Gary Brecka Methylation Test Review: Worth It in Australia?
If you've been listening to Gary Brecka, you're in good company. A lot of the people who sit down with me have, and I have too. Someone asks me about his gene test most weeks, and it's usually the same three questions: what does it actually look at, can I get it here, and what would I do with the result.
So here's a proper answer from a clinical nutritionist who orders genetic tests every week, thinks what he's done for this conversation is genuinely good, and offers a similar test here in Australia.
Where we stand. Wellbeing George is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Gary Brecka, 10X Health System or The Ultimate Human, and this isn't his test. We use the names only to identify the product people ask us about. We do sell our own genetic methylation test, through a NATA-accredited Australian lab.
Prices and product details were checked on the seller's own page on 19 September 2026 and can change.
The short version
- The lab science is sound. The test genotypes real methylation-pathway genes using a standardised, accurate method.
- No gene test, his or ours, measures how well you're methylating today. That depends on your B-vitamin status, environment, diet and various methylation genes.
- A genetic variant isn't a diagnosis, it's a tendency. These variants are common worldwide and many people who carry them are well. There's a lot that determines whether a genetic variant is "switched on" or "switched off" in your body, and we have a number of ways to look into this.
- From Australia the 10X test works out at about AU$840 at today's exchange rate before shipping, and a similar test can be done here through an Australian lab with local support.
- The 10X test reads 27 genes across six systems. The Wellbeing George Genetic Methylation Test, as part of our Energy Blueprint package, reads 92 genes and covers most of the same genes the 10X does. The Energy Blueprint also includes a 60-minute DNA review consultation, a free 30-day check-in appointment, a personalised protocol, a food-as-medicine guide that goes hand-in-hand with your genetic test, and educational videos in the lead-up to your results.
Who he is, in a paragraph
Gary Brecka describes himself as a human biologist. He hosts The Ultimate Human podcast, the test is sold through his site as a partner product, and by now he's a familiar face here: he's toured Australia before and is on stage again this September.
His central message is that a lot of everyday complaints, low energy, low mood, poor sleep, trace back to nutrient patterns shaped by your genes, and that knowing your genes helps you target what you take. I strongly agree that understanding your genes can potentially change your health trajectory.
What the test actually is
The genes it names publicly are the ones you'd expect in this space: MTHFR, COMT, MTR, MTRR and AHCY from the methylation pathway, plus others like VDR and SOD2.
The method is genotyping: reading which inherited variants you carry. That technology is mature and reliable, and it's the same method every reputable provider uses, including us.
Why his message has landed
Before the caveats, the credit, because it's real.
- Methylation is real and it matters. It's a genuine set of pathways involved in processing folate and B12, making neurotransmitters, repairing DNA, energy metabolism and managing homocysteine. Standard biochemistry, not fringe science, and he's put it in front of millions of people who'd never heard the word.
- The genes are the right genes. MTHFR and COMT are exactly the ones a clinical nutritionist looks at.
- Genes make the conversation specific. Knowing your variants points to patterns worth exploring, particularly around the forms of B vitamins and the folate in your food. That's how I use them in clinic.
- He's changed the questions people ask. Far more people come to me asking good questions about B vitamins and homocysteine than five years ago. That makes my job easier, and their care better.
Three things people get wrong about this test
Now let's talk about some of the things people regularly get wrong about this test, and there are three of them.
1. It doesn't actually measure methylation
This is the part most buyers miss, and it applies to his test, to ours, and to every other gene panel on the market. A gene test reads the sequence you inherited. It's genotyping, so it tells us how the instructions are written, not how the pathway is running in you this year.
There's a completely different test that measures that, but it doesn't tell you the genetic part of WHY the pathway might be running a certain way. That's what we want to know when we're looking for root causes, and that's what this test DOES tell us.
2. It doesn't diagnose anything
A genetic variation, or SNP, is a tendency, not a condition. It can't tell us if you're going to get a disease or have a stress-free life. Anyone selling you that is ahead of what the science can do.
There are also tens of thousands of genes, coding and non-coding, which means some things won't be in this test (or the 10X). So just know, it's unrealistic to think it's going to tell you EVERYTHING. But these are the most well-researched genes we know about right now, and they give us a pretty good idea of what to focus on.
3. It needs someone experienced to read it with you
OK, last one, and this is one of the biggest reasons it matters that someone who's experienced in genetics, and has done further study in this area, analyses your report and goes through it with you.
There's a lot written in a gene report, but there's also a lot NOT written, and that extra information one of our degree-qualified practitioners gives you could be the difference between information you can really use and information that goes nowhere and does nothing.
A single result frequently points two ways at once. Take the COMT gene, for example, one of the ones that has a huge effect on mood, energy, hormonal balance and stress resilience. A slow COMT means you hold on to dopamine and adrenaline for longer, which can be an asset on a calm day and a liability on a stressful one. The same result also affects how you clear oestrogen, which is a separate pathway again and can lead to varying health outcomes. One gene, three conversations, and they play out differently from person to person.
The MAO-A gene interacts with COMT, so reading these two genes together and understanding how they play out is also super important to talk through with each client.
