Most doctors today might be surprised to learn that the majority of them are making a significant mistake when treating their patients – a mistake that I made for most of my career as well. This error? Neglecting the power of our environment on our genes and overall health, and failing to emphasize the importance of prevention over treatment.
Throughout my career, I would prescribe medications and put my focus on the latest drugs and newest procedures for treating medical conditions. Unfortunately, this is the norm. It wasn’t until I learned about epigenetics that I became aware of how our environment affects our genes, shifting a person’s health either favorably or unfavorably.
What Is Epigenetics?
Epigenetics refers to the process by which our environmental factors interact with our genes, turning them “on” or “off.” These changes can transform an otherwise healthy body into one prone to inflammation and chronic diseases. This susceptibility increases our risk of developing health issues such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disorders, cancer, and more.
The Two Main Environmental Factors Affecting Our Genes
Our environment is teeming with factors that can influence our genes, but the two most powerful ones are:
- Diet: The quality of our diet, including whether it supplies the necessary vitamins, minerals, essential fats, and antioxidants that our cells require to perform the many complex functions of life.
- Toxins: Exposure to chemicals that disrupt the normal functioning of our cells, including our hormones and internal biochemical processes.
Our reliance on chemicals in manufacturing, agriculture, and the food industry has resulted in a widespread distribution of these toxins throughout our environment. Many studies have found over 200 different chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of newborns and the breast milk of new moms, exposing everyone to the danger of epigenetic changes from birth.
Other environmental factors that contribute to gene expression include our level of physical activity, stress, the quality of our social relationships, sleep patterns, and the bacterial balance of our guts.
How Environment Influences Chronic Disease Risk
The quality of our environment, or “habitat,” determines which genes switch on or off, having an enormous impact on our susceptibility to developing virtually any chronic disease. Conservative estimates suggest that our environment plays a role in 70-90% of chronic disease risk.
Unfortunately, many doctors today solely rely on medications to treat diseases, neglecting to address the diet and lifestyle factors that led to the creation of a sickly and disease-prone body in the first place. Patients may see temporary improvement of symptoms but won’t experience true healing; on the contrary, their condition will gradually worsen, necessitating more medications and diagnoses.
How to Transform a Diseased Body into a Healthy One
Changing the way we live is the key to reversing the progression of disease and improving our bodies. Addressing the root of a sickly, inflamed body involves altering diet and lifestyle choices, including kicking bad habits such as smoking, unhealthy eating, inactivity, and even toxic relationships.
While it may sound challenging, changing your diet and lifestyle is a smarter, more effective strategy for long-term health than solely relying on medication. Medications can’t reverse the damage done by years of poor habits, stress, lack of sleep, or the accumulation of toxins such as lead, solvents, and pesticides in our fat cells.
By focusing on improving the aspects of our lives that speak to our genes, we can positively impact the way our cells function. Understanding the power of epigenetics is essential to reshaping our health and ensuring we live long, disease-free lives.
