DIET AND LIFESTYLE PREVENT CHRONIC DISEASES

In the early 2000s, one of the most extraordinary scientific achievements took place. Scientists mapped the human genome, which has been cracked. We have about 23,000 genes.

An unexpected truth was discovered during this journey to map the human genome. Scientists have anticipated that they could know the causes of all chronic diseases as this mapping took place. They anticipated that maybe it is one gene that causes a disease or at most a few genes that cause a chronic disease such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer,… and mapping the human genome will decode this code and they will solve the epidemic of chronic diseases.

Unfortunately, scientists quickly realized that this was not the case at all, and that chronic diseases are multifactorial and much more complex. This shifted their attention from genes, from blaming fate and nature, to looking at what regulates gene expression, and this exploded forward the science of epigenetics. Epigenetics is the interaction between the human genome and the environment.

Hundreds of scientists around the world collaborated to find out whether disease can be predicted by epigenetic mechanisms in healthy people and sick people in large meta-analyses of epigenome-wide association studies. They discovered that epigenetic mechanisms are regulated and modified by environmental signals such as diet and lifestyle which play an important role in the regulation of “on and off” gene. Several crucial nutrients and phytochemicals in food are intelligent, they choose to turn on good genes and turn off bad genes, they want the genes to protect us. If people with bad genes live their lives in a healthy lifestyle and right diet, then the possibility of this bad gene will be turned off and the risk of disease will be very low.

Epigenome-wide association studies have shown that epigenetic mechanisms are related to risk factors for cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and obesity.

At least 80% of cardiometabolic diseases are caused by unhealthy diet and lifestyle.

Less than 10% of cardiometabolic disease can be explained by genes alone. In other words: if people with bad genes lived their lives in healthy lifestyles and right diets, their chances of getting a heart attack or type 2 diabetes would be low.

When we better understand the root cause, process of disease and risk factors that cause the disease, and apply the right diet and healthy lifestyle to prevent chronic diseases in general, and cardiometabolic diseases in particular such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, obesity,… and identify risk factors of cardiovascular disease then manage to prevent serious health events such as stroke, heart attack,…

Now we know that lifestyle and diet are more important than genes. Our genes don’t dictate our fate. And chronic diseases such as cardiometabolic disease and diabetes are largely preventable!