Genetics, Lifestyle and Metabolism
Researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen in Germany analyzed blood samples on more than 1,800 people and compared them to metabolites in their bloodstream. By doing so, they found a link between “methylation” of DNA segments and changes in glucose and fat metabolism.
Methylation is a process of modifying a DNA sequence by adding a chemical group called a methyl group. Adding a methyl group turns those particular genes off and keeps them from being expressed. For example, methylation of a DNA segment might lead to changes in how glucose is metabolized.
How do sequences of DNA get methylated? Lifestyle habits like diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol and even stress may have the capacity to turn expression of those genes off and on. In turn, these changes in gene expression may have an impact on your metabolism.
Other studies show diet affects DNA methylation. This in turn can activate genes that promote tumor formation. This may explain why diet may prevent certain types of cancer. Far from being “set in stone,” our genes can be modified based on diet and lifestyle.
Epigenetics and Gene Expression
There’s a whole field devoted to studying how lifestyle affects gene expression. It’s called epigenetics. Based on research in this field, you can carry a gene that predisposes you to type 2-diabetes or heart disease, but diet and lifestyle influences whether or not a gene is expressed. So the genetic hand you were dealt from your parents isn’t necessarily destiny. You have some power to change whether certain genes are expressed by what you eat and how you live. Empowering isn’t it?
Even more fascinating is the fact that what you eat now could affect your offspring later. In a study carried out in pigs, researchers found genetic modifications related to diet may be expressed by offspring two generations down the line. Grandson pigs experienced changes in gene expression based on their grandfather’s diet. If this is true for humans, what you eat could make your children more or less susceptible to certain health problems.
At the very least what you eat and your lifestyle habits likely affects your own gene expression. That’s why it’s important to make the right choices! If you have genes that put you at risk for type 2-diabetes, it’s probably not a good idea to load up on processed carbohydrates and sugar. By taking a close look at your family history you can see what health problems you might be susceptible to and adjust your diet accordingly.
Exercise and Epigenetics
Exercise also appears to change the expression of genes by methylating them. A study involving healthy, middle-aged men published in PLOS Genetics showed a six month exercise program modified genes linked with type 2 diabetes and obesity by methylating them. More specifically, exercise altered genes involved in fat metabolism.
This may explain some of the positive benefits of exercise on body composition. Interestingly, the men in this study did a rather modest amount of exercise. They were scheduled to do three aerobic sessions a week but they only ended up doing 1.8 sessions weekly on average, suggesting it doesn’t take a lot of exercise to modify gene expression.
The Bottom Line?
Diet and exercise have the power to influence how your genes are expressed. By doing so they may affect how cells process glucose and how readily they store fat. Epigenetics is a relatively new field and there’s still a lot that’s unknown but preliminary research suggests what you eat and drink and whether you exercise matters when it comes to how your genes behave. You have more control over your genetics than you think.
References:
Medical News Today. “Metabolism Influenced by Lifestyle Via DNA Methylation”
Mech Ageing Dev. 2003 Dec;124(10-12):989-98.
Epigenie. “Nutritional Epigenetics: Eating For Two (Generations)”
PLOS Genetics. ” A Six Months Exercise Intervention Influences the Genome-wide DNA Methylation Pattern in Human Adipose Tissue”
Cell Metabolism, Volume 15, Issue 3, 405-411, 7 March 2012.
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