Ever hear that when asking someone about their latest health condition?
I hear it a lot. In my line of work, I find myself speaking with someone about their health and food history almost every day.
And though it may be true, that their biggest health issue may run in their family (i.e. Diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer, Arthritis, etc.), to me, it sounds easy to say and a little like an excuse.
Nothing to see here, already taking meds so not much more I can do, just the way it is.
Who can blame anyone? That is what they were always told, by their family, their friends, and even their doctor.
Fork over your DNA
But what if what really ran in their family was the food that they ate around the dinner table, in the drive-thru, or while watching TV, over many years?
In the study of lifestyle medicine, the research shows that our genes load the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger. Even if we are genetically predisposed to certain health conditions, it is what and how we feed our cells that often determines whether those conditions will even surface.
- Genetically similar Puma Indian tribes in Mexico and Arizona have had very different health outcomes, the main difference being their traditional vs western diets. The US government subsidized the tribe’s processed food in Arizona, resulting in 5x the rate of Diabetes compared to the tribe in Mexico.
- Generational health differences within families were seen by Dr. John McDougall on a Hawaii plantation in the 1970s. First-generation Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans were trim, disease-free, strong, and long-lived on a diet mainly of rice and vegetables. The younger generations from the same families eating SAD foods got sicker and at a much younger age.
- We know that when people migrate from low- to high-risk countries, their disease rates almost always change to that of the new environment. Non-genetic factors often account for at least 80 to 90 percent of the risk not a genetic disease.
What if our food and lifestyle choices were really the primary cause of the illness that ran in the family?
Then we would finally have a choice!
This pattern could finally stop with us.
- We could choose to forgo the old excuse and take back control of our health.
- We could choose to slow, stop, and reverse many chronic health conditions by adopting a whole food plant-based diet that is low in fat, salt, and sugar.
- We could choose to live with less disease, less medication, less risk of surgery, and just maybe choose to live longer and better.
The choice is ours.
We can change the expression of our DNA with our fork!
Now is a great time to try on a new mindset and maybe a new pair of genes. Express yourself.
