INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Vitamins are proving to be a lucrative industry in the United States
Just last year vitamin sales pulled in roughly $37 billionfor the United States economy
That up from $28 billion in 2010
To cash in on this growing market, several startups have popped up in the last few years — including Nutrigene, a startup combining the
vitamin business with another lucrative avenue of revenue in consumer DNA analysis.
Nutrigene believes your genes may hold the secret to
what you might be missing in your diet.The company will send you tailor-made liquid vitamin supplements based on a lifestyle quiz and your
You get your analysis by filling out an assessment on the startup website, choosing a recommended package such as &essentials,& &improve
performance& or &optimize gut health.& After that you can also choose to upload your DNA profile from 23andMe, then Nutrigene will send you
liquid supplements built just for you.
Founder Min FitzGerald launched the startup out of Singularity and later accepted a Google
Nutrigene then went on to Y Combinator winter 2018 class
FitzGerald co-founder and CTO Van Duesterberg comes from abiotech and epigenetics background and holds a PhD from Stanford.
PhDs and
impressive resumes aside, the vitamin and genetics industries are not without controversy
For everystudy showing that those who eat a balanced diet don''t benefit from supplements, there are just as many highlighting the benefits
Also, coupling vitamin therapy with your DNA seems at a glance dubious.However, Dawn Barry, former VP at Illumina and now president of Luna
DNA, a biotech company powered by the blockchain, says it could have some scientific underpinnings
But, she cautioned, nutrigenetics is still an early science.
Amir Trabelsi, founder of genetic analysis platform Genoox, agrees
We interviewed both Trabelsi and Barry previously when Nutrigene first came on our radar
Trabelsi pointed out these types of companies don''t need to provide any proof.
That doesn''t mean it completely wrong,& he told TechCrunch
&But we don''t know enough to say this person should use Vitamin A, for example… There needs to be more trials and observation.
Nutrigene
acknowledges the best supplementation for performance goes beyond just a genetic profile
Our lifestyles, where we live, what we do and what we put in our bodies (or don''t) all can contribute to a deficiency.For better
nutritional accuracy, Nutrigene will send you a blood test kit in the mail to test for things like Vitamin D deficiency (a common deficiency
in Silicon Valley, according to my doctor)
You also can choose to go to a blood testing center to find out what sort of nutritional supplements you&ll need for optimal
performance.
One other twist — Nutrigene vitamins come in liquid form for what FitzGerald says is the optimum delivery method.
I tried out
the program for myself earlier this year, though not for more than a few days as I was pregnant at the time and wanted to stick with the
prenatal vitamins I&d been taking
Nothing I saw on the packaging from Nutrigene was dangerous for pregnant women, just run-of-the-mill stuff like vitamin B12, which my
genetic analysis said I was prone to be deficient in
But I had already been taking some pretty good prenatal vitamins from New Chapter and a DHA supplement from Nordic Naturals for a year
leading up to getting pregnant
I had a very healthy, nearly 9.5 pound baby boy in March.My own doctor, who tested my nutritional levels at the beginning of my pregnancy
through a blood sample, did not tell me I had any deficiencies.
That not to say it wouldn''t be great for someone else looking for optimal
nutrition and wanting a boost through supplementation
It also a great industry to get into if you know how to market your products
Though crowded, there plenty of room to grow and billions of dollars in the vitamin industry for those who can make their products stand out
DNA analysis and liquid supplementation might just be the thing.
FitzGerald tells TechCrunch that Nutrigene has already shipped 8,500
personalized dosages to customers since launching earlier this year.
For those interested in trying out Nutrigene, you can do so by ordering
Package pricing varies and depends on nutritional needs, but starts at around $85 per month.
