We have all heard in the past that genes control our biology. This idea is widespread in all levels of education and in the popular press. However, a new thought is making waves in the scientific world that suggests that it is not our genes that control our biology, it is our environment. That is not to say that genes are not important. Without genes life as we know it could not exist. Genes are the blueprints of life, but without a workforce to follow and carry out the instructions of the blueprints, nothing happens.
In living organisms, proteins are the workforce. There is not enough room in this article to go into all the details of how this process works, but if you want to learn more about it you can look up the work of the cellular biologist, Dr. Bruce Lipton. His argument is that proteins receive signals from the environment and carry out certain functions in response to those signals. The genes only enter the picture when the proteins need to read the blueprints which instruct the proteins how to make more proteins that go on to carry out more cellular functions. What does this mean for us? It means that we are not slaves to our genetics. By changing our environment we can change our biology.
Of course, this does not include the 5% of the population that have genetic diseases such as Downs Syndrome. It also doesn’t mean that there are not genetic predispositions to certain conditions. But that’s the point; a predisposition does not guarantee an outcome. It is the environment that will determine whether certain genetic traits are expressed or not. Let’s put it into simple terms. Imagine a set of identical twins who share the same genetic information. One twin is a health nut who is slim and fit, eats good food, and exercises regularly. The other twin never exercises, eats junk food, is overweight, and has developed diabetes as a result. Now, does the second twin have diabetes because of his genetics or because of his interaction with his environment? If you want to live up to your highest potential, then take some time to evaluate your environment and how you interact within your environment.
Here’s some food for thought… What is the number one killer in our society? Heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity? Actually the answer is suicide… more specifically: suicide by lifestyle choices. Those answers are all primarily results of the choices we have made throughout the decades of life. Heart disease, cancer, etc. are all results of adaptations that our bodies have made to the environment that we have chosen.
Our nervous system is the master system that allows us to understand our environment and respond to it properly. Interference and imbalance in our nervous system limits our ability to understand our environment. The more layers of interference we stack up the more our potential to fully express health and vitality is suppressed. The more clear and connected we are on the inside, the greater we can adapt to our environment and thrive. At Innate Life Chiropractic, our great joy is to help you reconnect to your world, be more of yourself, and thrive in your life.
