Tea Room Conversation with Mare Tomaski
In the future (or right now if you choose it) every-day medicine may not include a trip to the doctor or pharmacy. Instead each of us will be endowed with all the information we need to not only eradicate many common illnesses but if they should arise, we will know just what to do to bring ourselves back to health, sans the doctor or pharmacist.
In the past decade we've seen a steep rise in conditions that I'd like to call 'Lifestyle Disease'. Lifestyle Disease could be categorized as any condition that is brought on through repeated habits over time that alter the healthy function of the body. Illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, indigestion, gout, obesity, vascular disease and many more, could become rare if we heed the influx of scientific research and good old common-sense currently making its way through our information highways.
The exploration of an intriguing discovery in human gene expression called Epigenetics has researchers and yes even some doctors realizing what our grandmothers and hippie friends have known for decades. You are what you eat, quite literally. I would also add, you are what you think, you are what you feel and you most surely are the result of what you do repeatedly over your life time. If you change your habits you change your cells, rapidly.
The field of Epigenetics has shown a clear connection between lifestyle and the expression of disease in the human body. Epi literally means "on top of" or "in addition to". So essentially Epigenetics refers to any change in gene expression that cannot be explained by the alteration of DNA. So yes heart disease and diabetes could run in your family DNA, but if you play your cards right through proper lifestyle choices there is no reason whatsoever that you need to be saddled with either disease, your genes will not express their propensity for the inherited DNA because genes can be re-programmed to express health regardless of your genetic predispositions.
You can program your genes for health or disease, it is in your hands. Exciting news isn't it?
So what might those proper lifestyle choices be? Well this is where good old fashioned common-sense comes in. I won't go into the litany of healthy habits, so as not to over whlem, but will offer only two that can have a tremendous effect upon the programing of genes. Two big ones, diet and exercise.
Most of us have by now heard that good food means real food. Real food is un-processed, in it's original state as it came out of the earth. Eat real food and your genes will reward you with less disease. The human DNA has not evolved upon high fructose corn syrup, processed sugars and carbohydrates. Human genes are deeply confused by these inorganic substances and will mutate in some unsavory ways in their presence. It is quite simple, get rid of these things in your diet and you will re-program your genes to be vibrant and healthy well into your golden years.
Movement is another important health enhancing activity that can have a strong influence upon gene expression. In repeated studies exercise has been shown to improve memory and mood, reduce stress and strengthen the immune system. Not to mention the obvious strengthening effect upon the organs, bones, heart, blood and muscles. Additionally, through Epigenetic research exercise has also been shown to increase brain plasticity. Meaning learning new skills is easier after exercise. The implications for a healthier and more productive aging process can be achieved through healthy lifestyle choices with lasting results.
This is real medicine! Food and exercise are medicine and I predict that a time is fast approaching where the best doctors will be the ones that suggest you eat real food and move your body --without once touching the prescription pad. The best doctors will be the ones that encourage you to get up out of your office chair and have a brisk walk in the sunshine with a friend before enjoying a whole-food lunch laden with fresh vegetables, lean protien and fresh clean water. Soda and pizza? What soda and pizza? These doctors of the future will be few and far between because we will soon learn we can prescribe these medicines for ourselves. Our friends and family will remind us of the cure because everyone will simply understand the recipe for the needed lifestyle corrections. We will still have use for those doctors for things like broken bones, stitches, the occasional communicable disease, and research etc... but for the diseases of faulty lifestyle we will be responsible only to ourselves for the cure.
Am I dreaming? Or will we, the people of this earth, finally grasp that we hold the key to our own vibrant health?
I for one, am rooting for us to turn towards The Medicine of the Future.