Genes are not our destiny.

Genes are not our destiny. This modern rhetoric console millions living with the fear of genetic inheritance of maladies from Alzheimer’s to cancer. Paradigm shifting results emerge from scientific studies too:  Mediterranean food extends life span; identical twins do not have same genetically controlled diseases; and you’re not the one you’re born to be. These all have one common theme: our culture and practices override everything. “Fixed gene” model is changing to a more fluid expression of genes. Random mutations may change to mindful or “self-directed biological transformation” Inheritance of a gene for depression does not mean we are destined to it. It depends on how we process trauma and how we face them when incidents recur. It is about teaching your brain (specifically, amygdala) to process flashbacks, nightmares and severe anxiety (I plan to write on this later).

Fitness instructors and life style councilors often stumble upon these fossilized statements: “I was born like this”; “this is what I am”. I find it hard to accept these avowals. Who are you? Burgeoning evidences from epigenetic (over genetics) studies show what you do with your life (what you eat, what you do, etc.) determine how would you look, present and perform; life practices control your nature and “culture trumps everything.”

I have followed the fads, fashion, rhetoric and science of health and wellness and the biochemical explanations on alleviating various conditions.  It has always been to challenge the symptoms, naturally. Why did those symptoms occur in the first place?  It was an unexplored territory for me and I steered away from it till now. It appears that the food we eat, the exercise we do and our life practices act as switches and dials for the 25,000 some human genes that control our destiny.

If food controls our life, do every food control every aspects of our life? I have followed the rainbow foods and other food for healing initiatives that have become Good Life Style Practices (including those from two of my good friends- Christy Kabbani of World Fusion Cuisine and Vade Sankar of BeCafe in Downers Grove.) It is a good practice to fill your plate with various colors from fruits and vegetables. I have aligned, in the past, all colors as bridging the gap to support antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer and immune support systems. These colors seems to go beyond these common nutraceutical buzz words. They seem to control your intuition, ability to express your emotions, compassion, gut feeling, addiction, sensuality, relationship and balance. Seems familiar? Yes, these foods sensitize your chakras- the energy centers in your body. Yoga philosophy reiterate how the practice of yoga strongly connected to what we take in. It also depends on how we take them in. Our food need to be polychromatic. It’s time for us to embrace the ancient wisdom in culinary art; it is time for us to adopt the time tested life style practices from our traditions.

We are what we do with our life; it’s not a legacy; it’s not the lineage.

Love,

Jay