Sarah's work website - North Austin Wellness - https://northaustinwellness.com Blog - http://lifeloveandthyme.com   Genetics http://learntruehealth.com/genetics/ Genetics plays a significant role in determining if we’re healthy or not. We commonly think that diet and lifestyle are the answers to good health, but these are only two components of true health. Sarah Kostusiak, my guest today, has survived through a lot of health issues. So, we’re going to dive in today on how genetics is linked to our health. Early Years Sarah Kostusiak started to deal with blood sugar issues as early as five years old. Coping with it throughout her childhood, her health went from bad to worse when she got so sick in college. No doctor could pinpoint what was wrong with her. So, at 19 years old, Sarah Kostusiak started a food journal. She initially thought the red meat was the culprit. In an attempt to improve her health, Sarah Kostusiak went vegetarian for ten years.  However, being a vegetarian increased her blood sugar issues. Looking back, Sarah Kostusiak felt that it was probably to gluten sensitivity. Fast forward years later, Sarah Kostusiak was also diagnosed with active reflux, GERD, and even had secondary infertility in 2010. After two kids, she ended up losing a pregnancy at 16 weeks. Finding A Cure Sarah Kostusiak realized that her body was tired, making it hard to heal. In an attempt to find a cure, she even went to a nutritionist who advised her to kick out gluten. Aside from that, Sarah Kostusiak also tried to eat fermented foods and adopted a paleo diet. But things weren’t improving. She got sick to the point that she couldn’t sit up. It was disempowering. That’s why Sarah Kostusiak remained determined to keep looking for a cure and vowed to use her knowledge to help others eventually.   Discovering Genetics Sarah Kostusiak researched genetics and controlling blood sugar levels.  This was during the time that she also dealt with a new health situation wherein she ended up having surgery to have her gallbladder taken out. “That was causing a level of inflammation in my body. I couldn’t control through food anymore because of gluten other factors. Top it off; I also had gallstones,” shares Sarah Kostusiak. Ongoing Health Issues Sixteen years before her surgery, Sarah Kostusiak says she was told that she had too much acid. So, she was also on acid blockers for a few years. “But I think food sensitivity, a lot of good biomes and digestive enzymes probably caused the inflammation in the gallbladder. Plus, I also had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) issues,” said Sarah Kostusiak.  That’s not all. Sarah Kostusiak also revealed that during this time, she started to have massive breakouts of acne on her face. Doctors then decided to put her on antibiotics for six months.  “Looking back, when I eat gluten, my body gets a rash or zits. I increased my wheat consumption because I was avoiding meat. But I ended up with candida issues from the antibiotics. Then I had to deal with acid reflux,” said Sarah Kostusiak. Taking Out Gluten Sarah Kostusiak looked at her health history and worked backward. She said taking out gluten made a difference. “Candida is also caused when you eat yeast. Many gluten-free products aren’t healthy,” Sarah Kostusiak said. “I would still get health issues, but once I dug into my genetics and looked at my history, I even had to lay off fermented foods.”  Genetic Testing For determining genetics, Sarah Kostusiak uses Ancestry DNA or 23andMe. But she prefers Ancestry DNA nowadays. Because apart from being able to download the data, Ancestry DNA can show you the which genes have a nutritional impact.  “If they test my blood, it’s usually very high because I’m not processing it out. So I take methylated vitamins to support my body that way. And I also remove the histamine-rich foods,” reveals Sarah Kostusiak.  Genes indeed play a significant role in health. I interviewed an author who wrote the book Dirty Genes. The author, D