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Saying it outloud!
Saying it outloud!
EP 102: Epigenetics: How our Lifestyle Choices are Shaping our DNA
Are you ready to be shaken to your core? Our latest episode, 'Saying it Out Loud,' promises a deep, insightful journey into the dynamic world of epigenetics. We break down the science, discussing how our parents' lifestyle choices during pregnancy could possibly shape our genetic makeup, and in turn, our susceptibility to certain diseases. But, it's not just about understanding the past. We delve into the implications this science has on our current and future lives too.
We get into the nitty-gritty of how our daily habits, our diets, and even our stress levels can trigger changes in our DNA. We examine how nutrient-rich foods can pave the way for healthy gene expression, and how preservatives and chemicals lurking in our foods could be silently influencing the obesity epidemic. It's about time we take note of these invisible perpetrators, isn't it? But don’t fret! We also explore the potential health benefits that come with showing these harmful substances the exit door from our diet.
Lastly, we tackle the profound impact of stress and lifestyle on pregnancy, and how these factors meddle with the baby's epigenetics. We underline the importance of self-care during pregnancy, not just for the mother, but also for the father. We also discuss how crucial mental health is, and why staying connected with our loved ones is more important than ever. Remember, together we can turn the tide! Don’t forget to join our free Facebook group for further discussions, follow us on social media, and leave us a five-star review to help us reach more people with this vital message.
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What's going on, everyone and welcome to Saying it Out Loud. A podcast created to help people who want to learn more about fitness and life. Our podcast will help you build a foundation and turn fitness into a lifestyle and help you conquer your life. I will be your host, leo, and my co-host.
Speaker 2:Stephanie, and we're the owners of a HALA athletics coaching business built on our belief that clients aren't just a dollar sign and they're human.
Speaker 1:Now on to the episode. What's going on? Everyone, and welcome back to Saying it Out Loud it's good to be back. We've had a very crazy two weeks, isn't it? Two weeks, three weeks. So let's catch you up on our crazy three weeks. We're going to start with a bad. Unfortunately, we had to put down Achilles two days ago. Oh we could.
Speaker 1:Time has been distorted for a while now, but yeah, so we had to deal with that and we really didn't think it was in the best interest to make a podcast episode and go on through all of that. So that's the bad the good. We went to Puerto Rico, had a great time. We got Super Sunburn, enjoyed the beaches, enjoyed the food, enjoyed the family time, and it was just nice to get away from all this crap. Take a break, man. I'll tell you what the best thing about it was. Having to do with social media, man, god, it's a headache, but other than that it's a good time. It's weird seeing everybody all grown up now, because I saw something that knew what still teens.
Speaker 2:I mean, we went like two years ago the first time we went. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was a good time. We had a little bit more interaction this time around. You know, the first time you go trying to fill out everybody so it wasn't very talkative, but this time around it was like I was part of the family, so it was a fun time. Next time my mom she told me to bring my mom, so most of all I like those. But yeah, awesome, you got to go ahead to get back into the gym. I've been out of the gym A month, a month. Four months.
Speaker 2:A month.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a month now. So I'll be taking my first suspect to the gym today. Baby steps. Of course has to be leg day, but it is what it is. Start off light, whatever her definition of light is. Anyone go from there? And I'm still chasing that 405. I know I took them off the gym, so it's going to be interesting to see if I can get it before the end of this year, but I'm going to try.
Speaker 2:Other than that, I forget that every other doesn't listen to reports.
Speaker 1:Yeah, other than that, I'm still going to start off light. We get cheap days Saturday. Yeah, the food was I don't know anymore.
Speaker 2:We didn't make food because we had a podcast. So we had brunch and we had podcasts. A photo shoot, I'm sorry, anyways. So we had brunch and then we ordered pizza and both of those things were just very ziploc and we had Cineholic, cinebuns, whatever, and I was still really bad. It was actually worse than I remember it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a lot of things have been worse than what I remember them to be.
Speaker 2:It just feels like food. It's so synth-ed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it just doesn't taste good anymore, but anyway. So let's go into this episode.
Speaker 1:Today's episode is an interesting episode, because you may or may not know about this, and that is Epi Question of the Day Sing. Have you heard of Epigenetics? Okay, you may or may not have, but Epigenetics is pretty much so. For example, take your parents and their lifestyle that they lived and then, while she was pregnant, she did whatever she did and then you were born. Some of her lifestyle factors and stuff that was happening in Mutaril will be transferred over into your genes and that's why people are pretty exposed to obesity, diabetes and things like that. That's because it's your bloodline. So that's pretty much what we're going to go over today, in a little bit more detail than what I just gave you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's not just that, but we'll define Epigenetics as well. So Epigenetics is a science that explores gene expression caused by modifications of DNA molecules. So it is part and that's part of what we're going to talk about is the pregnancy and what the father also brings into the table, but also your day-to-day life can actually alter your DNA, and we're seeing that a lot more now, since the Y chromosome for men is actually deteriorating, like it's diminishing in size, because genes are just f-ed up by our food and our lifestyle and everything else. Yeah, so we're going to talk about that because I think it's something a lot of people don't think about. So there's two mechanisms that DNA goes through DNA methylation, which is basically adding a methyl group to DNA molecules and slicing off specific genes, and then the second is histone modification, which is pretty much adding a specific type of protein called histones into DNA that is wrapped and it's affecting the gene accessibility and activity. So those two things are.
Speaker 2:I mean, we're making DNA every day pretty much. It's honestly just amazing how our body actually works. So everything that you might not think will affect your DNA can affect your DNA. So it's something that's important, but we're going to start with, just diet specific. Do you want to talk about how? About foods, nutrient?
Speaker 1:rich foods.
Speaker 1:So there's nutrient rich foods, which is what a majority of people are told to eat for just overall well-being, for their life. And then there's the foods that are void of nutrients, like fast foods and super processed foods. But for those who are listening, nutrient rich foods are the foods that contain a wide range of vitamins, minerals and other essential nutrients. Nutrient rich foods can positively influence epigenetics by supporting healthy gene expression. So what that means is it supports the chemical reactions that take place to create these gene expressions. So you actually need certain co-factors, so certain minerals and certain nutrients, in order for the process of DNA to take place. If you're not getting these nutrients or these minerals, it can't do a job as effective. So it's more what's that I'm looking for? It's more vulnerable, I guess, more vulnerable to be influenced for a better lack of words. And then you have the unhealthy dietary patterns. These are for the diets that are high in sugar, saturated fats and processed food, so the sad diet or standard American diet.
Speaker 1:And that includes, like all the protein rich processed foods like protein bars protein cookies, all that stuff, so these unhealthy dietary patterns lead to negative epigenetic changes, potentially contributing to conditions like obesity and diabetes. So talking about the DNA can't be completed as effectively. So it starts to deteriorate and then, once that takes place, you have a whole breakdown I don't know, I guess down the chain of command and it causes you to be more susceptible that's the way I was going to for it to diseases.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so it's. When it comes to DNA, like just a simple letter change can drastically alter, like all epigenetics. So, like it's, it's a very, very small scale, but it's something that's very important. So, like all these processed foods nowadays, because America is America, they realize that all these processed foods fairly have vitamins and minerals in them. So, instead of helping people eat more healthy foods, they just add fake vitamins and minerals into these foods. That's not enough. So it's important to understand that because it triggers, like a DNA methylation and histone modification. Also, it alters your micro RNA expression, which we talk about, like the different types of mechanisms that are used in the DNA. So it's important to understand that because it triggers, like a DNA methylation and histone modification and also alters your micro RNA expression, which we talk about, like the different types of mechanisms that goes on in the DNA.
