It’s In My Genes
It’s In My Genes
I have heard many variations on people’s beliefs regarding heritable diseases (those that may be passed down from relatives.)
“My grandmother lived to 100”. This is the person that believes that regardless of what he/she does to his body (food, lack of sleep, stress, etc), his/her genetics will save him.
“Everyone in the family is diabetic”. This person believes that regardless of what he/she does he/she is destined to become diabetic.
“No man in my family lived beyond 50”. This person believes that nothing is going to matter and that he is destined to die before 50 so he might as well enjoy.
While genetics certainly play a large part in our risk for chronic illness, genes aren’t everything.
For example. I do not have a variant for oxidative stress. (A variant is a genetic deviation or SNP (snip) passed down from one of your parents. I also don’t have a variant that decreases my ability to detox foreign substances. However, my lab work clearly says I have some oxidative stress going on. This would be from an environmental cause then.
On the other hand, I have the MTHFR 677TT variant. Only 9% of the population has that. This can significantly increase my risk of cardiovascular disease. Two of my relatives had heart attacks at 48. My maternal grandmother, mother, and father all died before they reach 67. I am older than that now. Now both my parents were smokers so… But again, did they get lung cancer because of genetics or because of smoking or both? My grandmother died from cardiovascular disease.
So, it’s not only your genetics but what you do to keep the variants from being hazardous to your health.
To clarify, a variant or SNP (snip) determine how a gene may act. Some determine your hair and eye color. More importantly, some SNPs change the way certain genes function. There are several variants that are affected by our environment. Environment means, most importantly, our food choices. But it can also mean our exposure to toxins (the air we breathe, alcohols, drugs (both prescribed and street), lack of sleep, stress (a very big issue), relationships (which can be toxic), exercise (movement of any kind) and so on.
So, in a nutshell (nuts are very good for those who aren’t allergic to them), we have many gene variants that increase our risk for most of the chronic illnesses that we think we are getting just because someone else in the family had them. Well, we not only inherit gene variants, we learn the habits that make those variants misbehave.
This is good news. Why? Because lifestyle change can usually keep those nasty little variants from misbehaving.
What’s the most important lifestyle change? Nutrition. Nutrition can come in the form of food (preferred) or supplements or both. So, you can take in the nutrition necessary to support your genetic makeup and increase the likelihood that you may make it to that ripe old age and be healthier on the way.
Now, here is a secret. Different variants require different nutrients to make entice them to behave. It’s kind of like a bribe. If you give me garlic, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C and Hawthorn Berry, I will make sure your blood pressure stays normal. That is unless you are doing other things that would make it go up like lack of sleep, stress, etc. But assume an otherwise fairly healthy lifestyle, these foods/nutrients will keep me happy. OK? Sure, you say. But how much of each should I use? What kind of magnesium? Potassium could be dangerous if misused. AND, how do I know if I have the SNP?
Well, if you’ve had your DNA tested through 23 & me, you have that information. Your information has also been sold to pharmaceutical companies. Thank you for your donation to research.
You could also go to choosehealth.uforiascience.com . At Uforia your DNA is tested for the variants that are actionable. That means you can do something to affect the way they function. These particular variants are those related to aging and chronic illness. The company will then formulate a nutritional supplement for you (only for you) based on YOUR variants and send it out to you. No two formulas are alike so you can’t buy your formula at GNC or online at Amazon.
Uforia is HIPAA regulated which means that we cannot sell your information under Federal Law.
The labs are CAP and CLIA certified. That probably means nothing to you but it means a lot to those of us in the medical field.
We are also NSF certified. That means that a sample of our product can be randomly inspected for ingredients.
All ingredients have evidence-based research backing their ability to affect health in a positive way.
Don’t wait until you wake up with high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease etc when a little appropriate nutrition may help support your genetic makeup positively.
We still have some kits at the Black Friday discount price.
Email me with your questions.
I am a Nurse Practitioner and Health Coach with a background In Functional Medicine