Epigenetics
What is epigenetics all about?
Genetics is about our genes. Each gene has a unique sequence that makes a protein that does something in your body. A genetic mutation is a hardcopy change in one or more parts of that sequence. This could just define you, or it could contribute to a genetic disease.
Epigenetics is all about the environment, and how our environment impacts our health. Epigenetics are the factors that influence our gene expression, turning them on or off.
Epi- is a prefix taken from Greek that means “upon, above, over, on top of.” So it translates into above genetics or more than genetics.
We all have genes, but what most of us don’t know is that the genes we have don’t dictate our health, not entirely anyway.
“Genes load the gun, but the environment pulls the trigger”
This metaphor makes the relationship between genetics and epigenetics clear, predisposition vs expression.
Unfortunately, not many health practitioners feel comfortable talking about it. Or maybe some are not even aware of this or are not educated on the subject.
The truth is that there is a sensitive interdependence on conditions in which a small change in one system can result in large differences in other systems. We can think of the epigenome (the expression) as the system that results in changes in the genome.
Again, epigenetics is the environment. And this environment is how we influence the genetic and cellular expressions that manifest as signs, symptoms, and disease states. We shift the environment by modifying factors like diet, lifestyle, stress levels, movement, mental state, and biological functions overall.
This is why it is crucial to understand how your lifestyle and diet affect you. You can change, and those changes can lead to better health.
Conscious changes in our lifestyle result in unconscious changes in our biology.
Let me give you some examples:
Identical twins are believed to be perfect genetic copies of one another. Yet, over time, these identical twins become different adults, with their own diets, habits, stress levels, emotional problems, and ultimately they develop different chronic diseases.
You have the same disease as your mom. You might fear genes, but have you ever analyzed your lifestyle? If you have the same habits, diet, stress level, lack of movement, etc....you might just have the same factors that express the same genes.
“Genes give opportunities, they don’t give plans. Everything happens through emergence.”
Epigenetic factors to consider are diet, supplementation, hydration, toxic exposure, stress, emotional state, community support, sleep quality, relaxation, movement, mental state, and more.
Can you see that everything is connected, we are all unique, and all things matter?
What’s crucial about epigenetics is that it offers a different approach to treating disease. And gives us hope!
In good health,
Ioana