That’s because what you eat and how you treat your body are what ultimately determine your health. It's just a matter of knowing how to turn off the disease genes and turn on the genes for health and longevity.
We’ve known about the importance of a good diet and lifestyle for a long time, but more recent developments in the our understanding of how our genes work are renewing our understanding of diet and lifestyle factors as the true drivers of health or disease. With the mapping of the human genome came a promising new understanding of the disease process. We found that certain genes associated with certain diseases. It seemed we now had a way to telling who was going to get sick and with what disease. Fortunately for us, it didn’t turn out to be that simple. There is no certainty that you’ll get any of the diseases foretold in your genes. In studies on identical twins (who have identical genes) most of the time it is only one of the two twins will go on to develop the hereditary condition. Just having the gene isn’t enough. You also must express, or activate that gene, which could otherwise lay dormant your whole life. So the obvious question is, “what triggers the gene?” This question sparked the birth of a new field of study called epigenetics. This is the study of how our genes interact with the world around us. What determines which twin will get sick? What activates that dormant gene and triggers the disease? As you might suspect, this interaction is much more important than what genes you have. After all your genes don’t decide if you are going to get sick, they only influence what kind of disease it’ll be when you do. You may be surprised to find this, but in fact our genes are all pretty similar. When it comes to our genetic information, we are all about 99.9% the same. Go ahead and look it up. The genetic variation between any two humans is only one-tenth of one percent on average. So, that’s the part we can’t control (the 00.1%). The vast difference in how we all experience health and disease comes more from which genes are turned on (or expressed) and which genes aren’t. That’s the part we can control (the other 99.9%). Think of your genetic information as blades of grass on a football field. The amount of difference between any two people is represented by the strip of grass that is painted at each end of the field to mark the start of the end zone. All the rest, the other thousands upon thousands of blades of grass, are exactly identical. (The entire playing field.) Now imagine that each blade of grass contains a specific set of instructions. One blade carries a set of instructions that, when coded causes a process that helps heal wounds, another contains the instructions for hair to grow, there is a set of instructions for the different processes of how your immune system works, and the exact structure of your eyebrows…even ones that trigger diseases, all written in short snippets on these blades of grass. Epigenetics is the study of how your body chooses which blade to pluck and read. Some of these genes have sets of instructions that start processes in the body that result in health, and some result in processes that hasten aging and erode health. The fortunate thing is that you choose which set of instructions your body turns to with the choices you make throughout the day. These choices are called epigenetic triggers, and the most influential trigger, by far, is diet. One famous example of epigenetic activation relates to a gene called the sirtuin gene. This gene codes for a set of instructions that has wide reaching beneficial effects in the body. It reduces damage to DNA, fights cancer and promotes longevity. When animals were induced to express this gene more they lived longer, sometimes 10-20 percent longer, sometimes, way longer, like twice as long. Translating that information into studies on humans and other mammals is difficult, partly because our systems are so much more complex, and also because of our already relatively long lives, but some studies are showing that similar benefits occur in humans as well. This is where epigenetics really gets exciting, because there are compounds in some foods that trigger this gene to express. When you eat these foods your body gets a message to go pick this particular blade of grass out of the field and run the instructions found on it. Not surprisingly, the foods that induce this gene are the same sort of foods that we have always recognized as healthy, but now we understand a little more about why they are so healthy. Some of the most powerful triggers include the compounds quercetin and resveratrol. These are both compounds in a class called polyphenols that are found in fruits and vegetables. These specific polyphenols trigger the sirtuin genes. Good sources of these compounds include red wine, grapes, currants, capers, citrus, strawberries, and dark colored berries. Eating these foods more cause this particular, very beneficial section of your genes to be expressed more often. Another snippet of genetic information that is particular protective is called the ARE, or anti-oxidant response element. When this section of genetic information is activated there is a global anti-oxidant process that takes place throughout the body. This effect is several hundred times more potent than you can get from simply getting exogenous antioxidants. There is a receptor called Nrf-2 (nuclear factor 2) that becomes activated by certain foods, which in turn sends a signal to the nucleus of the cell, telling it to activate the ARE genes. Some of the foods that activate this nrf2 receptor include rosemary, green tea, broccoli, coffee, and turmeric. This field is extremely exciting, and so far we have only scratched the surface of complexity regarding epigenetic triggers. There is an important take away: your food determines your genes. Very little is pre-ordained. Remember that the compounds that trigger beneficial genes tend to be the phytochemicals found in food. Foods that have a higher phytochemical content, like organic food, a wide variety of fresh multi-colored vegetables, fresh herbs, and spices will be the most potent activators of various epigenetic triggers. Be sure to make these a priority in your diet. It’s not as if we needed another excuse to eat a diverse diet, rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, but it seems you are running out of excuses not to.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Kieran Jones MTCM L.Ac.I'm Kieran, clinician and owner of Cotati Community Acupuncture. I'm an acupuncturist, herbalist, and functional medicine practitioner for the past 14 years. I have a deep curiosity in health, biology, culture, medicine, history, and a healthy obsession with the pursuit of the perfect state of health. Archives
July 2024
Categories |