In a conversation with The Daily Guardian, Sajeev Nair, founder and chairman of Vieroots Wellness Solutions spoke about how personalised modification can help people to live longer with higher productivity, energy levels and peak levels.
Q. With Covid-19, are people focusing more on health and wellness than ever before?
Yes, as people are very much aware and conscious about wellness owing to the pandemic. More than that there has been a general awareness that it is not Covid-19 which is killing people, it is the comorbidity. It is not the people who are contracting Covid are dying, it is those who are having one or the other lifestyle disease or a predisposition for some lifestyle disease. When they have Covid they have major challenges. Hence it has become crucial for people to understand that it is not just to immolate their immunity but preventing lifestyle disease is also important.
Q. What kind of research went into launching Veiroots Wellness Solutions?
Our research has been in two areas primarily: longevity and human performance. For longevity, we have realised that personalisation plays a critical role, that is personalised exercise and diet plans. There were no scientific means to find out what kind of food, exercise will suit which person earlier. We all know people who do regular exercise may also suffer from cardiac arrest or some other issues. We know the importance of personalisation has been spoken about for thousands of years, especially Ayurveda is one stream of medical science which has always been focusing on personalisation as their treatment is based on vata, pitta and kapha combination. Since genetic science is a new concept, if we look into the human genome project, it was opened to the world in 2003. In genetics, we get so many details, billions and bits of information about genes. What we did in Vieroots, we found a methodology by combining and converging genetic profiling and metabolic profiling as we can get clear cut data of a person.
Q. How does genetic testing help to identify diseases that one may have in future?
Genetic profile is the data if someone has got from their ancestors which generally include the colour of the skin/structure of the hair. It also carries information about the diseases we carry from our ancestors, even how our genes respond to various nutrients and medicines, all this information can be taken from the genetic profile.
Q. How do you assess the metabolic profile? What is epigenetics lifestyle modification?
Metabolic profile talks about how your metabolic system works. We have come up with a curated model and have an Artificial Intelligence-powered smartphone app where the clients goes through the questionnaire about 70 curated questions and then our expertise converges the genetic data and metabolic data using the software with the support of the doctors/ geneticists to come out with the highly personalised lifestyle modification called EPLIMO, epigenetic lifestyle modification. The recommendations for the clients will be reflected in the app.
The reason why we call it epigenetic is that any variation inside a gene cannot be corrected, the only thing we can do is to make that gene/ mutation not to express. When the gene/ mutation gets expressed that is called a disease. The only way we can control it is through epigenetics, as it can control/ manage the gene from external factors. Generally, the science talks about three factors: Physio-epigenetic deals with what kind of fitness aspect you need to follow and stop that gene from expressing, Nutri-epigenetic looks after adding and avoiding certain nutrition, and Psycho-epigenetic focuses on the thought process and mindset to make the gene express/sleep. This is epigenetics lifestyle modification. Once someone gets this epigenetic lifestyle, he/ she can remodify their lives.
Q. How does biohacking science works? What are the ways through which your company is utilising it?
Biohacking is all about hacking your biology or taking full charge of your physiology and psychology or simply taking charge of your body and mind. Whatever we do in this company, we are helping and empowering people to biohack. When the client uses our product, it empowers the cells/ inner system to cure or heal. For example, the Antioxidant Complex capsule is a blend of 7-8 powerful ayurvedic herbal extracts. The herbs in it are proven to activate NRF- II pathway which is responsible for producing natural antioxidants inside your body. We are not providing antioxidants directly but are activating the NRF-II pathways so that the natural production of the antioxidants inside your body increases, this way we are using ancient Indian wellness wisdom to help people to biohack.