Does being overweight run in your family? Can you beat your genes? 

Whether it's Alzheimer's, heart disease or weight gain. New research shows what makes this possible and how to do it.

"It's so hard for me to lose weight - being over weight  runs in my family......" ....."My parents have type-2 diabetes....."...." My Mother has Alzheimers, am I going develop this?"...."My father only lived 'till he was 50 does that mean the same for me?" 

Most of us I'm sure have had these sort of comments and questions swirling around  in our minds.  Although our genetic make-up (DNA) forms the characteristics of who we are, our genes are not our destiny.

The epigenome is a complex network of chemical switches that surround your DNA and turn genes on or off. Your epigenome interacts everyday with the environment. That means everything you come into contact with or put into your body has the power to turn genes on or off. 

Are there secrets to success?

Scientists from the Washington School of Medicine have found a gene that regulates the activity of a chemical called uncoupling protein1 (UPC-1). This chemical ensures that energy is dissipated through the skin as heat, rather than stored as energy. 

If the gene regulating UPC-1 fails to work correctly, a person tends to store calories easier and they expend less calories as heat. 

Here’s a few research based strategies that up-regulate your genetic capacity to burn/utilize fat for fuel.

• Exercise earlier rather than later in the day – you’ll give your body a greater chance to burn more energy.

• Take a strategic dose (20-50grams) of a Whey Protein Isolate just before your workout – some studies suggest you'll not only recover better, you will also burn more fat in the hours after. 

• Don’t cut your calorie intake you’ll fall for the metabolic slow down – which programs your physiology to hoard, not burn fat.

• Most people are undernourished and nutrient-deficient so they never see the results they really want from exercise. Use the recipes in the transformationcookbook.com to help replace your empty calories with more nutrition in every meal. 

• Get more sleep at night – sleep deprivation and poor sleep habits are an underlying cause of poor fat metabolism.

The study of genomics shows clearly that our genes are not our destiny. Environmental factors such as our choices - type and amount of foods eaten and activity performed, have an equal influence on body composition as heredity. 

Have a great week!

The research

Gayon J. From Mendel to epigenetics: History of genetics. C R Biol. 2016 Jul-Aug;339(7-8):225-30.

Zhang L, Lu Q, Chang C. Epigenetics in Health and Disease. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2020;1253:3-55.

Skarke C. Diet-Epigenome Axis. Circ Genom Precis Med. 2020 Aug;13(4):e003129.

Ling C, Rönn T. Epigenetics in Human Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. Cell Metab. 2019 May 7;29(5):1028-1044.

Treviño LS, Dong J, Kaushal A, et al., Epigenome environment interactions accelerate epigenomic aging and unlock metabolically restricted epigenetic reprogramming in adulthood. Nat Commun. 2020 May 8;11(1):2316.

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