Change in diet could change your genes

[Guest guest]

Change in diet could change your genes

Study: After 3 months, lifestyle changes made a difference in 500 genes

Reuters

updated 6:23 p.m. ET,

Mon., June. 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - Comprehensive lifestyle changes including a better diet and

more exercise can lead not only to a better physique, but also to swift

and dramatic changes at the genetic level, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

In a small study, the researchers tracked 30 men with low-risk prostate

cancer who decided against conventional medical treatment such as

surgery and radiation or hormone therapy.

The men underwent three months of major lifestyle changes, including

eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy

products, moderate exercise such as walking for half an hour a day, and

an hour of daily stress management methods such as meditation.

As expected, they lost weight, lowered their blood pressure and saw

other health improvements. But the researchers found more profound

changes when they compared prostate biopsies taken before and after the

lifestyle changes.

‘’After the three months, the men had changes in activity in about 500

genes — including 48 that were turned on and 453 genes that were turned off.

‘It's all in my genes, what can I do?’

The activity of disease-preventing genes increased while a number of

disease-promoting genes, including those involved in prostate cancer and

breast cancer, shut down, according to the study published in the

journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The research was led by Dr. Dean Ornish, head of the Preventive Medicine

Research Institute in Sausalito, California, and a well-known author

advocating lifestyle changes to improve health.

“It’s an exciting finding because so often people say, ’Oh, it’s all in

my genes, what can I do?’ Well, it turns out you may be able to do a

lot,” Ornish, who is also affiliated with the University of California,

San Francisco, said in a telephone interview.

“’In just three months, I can change hundreds of my genes simply by

changing what I eat and how I live?’ That’s pretty exciting,” Ornish

said. “The implications of our study are not limited to men with

prostate cancer.”

Ornish said the men avoided conventional medical treatment for prostate

cancer for reasons separate from the study. But in making that decision,

they allowed the researchers to look at biopsies in people with cancer

before and after lifestyle changes.

“It gave us the opportunity to have an ethical reason for doing repeat

biopsies in just a three-month period because they needed that anyway to

look at their clinical changes (in their prostate cancer),” Ornish said.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25199024/

[Guest guest]

While this may be a semantic distinction I believe the changes were

in gene expression not the genes themselves being changed, but

certainly very important. I suspect twin studies has visited this

already, or certainly should have.

Not exactly mind over matter but a real challenge to " nature vs

nurture " debate.

We are not only responsible for how we are, but how we can be... :-)

JR

On Jun 16, 2008, at 6:46 PM, Novick wrote:

>

>

> Change in diet could change your genes

>

> Study: After 3 months, lifestyle changes made a difference in 500

> genes

> Reuters

>

> updated 6:23 p.m. ET,

> Mon., June. 16, 2008

>

>

> ‘’After the three months, the men had changes in activity in about 500

> genes — including 48 that were turned on and 453 genes that were

> turned off.

>

> -----

>

> The activity of disease-preventing genes increased while a number of

> disease-promoting genes, including those involved in prostate

> cancer and

> breast cancer, shut down, according to the study published in the

> journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

>

>

> URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25199024/

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>