Find out more about what makes you YOU with and ancestry DNA test from our sponsor, 23andMe. I received a free test and lab results but the experience and opinions are mine!
A few months ago I received an ancestry DNA test kit from 23andMe, a home based saliva collection kit. You send the vial of saliva in to 23AndMe’s lab and they run a DNA test. A few weeks later, you get an email with the results. The “test” was pain free and super easy! Except I apparently don’t have much spit because I had hard time getting the vial full. I sent the test back in the box the kit came in and waited about a month for the results.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from the test results. I was pretty sure I knew my ancestry, but my other traits, were a giant guess! So when the results were finally emailed to me, I had fun digging in to find more about what makes me tick.
Ancestry
The ancestry test confirmed that I am about 70% Eastern European. The photo above is of my maternal grandparents who were both 100% Polish. Both of my maternal great-grandparents immigrated from Poland. My paternal grandmother immigrated from Germany when she was a little girl, but she was also part Polish. So there was no real surprise that I am made up of a lot of Eastern European DNA.
I think I may have passed a little of that ancestry on to my kids, too!
Genetics
The 23AndMe test doesn’t just test for ancestry. It also tests carrier status, wellness traits, taste and smell, hair, facial features and more. I learned a lot about myself and traits that I have that are actually from my DNA.
Some fun facts about me per the genetic test results and my real life experience:
- The test showed that I tend to be a light sleeper and I am! I have a hard time getting a full night of sleep because I am so easily awakened. It also said I’m likely to not move much when I sleep, which is also true. It made me feel a little better to know that my light sleeping is at least partially genetic.
- I hate eating asparagus because of the smell after using the bathroom. It turns out that I’m genetically inclined to be more sensitive to the smell of asparagus in urine. I wasn’t really expecting that trait to show up but there you go!
- It was wrong about my hair. It said I’m more likely to have light hair, but I have very dark brown hair. It did however say I likely have straight hair, which I do.
- The test also told me I likely consume more caffeine than average. Hmmmm.
- My DNA also says that I am probably lactose intolerant. I tend to avoid lactose anyway and maybe it was just my DNA leading me away from something that wouldn’t be pleasant.
23andMe offers a service where your other family members can send in their DNA samples for testing and you can link them together as a family. This way you get a more complete picture of your family genetics. It’d be a fun family gift to see what genes siblings got from their parents! I’d love to know why my two sisters, pictured above with our mother, got super gorgeous thick hair and I did not.
Got my free ebook today and it looked so good I think I gained a couple of lbs. just looking thru it and seeing all the yummy pictures. I loved the little elephants. Thanks for the book.