Nature Versus Nurture - I Choose What Moves Us To Action!

As both a physician and a human being, I have incredible respect for the field of medical genetics, the specialty of medicine that involves the diagnosis and management of hereditary disorders. Having worked in a genetics laboratory as an undergraduate, I’ve always been attuned to the importance of obtaining a thorough family history of my patients. In addition, since losing both of my parents to cancer at a young age, I’ve been acutely aware of the implications that genetic risk might have for me.

However, as a practicing emergency physician, I routinely encounter a phenomenon that greatly concerns me - I find that many people feel completely victimized by their genes. This is apparent when I ask patients if they have any medical problems and they promptly list a variety of diseases. When I then inquire how long they’ve had these diagnoses or what medications they take for them, they clarify that these are actually the medical problems of their mother or father. It’s obvious that they are failing to distinguish between having a genetic predisposition for a particular disease and actually having the disease. Their fear and fatalism are so palpable this encounter, that I feel compelled to educate and empower on this topic.

This is where the amazing field of epigenetics comes in! It is the study of how our behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way our genes work. I love to share this bit of science with patients and clients because it shifts us from a fear-based mindset and reminds us to focus on the things that we can control! While our genome (our twenty-three pairs of chromosomes encoding every aspect of our bodies and minds) will never change, the study of epigenetics shows us that the choices we make on a daily basis can affect how we express these genes. In other words, things like getting sufficient sleep, stress management, movement, and good nutrition can prompt chemical modifications to our blueprint helping us to “turn on” our protective genes and “turn off” our disease-causing genes. When people fully process this concept, they find themselves newly empowered to take back ownership of their own health. 

Thus, in the centuries old debate of nature versus nurture, I choose whatever moves us to action! In the case of nature, we must respect that some diseases tend to be strongly heritable and take advantage of the early screening tools or interventions that our doctor recommends (e.g; early mammogram or breast MRI for genetic risk of breast cancer.) But once we take that step, we turn our attention to what we can do to lower our risk! We seek our healthiest selves by the very simple actions of eating more whole foods from the earth, moving our bodies, prioritizing sleep, growing our spirituality, making loving connections, and living with purpose! That, my friends, is your call to action today!

Sleep Is The Simplest Thing We Can Do For Our Health. So Why Aren’t We Doing It?

When I coach people on our six areas of focus for improving their health and happiness, sleep is always the topic where I feel we can gain so much return for so little effort! Research tells us that about 1/3 of Americans don’t get the recommended 7-9 hours of nightly sleep and that this sleep deprivation increases our risk of dying from any cause (e.g; cancer, heart attack, stroke.) This is tremendous - it means that just catching a few more Zs on a consistent basis can help you avoid a host of chronic diseases and live longer! If I was prescribing a pill that could accomplish this with no side effects, folks would be lined up around the block to get one! Yet I find that when our lives become busy, sleep is often the first thing to go. This has always perplexed me since sleep is nearly unanimously enjoyable and most of us are convinced of nothing if not how tired we are. I’ve come to believe that the reason people struggle to prioritize sleep is that we just don’t value it as a culture. 

As someone who has run the gamut of medical training from student to resident to fellow, I’ve worn the badge of honor that comes with severe sleep deprivation in our society. This is similar to other professionals regardless of their industry, especially in the early years of their careers. We receive a pat on the back from our predecessors as sleep deprivation becomes a right of passage and a sign of work ethic. This philosophy carries over to being a young parent and the applause we get for the balancing act of waking up all night and then functioning all day. Yet we can all feel the ramifications of this state even if we are not specifically aware of the data. In a sleep deprived state, we are cognitively slower, we we are less productive at work, and we are more prone to anxiety and depression. Neuroscience shows us that our brains are working differently, predisposing us to craving savory and salty foods which partially explains the increased rates of obesity and diabetes seen in people who are chronically sleep deprived. The latest research on dementia illustrates that people who skimp on sleep for one night demonstrate on MRI some of the structural brain changes seen in Alzheimers - a preliminary scientific finding but a very compelling one for me!

