Call Us (219) 531-1234The conversation of genetics has come up three times in the last two weeks so it might be good to reassure everyone on our successes in staying healthy. If you eat fruits and vegetables you are doing what you are supposed to be doing to ward off illnesses. Supplementation furthers your efforts to have a healthy life.
A colleague told me there was little that can be done to change genetic predisposition to family history. I pointed out that we change family history illnesses all the time and have the before and after lab tests to prove it.
The majority of genetic predisposition illnesses are nutritional genetic absorption issues. A person cannot use a nutrient properly because of a defective gene or they cannot absorb a nutrient. An example would be a gene defect where you cannot utilize selenium properly. We would simply give you lots of highly absorbable selenium. Lets say you did not utilize Folates properly and we had to give you large amounts to compensate. Eighteen percent of the general population cannot absorb vitamin D from food.
There are genetic issues that are not necessarily nutritionally derived. These negative predisposition genes are recessive. They are not the dominant gene in your body, they have to be turned on. What everyone in the scientific community forgets is that the negative genetic gene can only be turned on in a weakened host. You have to remember that your average scientist may not be taking supplements like you are. The idea that you can change your health with nutritional supplementation is something some very smart people have never thought of. You might be smarter than the people writing the article (me included). You do not have to end up like your relatives.
For example, lets say my family has a history of heart disease. I would do the three predictive heart tests we talked about in earlier writings. The High Sensitivity C Reactive Protein, Homocysteine, and Oxidized LDL test. If they came out bad I would go after taking high amounts of the nutrients associated with these tests; B 12, Folates, Magnesium, and Ascorbae vitamin C. Proof is in the pudding and if the re-tests come back good then I am doing what I need to do to reverse and stop the negative defects whatever they may be. If the re-tests do not come back good then I still have to work on my diet and nutrients.
If I were worried about breast cancer risk I would be testing my vitamin D. Vitamin D is a nervous system communication hormone. It tells cells they are touching each other. If the cells cannot touch each other they start producing more cells looking for a connection. They will keep producing cells trying to communicate until they have made a tumor. Vitamin D receptors are in breast, prostate, and lower colon tissue. Vitamin D levels between 50 and 80 can make a huge difference in reducing those risks. The DNA fragmentation test would also let you know that you were on top of your overall health.
In the March 28, 2018 magazine THE SCIENTIST, the article, “Study Finds Inaccuracies in 40 Percent of Direct To Consumer Genetic Testing by Shawna Williams reminds us to be careful with the idea that if you may have bad genes you may also have a bad lab.
Thanks for reading,
Dr. Brian McGuckin
Williams, S. (2018, March 18). Study Finds Inaccuracies in 40 Percent of DTC Genetic Testing Results. Retrieved November 25, 2018, from https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/study-finds-inaccuracies-in-40-percent-of-dtc-genetic-testing-results-29890