Here's the part I want to be straight with you about
Most single variants haven't performed well when they've been tested as standalone predictors. MTHFR is the famous one, and it's repeatedly failed to predict several of the risks it got attached to over the years. Other well-known variants have gone the same way in large reviews.
That's not me undermining the test. It's me telling you what it's for.
We don't read a panel as a set of predictions about what's going to happen to you. We read it as a map of where your nutritional demand is likely to sit. Where your body is likely to need more of something, or to be working a bit harder to do a particular job.
And then we check that against your bloods, your symptoms and what you've actually told us about your life, because the panel can't tell us whether any of that is showing up in you. That's why grabbing this test from another lab on its own and going through it yourself, well, that's just not gonna be helpful for you. We're looking for demand, not your destiny.
Can any of this be changed?
Which brings me to the thing people most want to know, which is whether any of this can be changed.
Your DNA sequence can't. That's fixed, and honestly that's useful, because it means we only ever have to look at it once. What isn't fixed is how much work you're asking that pathway to do, and how well it's supplied while it does that work. And that's where almost all of the useful action is.
Two words you'll hear us use in clinic all the time. Epigenetics is the layer that sits on top of your DNA sequence and influences how strongly a gene is expressed. Sleep, stress, what you eat, what you're exposed to, all of that has some input into it.
Nutrigenomics is the narrower one and it's the one we actually work in: how specific nutrients interact with the particular version of a gene you happen to carry.
And there's a great example of this. The nutrient that stabilises the MTHFR enzyme is riboflavin, which is vitamin B2. In trials, giving B2 to people carrying two copies of one particular MTHFR variant did something measurable that it didn't do in people with the other versions of that gene. Same nutrient, basic amount given, and the effect only turned up in the people carrying the variant.
Your genotype suggests a tendency. Your life and food intake have a say in whether it shows up.
There's a tidy piece of evidence for this, and it's thirty years old. Researchers took 365 adults, sorted them by their MTHFR 677 genotype, and then sorted them again by how much folate was actually in their blood.
Read the right-hand pair first. Where folate was adequate, carrying two copies of the variant made no measurable difference to homocysteine, which is the marker this whole pathway gets judged on in a blood test.
The gene result didn't change between those two groups. The nutrient did.
The same interaction turns up with riboflavin in population data too. In the Rotterdam Study, people with two copies of the variant in the lowest quarter for riboflavin intake ran homocysteine about 22% higher, roughly 3.4 micromoles per litre. Again, only among those who were short of it.
So the gene test is the map. Your nutrient status and your homocysteine are the weather. Both are worth knowing, and the second lot is measured separately and cheaply.
Fatigue, low mood and broken sleep are multifactorial. Iron, thyroid, sleep, perimenopause, alcohol and what you eat all sit in the same picture, which is what the post on being tired with normal bloods discusses. A gene result is one layer, not a verdict.
What I see in clinic. The happiest version of this is someone who arrives having listened to the podcast, already understands why nutrition and food matter, and wants to know what her own genes say. That's a great starting point and a much better conversation than I used to have.
The work is then in the reading: what her last iron studies said, how she's sleeping, what breakfast looks like, whether anyone has checked her thyroid and her homocysteine. The gene report is real and worth having. But it's the beginning of the story, not the end of it.
Getting a similar test done in Australia
The sticker price is in US dollars, and for most Australians the practical questions are currency and distance, and what comes bundled with the test.
Ordering from here works, and plenty of people do it. It's worth knowing what it involves.
| What you're buying | Ordering from Australia |
|---|---|
| The kit | Ships from the United States, and the prepaid return envelope is US postage, so your saliva sample crosses the Pacific to get back |
| The results call | Booked with the seller's team on US time zones, which for most of us means very early or very late |
| The supplement plan | Shipped from the US at US prices, and some formulations sold freely there are regulated differently by the TGA here |
| Anything afterwards | Follow-up sits with a team overseas rather than with someone who can also see your Australian bloods |
What I'd look for in any test, including ours
If you're comparing options, these are the questions I'd ask of any provider. Ask them of us too.
- Where is the laboratory, and is it accredited here? NATA accreditation is Australia's laboratory quality standard, and it's a fair thing to ask about.
- How wide is the panel? Twenty-seven genes is a reasonable window, and broader panels give a practitioner more context. More genes isn't automatically better if nobody reads them properly.
- Who reads it with you? This is the one that matters most. A report on its own is probabilities on paper; a report read alongside your bloods is a plan.
- Is the provider honest about the limits? A gene test doesn't measure your current methylation, and a good provider will tell you that before you pay.
- What happens after the report? Local support, local time zones, and good-quality practitioner-only supplements you can actually get here, and re-order whenever you like on your own portal.
Our own disclosure, in plain words. Wellbeing George sells a genetic methylation test: 92 genes and 113 SNPs, run by a NATA-accredited Australian laboratory. It comes two ways, as a kit and report on its own for AU$449, or inside the Energy Blueprint at AU$599 with a 60-minute results consultation and a personalised protocol, which is the closest comparison to what the US$599 test includes. It's a similar test (although it includes more genes), done here. It isn't his test, and we have no connection to him.
