It used to be thought that we were born with a fixed genetic blueprint that determined our traits, behaviors, and health. Now, discoveries in the field of epigenetics have radically rebooted this theory by demonstrating that our DNA is more of a switchboard than a blueprint.
Dr. Michael Karlfeldt, ND, PhD explains: Many patients come into me and they explain, “My father had diabetes, I’m concerned about my diabetes, or my blood sugar sugar levels.” Or, just like in my case, my father had colon cancer, so I need to watch out for things like colon cancer, because I may have a genetic predisposition. And you have the same thing with obesity, frequently you see an an overweight parent, and then the child has more of a likelihood to be overweight also.
And same with cardiovascular disorders, and even auto-immune disorders, like MS, asthma, lupus and so forth. If a parent has an auto-immune disorder, it is frequently that a child has an auto-immune disorder. It may not be the same, but the immune system in itself may be confused, and that may be given genetically, then, to the child.
But there is hope in how you can change that. We’re not just stuck with the genes that we are getting. We actually have the ability to change the way that these genes express themselves. And that is in the area of something called epigenetics.
Epigenetics actually involves then, genetic control by factors other than the individual’s DNA sequence. So these are things that are external, that come from the outside, like how we eat, what kind of toxins we are exposed to, where we live, what kind of lifestyle, what kind of exercises we do, and even what we think.
Think of each hormone inside each child’s cell as an artist at work – a sculptor who chisels at a blob of rock to create a Rodin statue. Natural gene expression, excited and assisted in a natural environment, is that chiseling, that sculpting, that art. Endocrine disruptors interfere with the artistic process because the disruptor can erase a natural function in some moments and in other moments, alter an action of cells completely. As the disruptor attaches to its unique receptor, it launches a different set of events in the body and brain than what was naturally intended for this child. Michael Gurian
Learn More:
- HealthMade Radio with Dr. Tom O’Bryan about how Environmental Neurotoxins are Detrimental to our Children’s Health and what to do about it
- HealthMade Radio with Solutions to a Toxic World with Dr. Joseph Pizzorno
- Protecting your Child from Environmental Neurotoxins from Psychology Today
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