Speaker 2:So, when it comes to like that, either or, but also like specific bad diets, it influences you to be more inflamed, it influences you to have a predisposition to like obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, etc. Again, like, for example, for me, there's a lot of thyroid issues in my family, so I'm predisposed to that. So it doesn't mean that I'm going to have a thyroid issue, which I feel like a lot of people are confused about. If their predispose are going to have a thyroid issue or like that's just you know they're doing for it now, because if you're actually taking care of yourself, taking care of your thyroid, taking care of your body, whatever then you're not going to develop that issue. So just because you're predisposed to something that you just do, that just means that you just need to understand that you need to take care of certain things accordingly in order for you to prevent those diseases. So this is well, we'll talk about that, so we can talk about the obesity epidemic, since you had to visit with your doctor.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, I did have a visit with my doctor. Oh, I forgot about that. Yeah, so I had a doctor's appointment, my first VA appointment, for a checkup. Somebody had blood in your and I was talking to my doctor.
Speaker 2:Just basic blood in your.
Speaker 1:And he was talking to him about the blood work where he was going over it and he was telling me well, first of all, san Antonio area is 40% more really obese 40%, that's more than a third of the population here in San Antonio. And he was telling me how the chemicals and the preservatives and everything in the food is contributing to obesity epidemic. That's coming from Dr Nemi. So it's interesting to hear people on both sides of the argument say, well, the chemicals and stuff that our food aren't causing any of this, and then there's other people that say that it is causing this. So it's on the ZFU to decide which side you want to believe. But I like to think of like this what if the chemicals and stuff weren't in our food? Will people still be reacting the same way? It's interesting to think about.
Speaker 2:You'd be eating a lot less food.
Speaker 1:Because where did the diseases even come from? I think it was the music part yeah.
Speaker 1:So obesity itself is an induced epigenetic change that promotes further weight gain and metabolic dysfunction. The combination of genetic susceptibility, epigenetic modifications, can create a cycle that perpetuates obesity and associated with health problems. So, like how she was saying, and how she's pre-exposed to, predisposed to thyroid dysfunction in their family. The same way is true for people who have a history of obesity in their family. Their genes already have that written into them. So if you so say, I overeat, right, and I don't have that gene, I'm not going to gain as much weight as susceptible, as somebody who has it written in their DNA.
Speaker 1:So that's why a lot of people say the whole genetics plays a part in weight gain, weight loss, muscle gain, muscle loss and it does to an extent. But that's why you had to be more careful about how you eat your food and what you're eating, because you are more susceptible to weight gain and obesity and diabetes.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, for example one, there's a video by Jeff Neberg that you know not a fan of that video, but whatever. He talks about obesity and you know if it's like the person's fault or their genetics and yes, of course genetics does play a role. We're literally talking about this. However, it really falls onto the person. Like, just because someone is doing all of the right things quote unquote does not mean that they are one. Two does not mean that that's going to fix their issues.
Speaker 2:I talked to a lot of women that have been quote unquote eating healthy their whole life. They barely eat processed foods, food, whatever, but that doesn't mean that they're not actually eating healthy. They might be under eating or whatever it is. And when you are predisposed to these things, you have to be a lot more careful. Like, for example, if you have a predisposition to like diabetes in your family. I'm not saying, avoid sugar, because sugar is still good, but you might not want to be on this foodie experience of like, you know, having chocolate constantly and stuff like that, because you love it, because you're predisposing yourself to developing that.
Speaker 2:Your body is completely different from someone else's. You can't blame your body. You can't kind of like, compare your body to someone else's. You have to understand what's happening, that your body is different, and you just need to do that. It's a sad reality. It's a truth. So I feel like a lot of people want to blame their body or like try to compare themselves to someone else's eating what a really freak. They want and they're like still quote unquote skinny and quote unquote healthy for whatever reason, and you just want to be them so bad, when reality might not be your body.
Speaker 1:It can't be. It's literally written in your DNA.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so in that video he's saying that's more genetic versus like the person's fault.
Speaker 1:It truthfully isn't like you're not going to become obese if you're taking care of yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like actually taking care of yourself, not like, like a lot of people nowadays think that they're going to the gym Six, seven days a week or whatever. Are they doing all these hip classes as being healthy and in reality, that could be causing an issue.
