Your Genes Are Not Your Destiny

We've all heard of genetic illnesses. A debilitating condition that has a severe impact on the life of the poor soul that has it, and there's nothing they can do about it. There's no cure and nothing could have been done to stop it appearing. It's a hopeless situation for them and their loved ones and the best they can hope for is a medical intervention that might ease their suffering or extend their life.

However, I know that when asked to think of a genetic illness, most people would think of things like breast cancer, because they've heard of "the breast cancer gene", or heart disease, because they've heard that it "runs in the family". But they'd be wrong. The majority of these illnesses are not genetic, and have very little to do with the DNA that you inherited from your parents. There are millions of women that live a full long life with the breast cancer gene, but who never develop breast cancer because they're not doing the things that trigger the tumours to appear.

What can exist from having the gene is a greater likelihood that you'll get the disease if you do the things in your day to day life that trigger it. You can be "genetically predisposed" to breast cancer or heart disease for instance, but those illnesses are not your destiny. It's up to you how healthy you are...you're in control.

To illustrate this, have you ever heard of the Hangover Gene? I promise you it's a thing. Lots of money has been spent on carrying out the science to investigate a so-called hangover gene. The conclusion was that some people are more likely to get a hangover if they carry this particular gene, and based on my pounding head and furry tongue the morning after a night of over doing the alcohol, I'd say I'm one of them. However, the point I'm making is that no-one gets a hangover, whether they carry the gene or not, unless they drink alcohol. The genetic predisposition to a hangover isn't a problem if they don't do the thing that triggers it.

The vast majority of the diseases that are going to prematurely end the lives of human beings are lifestyle related. They're triggered by the repeated exposure to things in the environment that the person is providing their body with. Things such as the foods and drinks they consume, the chemicals they're exposed to both internally and externally and the amount of energy they expend during physical activities all have a much larger influence on their health outcomes. The truth is around 97% of the human beings on the planet have a perfectly adequate set of genes to live a life free of chronic diseases, as long as they're willing to provide their body with what it needs, and avoid things that it has to deal with. The challenge is working out what those things are.