutrition, methylation, lipids, inflammation, and some traits associated with certain diseases	Genome wide SNP genotyping (around 650k markers) looking at ancestry, health predispositions, carrier status, and traits
Primary focus	Personalized diet type, macronutrient balance, methylation and homocysteine, cholesterol absorption, sulfur, histamine, and detoxification pathways	Ancestry, disease risk estimates, carrier status, and wellness traits
What’s in the reports?	Diet type assignment, carb and fat metabolism, LDL and plant sterol absorption, uric acid, sodium and blood pressure, CBS and sulfur, glutathione and detox pathways, micronutrients, arthritis risk, comprehensive methylation panel	Ancestry insights and health predisposition reports into type 2 diabetes, celiac disease, etc., carrier status for dozens of conditions, wellness and trait reports (e.g., caffeine, alcohol flush, weight management)
Methylation insights	Dedicated methylation and homocysteine report with genes like MTHFR, MTR, MTRR, AHCY, CBS, COMT, integrated into diet and supplement guidance	No consumer facing methylation or MTHFR report. You can dig into raw data to find related variants, but no official interpretation is provided
Best used for	Optimizing diet and lifestyle optimization, particularly in terms of lipids, inflammation, sulfur, histamine, and B vitamin protocols	Insights into ancestry, carrier status, and relative disease risks
Data privacy and research	CLIA certified nutrition testing with no links to pharmaceutical R&D and focus on nutrition reports	23andme partners with drug manufacturers through large-scale research using aggregated customer data
Price options	DNA test kit with basic and premium reports available. Can also upload raw data upload from 23andMe or Ancestry and avoid cost of testing again	Various options including Ancestry + Traits, Health + Ancestry, and premium upgrades. Have to use the 23andme kit. Some add-on subscription options