Speaker 1:So you have to understand that those things that you think you're doing right when I'll be, well, one way or another, the laws of thermodynamics will play a role in you becoming obese or not. So if you're not over consuming in food, listen, yeah, it's gonna be hard press for you become overbeats. Yeah so it comes down to your lifestyle, is written in your genes, but it comes out to your lifestyle. Yes so don't make excuses.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So, for example, we'll talk about cardiovascular health diets high in salt. Sodium is not the devil, but Fast food has way too much sodium, though it should even be in taking. So if you eat constantly fast food and stuff like that and that you're taking more salt than you need, so diet's on so sugar and unhealthy fats, can impact your cardiovascular health, it literally makes an epigenetic modification to cause like blood pressure dysregulation, cholesterol metabolism problems, like vascular function issues, etc. Which increases your hip ridden, heart stroke and diseases. So again, again, a lot of people, especially nowadays, love this balance political lifestyle and like food, experience and stuff like that which is also Because they're mentally crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the food is actually making, making them like that because we rarely crave anything anymore. But you have to understand that that one to three times a week might actually be leading you to these issues, so down the line, because this doesn't happen instantly. Sadly, if you develop all these issues, you need to understand where this came from. So a lot of people don't realize that.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, how did I do here 10 years ago? Yeah, when you set out on this journey of I'm like yeah. Alcohol.
Speaker 2:The workout won't negatively, won't positively affect it or whatever. Like it's, it's not gonna negate it. You want to talk about mental health.
Speaker 1:Yeah, some important topic here. So Immortal research suggests that poor nutrition may influence mental health through Epigenetic mechanisms, like I was just talking about. I thought I was joking, it's real life, dyslackin, even since you. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids and B vitamins can affect the expression of genes related to mood regulation, cognitive function, potentially contributing to mental health Disorders yeah, this is a reason why mental health issues have been on the sky rocketing.
Speaker 2:Literally said. Rocketing is not just because mental health is not being popular. It's because of our foods in our environment people.
Speaker 1:People are not understanding. Okay, everybody has bad days. Everybody gets stressed out. There's things that bother people. There's things that worry people. There's things that people are afraid of. That plays only a singular part in the whole mental health journey. If your body is broken down and unhealthy, what do you think? How do you think it's gonna affect your brain? Yeah, how do you think it's gonna affect your chemical regulation? Freaking serotonin and what's up? Dopamine? And I can't think right now.
Speaker 2:I yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm a lot of draw the boarder, but it's gonna switch all those, so you may not be getting enough.
Speaker 2:You may be getting less or effects are God help then it's just you.
Speaker 1:Everything needs to be in harmony, so you can't have your body good and then you're always constantly stressing, fear and worry and that's gonna freaking, leads to mental problems, or vice versa. You might not have any stress, fears or worries, but your body breaks down, which is gonna lead to stress, fears and worries. So you need to have the whole body Working in tandem and not just picking one thing or another or so. When people do is oh, I'm gonna enjoy life and experience life because have so many stress, fears and worries that they feel like they have to party, do drugs, be free, eat fruit, whatever they want, but in reality, it's doing those things that is leading to the stress free worries. Yeah, so if you attack your stress, fears and worries and then fix your body, then you're good.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So we're gonna talk about exercise, because exercise in itself, the type of exercise, actually Influences your epigenetics. So I want to talk about specific resistance training because that's what mainly our clients do and what we do and what I preach. So the way that resistance training Influences the genes in itself, it's because of one specific gene, I gf1 Incident, like girls factor one.
Speaker 2:We might have heard of it Because people nowadays talk so much about semi-glute, osympic, that kind of stuff. So that's pretty much the mechanism that is supposed to work with. So it plays a crucial role in hyper tripping now with, like if your parents persistent strength or if you do, resistance training is still influencing your body and it will influence your body, like if you have a kid in the future At least to change this and the DNA methylation pattern Involved in muscle development and repair, so it can reduce the end methylation and promote regions of genes with IGF1 To increase, so that way, like your body can actually Be better at Like, high-priced your freeing, like muscle protein synthesis, etc. But also Be more insulin sensitive. Like Google says that you can honestly like have a better metabolism with carbs and I would literally Not only influence your metabolic rate, your muscle rate, but you're also lose strength.
