TeamWhat is it about genes that affect the way you eat and live? Your diet choices are the major determining factors that show what chemical compounds are attached to your genes. It’s essential to consider the foods that are the healthiest for you. Adopting a healthy lifestyle and healthy diet will also set you on the right track to a long and healthy life.
Besides choosing a healthy diet and adopting a healthy lifestyle, you need to know your family history. Learning your family history will help you determine the necessary steps you need to take to alleviate your potential exposure to the risks of inheriting those “bad genes” from your family.
Indeed! Regular check-ups with your health professional will also help you determine if you are prone to a specific hereditary disease. And like they say, the earlier, the better you check yourself for illnesses that run deep in your lineage.
Inherited diseases may not have to determine how you live your life. Taking time to learn about the illnesses that run in your family is worth it! It will help you understand your health and make better health choices.
How to take control of your health and overcome “Bad Genes”
You can do several things to live a healthy life irrespective of if you have “bad genes.” According to research, incorporating a plant-based diet in your meals, regularly exercising, and reducing or avoiding environmental and food toxins can help improve your health and prevent any chances of developing severe diseases. Sometimes you may not have the bad genes, but being exposed to harmful substances can leave you vulnerable to those bad genes. Also, if you have those bad genes, you can still live a healthy life if you adopt the proper lifestyle. Your lifestyle choices will end up becoming a means to an end.
You can actively influence your gene activity through the type of food you consume. Your food choices can alter the off and on “switches” in your genes in determining your weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, cancer growth, and healthy aging. The human genes are susceptible to change. Genes might be expressive on factors such as diet, stress, and exercise. What you consume can alter your genetic design with health and diseases.
How do we know what to eat?
Knowing what to put in your body is an effective tool in having control over your gene expression. It’s essential to know the harmful substances we need to avoid to prevent our genes from activating diseases. Some specific foods and lifestyles are likely to hurt your genes. Let us break down the nutrient ratios that modify health.
Carbohydrates
As the famous saying goes, “too much of something is not good (in this case for your health).” A high intake of carbohydrates in your diet doesn’t help you, and irrespective of your genotype, too many carbs puts you at risk of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc. Try as much as possible to reduce your carbohydrate intake. Don’t eliminate it from your diet. Just take it in moderation or even in minimal doses, and you will trigger a healthy gene expression.
Protein
Proteins are the building blocks of life, and they are highly essential in our diet. Proteins are a part of our genetic composition. The amino acids in proteins are necessary at a genetic level in the body. But it’s also important to note that you should consume a moderate protein level in your diet. Too much of it can cause harmful gene expressions that can lead to diseases.
Fats & Oils
Not all fats are good. Some can cause diseases, while others can prevent them. When it comes to vegetable oils, many people are unaware that they cause more harm than good. People think they are okay for consumption because they are unsaturated. Examples of genetically modified oils are; soy, canola, and corn oils. We need to avoid genetically modified foods because they alter the bacteria in the gut and harm our digestive system. Frying with them only worsens things because they create oxygen radicals that affect our genetic expression. They also produce carcinogenic materials that can lead to cancer and heart disease.
Other unsaturated oils that are considered healthy and safe for consumption include; avocado oil, olive oil, and safflower oil.
As for saturated oils, you can consider incorporating coconut oils into your diet because they are considered safe and healthy oils that won’t cause any negative gene expression.
Healthy food can be the driving force to a healthy lifestyle and healthy genes. Plant-based diets are considered generally safe. Vegetarians can readily attest to this. Try investing in plant-based diets as well.
Importance of Plant-based Diets
• Plant-based diets may impact prostate genes
• Plant-based diets can slow the aging process
• Plant-based diets help improve inflammation, weight gain, and cardiovascular health.
• Plant-based foods can prevent and reverse diseases by modifying gene expressions.
Overall
Your diet should have:
• Low to moderate carbs
• Low to moderate consumption of fats and oils, such as coconut oils and omega-3s
• Moderate to high consumption of protein
• Plant-based foods such as vegetables and fruits.
Fruits and vegetables contain a substance called polyphenols which have positive gene expressions. The following has the highest levels:
• Red wine and grapes
• Green tea
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Berries
• Apples
• Sixty percent cocoa in dark chocolates.
Remember, balance is the keyword when it comes to macronutrient consumption.
Finally
Your DNA tells the genes how to grow and behave. Only about 3% of your genes are responsible for showing you how you appear, what diseases you are susceptible to, and your other biological functions. Therefore, your body must absorb the proper nutrients from the foods that you eat because your genetic structures are altered by what you consume.
The more reason you need to eat healthily. Eating right does not have to be a dull experience. When you adopt a healthy lifestyle, it’s only a matter of time before your system will adapt to it. It’s never too late to integrate healthy food choices into your lifestyle. Healthy food is synonymous with healthy genes, alongside other healthy lifestyle choices.
You don’t have to let your genes define you; instead, you have the power to determine your genes.
