What does this all mean to your health?
These discoveries by Bruce and other researches in the growing field of epigenetics leave us with a number of important conclusions that have profound impacts on how we look at health.
- Our health future is largely determined by our environment NOT our genes
- Our DNA is merely our potential future
- Our DNA can be altered by our own thoughts and actions to support or negate our future health
What this means is that YOU are very much the creator of your own health, it is not predetermined by your genes. It is determined by your:
- Dietary, exercise and sleep habits
- Environmental toxicity (pollution)
- Thoughts, beliefs, perceptions and emotions
Every single area of your life will impact in some way on your health and experience of life – you are the creator of it. You could be born with a fantastic set of genes but through all the areas mentioned above still develop a state of ill health and disease. Even more alarming is that the fact that your thoughts and actions not only impact the future of your own health but have a direct affect on the health and genetics of your son(s) or daughter(s) and their son(s) and daughter(s) and so on and so on.
To add to this not only could your thoughts and actions work against you but they can also work in your favour. By making wise choices around your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health you can powerfully impact your experience of health and vitality… no matter what genes you were born with. You may be told that heart disease, osteoporosis, cancer or any other disease runs in your family but that is just one possibility that exists in your future; you have the power to determine whether those conditions manifest.
I would also suggest that in a lot of cases it is not even the genes that determine a family history of a given disease. It is extremely common to see the children adopt the same habits, behaviours, beliefs and thought patterns of their parents, so it is with no great surprise to see them develop the same health complaints. In the context of everything I have said so far I would suggest that in a lot of instances it is your thoughts, actions and behaviours that are the bigger determinant of so called “inherited” conditions and diseases than so much your genes. There is also a lot to be said for the power of belief. Simply believing the idea that your health future is determined by your family history of a given health condition will have a powerful impact on any outcome you experience. Your inherited genes are simply one factor amongst many.
The implications of this to modern medicine are huge. Much research (i.e. cancer and obesity) is aimed at discovery genes that are responsible for diseases and conditions and to then develop drugs (or even genetic engineering) to turn them off. But given the powerful affect of our personal environment and choices on determining whether those genes are expressed and their impact upon our genetic code, it seems all of this could largely be a waste of time, money and energy. The scientific focus and finances would be far better invested on focusing on the environmental issues that REALLY determine our health future. Working at the effect level of our genetics can only bring limited results. Unfortunately I do not see this changing any time soon; as there is far too much control in the hands of pharmaceutical companies that make way too much profit for this to change anytime in the near future.
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How do my genes influence my health?
Good question. Well from my understanding, since genes only provide the blueprint of a cell (and do not directly regulate how the cell functions in any given moment) they merely provide potential possibilities. But that potential can only be expressed in the right environment needed to support it. In other words genes can be turned on or off by their environment. The presence of a gene will therefore not necessarily mean the presence of a related condition or disease, or guarantee you great health.
For example; you could be born with the genes of Usan Bolt, but without the training and attitude (environment) to support them you won’t be breaking any records.
Epigentics and the work of Bruce Lipton teaches us that this is the case in 95% of cases. In the remaining 5% there is a good case to be argued that the gene predetermines your health experience.