Your Genes Are Not Your Fate
In March of 2008, Dr. Dean Ornish, a renowned physician gave a TED Talk in Monterey, California entitled “Your Genes Are Not Your Fate.” The talk was powerful and impactful, and during his talk, Dr. Ornish shared some incredible research!
Your Genes Are Not Your Fate
We thought you’d enjoy a summary of his talk, beginning with a couple of fascinating facts about changing our genes. Yes – we can change our genes – first by creating new ones, and second, by changing our lifestyles!
The best news is that when you make lifestyle changes, you don’t have to wait a long time to see the results! Dr. Ornish says that “when you eat healthier, manage stress, exercise, and love more, your brain actually gets more blood flow and more oxygen.”
He goes on to say that after making these changes, our brains become measurably bigger. “Walking for 3 hours per week for only 3 months caused so many new neurons to grow that it actually increased the size of people’s brains.”
Dr. Ornish says there’s some things that we can eat, drink and manage to increase our brain cells – things like:
- Chocolate
- Tea
- Blueberries
- Alcohol (in moderation)
- Stress management
And of course, he lists some foods and substances that decrease our brain cells, such as:
- Saturated fat
- Sugar
- Nicotine
- Opiates
- Cocaine
- Alcohol (excessive)
- Chronic stress
Here’s a really interesting fact. Dr. Ornish says that “your skin gets more blood flow when you change your lifestyle, so you age less quickly and your skin doesn’t wrinkle as much, and your heart gets more blood flow.”
He says that we can actually reverse heart disease, and that after only a year, “clogged arteries become measurably less clogged!”
He continues “We’ve shown that you may be able to stop or reverse the progression of early prostate cancer and by extension, breast cancer – simply by making these lifestyle changes. Tumor growth was inhibited 70% in the study group who had made these lifestyle changes.”
Now isn’t just this news alone enough for all of us to immediately consider making some immediate lifestyle changes?! This change in lifestyle has the power to substantially increases our quality of life, and who doesn’t want a better quality of life?!
Now here’s some news that may interest all of our followers… “Even your sexual organs get more blood flow, so you increase sexual potency.”
And here’s some news that isn’t so great, and definitely a reason to quit smoking if you are a smoker… “Nicotine, which constricts your arteries can cause a heart attack or a stroke, but it also causes impotency. HALF of guys who smoke are impotent!”
Dr. Ornish then addresses a subject that is close to our awareness – prostate cancer.
During his talk, he shows a “heat map” and then talks about a study they’re getting ready to publish that says “we found that over 500 genes were favorably changed, and in effect turning on the good genes – the disease-preventing genes, and turning off the disease promoting genes.
So much of what Dr. Ornish is reporting is really terrific news! And as Dr. Ornish pronounces, “these findings are very powerful, and they’re giving many people new hope and choices!”
This is a very strong argument for all of us to make lifestyle changes that are now PROVEN to substantially improve our lives. Don’t we owe this to our loved ones? Of course we do!
So here’s our question: After hearing Dr. Ornish’s report, what are you going to do IMMEDIATELY to implement a healthier lifestyle?