Guest Post: Island Life No 9
February 8, 2010 by Brenda
Filed under Family, Featured Posts, Food & Drink, Green Living, Guest Posts
It’s turned colder and snow is once again falling in huge white flakes. Meanwhile the dogs and I are warming ourselves in front of the fire, me tapping away on my keyboard, Buffy with her head on my knee and Moose trying to rearrange the cushions on our shared sofa into an acceptable simulation of comfort known only to himself. Sadly I’ve just finished my last raw chocolate brazil nut (probably a blessing) but as the coldest and deepest part of winter is now truly upon us I’m taking my comfort where I can!
There may be some things that are beyond our control to change – the cycling of the seasons being one of them, and my inevitable desire to eat chocolate when I’m writing another! But when it comes to looking after our health we are without a doubt, fully in control. The geneticists who persuade us that our health is determined even before our birth have thankfully, in the majority of cases, been proven wrong. In actual fact only about 2% of people are born with a disease that can be attributed to one truly faulty gene. 98% of us are born with all we need to live happy, healthy and fulfilled lives.
In my last ‘Island Life’ I discussed how our genes have not changed very much in our years of evolution as Homo Sapiens – we still share a 96% similarity in genetic code with Chimpanzees! However, what has changed dramatically in our time on this planet is our environment, and this especially so since the time of the industrial revolution and again since the Second World War. Food that once nourished us and water that once refreshed and cleansed us has changed in post war years. The introduction of pesticides – gasses and poisons developed for wartime use but otherwise unemployed during peacetime, found new purpose in the war against insect life; the use of High Fructose Corn Syrup as a cheap industry sweetener contributes to the dramatic rise of obesity; hydrogenated soy and corn oils are used in heavily (but mistakenly) health-promoted margarines; genetically modified sterile grains enable greater use of pesticides; seedless high sugar fruits are designed for our greater enjoyment; an explosion of methane producing cattle satisfy our growing desire for high meat diets – these are just a few examples of how our food environment has changed in the last 60 years.
It won’t be much of a surprise then to learn that our slowly evolving genetic code is not responsible for the current rise in ill health. No, we are not victims of our genes – Hurrah! Rather, our genetic expression can be turned on or off, like a switch, by the environmental factors that we are exposed to. Beauchamp was right to contradict Louis Pasteur when he declared ‘The terrain is everything’. Even Darwin declared that his book ‘The Origin of the Species’ did not give enough emphasis to environmental influence in the process of evolution. (1876 letter to Moritz Wagner: ‘In my opinion, the greatest error which I have committed has been not allowing sufficient weight to the direct action of the environments i.e. food, climate etc, independently of natural selection.’)
More and more positive research is emerging about the beneficial effects a healthy environment has upon our well-being. Exercise exerts a positive effect in many ways, even to maintaining cognitive health in old age; we make health-giving Vitamin D by exposing our bare skin to sunlight; the health benefits of antioxidant rich diets are well known (from fruits, vegetables, berries and even raw chocolate!); as are the health benefits of consuming Omega 3 oils, etc.
Your daily food and lifestyle choices control your gene expression – not the other way around. We are not walking time bombs, not knowing when the length of fuse we were born with will run out. This self-as-victim gives rise to the nightmarish future portrayed in the film Gattaca, with our roles in society pre-determined by our genetic blueprint!
So Go Go Go! Do make an effort to exercise, eat well, enjoy peace and quiet, walk in the woods, dance, fast, meditate, be happy. Your genes, and your loved ones, will thank you for it!
Vicky Ewbank, homoeopath, living foods coach and co-founder of Live Native.
Handmade on the Isle of Skye, Live Native is a new and truly unique collection of living skin care products inspired by the life-loving ideals shared by all who enjoy vegan, organic and raw-food led lifestyles. www.livenative.co.uk
Related posts:
- Guest Post: Island Life No8
- Guest Post: Island Life No12 – Embracing the Sun!
- Guest Post: Island Life No 7
- Guest Post: Island Life No 11 Ezcema – Topical Treatments
- Guest Post: Island Life no 5 – Less is More
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