Many people believe that they are completely defined, limited and even imprisoned by the deck of genetic cards they were dealt at birth. You often hear people exclaim that because their parents or grandparents had diabetes, heart disease or some form of cancer, they would be likely to develop the same problems. The study of how our diet, stress management abilities and exercise levels affect our genetic expression is called epigenetics. It is this relatively new field of science that clearly demonstrates that we are most definitely NOT at the mercy of our genetic inheritance and we can take steps — easily, simply and sustainably – to protect our health. Diet and Epigenetics. Routine, healthy lifestyle choices – especially plant-based, whole-food nutrition, stress management techniques and physical activity can dramatically alter how genes function and may reduce our physical deterioration, and morbidity from heart disease, cancer, immune disorders, and depression while even slowing down the aging process. Conversely, risky lifestyle choices can ultimately promote similar disease and breakdown in different people regardless of their genetic backgrounds. Examples of this are the growing pandemics of obesity, heart disease, colon and reproductive cancers in Japan, China and other parts of Asia, which did not exist when those people were eating more of their ancestral, plant-based diets. However as these people continue to saturate their diets with more animal protein, saturated fat, dairy products and refined sugar – similar to people in Western nations – they continue to develop the same devastating chronic diseases despite their obvious genetic differences from non-Asians living in the West. Remember : Research is showing time and again that a plant-based whole-foods diet is the safest, most health-promoting way to eat. This is a super site full of information about vegan eating, recipes, and support with learning how to make the change to plant-based eating, easily and safely and much more.
Dave Burda curates a weekly email and hosts a weekly podcast discussing news that impacts market-based change. President Clinton and Obama both created initiatives to cure cancer through genetic research and therapies. Modern medicine has spent billions of dollars on genetic research, but there is little success to show. Epigenetic research and therapies do not aim to alter genes, but environments. Epigenetics allows good genes to flourish, while mitigating bad genes. People who believe they can heal often do. In , Chelsea Clinton ordered her father to lose weight before he could walk her down the aisle. Six years earlier, President Clinton had a quadruple bypass surgery and Chelsea was desperate for him to become healthier.
If the methylation pattern is imbalanced, deficiencies ensue. It is clear that folate deficiency can mediate carcinogenesis [ 7 ] but conversely increasing serum levels of folate may lower the risk of CRC [ ] or increase the risk of aberrant methylation in people with previous CRC [ ]. In another example, recent epidemiological data suggest that the increased incidence of cancer observed in the developed world since the s may partly be due to exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals EDCs, to which humans and wildlife are exposed daily from multiple sources. Cancers, such as colon and prostate cancer can take decades to develop and the authors agree with the proposal from Burdge et al. For example; Chang et al. Nutrients and bioactive food components can therefore reversibly alter the DNA methylation status, histone modifications, and chromatin remodeling, subsequently altering gene expression and having an impact on overall health. Epigenetic modifications and human pathologies: Cancer and CVD. Adolescent dietary phytoestrogen intake and breast cancer risk Canada Cancer Causes Control. It is apparent that adding extra folate to the diet may exert different effects depending on the amount consumed, the stage of development during which it is consumed [ , ] and the genetic and epigenetic background of the person taking it.