Wellness Expert Series

“Beyond the Gut: How Genes, Functional Testing and Daily Habits Shape Personalised Health” with Monique Jhingon

Monique Jhingon is an internationally recognised Functional Health & Peak Performance Consultant, author, and educator with over 14 years of experience in health optimisation across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

In 2023, she was named one of the “20 Most Influential Women in Wellbeing” by BW Business World. Monique combines an integrative, data-driven approach to help her clients resolve persistent health challenges and discover their ideal diet and lifestyle for sustainable wellness.

Holding a master’s degree in Personalised Nutrition and certifications in Functional Health Optimisation, Functional Diagnostics, holistic health coaching, and microbiome restoration, Monique employs cutting-edge tools like nutrigenetic, metabolomic, and microbiome testing to uncover each client’s unique needs. Her methods deliver lasting, root-cause solutions designed to empower individuals toward vibrant health and performance.

Monique works with a high-achieving global clientele, including senior executives, business leaders, and entrepreneurs. Her programmes address energy depletion, focus issues, and digestive health challenges, providing actionable tools and insights to develop increased self-awareness, and sustainable strategies that lead to enhanced wellbeing, elevated performance, and a fulfilling sense of accomplishment.

Driven by her mission to transform lives, Monique inspires individuals to unlock their full potential and create a legacy of health, vitality, and success.

In this edition of our Wellness Expert Series, we asked Monique about nutrigenetics, root-cause diagnostic testing, how yoga and functional nutrition work together, the importance and impact of some lifestyle factors such as stress and more.

Monique Jhingon, Functional Health & Peak Performance Consultant

You hold certifications that few have heard of, such as nutrigenetics and functional root-cause diagnostic testing. In simple terms, what do these actually tell you about a client that a standard blood panel would not necessarily?

Standard blood panels are extremely valuable. They help us identify and monitor markers associated with concerns such as blood sugar dysregulation, abnormal lipid levels, nutrient deficiencies, inflammation, or altered immune function. However, they do not always explain why those markers have changed.

For example, elevated blood glucose and insulin levels may reflect a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates combined with insufficient movement. But other factors can contribute as well, including genetics, poor sleep, chronic stress, inflammation, hormonal changes, or disturbances in digestive and metabolic function.

A functional approach looks at the wider pattern: a person’s symptoms, history, diet, lifestyle, environment, and, where appropriate, more specialised testing. The aim is to develop a more informed hypothesis about what may be driving imbalances. This allows for a more targeted and personalised intervention strategy. 

Two people could follow exactly the same “clean” diet and yet, get completely different results. Where does that difference usually come from?

One important study, published in 2015, followed 800 people and measured their blood glucose responses to almost 47,000 meals. It found striking differences between individuals: a food that produced a relatively stable response in one person could cause a significant glucose rise in another.

Those differences were associated with a combination of personal characteristics, including blood markers, body composition, dietary habits, physical activity, and gut microbiome composition.

Blood glucose is only one aspect of health, but the study illustrated an important principle: we do not all process the same food in the same way. Genetics, age, hormones, medications, sleep, stress, gut function, muscle mass, activity, and health history can all affect the outcome.

This is why I do not believe there is one perfect diet. There are sound nutritional principles that apply broadly to everyone, but the way they are translated into an effective plan must be personalised.

“We do not all process the same food in the same way. Genetics, age, hormones, medications, sleep, stress, gut function, muscle mass, activity, and health history can all affect the outcome.”

Could you please walk us through what root-cause diagnostic testing actually looks like for a new client. What could it highlight that years of trial-and-error with food would not?

Testing is never my starting point. The person is.

I always start with a detailed intake covering symptoms, health goals, medical and family history, previous diagnoses, medications, supplements, diet, digestion, sleep, stress, exercise, relationships, and major life events. The connections that show during this conversation often tell us which areas may need closer investigation.

I then recommend the tests that are likely to provide the most useful and actionable information. Depending on the individual, these might include conventional blood tests, nutrigenetic testing, a detailed digestive or microbiome assessment, hormone evaluation, or urinary organic-acid testing. Not every client needs every test, and more data is not necessarily better data.

For example, years of removing foods may never reveal that persistent digestive symptoms are being compounded by poor pancreatic enzyme output, an inflammatory condition, or a gut infection. Similarly, fatigue attributed to food intolerance might instead require investigation for iron dysregulation, thyroid dysfunction, sleep disturbance, or hormonal changes.

The value in testing lies in helping us ask better questions, reduce unnecessary trial and error, and identify when another healthcare professional needs to be involved.

Genetic testing for nutrition is still unfamiliar to many people. What would be a real example of how someone’s genetics changed the advice you gave them, perhaps something counterintuitive?

Genes create tendencies, not destinies and their effects are influenced by diet, lifestyle, environment, age, and many other factors. Nutrigenetic testing may identify an increased susceptibility to blood sugar dysregulation, abnormal cholesterol levels, oxidative stress, inflammation, or differences in the way certain nutrients are processed. We can then place greater emphasis on the areas in which that individual may need more consistent support.

In one client, testing identified HFE gene variants associated with an increased risk of iron accumulation. This did not mean that the client automatically had hereditary haemochromatosis (an inherited genetic disorder that causes the body to absorb too much iron from food), but it gave us a reason to monitor a complete iron panel, including transferrin saturation and ferritin, rather than relying on a routine blood count alone.

We also reviewed unnecessary sources of supplemental iron and discussed the cautious use of high-dose vitamin C supplements and alcohol if iron levels became elevated. Several years later, periodic monitoring identified iron overload early enough for the client to address it medically.

This is a good example of genetics changing not only dietary advice, but also what we chose to monitor over time.

“Nutrigenetic testing may identify an increased susceptibility to blood sugar dysregulation, abnormal cholesterol levels, oxidative stress, inflammation, or differences in the way certain nutrients are processed.”

You are also certified in yoga, which is unusual to see paired with clinical functional nutrition. How does movement and breathwork actually factor into your client protocols? Is it complementary, or does it change the nutrition plan itself?

Yoga is where my own health journey began, and it continues to shape the way I understand wellbeing. Food is important, but true wellbeing also encompasses physical, mental, social, and spiritual health.

Breathing and movement practices can be complementary to nutrition, but they can also influence how I structure a plan. A person experiencing high stress, poor sleep, digestive discomfort, and nervous-system overload may not benefit from an extremely restrictive or complicated protocol. In that situation, simplifying the diet and introducing a short breathing practice before meals may be more effective than adding further dietary restrictions.

Slow breathing can help a person pause, eat more mindfully, and move out of a hurried state before a meal. Appropriate movement can support glucose regulation, muscle maintenance, sleep, mood, and digestive motility. Yoga can also improve body awareness, and help people recognise hunger, fullness, tension, and fatigue more clearly.

I do not expect every client to practise yoga, but the principle is to find a form of movement and nervous-system support that feels accessible, appropriate, and sustainable for that individual.

Beyond food, which lifestyle factor do you find is most frequently overlooked?

Stress is probably the factor that is underestimated most often. Not only obvious emotional stress, but also the cumulative physiological load created by poor sleep, overtraining, illness, caregiving, work pressure, relationship difficulties, or a lack of recovery.

Stress is part of life, and not every stressor can be removed or controlled. However, what we can often change is the support surrounding it, for instance, recovery time, boundaries, sleep habits, breathing practices, time in nature, social connection, and, where necessary, psychological or therapeutic support.

This can require deeper work than changing breakfast or taking a supplement, and it is not my role to treat psychological trauma, therefore I would collaborate with or refer clients to trusted practitioners when this is needed. Addressing that part of the picture can make a profound difference not only to wellbeing, but also to a person’s ability to implement and sustain a nutrition plan.

After over 14 years in this field, what is the most common misconception clients have about what functional nutrition can fix?

The most common misconception is that there will be one hidden cause, one perfect test, or one supplement that fixes everything.

Sometimes, we do uncover a significant missing piece, but health concerns are usually multifactorial. Functional nutrition can help organise a complex picture, identify modifiable contributors, support normal physiology, and create a structured path forward. It cannot promise a cure, replace appropriate medical care, or remove the need for consistent effort.

Lasting change usually comes from a series of well-informed decisions repeated over time. Testing can give us direction, and a personalised plan can make the process more efficient, but the client’s engagement remains essential.

The goal is not perfection or endless optimisation. It is to help someone understand their body more clearly and make changes that are both meaningful and sustainable.

To learn more about Monique Jhingon, please visit her website www.moniquejhingon.com or social media pages on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram.