Personalized Genetic + Metabolic Testing
Your genes. Your blood. Your blueprint.
FIT GPS™ is a once-in-a-lifetime genetic and metabolic performance screen — the personalized data that explains why some medicines don’t work, why injuries linger, why supplements miss the mark, and what your body actually needs to heal, recover, and perform.
· Inflammation & oxidation
· Detox & vitamin receptors
· Performance & recovery
Why This Matters
Two patients can take the same medicine, the same supplement, and the same training plan — and respond completely differently.
The difference is biology. Your genes determine how well you methylate folate, clear inflammation, detoxify medications, absorb vitamin D, and repair connective tissue. They explain why one MTHFR variant turns standard folate into a useless supplement, why some injuries linger, and why some athletes plateau.
FIT GPS™ is the test we believe every patient should run once in a lifetime. Your variants are with you forever. Knowing them changes how you eat, what you supplement, what medications are safe, and how aggressively you can push your body in training or recovery. We pair it with metabolic bloodwork so we can see where you actually are right now — not just where your genetics predict you’ll be.
Think of it this way: fixing your metabolics is like fixing the soil. Your body is the plant. You can water it and prune it all you want, but it will not thrive in unhealthy soil. The foundation has to be healthy — and the foundation is metabolic and nutritional. FIT GPS™ is how we see the soil.
What We Test
A focused genetic panel for the patient who wants to know what their body needs.
FIT GPS™ analyzes the genetic variants that most directly affect connective tissue health, inflammation, detoxification, neurotransmitter balance, and athletic performance. These are the systems that decide how your body responds to everything else.
Methylation & MTHFR.
The most clinically impactful variants we identify. Drives detoxification, folate processing, neurotransmitter synthesis, energy production, and connective-tissue repair.
MTHFR (C677T & A1298C) · COMT · MTR · MTRR · BHMT · CBS
Inflammation.
How aggressively your body inflames and how readily it resolves. Variants that shape recovery capacity, fascial restriction patterns, and chronic disease risk.
TNF-α · IL-6 · IL-1β · NOS3 · CRP
Detox & Antioxidant Defense.
How you clear medications, alcohol, caffeine, and environmental toxins — and how efficiently you neutralize the free radicals from training, illness, and aging.
CYP450 family · NAT2 · SOD2 · GPX1 · GST family
Vitamin Receptors & Absorption.
Whether your supplements actually reach the tissue. Variants here determine real vitamin D, B12, folate, and nutrient requirements — explaining why standard doses often fail.
VDR · FUT2 (B12) · TCN2 · DHCR7 · GC · BCO1
Neurotransmitters.
The biology of mood resilience, stress tolerance, pain processing, sleep, and focus. COMT and MAOA are particularly relevant in hypermobile patients.
COMT (V158M) · MAOA · MAOB · DRD2 · BDNF · 5-HTT
Performance & Connective Tissue.
The variants studied in elite athletes and hypermobile patients alike: power-vs-endurance bias, injury susceptibility, tendon/ligament resilience, and collagen architecture.
ACE (I/D) · ACTN3 (R577X) · COL5A1 · COL1A1 · TNXB
Every FIT GPS™ patient also receives a comprehensive metabolic lab panel tailored to the genetic findings — so we can see exactly where your bloodwork stands today, alongside what your genetics say. The specific markers we order evolve as the science evolves.
Why This Test, At This Clinic
FIT GPS™ is not a wellness curiosity. It’s a clinical tool we use every week.
We chose this specific panel because the variants on it correspond directly to the conditions we see in our practice — the patients with fascia that won’t release, hypermobility that won’t stabilize, recovery that won’t accelerate, and medicines that don’t work the way they’re supposed to.
Why your fascia behaves the way it does.
Methylation drives collagen cross-linking and tissue repair. Vitamin D receptor variants affect connective tissue strength. Inflammation genes determine how readily fascia becomes restrictive. Patients whose fascia is chronically tight, slow to release, or constantly re-restricting often have a genetic story underneath the clinical picture — one that explains why standard manual therapy alone has failed them.
The genetic biology under your symptoms.
Hypermobile patients carry an over-representation of MTHFR, COMT, and connective-tissue gene variants. These variants explain the methylation issues, pain processing changes, MCAS overlap, and dysautonomia that travel with EDS. Knowing yours informs supplement choice, dosing, medication selection, and the order of clinical priorities.
What your body is actually built to do.
ACE and ACTN3 variants distinguish power-oriented from endurance-oriented physiology. COL5A1 variants flag patients prone to soft-tissue injury. NOS3 affects exercise blood pressure response. Inflammation gene variants determine recovery time. The data lets us train, taper, and recover an athlete according to the genome they have — not a generic template.
Why some injuries linger and others don’t.
Tissue repair runs on methylation, antioxidant defense, and controlled inflammation. Variants in each of these systems affect how quickly fascia, tendon, and muscle rebuild. When an injury hasn’t healed in the timeframe it should, the GPS panel often points us to a specific bottleneck that targeted nutrition and treatment can address.
