Genetics not always set in concrete

There is a general misconception that if something is “in your genes”, it is set in concrete. It is often a relief to people when they discover that this is not necessarily so, and that they may have more control over the way their health progresses than they thought. The right type of DNA analysis can be used to show where variations are occurring within genes and therefore where nutritional or lifestyle modification can alter or compensate for genetic “weakness”. We offer a comprehensive DNA profile and kits can be purchased from our dispensary.

The way your body responds in health is determined by at least 4 key things:

Genetic strengths and weaknesses which affect your detoxification processes and overall organ function.
The level of nutrients your mother was able to supply to you while you were in gestation (the womb) and her ability to clear toxins from her body while you were forming.
The ongoing level of nutrition available to your body on a daily basis relative to the amount of toxic exposure and stress you receive every day.
Your mental attitude to daily events, which changes the type of hormones and brain chemicals you make.

Every disease state has inflammatory processes underneath it, and inflammation could be seen as the body’s response to having to try to clean up a mess somewhere which has got out of hand. The major organs which enable the cleaning to take place are the liver, kidneys, lungs, bowel, immune system and skin. The ability of these cleaning devices to work is solely reliant on how many enzymes they carry, whether they get enough nutrients to enable the enzymes to work properly and their ability to be protected from damage which is largely determined by the levels of antioxidants available. The actual numbers of enzymes available within a cleaning device – like the liver or lungs for example – is determined by genetics and there can be huge variants from person to person as to how many they have and how well the enzymes function.

Genetic deficiency of some kind is found in virtually every person and this will determine where the “weak spots” show in a person’s body when toxic overload occurs. As Dr. Mark Hyman once said, “Most people do not inherit “cancer genes” (for example). They inherit a genetic weakness in their detoxification systems”. I would add to this that they inherit a genetic weakness which has not been compensated for.

The susceptibility to disease is determined by the environment the genes live in because it has huge power to either switch them on or to switch them off, and by the numbers of functioning enzymes available within a tissue type. For example, 20% of the population are ‘slow sulphonators’. This means they contain less enzymes in the sulphation pathway in the liver, making them slower to detoxify certain chemicals, phenols, hormones and sulphur oriented substances through this pathway than other people without this genetic quirk. As a result they require particular nutritional support for that pathway to operate at its best level. If they are wise, they will also become aware of things that can potentially cause overload their sulphonation pathway so they can manage the problem better and avoid overtaxing it. The more choked they allow this pathway to become through poor nutrition and overload, potentially the sicker they will get.

The body is designed to adapt. If one organ system manages to adapt but another gets overloaded, a process called ‘switching’ can occur where the original symptoms seem to disappear from one part of the body and a problem starts in a completely different place. An example of this is with people who ‘grow out of’ eczema but become asthmatic later on. The same toxin/inflammation problem is present – it has just changed how it is expressing.

Symptoms may start out with reactions like eczema or asthma, depression, sensitivity to chemicals or smells, sinus problems, sweating at night, food intolerance, digestive problems, fatigue and the like. Unfortunately these are often dismissed as being unimportant or are suppressed with medication. If left or suppressed, the underlying detoxification problem can gradually develop into a full blown named disease. The end disease itself will vary depending on the genetic susceptibility.

The solution for some people may be as simple as identifying and removing the overloads, and lifting the level of nutrients available for the relevant organs and pathways. For others, there may be layers of log-jamming which need to be investigated and gradually corrected. The longer the stressed cleaning devices have been unsupported and the problem unrecognized, the bigger the mess will be to clean up and the greater the chance of irreversible damage. The earlier the detective work is done and a systemic approach used, the better the long term outcome.

I invite you to learn how to compensate for your genetic weaknesses and how to reduce the toxin load your body has to deal with, in a safe and effective way. Contact me