The effect of diet on health and disease

This will not be news to many of you in the field of biomed or who have healed your children and yourselves of many illness thanks to major changes to your diet. There is such a thing as epigenetics or how our environment impacts our gene expression. In a nutshell, what we are exposed to and what we eat tells our body which genes to turn on and off, including genes that predispose us to cancer. That is why not EVERYONE in the same family gets cancer. And for those of you who seem to think that cancer is random, like getting your number pulled in the lottery, well you may want to read up a little more. What we put into and on our bodies matters. And for those of you who say "Oh I can eat gluten or XYZ food, it doesn't bother me." Really??? Do you have signs of chronic inflammation? Do you have ezcema? Do you have allergies, arthritis, or other auto-immune issues? If you answered yes, you may want to look at your diet. For every person those food intolerances will be different too but I think there is so little thought about what food goes into our body these days.

Never have we had more processed and nutritionally VOID foods as we do now. And MANY people have reactions to foods that they are not associating with foods. You have to do some testing or do an elimination trial to really see what's going on, maybe some muscle testing. To just say "It doesn't bother me" because you do not swell up and turn blue is like sticking your head in the sand. You have to go out of your way to feed your body in a healthy manner. But when we understand what an impact it has on us developing diseases down the road, especially cancer, doesn't it seem like it is worth it? Maybe I am jaded these days. I have had to keep my trap shut because I cannot change everyone's mind and many people don't WANT to change. It is hard when I see children already going down that path to ill health.

Someone who has not been on this journey cannot understand what I have seen just in my child and my family. If I did not consider that diet could impact my son's brain function and health and I took what my standard pediatrician said, good God where would he be today???? Probably STILL nonverbal, probably STILL not sleeping, ezcema, chronic gut issues, he's probably be on a allergy pill and a steroid cream and all the other phamraceutical "bandaids" we throw on something to mask the true breakdown in our body. And we are so thankful that we did look outside of the box, found Dr. Woeller and thus began this journey of understanding more about health in general but healing our son's Autism. What I continue to learn from Dr. Woeller astounds me when I look back at where I started and how much I have changed. We have been blessed to find both him and our pediatrician, Dr. Carrie Rittling, who blend the traditional medical model and alternative medicine so beautifully. So please read the article below, maybe it will be something useful to you or someone you know and care about.

This article is from www.organicauthority.com and written by Jill Ettinger.

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New Study Suggests Food May Play Larger Role in Health than Genetics
April 30th, 2011 - Jill Ettinger
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It was Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, who made the simple observation more than 2,000 years ago: “Let thy food be thy medicine”. And now, there seems to be a good deal of science to back him up.

An article published in the journal, Biochemical Pharmacology, presents significant findings connecting the dots between food and nutrition choices as it relates to disease prevention, treatment and reduction.

Inflammation is often the source of many common illnesses including heart disease, arthritis, allergies, obesity and even certain types of cancer. While scientists have known for some time that diet plays a role in inflammation, they have also long thought genetics significantly impacted the risks of developing these health issues.

The team of researchers who conducted this recent study now suggest that while certain conditions are in fact genetic, it’s likely not as many as we think. Specifically, chronic health problems are often a result of our environment and lifestyle habits, which affect genetic behavior altering how an individual ‘s genes respond to certain stimuli.

These changes, because they’re not inherent to the genes, means they can be prevented, treated and even reversed through particular changes in diet and lifestyle habits as well as with the help of some drugs.

Inflammation can be reduced through removing certain items from the diet such as alcohol, red meat, excessive sugar and salt, and adding in whole grains, beans and fresh fruits and vegetables, specifically those grown organically, which not only reduces the risk of contact with disease-causing pesticides and fertilizers, and genetically modified ingredients, but organic foods have an average antioxidant capacity that is 25 percent higher than non-organic options.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger