AI-Powered Precision Wellness: How EPLIMO Revolutionizes Health Through Genetic Insights and Personalized Biohacks
CXOToday has engaged in an exclusive interview with Sajeev Nair, Founder & Chairman, Vieroots Wellness Solutions
How does EPLIMO utilize AI to deliver personalized wellness plans?
Eplimo is based on a detailed genetic test using a tiny saliva sample, to detect genomic risks for developing over 250 diseases and conditions. It then gets matched with a detailed metabolic assessment too, to weed out false positives, and arrive at only highly probable disease risks. Then for these detected disease risks, Eplimo generates research-validated lifestyle modifications across diet, nutrition, supplements, exercise, yoga, meditation, breathwork, de-stressing etc. as well as therapeutic biohacks, which can keep these risks at bay. All these three stages are possible only due to AI, as these involve managing a huge amount of complex data to distil out only meaningful insights and highly effective lifestyle modifications and biohacks that are epigenetic in nature, that is, capable of overriding even hard coded genetic susceptibilities to develop any among hundreds of diseases.
Can you elaborate on the role of genetic analysis in creating lifestyle blueprints?
Most killer lifestyle diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, cancers, dementia, depression, COPD etc are multifactorial in nature. In other words, they have various factors contributing to their development, and prime among them is their genetic roots. These are found in our DNA as genetic variants, with some diseases having dozens or even hundreds of genetic variants contributing to their incidence. But these genetic variants are like loaded guns, triggered mainly by lifestyle factors like unhealthy diets, sedentary life, sleep loss, stress etc as well as environmental factors like pollution. These lifestyle triggers were detected decades or even centuries before the genetic roots were discovered, and that is why these diseases came to be called lifestyle diseases. But now, since the genetic roots are also known, it makes immense sense to first look for such loaded guns in your DNA first, before deciding on which protective lifestyle modifications to focus upon. Used this way, genetic analysis helps in creating personalized lifestyle blueprints.
What inspired Vieroots to integrate biohacking tools like PEMF and Red-Light Therapy?
In many patient situations, we need something more fast acting than lifestyle modifications alone. For instance, pain relief, reduction of disease severity, anti-aging etc. That is why Vieroots Biohack Centres introduced Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) Therapy and Red Light Therapy (RLT). Both have been well proven for safety and efficacy, and have won FDA approval too. At its heart, PEMF is a non-invasive treatment that uses electromagnetic fields to stimulate and promote healing at the cellular level. Its typical use cases include pain relief, inflammation reduction, depression relief and improved circulation. It works by delivering electromagnetic pulses to the body, which energize cells, enhance cellular repair, and improve overall function. Advantages include its ability to support natural healing processes without medication or invasive procedures. PEMF is also used by athletes for faster recovery, by chronic pain sufferers for relief, and in wellness programs to slow down aging, boost energy and improve sleep quality. Its versatility and proven benefits make it a valuable therapeutic tool. Red Light Therapy (RLT) is also a non-invasive treatment that uses low-level red and near-infrared light to enhance cellular repair and regeneration. RLT promotes wound healing, reduces inflammation, and improves skin health. It is unique for penetrating deep into tissues without heat, for stimulating collagen production, enhancing circulation, and reducing pain. It is renowned in anti-aging, athletic recovery, and chronic disease management.
What differentiates Vieroots’ approach from other wellness tech companies?
Vieroots was not India’s first genomic testing company, but we were the first to go beyond mere genomic testing, to providing epigenetic grade lifestyle modifications to keep the detected disease risks at bay, through our flagship Eplimo solution. We were also the first genomic health-tech company in India to use metabolic assessment too, to eliminate false positives that can unnecessarily worry a client. Vieroots is also the first genomic firm to introduce therapeutic grade biohacking services like PEMF, RLT and more from our Vieroots Biohack Centres. We were also the first to introduce disease-specific genomic wellness through our Human Performance Optimization (HPO) packages like Optimize My Sugar, Optimize My Weight, Optimize My Age, Optimize My Liver, Optimize My Heart, Optimize My Brain etc. These are unique 90-day programs that come with the services of a Certified Lifestyle Coach too for better adherence to lifestyle modifications. Being genomic solutions, their efficacy is high. Optimize My Weight, for instance, is a DNA Based Weight Loss Program that can help even people who couldn’t find any success with any weight loss program so far. Vieroots is also into Certified Lifestyle Coaching through our academic & training division, VieGyan. We also have a family of unique evidence-based supplements including NAD Complex, MITO Complex, Krill Oil, Intuit, Nutrivie, Bio-Fibre and lots more. Now, we are entering health wearables too with our Trigr ecosystem of devices and super app.
How do you envision wearable tech shaping the future of preventive healthcare?
We have already identified wearables as the next big thing in preventive healthcare, shaping its future. At Vieroots, it syncs perfectly with our 3M Protocol of Measure, Monitor & Manage, for fine-tuning preventive healthcare. While our flagship solutions like Eplimo and HPO can measure and manage, health wearables can improve this strategy further by continuous monitoring too. This encouraged us to create the Trigr Super App and its ecosystem wearables like Trigr Smart Ring and Trigr Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM). These are being rolled out now. The Super App can connect to these wearables as well as wearables from other reputed brands, and it has some unique AI driven capabilities on its own too. For instance, the Super App has an AI Face Scan that works like a bloodless blood test capable of finding several health parameters without drawing even a drop of blood. The App also has an AI Fitness Coach for perfecting exercise form and a Biological Age Finder, that finds your real cellular level age from an AI based face scan, so that age reversing biohacks can be suggested.
What challenges have you faced in integrating advanced technologies into everyday health solutions?
At every step, what I believe in is changing challenges into opportunities. When we launched Eplimo, the pandemic was raging on, and nobody gave us any chance to survive. But within less than two years, we had scaled Vieroots into a multicrore business, even while remaining as a bootstrapped startup. The resistance from traditional medical professionals like doctors were also much talked about regarding preventive health-tech, but in our experience, we could introduce our solutions like Eplimo to hundreds of doctors, clinics and hospitals across India, with many of them emerging as our strong partners, as they realized the value in prescribing our products to their patients. We also employ a panel of doctors, geneticists, dieticians, nutritionists and fitness experts, in house. Now, again, therapeutic biohacking services and even health wearables may face some resistance from some doctors, but eventually if our products and services are excellent, the users will adopt them for taking charge of their health and their performance.
