Part 2 – Nutrients and genes
Following on from a few days ago, Dawn is back with Part 2 of her 5-part mini-series on genetics and understanding our DNA.
This is a complex topic, and I think she has done a great job here of explaining it in good simple English.
Keep an eye out for Part 3 coming along next week.
There’s a buzz-phrase used when learning about genes and nutrition,
“Genes load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger”.
What this means is that we may be predisposed to health challenges because of our gene variations (SNPs), but it’s what we do to ourselves that actually triggers a problem, or not. This is an important to remember. If we want to, we can always positively influence our health outcomes.
Environmental factors like exercise, stress, sleep, diet and pollution affect how our genes function. Cigarette smoke damages cellular DNA and causes mutations. Exercise has a positive effect on our health by optimising insulin and glucose levels. Some of the latest research into high intensity interval training is finding that this type of exercise triggers a release of anti-inflammatory chemicals from protein-encoding genes.
So, what about diet and gene interactions? There are two sides to this.
- Our genes affect how we respond…
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Mother Nature's Diet 