I present you with with all of this data for one reason- to help you decide that sleep is a priority in your life going forward. Remember, many of the recommendations made in this column are simple but we have difficulty consistently implementing them unless we are living intentionally. Are you truly seeking to become the happiest and healthiest version of yourself? If so, awesome! Start by getting just fifteen more minutes of sleep a night. In one month, you will have logged an extra 7.5 hours. This is a meaningful number and a fantastic start to your journey!

Movement As Play

At Seek, we talk a lot about the true integration of mind, body, and spirit. More specifically, we inspire folks to constantly grow in each of the six areas of focus to become their happiest and healthiest selves. These include movement, nutrition, sleep, spirituality, connections, and intention. I’ve been focusing lately on the concept of "movement as play” and realized that one of the reasons it is so effective is that it hits on three levels, not just one.

“Movement as play” is the ability to find joy in spontaneous and natural movement, just as our children do. For some, this may be a living room dance-off, for others a swim in the ocean. For me, it often manifests as a quick game of basketball with my six and seven-year-old boys or a game of tag with my three and four-year-olds. The point is that we end up moving our muscles and elevating our heart rates with the multitude of associated benefits and without any of the mental activation energy of having to “exercise.” Furthermore, I find it satisfies my craving for connection and mindfulness as I will explain.

If you are anything like me, you love your children and crave a dynamic and meaningful relationship with them. You are not, however, particularly stimulated by playing Candy Land again or eating more pretend food from their kitchen. And as we know from modern science, despite our best efforts at connection, we are often distracted within minutes by our mysteriously addictive smartphones and the little dopamine surges they offer. When we make the decision to physically (not just mentally) engage with our children, it requires that we put our phone aside and commit to the experience. I find that my children can sense the difference by a certain joy that arises within them. And I feel a relief that I don’t have to be doing 200 things at one time, if only for ten minutes. I believe, that this may be a truer manifestation of the buzzword “mindfulness” than many of its more picturesque representations.

This is what “movement as play” looks like for me due to my current stage of life. If your life doesn’t involve a handful of little ones running about, please do find your play in a way that brings you joy and connection. I suspect your loved ones may be as inspired as my children as they see you put down your phone, put on your sneakers, and join them for a game of pickleball, a long walk, or whatever rings true for you. And as always, keep seeking!

Eating More Food from the Earth

In my efforts to help people grow their integrative health, nutrition is one of my six areas of focus. At times, this is the area about which I which I am the most excited because this is where so many of us can afford to make real and tangible changes - lots of bang for your buck so to speak! In other ways, it can be the most confusing topic for me to advise on because there is so much seemingly contradicting evidence out there. Should I be Vegetarian or Paleo? How is Keto different from Atkins? Should I be intermittent fasting or eating more and smaller meals throughout the day? The list goes on and on and I can find you scientific evidence to support any of these as well as other philosophies on diet and nutrition.

This is why I turn to my favorite body of research on nutrition because it makes the most sense to me and keeps things simple for once! Dan Buettner, an author at National Geographic, identified and studied the places on the planet where people live both the longest (highest numbers of centenarians) and the healthiest  (fit, active, and living their purpose until the day they die.) He identified five initial locations and dubbed them the Blue Zones, then observed their habits in order to reverse engineer health. In his writings he notes that, in spite of differences in culture, cuisine, and location, all five eat a primarily plant-based diet. They consume lots of leafy greens, seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds. They ate some meat, but not a lot and not every day.

His findings resonate with me both as a physician and as a human being. I’ve learned over the years that no health recommendation can be accepted in a vacuum. We are all individuals with different genetics, preferences, and value systems. While any trendy new nutritional strategy may hit the mark for one of us, it likely falls short for others. However, I think we can all agree that our goal is to live like like the folks in the Blue Zones; we want to have a long life and to remain active and strong into our old age. In that spirit, regardless of our individual nutritional philosophies, I think we can all afford to add more whole foods from the earth into our repertoire. Maybe by adding in some of the good stuff, we can squeeze out some of the processed stuff that doesn’t serve us. Remember, it is often the simplest ideas that prove the greatest. I think this concept falls into that category!

Reference: https://www.bluezones.com