What I Mean by “Reprogram Your Genes”
From time to time I’ll get a comment from a skeptical reader that says something like, “I don’t think it’s possible to reprogram your genes through diet/lifestyle. Of course our genes are set at birth and our DNA, or program, is copied into every cell of our bodies. You cannot modify or reprogram your genetic code.” I’d like to address this misunderstanding.
One of the best ways to illustrate what I mean by “reprogram your genes” is to use the analogy that Duke University’s Randy Jirtle, Ph.D., uses in the following videos. Think of your genome as being like computer hardware. If you were to program your computer you wouldn’t be changing the hardware, rather, you would be changing the software that tells the computer what to do. So just as we talk about reprogramming or programming a computer and don’t suggest that the hardware itself has changed we likewise can talk about reprogramming our genes without suggesting that the genes have changed. In the case of genes what we are really changing is the epigenome. To quote Dr. Jirtle, “the epigenome would be like the software that tells the computer when to work, how to work and how much.”
Luckily for us our genes are not our destiny. We have immense control through lifestyle behaviors to turn some genes on and other genes off for desired physical results. Watch these videos for it to all come together if it hasn’t already.
There are multiple future possible versions of you. It’s up to you to decide which version you will become. It’s up to you to make lifestyle choices that direct genes toward fat burning, muscle building, longevity and wellness, and away from fat storing, muscle wasting, disease and illness.
This is what The Primal Blueprint is all about. It’s why the sub-title of my book is “Reprogram Your Genes for Effortless Weight Loss, Vibrant Health and Boundless Energy”. And it’s what we talk about (either directly or indirectly) day-in and day-out here at Mark’s Daily Apple. We tend to focus on the practical, but epigenetics is at the heart of why we do what we do. Living like Grok just happens to be the best starting point for directing gene expression.
So my tip to you today comes straight from the lips of Madonna: Express Yourself.
Hat tip to MDA reader Sam for the videos.
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Posted By: Mark Sisson
Sisson you rock. Glad you pulled these from my site.
As an identical twin that was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s, I found this terribly interesting and it should be a comfort to my twin. I wonder if there is anything one can do to change the epigenes in a mature person? And is there a therapy where I could use his epigenes to correct mine?
I was talking to a friend on mine about the choices we make and how they affect our families and future generations. He was telling me how the Native American cultures when weighing decisions and choices, would consider how the choices they were about to make would affect there families 7 generations from today. Not necessarily that they always did a good job with their choices, but it’s amazing to me how this post ties right into that. Depending on whether you choose to eat that corporate raised steroid beef, get that flu vaccine, smoke those cigarettes, or go binge drinking, will dictate how soon your family will have any number of diseases appear, and how quickly in future generations. Amazing stuff. So next time you are having a craving for something bad, think of your kids, or great great great grand kids you don’t have yet! Choose well!
Here is a picture of two mice…Same mother and father…The difference is the mother of the mouse on the left was fed extra folic acid while pregnant.
(Couldn’t upload the pic Mark …If you would like to see it ..tell me where to email the picture…you will want to post this)
awesome post here Mark! I wish more research would be focused in these areas to truly show the ADA and Big Pharma they have it all wrong. Its so clear to us but so many people still chalk up being fat to their genes.
wow! those 2 videos were really great. i love nova too! so interesting…
Okay, so they fed the mice extra methyl groups to turn off the fat gene. So, natural question, what foods have methyl groups in them?
tia
Those mice had a genetic disposition to particular disease in which one symptom is weight gain. Eating what they ate isn’t going to do anything except turn off that expression of their genome.(it won’t make you skinny)
Really intriguing and provocative. Thanks for the information. Feels good to be a caveman.
Have been aware of the importance of real eating styles that give one health and vitality. Your material proves to be outstanding.
I do have one comment to the negative. A study of ionic energy absorbtion in food digestion reveals pork, shellfish, skin fish and crustations have to high an energy level. It is much the same as many appliances hooked up to a wall outlet whereby they cause big current draw which burn out the wires or constanly trip circuit breakers.
After a while, the circuit breakers fail to work and things burn up. This is how such meats and seafood act in our intercellular communication. To much current! Hence, we get auto-immune diseases. A Dr. Beddoe did the study. It is best not to eat such critters. Ancient diet laws do have a basis in fact!
Wonderful vids, thanks.
Explains why even though my family line if very fertile and I have a strong desire for motherhood, something’s been telling me “not yet”.
I can’t start eating healthy when I find out I’m pregnant… We both need to be healthy before conception.
As the voice over says something about the choices we make and being responsible about what we pass to our children, the last scene shows the mother feeding her twins at McDonalds! AHHHHH!!! Yummy trans fat fries washed down with some tasty High Fructose Corn Syrup yogurt. Just thinking about that hurts my Epegenomes.
I understand the concept of epigenetics–barely. I’m not a biochemist. The Nova video makes it sound like expression is fixed. It doesn’t say anything about changing the fat mouse’s diet to turn it into a skinny one.
Is there really any evidence that a primal diet will change one’s epigenetics? If so, where?
I’m not saying that a primal diet won’t work, I’m just questioning the mechanism. Does it really take “gene reprogramming” for a low-carb diet to cause a move away from an insulin-dominated metabolism?
Here is an excellent website on epigenetics and nutrition from the University of Utah. It offers some actual examples and explanations – http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/epigenetics/nutrition/ (the site also has tons of info on all sorts of genetic topics).
Thanks, David. Unfortunately that doesn’t really answer the question. Everything on that page talks about a parent’s or grandparent’s diet modifying the epigenetics of the offspring except this quote:
“For adults, a methyl deficient diet still leads to a decrease in DNA methylation, but the changes are reversible with resumption of a normal diet.”
But nothing I’ve seen indicates that the agouti gene can be retroactively suppressed. And I’ve found no evidence of any specific epigenetic changes that can be caused by switching to a primal diet.
So there may be something there or there may not. The power of the primal diet could just be that our bodies work better when the insulin mechanism isn’t overloaded.
Has there ever been a double blind placebo controlled study(s) to back up the claim that The Primal Diet will reprogram my genes? The Primal Diet is a FAD, complete with its own program of powders and pills. All based on the ancient art of vitamin formulation techniques found in a cave in Southern France.
This is AMAZING and I TOTALLY GET IT. I have identical twin daughters. Genetically they are the same, yet one was born with a genetic heart defect. The specialists at the university hospital where they were born got into an argument about whether it was because of something they were exposed to in the womb or if it occurred naturally and why. I was in good health, had never smoked or consumed anything bad yet it happened. They still don’t understand why. But she is fine now and its myself that I’m working on. Great stuff!
232788 beers on the wall. sck was here
That was so interesting, ive always thought to myself about this, I’ll checked it out further now
just bought marks 21 days transformation book, should be interesting when it arrives!
thanks for all your work!!!
James
Very interesting! Hopefully they have just scratched the surface of this research.
hey hey hey …