Nutrigenomics and Gene Variances

For someone like me who has no family history, it's very important for me to stay on top of my nutrition and exercise to stay healthy. The overall goal of good nutrition or a diet plan is to help prevent disease. Sometimes, though, no matter how hard we try, our bodies are genetically made and metabolically created to respond to food compounds a certain way.
For example, certain genes in your body may increase your resistance to insulin and increase your chances of developing atherosclerosis, which can lead to heart disease.

Many of you know your cruciferous vegetables--it's a funny name for certain groups of vegetables. Most commonly these are things like broccoli, cauliflower, bok choi, cabbage...you get the picture. For most people these foods are healthy and offer a slew of vitamins and minerals which are beneficial. However, in certain groups of people, antioxidants from these green and leafy vegetables digest even slower, producing increased protection against cancer and heart disease.

Folate is also very important--not just for pregnant women--but for everyone. While 400 micrograms is the daily amount recommended for women of childbearing age, some people have gene variants that make it difficult for this amount of folate to be digested. They may have to take twice the amount others do.

This isn't just to set you up to compare your body and the way it works to others'. It's easy to ask, "I take good care of myself. Why can't the foods I eat and the exercise I get be enough to keep me healthy?" This is what nutrigenomics strives to answer, just as what people who work in physiology of exercise aim to understand. Health is a continuum. That means you'll never stay in one spot for long. Being healthy is more than being free of a disease or illness. It encompasses all aspects of everyday life--mental health, physical health, spirituality, socioeconomic status...and of course, all those categories can be further broken down to discover determinants of good health.