Your genetic makeup may be a blueprint that’s set in ink, but you can influence how it’s used and change your destiny.
While your DNA provides the blueprint, your diet plays a pivotal role in determining how those blueprints are read and executed. Enter epigenetics, the study of how environmental factors and lifestyle choices, such as diet, can influence gene expression.
You can take a proactive approach to health by eating foods that support expression of helpful genes. A whole foods diet can act as a powerful influencer on how your genes are expressed, ultimately impacting your health.
Let’s explore the fascinating world of epigenetic and how you can use a whole foods diet as a proactive epigenetic approach to health.
What is Epigenetics?
Epigenetics is the study of how environmental factors and behaviors can influence gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence. These changes, though reversible, can affect how your body interprets and utilizes genetic information.
Think of DNA as a recipe book. The recipe book (DNA) contains many different pages, each with the instructions on how to make a different meal (genes). Small molecules inside a cell can influence which of the meals gets created (genes get expressed). These small molecules can be a variety of things, including minerals, vitamins and fats. They can both activate and deactivate genes, sometimes described as turning on, or off, genes.
What is a Whole Food Diet?
A whole food diet is an eating pattern that focuses on minimally processed. Fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, and whole grains are staples in a whole food diet. A whole foods diet is associated with a better intake of essential micronutrients zinc, calcium, magnesium, vitamins A, C, D, E, B12, and niacin, than a diet containing ultra-processed foods.
Can Whole Foods Impact Gene Expression?
Yes. Nutrients in the foods you eat can influence gene expression to promote health. Equally, diets that lack nutrients have been linked to alterations in gene expression that result in health issues. Let’s look at a few examples of this diet-gene connection. But, first a little background science to help.
Gene Expression: A Background of the Science
Genes in DNA are expressed when they are transcribed into RNA. RNA is then translated by a structure in the cell called a ribosome into a protein. These proteins help determine a cells characteristics and behaviour.
Tags and Gene Expression
There are about 200 types of cells in your body, all of which contain the same recipe book. However, the presence of chemical tags on a cell’s DNA impacts what genes the cell will express, or not express. That’s how your DNA can create so many different types cells.
A tag could be a methyl or acetyl group – they don’t change the DNA sequence, but can cause the DNA to fold or unfold, blocking access to a gene, turning it on or off.
How Diet Can Alter Tags and Thus, Gene Expression
What is important about tags on a cell’s DNA is that they can be influenced by diet, causing certain genes to be expressed more or less. The results can be positive and negative.
Tags on a cell’s DNA can be thought of as being sticky – they are not permanently attached. As such, there’s the ability to alter your lifestyle to proactively improve your health. A mounting body of evidence suggests a healthy lifestyle that includes a whole foods diet can beneficially alter these tags.
Diet-Gene Connection: Whole Food Diet and Aging
Higher fish intake, as well as a high quality diet (high vegetable, fruit, whole grains and nut intake), is associated with longevity (lower age acceleration), according to researcher. More evidence that a whole food diet is good for longevity, and it appears to be thanks to how these foods influence gene expression.
How whole foods influence gene expression includes methylation. Certain nutrients influence whether methyl groups attach to parts of a DNA strand, causing it to bend or twist. The expression of a gene is only possible if the machinery involved in copying it can access that part of the DNA strand. Sometimes methylation turns on, or off, a gene.
Scientists researching aging have found increasing methylation can improve health. Healthy nutrition patterns, such as a whole food diet, are associate with beneficial methylation in a growing number of studies.
Diet- Gene Connection: Heavy Metals, Ultra-Processed Foods and Autism
Diet can have a negative influence on gene expression. A diet that lacks nutrients, or contains heavy metals will negatively influence gene expression.
Heavy metals have a toxic effect on the human body. Heavy metals can occur in foods in higher concentrations as a result of use of different fertilizers and pesticides. Heavy metals are removed from the body by metallothionen metal carrier proteins – these proteins require zinc. A diet that lacks zinc causes a malfunction in this gene, leading to an increase in heavy metal levels in the blood.
Ultra-processed foods are low in zinc. Prenatal zinc deficiency from a poor diet (excessive consumption of ultra-processed foods) can negatively influence gene expression in a way that increases the risk of heavy metal in fetal brain development, thought to play a role in the development of autism, suggests scientific evidence.
A whole foods diet is rich in a variety of vitamins and minerals, including zinc. Organic foods are lower in heavy metals, such as cadmium.
Learn More About Epigenetics
There is much more to discover in the fascinating world of epigenetic. Come discover how human cells express genes and how certain lifestyle factors (environment, stress, diet, exercise) can influence this process.
Be on the forefront of nutritional research. Learn which lifestyle factors you can adopt to ensure your best DNA recipes are used, every day.
Take a proactive approach to health – start our Natural Nutrition Program, today!
Course Highlight: Biochemistry and Epigenetic
Part of the CSNN Natural Nutrition Program, the Biochemistry and Epigenetic course helps you gain a better understanding of the chemical processes that underlie biological functions, starting with atomic structure, chemical symbols and the periodic table. Finally, the cause culminates with genetics and epigenetics. Come explore the chemistry of living things while gaining confidence in biochemistry and genetic topics that influence common health issues. You’ll learn about:
Enroll today at the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition and discover more about epigenetics, a whole food diet and holistic health.
References:
Epigenetic effects of healthy foods and lifestyle habits from the Southern European Atlantic Diet Pattern: a narrative review. Adv Nutr 2022 Apr 14;13(5):1725-1747.
Nutritional epigenetics education improves diet and attitude of parents of children with autism or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. World J Psychiatry 2024 Jan 19;14(1):159-178.
Examining nutrition strategies to influence DNA methylation and epigenetic clocks: a systematic review of clinical trials. Front Aging 2024 July 14; 5.
Epigenetics, Health and Disease. Center for Disease Control, 2024.
Heavy metals in foods and beverages: global situation, health risks and reduction methods. Foods 2023 Sep 6;12(18):3340.
Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. Br J Nutr 2014 Jul 15;112(5):794-811.
