“It’s in my genes,” is something we hear from time to time. Whether it’s part of a bad pun or referring to your predisposition for certain habits, we blame our genes for a lot of things. What if you knew you could change your genes and beat some of the natural risks in your world?
Genes determine just about everything about us, from our appearance and IQ to our psychology. The classic argument is nature versus nurture. Are we shaped solely by our genes, or does our environment shape us?
Research in recent years has been exciting. It’s offered hope for people who feel plagued by genetic risk factors for disease. Here’s the bottom line: our health and fitness habits can actually change our genes and rewrite the future.
We know that health and fitness can reduce risks for diseases ranging from cardiovascular issues to dementia. The fact that our habits — particularly when it comes to exercise — can actually rewrite our genes? That’s a big deal!
As I’ve begun my health journey, both through endurance running and healthier eating, I’ve come to really value the impact they have on my long-term health. I want to be here for my family and I want to have a quality life as long as I live. Because of that, I’m fascinated by the impact our actions have on our genes and, subsequently, our health.
What’s Happening to My Genes?
Our genes, our DNA, are enormously complicated and ever-changed. They activate and deactivate, grow quiet and intensify. The change in our genes prompts physiological responses. Methylation patterns (that is, the process that changes our genes) can develop as a result of exercise.
It’s unknown how exactly our habits affect our genes, but we know that they do. There are a few specific behaviors that can greatly impact our long-term health, even if our genes are bent in certain directions.
3 Behaviors That Can Help Beat Your Genetics
1) Manage your stress.
It can seem like we live in a world designed to stress us out. Stress can hurt our health in significant ways. Depression and anxiety, poor quality of sleep, under and over-eating, fatigue, muscle tension, pain — even a tendency to use drugs and alcohol — can all be traced to stress. While not the only source of these ailments, stress doesn’t help.
Healthy stress management, on the other hand, improves your quality of life and overall health. The truth is, the stress hormone does change our genes. Chronic stress will negatively impact your health, both physical and mental.
How can you fight it? Regular exercise, consistent sleep patterns, meditation, and other relaxing activities such as social engagements, baths, and reading can reduce stress. Remember: use those vacation days!
2) Prioritize nutrition.
They say you are what you eat. Turns out, there’s some truth to that! Food — specifically, nutrition — can have a big impact on our genes. This is why certain foods are linked to reducing cancer risk. These risks, among others, are often inherited. Food can both positively and negatively impact our genes — causing good genes to active or go dormant, depending on what we consume.
A diet that consists of primarily, leafy greens, lean proteins, and healthy fats has been linked to the reduction of cancer risks, where processed foods and refined sugars have been linked to an increase. By the same token, our consumption can impact things like hypertension and cardiovascular disease. A poor diet can cause “metabolic inflammation,” which can manifest as chronic flu-like symptoms. “Lifestyle” diseases, in general, are greatly affected by the food we eat.
3) Exercise more often.
Too much of our time is spent behind desks and in front of screens. It’s easier than ever to live a passive lifestyle. If we value longevity and quality of life, we have to prioritize exercise.
Regular exercise, even if we begin late in life, can drastically reduce our odds of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Even those of us who already have coronary disease can reduce the chances of heart attack and stroke through regular exercise.
Not only that, but running, in particular, has been linked to preventing Alzheimer’s, improving memory, and combating mental health issues such as depression. Running improves the mind for the long-term. You can fight genetic odds and age-related health problems through regular aerobic exercise and especially through endurance running.
How are you using your habits to fight genetic risks? Share your experiences in the comments.