Making your Genes Work for You-A?Blog?Article?Written by My Dad <3
We know that our lifestyles play a significant role in our health and overall well-being.? We are also aware that our health, abilities, and even our longevity are linked to the genes passed down from previous generations. ?Our awareness of our genetics can be both encouraging and scary at the same time: If we have ?good genes?, we believe we will enjoy good health and longevity; if we don?t, we can feel anxious about our future.
Either way, we should all strive to control what is in our power to influence ? diet, exercise, stress, and to some extent environmental factors (don?t forget that sunscreen!). As someone who will soon officially become a ?senior citizen?, I?m stepping up my focus on behaviors I?ve tried to stick with all my life.
Until recently, it?s been generally accepted that our genes are for the most part what they are ? and that while we can make healthy changes that can prolong and enhance the quality of our lives, how well and long we live is indelibly embedded in our genetic code.? However, recent research has revealed that our lifestyle choices can actually change our genes (for a good overview of some of this work, I recommend ?Super Genes? by Deepak Chopra), and that the direct link between our original DNA and chronic disease may exist only in a small minority of situations.
What I?ve read so far calls for no new breakthroughs in diet, exercise, stress management, or any other factors we can control. In fact, it reinforces the importance of these, with some new revelations such as foods and nutrients that have an effect on inflammation within the body. What IS new is the observation that by making healthy decisions we can affect genetic markers that can modify or even reverse the effects of past choices that were not so healthy.? It may even be the case for those of childbearing age that these beneficial genetic effects are passed on to future generations.
So there are indications that the benefits of a healthy life may be greater than we thought.? Or ? as the French lawyer, politician, and gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said over 200 years ago ? ?Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.?? We ?children of the 60s? reframed that as ?You are what you eat.?
We know that our lifestyles play a significant role in our health and overall well-being.? We are also aware that our health, abilities, and even our longevity are linked to the genes passed down from previous generations. ?Our awareness of our genetics can be both encouraging and scary at the same time: If we have ?good genes?, we believe we will enjoy good health and longevity; if we don?t, we can feel anxious about our future.
Either way, we should all strive to control what is in our power to influence ? diet, exercise, stress, and to some extent environmental factors (don?t forget that sunscreen!). As someone who will soon officially become a ?senior citizen?, I?m stepping up my focus on behaviors I?ve tried to stick with all my life.
Until recently, it?s been generally accepted that our genes are for the most part what they are ? and that while we can make healthy changes that can prolong and enhance the quality of our lives, how well and long we live is indelibly embedded in our genetic code.? However, recent research has revealed that our lifestyle choices can actually change our genes (for a good overview of some of this work, I recommend ?Super Genes? by Deepak Chopra), and that the direct link between our original DNA and chronic disease may exist only in a small minority of situations.
What I?ve read so far calls for no new breakthroughs in diet, exercise, stress management, or any other factors we can control. In fact, it reinforces the importance of these, with some new revelations such as foods and nutrients that have an effect on inflammation within the body. What IS new is the observation that by making healthy decisions we can affect genetic markers that can modify or even reverse the effects of past choices that were not so healthy.? It may even be the case for those of childbearing age that these beneficial genetic effects are passed on to future generations.
So there are indications that the benefits of a healthy life may be greater than we thought.? Or ? as the French lawyer, politician, and gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said over 200 years ago ? ?Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.?? We ?children of the 60s? reframed that as ?You are what you eat.?
For more about my journey check out www.facebook.com/jilliansfitresq
