- [Lorie] If you wish yourancestors gave you better DNA,
you're not alone.
Epigenetics expert, Dr. Sara Gottfried,
says we could all use anupgrade in that department.
- I've tested a lot ofpeople over the past 12 years
in terms of genomics, andeveryone has two to five
not so great genes.
- [Lorie] Including herself.
- I happen to have a problem
with genes related to weight gain
so I have one gene in particularcalled the fatso gene, FTO,
and it just makes me programmedto be about 200 pounds,
no matter what I do.
- [Lorie] But as you can see,Dr. Gottfried silenced it.
- So, one of the ways ofturning the switch off
for the FTO gene is toeat a low carb diet,
kind of the right amount ofcarbs, mostly from vegetables.
The other thing that I do is I exercise
for a minimum of 30 to 60 minutes a day,
so high intensity intervaltraining is really good for me
in terms of silencingthis gene and making sure
that it's not raising my body mass index
and making me fatter.
- Some people are afraidto take these DNA tests
because they don't wannaknow if they have a bad gene,
like the one for Alzheimer's,
but many experts say it's better to know
because there are waysto silence these genes.
For instance, in his book,The End of Alzheimer's,
researcher Dr. Dale Bredesen lists dozens
of lifestyle changes thathave proven effective
in squelching the Alzheimer'sgene for hundreds of patients.
- If there are specific exposures,
you want to get rid of those.
If there are specific nutritional changes,
you want to address those.
If there are hormonal changes,you want to address those.
If there are inflammatorychanges, address those.
- [Lorie] For example,eating a low-sugar diet,
taking certain supplements like curcumin,
and avoiding neuro-toxic chemicals
such as synthetic fragrances.
- Alzheimer's diseaseis no longer a mystery.
You don't have to say wedon't know why you get it,
we don't know what to do about it.
We do know why you get it,
we do know what to do about it,
and we know how to prevent it.
- [Lorie] In his book, ChangeYour Genes, Change Your Life,
Dr. Kenneth Pelletier saysDNA is not our destiny.
- At first, I thought like everyone,
that genetics determines who we are,
color of your hair, your height,
the diseases you'll get,how long you'll live,
and then as I got further into it,
I realized that was not the case.
- [Lorie] For example,twins with the same genes
but different lifestyles
often experiencedifferent health outcomes.
- So there may be a 40%
that one twin will have heartdisease, but not the other.
It's very low with cancer, maybe 30%.
So all of these very strong genetic pushes
from major diseases were not showing up
in the twins studies and theysaid what's going on here.
And that was the beginning of epigenetics.
- [Lorie] So when it comes to our genes,
our behavior can carry consequences
for ourselves and our ancestors.
