Is pre-disposition predestined? The answer is no.

Epigenetics suggests that our behavior can influence which of our genes are turned on or off. This has been one of the biggest breakthroughs in medicine. Most people tend to attribute far too much power to their genes. I’ve seen thousands of patients who have blamed genetics for their ailments and diseases, however it is your lifestyle washing over your genes that determines who you are in any moment. What you eat, how you move, how you restore your system, along with your thoughts, feelings and social connections, regulate your genes. Those genes end up creating the expression of who you are and how you are. You can turn on genes that create health or disease, weight gain or weight loss.

Some genes can predispose you to obesity, type 2 diabetes or heart disease. But predisposition is not predestined. Ninety percent of our current health is controlled by the environment in which we bathe our genes – the food we eat, our exercise regimen, our resilience in the face of stress and our exposure to environmental toxins. You don’t have to sit back and accept that you’re doomed to become fat and sick.

In this conversation, I got to sit down with Dr. Deepak Chopra to talk about genes and the role of the microbiome in our health and its effects on our genes.

I think you’ll enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Thanks to epigenetics, you actually have a say in your health and you can create optimal health with the power of food and lifestyle.

Wishing you health and happiness,

Mark Hyman, MD