Do you believe you can’t get over acne because ‘it’s in your genes’?
Well take a look at the study Dr. Dean Ornish did at University of California in San Francisco.
Dr. Ornish and his team studied 30 men with low-risk prostate cancer. The men opted out of the conventional medical treatment such as radiation, surgery and hormone therapy. Instead, for three months, they made changes in their diet and lifestyle. They ate more fruits and vegetables, less animal products, less fat, less processed foods and more whole foods in their natural state. They also exercised moderately.
As expected their health improved. The risk markers for prostate cancer came down, they lost weight and lowered their blood pressure.
But what’s really interesting is that also their genes changed.
The researchers took biopsies before and after the lifestyle changes.
After only 3 months of eating living in a healthier way 48 genes that promote disease were turned off and a whopping 453 genes that protect against disease were turned on. Turning genes on and off is also called gene expression.
Dr. Ornish commented in an interview with Reuters
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. ‘In just three months, I can change hundreds of my genes simply by changing what I eat and how I live?’
Dr. Ornish further continued by saying that the implications of the study are not limited to men with prostate cancer.
I can bet that among those 501 genes were also genes that regulate a host of other diseases as well.
In Acne 101 I talk about how the cells in your body react to their environment. If the environment is healthy the cells thrive, and if it’s not the cells suffer. Gene expression is one way that process works.
From Dr. Bruce Lipton I learned that genes are wrapped in sort of a protective sleeve. When the sleeve is on the gene cannot be read, in other words the gene is turned off. When the sleeve comes off the gene can be read, it’s turned on.
Dr. Lipton explained that gene expression (sleeve on or off) is determined by the signals a cell receives from its environment. Some of those signals are hormones and other chemical messengers; nutrition; emotions; and toxins and bacteria. We know that your emotions, how you feel and what you think affects your genes. Though there is some dispute of the exact mechanism. Some people say it happens via hormones, while others say the medium is energy and vibration.
Regardless of how it happens Dr. Lipton proves that your emotions and thoughts do affect your genes.
It’s really exciting to see scientific evidence that people are not victims of their genes. That anyone that is willing to pay the price (change their diet, lifestyle and mental poise) can take charge of their health and get over pretty much all health problems.
Are you ready to do that?
If so, Clear for Life shows how to do it.
August 29th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Facinating!
August 29th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
What an intriguing piece! My best friend (a psychology student) has told me a lot about genes, but I had no idea they could actually be switched on or off by our choices and actions. Makes sense, though.
Very encouraging from a getting clear perspective, too. Seems like creating the proper conditions should literally force your skin to clear up!
August 29th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Jay, you pretty much summed it up. I’d say it’s impossible to have acne if you create good internal conditions in your body.
August 30th, 2008 at 5:23 am
WOW, that is a great study those numbers are amazing (the 48 genes that promoted disease were tured off and as a result 453 genes that protect against disease were turned on). That was a wonderful thing to read. Thanks for passing the info along Seppo.
September 1st, 2008 at 5:30 am
Thank you so much Seppo =)
I don’t know much in the world of genes, chromosomes & what-not, bt yr piece does have a point.
As the saying goes- I think; therefore I am.
September 2nd, 2008 at 9:40 am
Interesting! But on the Reuters page it says that:
“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.”
Not, 48 turned off and 453 turned on. What’s the number exactly of genes on/off?
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I think it is an interesting article and gives hope, although I must disagree with the idealistic comment of Seppo’s that”
“it’s impossible to have acne if you create good internal conditions in your body.”
That’s a bit of a stretch–it’s painfully possible.
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Neutro, good point. That was my mistake. The article says that 501 genes were changed. That’s 501 among the ones they checked. I’m sure they didn’t check every gene.
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Tyler, or is it just because you haven’t created those conditions yet?
September 8th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Hi there, just thought you might like to know, my grandfather had acne, and my father and now I and my brother. But only 2 brothers got acne the other two don’t have acnes. Two of us have quite serious cases of acne. I believe it has to do with gene, the gene predispose a condition for acne to occur if you are not careful with diet or your mental health ( by which I mean getting exicited all the times and engage in very rough sports that get your hormones rushing in your blood all the time). Again it is not something you can pin-point all the time but I believe if you had knowledge before puberty and take precaution it may most probably help to prevent it or at least not allowing it to deteriorate. Nobody had done a serious study of the mental aspect of young people at puberty who have acne problems. Guess it is always seen as a passing phase in life at puberty when it is actually causing a lot of mental distress to say the least. I strongly believe the mental aspect is very important too. It will be too long wind to go into details here so I drop it and if you like my comments in details I would be happy to send another e-mail.
September 9th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Louis, acne definitely has some genetic component in it. I don’t mean genetic in a way that one would be doomed to live with acne, but in a way that one is predisposed to have acne.
Our bodies respond to stress differently. With stress I don’t just mean mental, but also digestive, exposure to chemicals, lack of exercise and so on.
Under the same conditions some people get acne and some don’t. Whether the mechanism is genes or something else, I don’t know.
And don’t really care because it’s irrelevant. Everybody can get clear simply by reducing the stress their bodies have to deal with.
I agree with you on the mental aspects. Body is a holistic unit where everything pretty much affects everything.
One component is no more important than others, and you have to address all of them.