Beliefs About Your Health: I'm a Victim of My Genes
Posted: Sunday, August 29, 2010
by Val Silver
TapInfinity
We all have a set of beliefs about health. They come to us from our families, the media, and authority figures like scientists and doctors. That's all well and good when the beliefs are true, but sometimes, it turns out that as new research reveals new facts, some of them aren't.
One very common belief that falls into this category is that our genes determine our level of wellness and woes.
How often have you heard someone say, "Well, it doesn't matter what I do, I'm going to get (fill in the blank) anyway?"
Not!
What scientists now know is that despite your family history, your genes can express in thousands of ways. Heredity only gets around 30% of the vote. The environment your cells live in has the greatest impact on how they express themselves. This part is largely under your control.
What you think, the emotional climate you create, your stress level, the foods you eat, toxins you take in, and how much you sleep and exercise you get all impact the health of your cells. Your cell environment is created on an ever changing basis depending on your subconscious programming and by how you take care of yourself mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Lifestyle diseases including heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes were very rare a hundred years ago. Very few people were obese regardless of the family tree. Compare this with today. Same genes, different lifestyle. Why one disease manifests in one person over another may be due to inherited predispositions. But the reason they are manifesting is because of the environment you are creating in your body.
Even how you age is greatly affected by your wellness habits. If you treat your mind and body poorly, and expect to get ‘old and decrepit' you probably will. I know lots of people who expect to get arthritis and become forgetful just because they are aging.
Yes, it's true that we age. We age from birth til death in a continuous lifelong process. Again, some of it is heredity, much of it is lifestyle.
The good news is that it's never too late to affect your health for the better on all these levels. This new understanding of genetics isn't being shared to cast blame (what good is that?), but to show you that you do have the ability to powerfully affect your health. You are made up of communities of cells. The healthier they are, the healthier and happier you'll be regardless of your age.
You have the power to deliberately create a positive, nurturing environment for your cells
to thrive in. You can greatly increase your odds of staying well and aging gracefully. You can turn around and improve conditions you are already manifesting.
Look at your family tree for information. Use it to help yourself make informed health choices. Do some research so you can make choices that support systems that may be more at risk. Do it with the attitude of loving your body and not out of fear of possible impending doom. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
As for me, I don't know for sure that I inherited my mother's gene for diabetes. I do know that it can be traced up her family tree. I also know that I don't want to activate it if I have it. That means I have to make choices that support healthy insulin and blood sugar levels as a lifestyle now.
What lifestyle diseases is your family susceptible to? Do some research. What holistic steps can you take, starting today, to consciously create a healthy environment for you cells so you can get healthy and stay healthy?
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More commentsI hear you! Have been doing really well with glycemic index eating plan, losing weight and walking! We do have choices.
Hi Val.Great message! One everyone should heed. It's just that it is so easy to lay the blame for our woes elsewhere rather than taking responsibility for our own lives and doing something about it. It's one of my pet peeves. Can you tell. :)Anyway, I'll say it again, great message! And very well written too.Hugs, DianneYes- one of my pet peeves too! Altho it's easy to see why - with the victim/entitlement system we've set up. Too bad really, for lots of reasons. Thanks for commenting and your kind words.
Thanks Val! I agree with you... it seems these days people place so much emphasis on genetics that they forget how much control they actually have. This also goes for mental disorders, a similar yet more controversial slant to your argument. Cheers, BrombergThanks for commenting Bromberg. I believe you are correct about mental disorders - many of them anyway. I know there is a genetic link for some of them, but many of them are a product of our thinking patterns - no doubt more learned from our family of origin than genetically inherited. I did read tho, that some neuro circuits are passed down - and babies are influenced genetically and neurologically by the mother while in utero (but then we're back to environment again).
I have found this past year just how true your artcile is.Hi Tina,Take heart, there's a lot you can do to really improve your health.
Hey there Val!How are you doing?Again a great article. Keep it up...Thanks Chiradeep - I'm doing great.Thanks Chiradeep - I'm doing great.
I guess that's why the doctor always ask for certain hereditary issues so that the patient can get the best care and a better diagnosis.Yes- some issues are genetic or there is a predisposition or genetic vulnerability. Those are the ones you can really influence. Of course good health and care will help your overall health regardless.
Great Job...as a bio major, my favorite courses always dealt with genetics. A fascinating field.
Val ~ A wonderful article. However (uh-oh) I am compelled to point something out that you touched on (and then dismissed). According to the most recent studies, genes have NOTHING to do with our own wellness (or lack there-of). There's a really terrific book that goes into this without being overly-cerebral (you don't have to be a scientist to understand); "The Biology of Belief" by Dr. Bruce Lipton. Worth reading and VERY enlightening. You may wish to give it a look. Thanks for writing this.Dr. Lipton is one of my favorites. I've read and listened to quite a bit of his stuff. Thanks for sharing. My understanding is that 5% or so of health problems are genetic - those diseases like hemophilia and others. Then we may have genetic vulnerabilities to some health problems that we can avoid with proper health care. Epigenetics can be passed down. Perhaps this is where the bible verse - the sins of the fathers are passed to the seventh generation come in. No doubt we all have a great deal more to learn about all this. It'll be exciting to see what comes down the pike in the next few years.
I love your approach to this. So often we get told by our family members that we take after various relatives that of course died of various and usually nasty illnesses. I think that personal health is a holistic thing that we should take care of every day of our lives and I love the way you have supported that ideal in your own writing. It was great to read, thank you.
anyone who knows me and my father and his father woudl certainly agree with this article!!
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