A Loaded Gun

2.16
"Your genetics load the gun. Your lifestyle pulls the trigger."
Dr. Mehmet Oz

Those are strong words, and some folks may be a bit put off by them. The fact is, we've learned an extraordinary amount of information about our health, healing and wellness in the last 20 years because of advances in genetics. That great knowledge is empowering when taken seriously and acted upon.

What we suspected in the 80's and prior is that there was a ______ gene (fat, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.). Now we know it is that simple and more. Nutrigenomics looks at the interaction between nutrients we get from our food, and how genes are expressed. Change the food and you change the gene expression (to the good or to the bad.) Last year, I did a post on how we are more than our genes, and that the lifestyle choices of the Amish actually overcome the fat gene which many of them have. That fat gene is a loaded gun that these folks live with year after year, and generation after generation. And yet, by their healthier lifestyle choices, they don't pull the trigger.

I know there is diabetes lurking in my genetic makeup, and all sorts of cancer opportunities, as well as some heart disease. One of my goals, which I take very seriously, is to prevent those genes from ever being "expressed". If my wise nutritional and wellness choices will keep me from having to deal with degeneration of disease, why would I choose any other path?

So, the gun is loaded by our genetic makeup. I think it is then up to us to not pull the trigger. No one else puts food in our mouths but us, and no one else makes us pass on our exercise routine but us. It's a slow burn either way, but eventually, with poor choices, the gun goes off.

There's obviously good news, though. I consider it great news. Our power pantry choices have real consequences, and when we're honest with ourselves we can accept responsibility for the condition our bodies are in. And it's simple, too. Choose whole foods, invest regularly in physical activity, be intentional about limiting stress and dysfunction in life... the list goes on. The underlying power pantry premise: choose well.

By the Way

If you're really interested in the leading edge of genetics in wellness, you can get your own genetic test. Now it's easy to find out what health challenges you may be predisposed to, and receive suggested solutions on how to achieve greater health. Check out these providers of genetic testing and see what's available for as little as a few hundred dollars:
www.geneplanet.com/
www.pathway.com/
www.inherenthealth.com/