Have you ever been curious about your DNA makeup in regard to how it affects different areas of your body and how you can use that information to improve your health?
Genes are linked to many of our health aspects than you may think.
And the SelfDecode is one of the systems that have been created to help us understand how our personal genetic makeup is like and what we need to do to make personal improvements that will make us happier and healthier human beings.
If you are wondering what SelfDecode is really all about and how effective it is with what it says it does, then this SelfDecode review is for you.
You will get a detailed explanation of its different key aspects such as what it is, how it works, its features, some customer reviews so that you see other people’s experience with the platform, it’s pros and cons, how to use it as well as pricing and how it compares to other similar platforms.
So, roll your sleeves, and let’s dive in.
What Self Decode Really Is
This is a personalized health report service, that helps its users receive thorough reports and information based on their genetics.
This company is based on helping people know how DNA affects their health in a comprehensive way and how to use that information to improve their health status.
They offer various resources that help the users do DNA tests and submit them to the company for analysis and health recommendations.
They have among the best DNA information that educates people on various genetic variations and how they influence different systems of the body and you get to learn how these aspects have been affecting you and how to make sure everything within you is working right.
Self decode has a large team of biologists, doctors, geneticists, pharmacists, and specialists who aim to help you boost your well-being and health that do the DNA analyses of their users and offer the best practices that will help reduce the effects of various illnesses they may have and get to grow strong enough to overcome the health issues.
Concerning the background information on the company, SelfDecode was founded by Joe Cohen in 2015.
What prompted him to start the company was his own experience of improving his health through understanding his genetics and that motivated him to do the same for others.
He, therefore, started out with a website called SelfHack that educated people on biohacking and health and then later focused on helping people improve the quality of their life by looking into their DNA by founding Self Decode.
How SelfDecode Works
Self Decode simply works by providing you with information on your genes and then giving you multiple health recommendations based on that will slowly boost your health.
What happens is, they require you to provide your genetic information through third-party genetic providers or by taking a test with them, which is even better because their DNA testing kit sequences over 700,000 variants compared to any other testing kit.
After SelfDecode gets your genetic samples, they make the results available to you through their online portal after six to eight weeks, and the number of reports that you get depends on the subscription plan that you chose.
They create for you a personalized comprehensive report of your genetic information giving you recommendations on important factors such as fitness, cardiovascular health, sleep, vitamins, mood, Covid-19 among many other areas. Through that, you are able to make more informed decisions for your health.
They also offer you wellness reports that they have shared with their members in the past as well as the reports they will be published in the future.
These reports cover every area including cognitive function, moods, minerals, inflammation, vitamins, fitness, and health overview, among many others.
These will inform you better on these topics and the good thing is that they are reliable information as they are made by health professionals.
Its Features
The following are functionalities that you get to enjoy if you decide to use self decode ;
~ DNA wellness reports that help you take charge of your health based on the recommendations that you get. Basically, you get to understand your genes on a deeper level and discover what’s best for them and what isn’t.
~ A personalized genetics blog where you find articles on a weekly basis providing information on gene scores whether positive, neutral, or negative among other helpful information.
~ A symptoms and condition analyzer to help you know the most likely conditions that you are struggling with depending on the symptoms you feed in the tool. It will also allow identifying your risk factors and how your genes contribute to the problems you experience.
~ A lab test analyzer tool that helps you tailor your results and get customized recommendations on how to accomplish optimal levels on areas such as energy, motivation, weight loss, and health in general.
SelfDecode Customer Reviews
Disclaimer: While we believe in showing how other users have found a given product using the customer reviews section, we would like to let you know that these reviews don’t represent the same experience you will get with it.
People are different and therefore may have different experiences with SelfDecode. The only way to know how well it works for you is by giving it a try.
Here’s what other previous users have to say about it. (1)
The Positive Reviews
“I have used many DNA programs in the past, but SelfDecode is by far the easiest and most comprehensive program out there. The personalized reports and blogs offer simple and sound recommendations based on science.”
“This has been great for helping me sort out a lot of long term issues. Not least learning how to balance the MTHFR gene to suit me!”
“I love the wealth of info available on SD. I am a “practitioner” and recommend SD to my clients. It’s fascinating to help them all dive into their genetics and learn to optimize it.”
“Cannot love them enough! So useful and having the lifetime account is amazing as they keep updating pertinent important information and it’s like a surprise little gift.”
The Negative Reviews
“There were communication issues. I asked certain questions that I believe that were straight forward and a week or so later an answer was sent that had no context to my question arrived.”
“informations are often contradictory, and any organic extraction of suggestions must be paid for. It happens that the paid informations contradict what is in the database. Finally, the raw file that you can download is confusingly formatted and cannot be uploaded to any other online service.”
“The annual membership price going up more than double is excessive so I won’t be able to renew mine sadly.”
One thing I liked about SelfDecode is that they have addressed the complaints of the users and they try to help their members as best as they can.
So, that is a positive sign that they care about the quality of their services.
SelfDecode Pros and Cons
The Pro’s
• They secure your data well and will not sell it to third parties
They clearly state that you have sole ownership of your genetic data and have access to your reports. They prioritize the privacy of your data greatly and as such only have ensured that their site meets recent security standards.
They also don’t ask you for a lot of details as you get started and if you still feel insecure about the details you are providing, you can come up with a pseudo profile then when you get the results that you want delete it later and with that, you will no longer appear on their database.
• They offer you a 30-day money-back guarantee
• You will get a 15% discount if you use the coupon code: IBGF
• They allow users to bookmark their genes
• They keep you up to date with the latest scientific research
• They allow users to compare their DNA data with those of others
• compared to other similar platforms self decode definitely provides you with much more intricate health and wellness advice
• They provide easy to understand reports to users.
• They ship their DNA test kits to many countries
The Con’s
• You pay extra costs for DNA tests unless you took them somewhere else. On top of their pricing plan, if you want to use their DNA kits, you will have to pay an extra cost of $90.
• They don’t provide reports on ancestry traits, however, they promise they are working to provide that by 2020.
• If you go for the annual subscription, you will be paying for more reports after the five free reports that you get per year are depleted.
How To Use Self Decode
To start with, this platform has made it easy for you to use and that is why all you need to do is follow the following three steps;
Step 1. Buy a SelfDecode DNA Kit and if that’s expensive for you upload your DNA file there.
If you don’t want to use the DNA kit provided by SelfDecode, you can decide to use others from other companies and submit your results file to them.
Self decode accepts files from the following providers; iGene, 23andMe, Living DNA, Ancestry, Atlas, Courtagen, FamilyTreeDNA, illuminate, MyHeritage, MapMyGenome, DNA and Diagnomics, and many more others
If you aren’t sure if your file will be accepted, you will just need to contact the support team and they will tell you if it’s viable or not.
Step 2. Get your reports and then download them. After submitting your files, you will give them time to analyze them and offer reports with advice for your specific case. When you get the reports, read them carefully, and understand what your problem is and how to solve it.
Step 3. Implement the recommendations provided for you and with no time you will see your health improve.
In the case that you need help understanding your DNA reports, there are professionals on the platform you can reach out to for further explanation.
Self Decode Pricing
With Self decode, you have 5 options where 2 are for individuals and the other 3 for professionals. It’s worth noting that all the plans come with the following;
~ Worldwide shipping for DNA test kit
~ Symptoms and conditions analyzer
~ A 30-day money-back guarantee
~ Safety and security for your data
~ Unlimited access to the personalized genetics blog
Other than that, this is what you also get with each plan:
√Annual Subscription Plan
~ You pay $97 per year and $90 for the DNA test kit
~ 50% off on any extra reports
~ 5 premium DNA wellness reports per year
√Lifetime Access Plan
~ You pay $297 and $90 for the DNA test kit
~ You also get unlimited access to all recent and forthcoming DNA wellness reports
Professional Accounts
For the professionals’ plans, the accounts you get here are mainly aimed at helping you improve the health service you are offering by partnering with SelfDecode and using their resources for your business.
Here are the features you get from these accounts:
~ Unlimited DNA file uploads for working with multiple clients
~ Easy comparison of clients’ DNA files
~ Customer support
~ Reduced prices for the DNA kits
~ Unlimited DNA Wellness Report downloads
~ You also get featured on their recommended professionals page
~ A custom dashboard so that you can easily maneuver your client profiles
~ 1:1 Onboarding call
~ Free advertising on the platform
And these are the plans to choose from as a professional:
√The monthly plan goes for $99 monthly
√The yearly plan goes for $599 per year after a limited 50% discount from $1188
√The Lifetime Access plan where you make a one-time payment of $2900 after a 28% discount from $4000
Competitor Comparision
To understand how much value SelfDecode offers in the market, let’s compare it with other platforms that offer the same services as it does. Here are 5 competitors of SelfDecode and what they offer.
√Genomelink vs SelfDecode
This is a platform that helps you understand your DNA identity through fun and educational scientific content. They provide you with ancient ancestry reports something that Self Decode is not doing yet, provide you with nutrition advice, fitness advice as well as careers that match your genetics.
Regarding the file uploads that they allow you to use, they are limited to three which are My Heritage, 23andMe, and AncestryDNA as opposed to SelfDecode that offers a wide range of options.
On pricing, they have fewer price plans than SelDecode, only two to be specific, which are free and $14 monthly respectively.
Genomlink is more or less the same as SelfDecode but in my opinion, SeldDecode offers a bit more value in terms of their features.
√Genetic Genie vs SelfDecode
Genetic Genie is a platform that allows you to easily interpret your genetic information through their main tool called the GenVue Discovery. It can be used by anyone that needs DNA information from professionals all the way to normal individuals without any difficulties.
They allow you to use file uploads from various genetic data interpretation providers and are free but you could donate to keep the platform functional for others willing to discover their genetic information.
In terms of what you get, SelfDecode offers slightly more than Genetic Genie.
√Promethease vs SelfDecode
Promethease is a literature retrieval system that creates for you a DNA report based on connecting scientific findings with a file of DNA genotypes.
Uploading reports cost you $12 and are produced in a matter of minutes but uploading more data files into the same report costs an extra $4.
They also accept uploads of data from various genetic information providers including 23andMe, Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA, and Genos.
While it is a good platform, it offers very complex information about genes and would need an expert to interpret it for you. SelfDecode’s reports are much easier to understand than Promethease’s.
Also, Promethease doesn’t offer health and lifestyle recommendations to help you improve.
In this case, SelfDecode is much better than Promethease.
√Nebula vs SelfDecode
Nebula offers comprehensive DNA reports, DNA tests by conducting whole genome sequencing which is more advanced, as well as assures you of protection of your data.
They also provide you with deep genetic ancestry and additionally provide you with weekly scientific discovery updates and vital genome exploration tools.
Compared to SelfDecode, Nebula offers more value so I would recommend it between the two.
√Xcode life vs SelfDecode
This is a platform that provides you with genome research services for raw DNA data file uploads.
It accepts DNA data uploads from various providers and allows almost as many files as SelfDecode, through which you get an emailed PDF report within 24 hours.
Regarding pricing, it varies with each plan which includes $49, $89, and $99 respectively.
While it is a good platform, some of the areas that SelfDecode overtakes it on include providing access to practitioner network, pointing out the genes that could bring problems, and lacking the symptom analyzer which most users find useful.
Summing up
Evaluating all the useful data that Self Decode provides you with coupled up with the recommendations it offers after you get your genetic information and the health tools as well, I can state with no reasonable doubt that it’s worth the money and effort.
If you are considering working with it for the resources it provides, you are going to get good value for your money.
However, if you wanted a platform that also offers ancestry reports besides analyzing genes and providing results and recommendations, then SelfDecode is not a good fit as they have not started offering this service.
Instead, I would encourage you to go for Nebula Genomics.
SelfDecode says they will be offering this feature in the near future too but in the meantime, Nebula could help you with that.
And that is pretty much it.
I hope this review has been educative and helpful.
If you have any questions regarding SelfDecode, feel free to ask them in the comments and you will get an answer as soon as possible.