Consider FIT GPS™ if you’ve ever wondered:
| i.Why some supplements help you and others do nothing | ii.Why a medication that helps most people doesn’t help you |
| iii.Why an injury that should heal in six weeks is taking six months | iv.Why your sports performance has plateaued despite the right training |
| v.Whether fatigue, brain fog, or mood symptoms have a methylation cause | vi.Whether your hypermobility carries a folate / MTHFR profile worth treating |
Pricing
Two pathways, one comprehensive screen.
Same genetic panel, same metabolic labs, same results review. Pricing depends only on whether you’re a new patient at FIT or already established in our practice.
Full new-patient evaluation with Dr. Courseault, plus the complete FIT GPS™ genetic and metabolic screen. Best entry point for patients new to FIT.
For current FIT patients adding the GPS panel to their existing care plan. Includes genetic testing, metabolic labs, and the results review visit.
Most metabolic lab work is billable to insurance separately. Genetic testing is a self-pay service. Results are reviewed in person or via televisit and integrated directly into your care plan.
What You Receive
A complete genetic and metabolic profile, translated into a plan you can use.
The Data, in full.
The Plan, tailored to your biology.
Frequently Asked
Quick answers about the test.
How is the genetic sample collected?
Simple cheek swab during your visit. No blood draw for the genetic portion. The metabolic panel does require a standard blood draw, which we order separately and which most insurance plans cover.
Why do you call it a “once in a lifetime” test?
Your genetic variants are fixed at birth and do not change. Once we have your data, it informs every clinical decision for the rest of your life. The metabolic labs change over time and may be repeated; the genetic panel does not need to be.
Is this the same as 23andMe or AncestryDNA?
No. Consumer ancestry tests look at broad ethnicity markers and a small number of health SNPs. FIT GPS™ is a clinically focused panel built around the variants that affect methylation, inflammation, detoxification, performance, and connective tissue — the systems we treat. The interpretation is done by your physician, not by a software algorithm.
Will my insurance cover this?
The genetic testing portion is a self-pay service. The metabolic blood panel that pairs with it is generally insurance-billable. HSA and FSA accounts are typically accepted for the genetic portion. Our team will walk you through the specifics at scheduling.
What if my variants suggest I’m at risk for something serious?
Genetic predisposition is not destiny. Most of the variants on this panel are modifiable in their expression through nutrition, lifestyle, and targeted supplementation. We discuss findings in context, never with alarm, and translate them into action you can take.
Do I need a referral?
No. FIT GPS™ is available to any patient who wants it. For new patients, the panel is paired with a comprehensive intake so the interpretation is fully integrated with your medical picture. Results may be reviewed in person at the clinic or via televisit.
How is my genetic data protected?
Genetic testing for FIT GPS™ is processed by our laboratory partner, MaxGen Labs, which maintains strict privacy protections for clinical genetic data. Your genetic information is not sold to third parties or used for research without your explicit consent. You can review the full laboratory privacy policy at maxgenlabs.com/policies/privacy-policy. Within our practice, your results are treated as protected health information under HIPAA and stored only in your secure medical record.
The Science
Selected research supporting the FIT GPS™ panel.
A small subset of the peer-reviewed literature behind the genes we test and the clinical decisions we make from the data.
Research & References.
- Courseault J, Kingry C, Morrison V, Edstrom C, Morrell K, Jaubert L, Elia V, Bix G. Folate-dependent hypermobility syndrome: A proposed mechanism and diagnosis. Heliyon, 2023 Apr; 9(4): e15387. PMID 37095957. The foundational paper proposing the folate-MTHFR-hypermobility connection.
- Courseault J, et al. Prevalence of MTHFR Polymorphisms in Patients With Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Hypermobile Spectrum Disorders in a US Hypermobility Clinic. ACR Open Rheumatology, 2024. PMC11246825. Documents ~85% MTHFR polymorphism prevalence in the hypermobile patient population.
- Frosst P, Blom HJ, Milos R, et al. A candidate genetic risk factor for vascular disease: a common mutation in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. Nature Genetics, 1995. The seminal paper identifying MTHFR C677T.
- Lachman HM, et al. Human catechol-O-methyltransferase pharmacogenetics: description of a functional polymorphism and its potential application to neuropsychiatric disorders. Pharmacogenetics, 1996. The COMT V158M variant and its clinical implications.
- Yang N, et al. ACTN3 genotype is associated with human elite athletic performance. American Journal of Human Genetics, 2003. Foundational ACTN3 and elite performance paper.
- Posthumus M, September AV, et al. The COL5A1 gene is associated with increased risk of anterior cruciate ligament ruptures. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 2009. Collagen gene variants and connective-tissue injury.
- Holick MF. Vitamin D deficiency. New England Journal of Medicine, 2007. VDR variant impact on vitamin D function and connective tissue.
- Ahmetov II, et al. Genes and athletic performance: an update. Medicine and Sport Science, 2016. Comprehensive review of performance-related genetic variants.
Reference list is illustrative of the literature underpinning the panel; it is not exhaustive. Discussion of any specific finding from your results is conducted in person or via televisit with your FIT physician.
Ready to Learn What Your Body Needs?
A single screen. A lifetime of better decisions.
FIT GPS™ is available to new and established patients. Reach out and we’ll walk you through scheduling, paperwork, and what to expect at your results visit.