How Food Influences Genes!

Nutrigenetics:  Food and Genes

 The study of genetics has become more important in helping to unravel chronic disease and the prevention of some illnesses.  You may not have heard of nutrigenetics but it is the study of how nutrition can control how our genes are expressed, or regulated. Epigenetics is the study of how our environment (chemicals, drugs, pollution) and lifestyle (stress, sleep) influences how our genes function. Nutrigenetics is the exploration of how to use genetic information to make better nutrient choices to influence how your genes communicate.  

You may have heard how important food is to your health and yes, every bite of food is an opportunity to influence how your genes are communicating.  A genetic predisposition is not our destiny but knowing our genetics gives us insight into what nutrients are needed to influence our genes.  Whole unprocessed food has the power to influence and reset our body and avoid disease.  Weakness is some genes are influenced more today by pollution, pesticides, herbicides, and simply the standard American diet (SAD).  Understanding your genetics helps find the right balance of nutrients for the expression (upregulation) of good genes and the inhibition (downregulation) of bad genes. 

Food is more than just calories to provide energy for the body to function. The foods that influence our genetics in a positive way are whole foods. Whole foods are what comes out of the ground, grown on trees, or “as in prehistoric days”, what roams the earth. While there are some healthy foods in a package, most boxed food is not good for our genes.  Processed foods, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, genetically modified food, sodas, and partially hydrogenated oils choke our system and our genes do not communicate well.

Nutrigenetics and Methylation

 There are many pathways, or processes, that occur in the body that support how our genes communicate.  One of the most foundational processes is the process of methylation.  It is the process of making and exchanging methyl groups (CH3), which is one carbon and 3 hydrogens, between molecules, thereby changing the structure and function of the molecule that donated and the molecule that received a methyl group. This methylation process is supported by cofactors (vitamins and minerals) found in our nutrition.  Foods that are high in folate, magnesium, B6, B2, zinc, and B3 are all cofactors, or facilitators, of the exchange of methyl groups.

The methylation process supports our skeletal muscles, DNA replication, hormone regulation and detoxification, energy production, cellular repair, fat breakdown, immune function, neurotransmitter (think dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine) production and communication, and vascular function.  DNA consists of four nucleotides (proteins) and all genes have a different sequence of nucleotides.  If a gene has nucleotides out of place, then it is referred to a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs).  This is where the nutrigenetics comes in to play.  If the pathway of genes, that turns folate from food into an active form the body can use, has some snps, then this pathways would be supported by additional foods high in folate.  Specific foods, vitamins, minerals, and herbal compounds can help regulate our gene expression.

 We all have a set of genes and that will never change.  What can change is the food that is provided, that impacts the communication between our genes.  Genes are also affected by environmental factors mentioned above, and this can increase the demand for nutritional needs. An example is a diet high in processed food with more folic acid.  Folic acid is added to food, versus folate which is naturally in food, and the body has to work harder adding more methyl groups to folic acid to make it active for the body. 

 The most important vitamins in the methylation process are folate, B12, betaine, and B6.  Additional support vitamins are choline, DHA, magnesium, niacin (B3), potassium, riboflavin (B2), zinc, sulfur, taurine, biotin, and methionine.  All of the nutrients and minerals work together, meaning we would not want to take a large amount of just one vitamin as this could offset the other vitamins.

Some of the most important methyl donors:

1.     Folate

·       Supports DNA and repair, helps make methyl groups

·       Green leafy vegetables, asparagus, eggs, ,poultry, sunflower seeds, rosemary, mushrooms

2.     Vitamin B12

·       Key in making folate active, supports mitochondria (where energy is made)

·       Shiitake mushrooms, fish, eggs, poultry, grass-fed beef, salmon

3.     Betaine

·       Part of a backup pathway to make more folate, breaks down homocysteine

·       Spinach, beets, egg yolk (pasture raised chickens), sunflower seeds

4.     Choline

·       Helps make neurotransmitters, phospholipids (layer of protection around cells), and brain function

·       Cauliflower, shiitake and maitake mushrooms, egg yolk, flaxseeds, fish

Other vitamins

 5.     B6 (pyridoxine)

·       Breakdown of neurotransmitters

·       Lentils, poultry, fish, nuts, seeds, spinach, carrots

·        

6.     B2 (riboflavin)

·       Important in making methyl groups

·       Eggs, fish, broccoli asparagus, spinach, mushrooms, almonds, beef, poultry

7.     Magnesium

·       Muscle and nerve conduction, cell signaling, methyl group formation

·       Dark leafy greens, nuts, seeds, lima beans

8.     Vitamin C

·       Antioxidant, neurotransmitter communication

·       Kiwis, strawberries, red bell peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, apple spinach,