Speaker 2:So Aerobic training does something similar with a different type of gene, and it will influence you to be more like specific to aerobic training, if that makes sense, and I will influence your kids as well. So it's something that's important, because I'm not I really not saying like you should be both or whatever. It's just understanding like it can significantly influence your life as well. A lot of people don't resist resistance train or they don't resistance train correctly. You know to even Like make an impact on their body. So stress and DNA damage you want to talk about that, yeah.
Speaker 1:So chronic stress there's chronic stress and acute stress. Chronic stress is prolonged stress acute is immediate. So Nowadays most Americans have chronic stressors and this chronic stress on stressors, multiple stressors, that they're dealing with and that can lead to DNA damage. It can activate gene associated with information disease. So, like how we were talking about, if you're pre-exposed, it's already in your DNA. Now You're under a huge amount of stress every single day. The immune system is eventually going to give out, which gives way for those diseases of all viruses. I've been laying dirt dormant in your body and that's how you randomly get sick when you're stressed. You didn't get it from somewhere, it was already in you and then you get sick. So that's one of the reasons why we harp so much on getting your stress under control, because if you don't get that under control, man, it's gonna lead to a lot of issues.
Speaker 2:So and that's also like it doesn't matter. If you weren't, you didn't have to epicinodic like from birth. Again, if you have lived a lot of just constantly chronic stressing, it will still influence your DNA to react that same way. So something that's important because not only Some people will blame their parents, but like you do have a choice and you actually like influence your epigenics currently, so stress in itself is very detrimental. It actually ends up Damaging DNA to the point that it's like not recovering. So not only this Changes to your DNA, but also starts like affected. You know I'm damaging it.
Speaker 2:So we're gonna talk about Like pregnancy and in general, so you understand, like from mother side, father side and together, how it influence the kid and how it influences you if you're pregnant, etc. Because I Don't know this so recently I mean, I had an idea, but I didn't know how much the person you're with having a kid will influence your own a lot of women make the mistake of clinical taking care of themselves if they take care of themselves through pregnancy and Thinking that that's gonna really affect the kid. Wish it will, of course, but there's a book, which I don't remember the title of, that talks about all the things that you should be doing before you even get ready to have kids. That should actually set you up for success and keep the kid for success, because it's not just what you do within your pregnancy that affects the kid, but, like your history so like if you were just Drinking any fast food and stuff like that and so much are taking care of yourself during your pregnancy. Your history does Still impact your kid, regardless of what, and a lot of people aren't taught that, so they think that as long as they're taking care of themselves during pregnancy, then their care will be okay. But I'm gonna actually be so a diet consuming like vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. No, that's not just saying like, hey, take a prenatal, that's it I mean. So you should actually be eating healthy, which is something I heart. Oh, my clients, that she's currently praying in about Because it's important for her, for the kid.
Speaker 2:So life-chase, last-life factors like the Smoking, alcohol, but also environmental toxins, influences a lot on the kid and your own epigenetics. So If you are constantly we've talked about this on one of our other vlog, I don't remember the number online cleaning products and perfumes and all the lotions and stuff like that, those things are still environmental factors, toxins that are still seeping into your body, that can influence your skin. So those things are important to keep in mind, to just kind of like just stay away from and buy cleaning products and stuff like that other that we have that are non-toxic. Chronic stress also influences the epigenetic and methylation of yourself and your kid during pregnancy. So I'm not saying like don't do anything.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying work out, because working out is super important during pregnancy, but also like keep in mind where you're at in your life. If you're a chronic stressor, you might want to just dial down a little bit. Or if you've got high risk pregnancy, you might want to dial down a little bit so your body's actually like recovering properly. And then maternal weight and obesity of course is a factor, no matter what. A lot of women gain a lot of weight during their pregnancy and it's not just because of the pregnancy but because of how much they're eating and that's not very healthy whatsoever. It doesn't matter how hungry you are if you're eating for two or whatever. You should still maintain a steady diet. Macros will influence, of course, depending on when you're at in your pregnancy, but you shouldn't be drastic amount of weight because that will definitely influence your kid's life, and then this is the father's side of you when you talk about it.
