Your actions are more important than your genetics

Were you dealt a bad DNA card? Illnesses scattered across your family tree? Don't worry, you are not doomed to the same fate.

Many people believe their health is predetermined by their genes, leaving them feeling powerless against conditions like diabetes, heart disease, or obesity. Or even cancer. This belief can lead to a passive approach to health, where individuals accept their fate instead of taking action. The truth is, while genetics influence our health, they do not dictate it entirely. You have the power to impact your well-being through lifestyle choices, environment, and daily habits.

Understanding how genetics and lifestyle interact can help you make informed decisions that improve your health and quality of life.

How Genetics Influence Health

Genes carry instructions for how our bodies function. They can predispose us to certain conditions, such as high blood pressure or certain cancers. However, genes are not a fixed destiny. Many genetic risks require environmental triggers or lifestyle factors to manifest.

Understanding your genetic risks can be helpful, but it should not cause fear or resignation. Instead, it should motivate you to adopt habits that protect your health.

How Lifestyle Choices Impact Your Health

Our genes are fixed, you cannot change them. However, you influence which of your genes are activated or not, through the process called DNA methylation. 

Chemical compounds, methyl groups (one carbon and 3 hydrogen molecules) wrap around your DNA, telling your body to either activate or silence a gene. This process is highly influenced by your habits and environment. Adding methyl groups silences the genes, removing metyl groups activates the genes. DNA methylation is influenced by diet, exercise, stress, relationships, thoughts, toxins, sleep, virus and bacteria. One meal or a session of exercise can affect the location of the methyl groups on the DNA.

The key is understanding how to turn off the genes that cause illness, and turn on the genes that suppress tumors.

90% of our health results not from our inherited genes but rather from the exposures that influence our genes.