TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH
You can significantly influence your health and how long you live through your behaviors and lifestyle–this is epigenetics in a nutshell. Your genes are not your destiny. You can take steps to help prevent some of the major illnesses that affect people today, regardless of your genetic profile, by eating right, exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, managing stress, and maintaining a healthy weight.
EPIGENETICS OF CANCER
Someone’s DNA could make them more likely to get certain cancers during their lifetime, but their lifestyle, how they handle stress, and their diet greatly influence the odds. There are currently 13 different cancers linked to obesity by the World Health Organization. Obesity is also a risk factor for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Clearly, if you avoid obesity, you will lower your odds of dying from these diseases.
I was a derivatives trader before becoming a health coach. Valuing derivatives and making money trading them is all about probabilities. If you tilt the probabilities in your favor, you significantly improve your odds of making money versus your competitors. I approach life the same way. I can’t change my genes, but I can change the probability of those genes expressing themselves. Eating better, sleeping well, lowering stress, drinking less alcohol, etc., all improve the odds of my "bad" genes not being a factor. Epigenetics is quite simply how we play the cards we are dealt.
Diet is one of the critical factors in influencing your genes. Dr. Jason Fung has argued that diet is second to smoking in determining our risk of developing cancer. Other factors, such as radiation, pesticide, etc., are far behind smoking and diet. Many of us may not smoke, but we have to eat. If you follow a poor diet (highly processed, copious amounts of sugar, vegetable oil, alcohol, etc.), you are decreasing your lifespan no matter what your genes indicate.
GENES AND OBESITY
But what if you’re predisposed to obesity? That just means you are more likely to be overweight than the average person. It is not a fait accompli. You’re lifestyle and diet can tilt the probabilities in your favor and help you overcome your genes. Anyone who plays their cards right can achieve and stay at an optimal weight.
NUTRITION IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GENES
Eating right and providing our body with what it needs to flourish is within our control every minute of every day. Quitting junk food may be difficult due to its addictive nature, but it’s much easier than quitting smoking! Once you kick the sugar and processed junk, your satiety signals start working, and your cravings decrease. Eating becomes pleasurable, and self-care becomes a daily practice. Your metabolism works properly, you shed the pounds, and you lower your odds of dying from all of the top killers.
Just look at what happens to someone who quits smoking, according to the American Cancer Society:
Your lung function improves within two weeks to three months after the last cigarette. During the first year after quitting, coughing and shortness of breath decrease, and your lungs become better at cleaning themselves to reduce the risk of infection.
Our bodies are remarkable and incredibly resilient. Why is there any reason to believe that overcoming obesity at any age would not have similar health benefits?
Information is power, but no one should look at their genetic report and bemoan their unlucky hand. Your genes are the start of a lifelong race. The overriding factors will be how you run the race, your dedication, grit, perseverance, etc. It’s never too late to address your nutrition and live a healthier and longer life.