Speaker 1:Yep, I'm the male here. The father's diet and nutritional status leading up to conception can influence the epidemics of sperm. So basically, whatever I eat and the things I intake in my body can affect my sperm. And if my sperm is all freaking, cracked out and it goes into a egg, what do you think will happen to that baby?
Speaker 2:It's gonna be freaking cracked out.
Speaker 1:So a balanced diet, rich in essential nutrients, healthy gene expression in all sperm. So basically it really is a two person game here. I need to be taking care of myself and at the same time the mother needs to take care of herself. And if both parents are taking care of themselves as best as they can, then they have a better chance of having a healthier baby. And, like we said, your history does play a role. But if your history is bad, would you rather at least try to become better Instead of just continuing on with the freaking same negative history? So at least you can try to prevent some of the issues, because the baby is going to have issues. I mean, there's a lot of kids nowadays being born that have so many different issues that could have been prevented if the parents really just took care of themselves.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I see this happen a lot Like a lot of women. They're getting ready to get right in. They might take care of themselves a little bit better, but the men won't really take care of themselves, because I feel like a lot of men don't understand how much their sperm will influence a kid's health genetic. I feel like if they did and they actually care, they would actually take care of themselves, but they don't, and it's something that's very important to keep in mind if your father or your daughter is trying to have kids, or if you want more kids and you already have a kid. So together, like we said, both of them will influence the genetics of the kid and during the pregnancy it will actually affect as well. However, it'll happen more fall over to mother's side by concession in itself, like your genes will influence his genes, like pretty much forever, which is actually crazy. Not just a kid, but each other as well. So something to keep in mind before you're trying to conceive kids with random people. Yeah, that's pretty much it.
Speaker 1:So that was the podcast episode and a few takeaways here. One just take care of yourself in general, pregnant or not. If you want to live for as long as possible and actually feel good, then the key is taking care of yourself. Social media nowadays has made taking care of yourself a whole bunch of different things Balance, selfishness, partying, enjoying life, multiple partners whatever social media has made taking care of yourself. What we think about taking care of yourself is, you know, eating. We eat the food that we enjoy eating. We have a cheat day. That cheat day is our own day out of the week. That is non-inconscionable, that we spend with ourselves and do what we want to do, because the other six days we're freaking, working, and although we do live at home and we are, with each other every day it's not this when we're on our cheat day and relaxing each other.
Speaker 1:So that's how we take care of ourselves. We spend a lot of time with each other and it's not a dull moment and we talk pretty much 24-7 about just life in general, what's next in the business. And then on Saturday young guys know cheat day, anime. Hopefully if we go out we'll get some good food. And then we go on vacations whenever we feel like going, Like trip to Puerto Rico, spontaneous trip. We just said let's go to Puerto Rico.
Speaker 1:Yeah well, I mean it still was. We didn't have to get it out that freaking week, we just freaking left and then we spent a week there, came back. We have a cruise planned already next year. We went to Japan sometime, so who knows when we'll do that? You don't have to live by the rules of social media but at the same time, if you think you're living happily but you don't feel good inside, then are you really living happily, like we feel great, we get good sleep, we train, work hard and go throughout the day? If you feel like crap throughout the day, you eat like crap throughout the day and you're freaking, party hard, then like, are you really living life or are you just living the life that you think that you should be living because of what social media puts on the platter and in our reality, just take care of yourself? I don't know how else to word it.
Speaker 2:You got anything with that Nothing. You sure?
Speaker 1:You want to get some closing words? Yep, come on. No Closing words from Coach Stuff Coming in hot, I already talked. Right now. How long Closing words. Closing statement.
Speaker 2:Just keep in mind that everything will happen to genetics.
Speaker 1:You already talked a lot yeah you had the perfect closing. Here we go. So if you liked this episode, don't forget to like, comment, share and do that five-star review Until next time see ya.
Speaker 2:Hopefully you enjoyed that episode and have already left your five-star review. If you want more knowledge like this, make sure you join our free Facebook group.
Speaker 1:Where we give out freebies, go over more topics and answer all your questions. Lastly, make sure you follow us on all social media platforms. User names will be in the show notes.