Lifestyle affects Gene Expression

Simple Explanation of Epigenetics. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTBg6hqeuTg

Lifestyle Choices Can Change Your Genes

 Madison, Wisconsin - If your parents or grandparents had heart disease, you may believe your fate is sealed because of your genes.

That may not be so.

Lifestyle choices may actually reduce the chance of repeating your family's history of poor health, according to a concept that is picking up steam in the medical community.

Lifestyle Versus Genetics

According to David Rakel, MD, director of integrative medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, a concept known as "epigenetics" empowers people to take control of their health by making choices that may override their genetic code.

Rakel says behavior and environment can affect how those genes are "expressed," that is, how the information in a gene gets translated into proteins.

"Epigenetics means 'around the gene' or if you will, the soup in which we bathe our genes that is determined by human choice," he explains. "We are the cooks of our soup that influences if our genes are healthy or diseased."

'For example, if your brother or your dad had prostate cancer, there's probably an area in your genetic code that puts you at high risk for prostate cancer," he added. "Research is telling us even if your family has a history of cancer, there are things you can do to bathe that gene in a way to keep it from expressing itself. This means your genes may produce healthy prostate tissue instead of tissue that is diseased or cancerous."

Changing Attitude Can Change Health

So what can people do to minimize their risk of cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes or other illnesses that may be part of their genetic predisposition?

Rakel says changes in diet, exercise, and personal attitude could actually influence the genetic code and reduce the chances for declining health. While this advice may not seem different from what your doctor says during a routine checkup, Rakel says the concept of epigenetics espouses that lifestyle choices can influence genetic expression.

"We have a choice to bathe our genes with joy, happiness, exercise, and nutritious foods, or we can bathe them with anger, lack of hope, junk food and sedentary lifestyle," he says. "This area of research holds so much potential and gives us the hope to say 'Even if my genes indicate a history of family illness, I can make positive lifestyle choices that can keep a gene from being expressed as a disease.'"

Rakel cites a 2007 review by Dr. Steven Schroeder of the University of California-San Francisco. Schroeder's study concluded that the largest influence on the risk of death in America is attributed to personal behavior, such as smoking, obesity, and stress. The paper adds that, even if top-notch health care were available to everyone, only a small fraction of lives (10 percent) can be saved with these high-tech interventions. The largest reduction in death, 40 percent, will result from the adoption of healthier habits.

"Human attitude has a tremendous influence on health," says Rakel. "If you are happy, you are more likely to go out jogging or adopt positive lifestyle behaviors because you have hope. You see what's good in the world instead of what's bad. If I'm seeing what's bad in the world, I won’t have the hope that encourages positive lifestyle choices."

Affecting Future Generations

Studies of laboratory rats with a gene that increases the risk of diabetes further build the case for epigenetics. When the pregnant mothers of genetically identical rats who had this gene ate foods that influence gene expression (garlic, beets, onions), their offspring did not develop diabetes. But when mothers were fed a diet that did not include these foods, the offspring became obese and developed diabetes. What the mothers ate influenced the expression of genes in their offspring. This and evolving research are teaching us that epigenetic influences leave an imprint on our genetic code that is passed down to future generations.

"If I choose to eat fruits and vegetables versus high-fat foods, if I choose to fill my heart with compassion versus hate and hostility, this can leave a mark in my code that can be passed on," says Rakel. "The question is not who you are now, but who do you want to become? And who do you want your kids and your kid's kids to become? Choices now may influence future generations."

Rakel says epigenetics also advocates less dependence on drugs and greater reliance on recruiting self-healing mechanisms.

"If I have 10 minutes with a patient, I could write them a prescription to lower their cholesterol. But I'm just treating one thing," he says. "If I encourage them to exercise and eat better, I'm doing much more than lowering their cholesterol. I'm reducing their risk of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes … the list goes on. Epigenetics impacts the whole body, but drugs are geared toward one specific disease."

While Rakel admits it is easier said than done to take an optimistic attitude and change one's behavior, sometimes little things can lead you down the path to better health.

"It could be a matter of forgiving that person who has made you angry for 30 years," he says. "If you can do that, maybe your shoulders feel lighter or that ache in your gut doesn't feel as bad. Maybe you stop getting headaches or neck pain. That's an epigenetic example of how that choice, forgiveness, results in tremendous change in your overall outlook, well-being and physical health."

(University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Bread: White, Whole-Wheat, or Whole-Grain?


What is the difference between ordinary “white” bread, “whole-wheat” bread, and “whole-grain/whole-wheat” bread? My friend says most whole-wheat bread is no better than white bread, but surely this cannot be true.

The short answer is that whole-wheat bread is better than white bread, and whole-grain/whole-wheat bread may be the best—but it could be a challenge to provide conclusive evidence for this. Most of the studies showing real benefits of whole-wheat bread did not separate out the two kinds of whole wheats. Nevertheless, those eating whole-wheat bread had a demonstrable health advantage over those eating ordinary white breads.

Whole grains include all types of cereals; whole wheat is one particular grain. The wheat seed is a grass seed. When harvested, the outer husk is winnowed away as chaff, leaving the wheat kernel, or seed. Such a kernel has an outer coat, or envelope, called the bran, which is a nondigestible cellulose. Digestion requires the breaking open of this envelope, and is facilitated by cracking, cutting, or cooking the grain—or perhaps by all three. Within the bran envelope are the germ and the endosperm. The germ grows into a new plant and contains proteins, fats, vitamins, and essential minerals. The endosperm provides energy for the new plant, and principally contains starch and protein.

White flour is made primarily from the endosperm portion of the wheat. By removing the germ, processors remove fat, which has a tendency to be oxidized and go rancid quickly. Additionally, the white color and the smooth texture enable considerable manipulation of the flour and the production of a great variety of products such as cakes, cookies, etc.

Now to the tricky part. In the United States and numerous other countries there’s a process of enrichment. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S. permits food processors to add back to the white flour some of the elements of the original wheat, and to call such flour “enriched.” Further, should the quantities added back closely approximate the qualities found in the original wheat, the FDA permits the use of the term “whole wheat.” Different countries have slightly different rules, and some have no rules at all.

It’s this breaking-down-and-reconstituting process that permits a food manufacturer to produce novel products. The question is whether the breaking of the natural relationships of the original wheat kernel results in a weakening of its health-promoting attributes.

Bran is the principal fiber of the grain. It plays an important role in our overall health and in the goodness of whole grains. Fiber provides many advantages. It bulkens the stool, protecting against constipation. It quickens the transit of bowel contents, regulates the bacterial flora of the intestine, and regulates acid balance in the gut. Fiber has shown a correlation with a lowering of the risk of colon cancer, and helps reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.

Many food processors add back some bran or fiber, but it’s the amount that’s important. Those favoring whole grain believe there are advantages to the bran retaining its relationship with the endosperm as much as possible. Some evidence supports this belief.

Steel-cut grain is better handled by our digestive tract. Processes such as cutting, steam cooking, and rolling do not separate the constituent fractions of the grain.

Steel-cut oats, for example, do require 20 to 30 minutes of cooking, versus the one to two minutes for “rolled oats.”

Most of the data supporting whole-wheat breads versus white breads have not differentiated between these intricate differences in the whole wheat and grains; yet they have consistently supported the whole-wheat breads. Possibly, those dense, chewy, delicious whole-grain/whole-wheat breads are even superior to the reconstituted whole-wheat breads.

We strongly recommend foods that are as “intact” as possible.   
By Allan R. Handysides & Peter Landless
Source: Adventist World