You Don't Have to Be a Victim of Your Genes

And that's great news!  It means that with smart lifestyle choices, you can help to influence the quality and quantity of your life.  It doesn't get much more empowering than that.  Let me explain.

Researchers looked at populations around the world and at different points throughout verifiable history.  When they grouped civilizations into two categories, underdeveloped and developed, they saw two very distinct patterns of disease.

Underdeveloped nations tend to suffer from diseases of poverty, due in large part to poor sanitation and nutritional inadequacy.  These diseases include pneumonia, intestinal obstruction, pulmonary tuberculosis, and parasitic disease.

Highly developed nations suffer from what has been termed diseases of affluence primarily due to nutritional extravagance.  Examples of these diseases include heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis.

Throughout history, as civilizations have evolved and become more prosperous, they have transitioned away from simpler, more traditional ways of eating toward a richer diet of increased fat, meat, and dairy products.

Researchers also found evidence of these disease patterns when populations changed the basic way they eat over time and when people migrated to a more affluent country.  Prior to World War II, people in Japan ate very traditional food.  After the War, their eating became more and more "Americanized".  In the twenty years after the War, the incidence of breast cancer in Japan doubled.  Migrant studies showed that people who moved from one area to another and who started eating the typical diet of the area to which they moved assumed the disease risk of the new area.

T. Colin Campbell PhD, who lead the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted, puts it this way, "Genes do not determine disease on their own.  Genes function only by being activated, or expressed, and nutrition plays a critical role in determining which genes, good or bad, are expressed."

A significant review of diet and its effect on cancer that was prepared for Congress in 1981 concluded that genetics only determines about 2-3% of total cancer risk.

Alona Pulde MD and Matthew Lederman MD, licensed medical physicians that practice nutrition and lifestyle medicine in Los Angeles describe it this way, "Genetics loads the gun, but environment pulls the trigger."

Neal Barnard MD really brings the point home when he says that families don't just pass down genes, they also pass down recipes!

So what does all this have to do with you?  It means that each and every one of us make choices every day that either help to promote or help to prevent the diseases that plague our society.  We can make a difference just by what we choose to put on our plate.  I want to help you to make good choices.  Stay tuned and I'll show you how...

I am a Plant-Based Nutrition Counselor, a graduate of Cornell University's plant-based nutrition program, the only collegiate program in the country which focuses on the medical benefits of a low-fat, plant-based lifestyle, and am board certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners.  I help people to achieve their wellness goals by providing them with the tools that they need to gain control over their health.  I hope you enjoy my blogs.  If you would prefer individualized assistance with your weight, with a chronic, degenerative disease, with other health and wellness aspirations, or if you would like me to speak to a group, please email me at traceyeakin@gmail.com or give me a call at 724.469.0693 to arrange a time.

I can personally attest to this lifestyle.  The results are nothing short of dramatic.  I had been a vegetarian for 21 years when 4 years ago I adopted an entirely plant-based lifestyle.  Since that time, I have lost over 50 pounds and have kept it off and resolved an autoimmune condition known as idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura or ITP.  My body was attacking and destroying my platelets.  I could have faced platelet transfusions or the removal of my spleen.  A low-fat, plant-based lifestyle changed everything for me.  My goal is to help as many people as possible to make similar positive changes in their lives.