If you think your genetic profile will determine your health, consider that your genes can either be turned on or off by lifestyle choices.
For years, the medical profession held to the belief that everything was determined by genetic code. With only 25,000–35,000 genes in the human genome, scientists eventually discovered that there is no way this number of genes could represent the complexity of humans.
A developing field in the study of epigenetics shows how factors or environmental signals outside the genetic code determine gene expression or repression. The findings show that the environment regulates gene activity. Simply put, you may have genetic markers for autoimmune disorders, but your environmental inputs and choices determine what happens next. If you make unhealthy dietary and activity choices and do not have strategies in place to cope with stress, the autoimmune markers may be “turned on” and you will express symptoms. With healthy dietary and activity choices and high resilience to stress, the gene may be repressed and you will not display autoimmune symptoms. These findings put you in control of how your genes express themselves. You can’t just blame or praise your genetics for your health or lack of it. Your genes are simply responding to environmental signals.
When the cultured cells you are studying are ailing, you look first to the cell’s environment, not to the cell itself, for the cause. When I provided a healthy environment for my cells, they thrived; when the environment was less than optimal, the cells faltered. When I adjusted the environment, these ‘sick’ cells revitalized.
– Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles
Fresh Ideas to Extend Your Expiration Date
Stop blaming your genes and start providing a healthy environment for your cells to thrive. Consider that your genes aren’t making you sick, overweight, or out of shape. Your cells are responding to the environment.
Steps to make a healthy environment:
- Your thoughts control how you respond to life. Stop blaming your “bad genes” for your health.
- Six basic foundations for a healthy environment for your genes to healthily express themselves:
- Sleep: Get six to eight hours a night.
- Sun: Spend 20 minutes a day in the sun without sunscreen.
- Movement and activity: Move more every day.
- Healthy thoughts and engagement in life: Love the life you live and check the pipeline of negativity (the media, Facebook, TV, and Internet) that you consume.
- Good nutrition: Include lots of fresh veggies, and if you eat animal products, choose well-raised animal products. Don’t forget to include adequate hydration.
- Chemicals: Limit your exposure to cleaning products, personal care products, alcohol, legal or illegal drugs, smoking, room fresheners, and sprays.
Learn More
“Why Your DNA Isn’t Your Destiny,” by John Cloud, is an article that goes indepth about the science behind epigenetics and is located at time.com.
The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter & Miracles, by Bruce Lipton, and The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease, and Inheritance, by Nessa Carey, are two books that make epigenetics understandable.
