Have you ever heard…. you can’t do anything about it… it’s just in your genes?

What is Epigenetics?

Epigenetics is the study of heritable phenotype changes (changes that we can visually see), that do not involve alterations in the DNA sequence.

(https://www.nature.com/articles/s41440-019-0248-0)

Epigenetics doesn’t change the genetic code (DNA sequence)…. it changes how the sequence is read. Perfectly normal genes can result in cancer in the right environment. However, in the right environment, mutant genes will not be expressed or “turned on”. Genes are the equivalent of a blueprint and epigenetics is the contractor. The contractor can change the structure of the building. In the same way, epigenetics can change the expression of our genes.

Therefore, our life experience is not as much about what we “inherit”, but rather what we “express”.

Genes are turned on or off by our life experiences. What we eat (healthy or processed food), drink (clean water or soda), environment (cigarette smoke, chemicals, toxins), say, do, think, feel, etc.

Epigenetic modifications, or “tags,” such as DNA methylation and histone modification, alter DNA accessibility and chromatin structure, thereby regulating patterns of gene expression. These “tags” are what change gene expression and can result in cancer, autoimmune disease, mental disorders, diabetes, etc.

(https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Epigenetic-Mechanisms-and-Health-Endpoint_fig1_321651691)

Methylation, one of the epigenetic tags, is critical to a multitude of metabolic processes including:

Cell division, detoxification and hormone biotransformation, neurotransmitter biosynthesis, CNS development and neural tube formation, histamine clearance, phospholipid synthesis, and myelination of peripheral nerves.

DNA methylation is an important regulator of gene transcription, and its role in carcinogenesis has been a topic of considerable interest. Changes in DNA methylation are common in a variety of tumors. Of all epigenetic modifications, hypermethylation, which represses transcription of the promoter regions of tumor suppressor genes leading to gene silencing, has been most extensively studied.

DNA methylation is a breast cancer risk factor. Several genome-wide studies of DNA methylation have found evidence that global methylation levels measured in blood-derived DNA is associated with breast cancer risk for women in the general population, and for women from families at high genetic risk.

Women carrying germline mutations in BRCA1 have a substantially elevated risk of breast cancer. It has been found that peripheral blood DNA methylation at the BRCA1 promoter was associated with an estimated three-and-a-half-fold increased risk of breast cancer diagnosed before the age of 40 years.

Dietary factors play a role in many normal biological processes and are also involved in the regulation of pathological progressions. Nutrition affects the epigenetic regulations of DNA methylation mainly by changing the substrates and cofactors necessary for proper DNA methylation. Diseases linked to genetic and epigenetic modifications can be influenced by environmental and dietary factors. In particular, nutritional factors, drugs, chemicals used in pesticides, environmental compounds and inorganic contaminants (i.e., arsenic) can alter the epigenome, and may contribute to the development of abnormalities. It has become increasingly clear that environmentally induced epigenetic changes can be mediated, in part, by diet

Epigenetics are affected not only by dietary choices, but lifestyle choices, such as smoking, alcohol, stress management, and exercise. These lifestyle choices are not anchored in our genes.

Our destiny is NOT defined by our genes. There are things we can do to improve our epigenetics such as exercise regularly, eat healthily, get adequate sleep at night, breathe clean air, and drink clean water.

Exercise creates an important stimulus to your body to initiate epigenetic change. However, this is not possible without a diet that also supports genetic change – namely, by being able to supply chemical tags and fuel processes within the cell that make these changes possible. It has been shown that consuming adequate amounts of the following minerals is especially important for fueling epigenetic change: iron, zinc, magnesium, manganese, calcium, selenium, chromium and copper. Specific foods that are great supporters of epigenetic changes include garlic, broccoli, caffeic acid, citrus fruits, apples, soybeans, tea, grapes, tomatoes, turmeric, cinnamon and cashew nuts.

Epigenetic factors may be reversible. But each person’s body and its ability to heal itself, given a certain duration of time or severity of damage, will vary.

While none of us can change the genes that our parents gave to us, we can improve the way our bodies use genes through epigenetic modifications, which is possible through a healthy diet and exercise.

“Our genes might control our POSSIBILITIES, but epigenetics controls our DESTINY”. AG Riddle

Take Back Your Health!!

Melissa Bass, PharmD

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References

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03058-6#:~:text=DNA%20methylation%20is%20a%20breast,risk1%2C2%2C3.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4582005/#:~:text=DNA%20methylation%2C%20a%20process%20of,disorders)%2C%20and%20cardiovascular%20diseases.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2802667/#:~:text=Epigenetic%20mechanisms%20are%20essential%20for,are%20a%20hallmark%20of%20cancer.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3197720/