That's our product, so hold it to the same five questions above. If you want the science without a sales pitch attached, our guide to what a methylation test can and can't show is free and goes deeper than this article does.
Before you buy anything, ask yourself
- What would I actually do differently once I had the result?
- Has anyone checked the basic foundations first: iron studies, B12, folate, a full thyroid panel, vitamin D, zinc?
- Who is going to read this with me?
- Do I want the test itself, or do I want to finally understand what's going on?
That last one isn't a criticism. It's the honest reason most people order a test, mine included, and either answer is fine. It just points you to a different first step.
So, which way?
If you want his test specifically, order it with confidence. It will genotype you accurately, the genes are the right ones, and the report comes with a call to walk you through it. You'll pay in US dollars and work around US time zones, and that's the trade.
If what you want is the thing the test promises, an understanding of how your genes might be shaping your energy, your nutrient needs and your long-term health, then the test itself is the cheapest part wherever you buy it. The value is in the reading: someone qualified, who reads it alongside your symptoms, your bloods and your history, and who'll tell you the most relevant and important information, as well as what to do with it for long-term success.
Want to talk it through first?
The free call is a conversation, not a consultation. Tell me what you're hoping a gene test will tell you and what your GP has already checked, and I'll give you an honest answer about whether it's the right next step, and which one.
Book a free 15-minute callFifteen minutes, on the phone, no test required to book it.
Common questions
Is the Gary Brecka methylation test worth it?
If you want his test specifically, yes: the genotyping is accurate, the genes are the right ones, and the report comes with a call to walk you through it. The value of any gene test sits in how well it's read alongside your bloods and your history, so the question worth asking is who'll do that reading with you.
How much does the Gary Brecka gene test cost in Australian dollars?
The test is listed at US$599 on the seller's page, checked 19 September 2026. At that day's exchange rate of about 1.40 it works out near AU$840, before international shipping. Supplements suggested afterwards are a separate cost, shipped from the United States.
Can I get the Gary Brecka methylation test in Australia?
You can order it from Australia. It's a US product, so the kit ships from the United States, the return envelope is US postage, and the results call runs on US time. Several Australian providers, including Wellbeing George, offer a similar test covering the same methylation genes through NATA-accredited Australian laboratories, with local support.
Do methylation gene tests actually work?
The laboratory part works well. Genotyping reliably identifies which inherited variants you carry in genes like MTHFR and COMT. What no gene test can do, his or ours, is measure how well you're methylating today, because that depends on things like your B-vitamin status, which is measured separately.
What genes does the 10X Health test look at?
The company describes the report as reading 27 genes across six connected body systems. The ones named publicly include MTHFR, COMT, MTR, MTRR and AHCY from the methylation pathway, along with others such as VDR and SOD2.
Should I get a gene test before seeing my GP?
Do both, but the order matters. Iron studies, B12, folate, a full thyroid panel, vitamin D and zinc are worth asking your GP about first, and they explain a great deal of everyday tiredness. A gene test adds context to those results; it works best read alongside them rather than instead of them.
Sources
- 10X Health System, Methylation+ Genetic Test (price, inclusions and gene list, checked 19 September 2026)
- The Ultimate Human, 10X Health Methylation Gene Test
- MedlinePlus, US National Library of Medicine, MTHFR gene (these variants are common worldwide, and most carriers are unaffected)
- Hickey SE, Curry CJ, Toriello HV. ACMG Practice Guideline: lack of evidence for MTHFR polymorphism testing. Genetics in Medicine, 2013 (MTHFR as a standalone predictor)
- McNulty H, et al. Riboflavin lowers homocysteine in individuals homozygous for the MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism. Circulation, 2006 (the riboflavin trial)
- Jacques PF, Bostom AG, Williams RR, et al. Relation between folate status, a common mutation in methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, and plasma homocysteine concentrations. Circulation, 1996 (the chart above)
- Yazdanpanah N, Uitterlinden AG, Zillikens MC, et al. Low dietary riboflavin but not folate predicts increased fracture risk in postmenopausal women homozygous for the MTHFR 677 T allele. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, 2008 (riboflavin intake and homocysteine in the Rotterdam Study)
- Exchange rate USD to AUD 1.4045, exchangerate-api.com, 19 September 2026
- National Association of Testing Authorities Australia (laboratory accreditation)
Important: This article is general information and independent commentary written by a clinical nutritionist. It isn't medical advice and doesn't replace care from your GP or another qualified health professional. Genetic testing doesn't diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition, and results are best interpreted alongside your symptoms, health history, medications and supplements. Third-party prices and product details were checked on 19 September 2026 from publicly available pages and may change. Wellbeing George has no commercial relationship with Gary Brecka, 10X Health System or The Ultimate Human.
Reviewed by Georgina Waugh
Clinical Nutritionist, BHSc Nutritional Medicine
Last updated: 19 September 2026
Sources reviewed: the seller's own product pages, MedlinePlus genetics, the ACMG guideline on MTHFR testing, the Circulation and Rotterdam Study data on MTHFR genotype and B-vitamin status, Australian laboratory accreditation standards, published exchange rates and clinical nutrition interpretation.