Genetics and Gut Health: Can You Change Your Fate and Age Backwards?
Your DNA is your body’s unique blueprint, guiding how you grow, repair, and maintain your health. While you can’t change your DNA, you can control how your genes work to improve your health and feel younger longer. Methylation, a process that acts like a switch, turning genes on or off, plays a significant role. Factors such as nutrition, stress, gut health, and environmental toxins can impact methylation and your genes – in short your genetics and gut health are deeply intertwined.
Key Takeaways
- DNA is your body’s set of instructions to build and rebuild daily.
- DNA needs a signal to activate it, and these chemical signals can come from your diet, stress, physical activity, sleep and the environment.
- Measuring genetic alterations gives us information that we can use to make nutritional changes to optimize genetic expression. This is known as epigenetics.
- Here’s an analogy: genes load the gun, environment pulls the trigger—there’s much you can do to influence aging and disease outcomes.
- Every positive effort you make for your health beneficially impacts your genetics on a moment-by-moment basis, which adds up over time.
- Chronological age is your age in years, but biological age tells how your body and genes how to function. Your biological age can be older or younger than your chronological age.
Table of Contents
I have a confession to make… I’m obsessed with genetics! I’ve been staying on top of the latest cutting-edge strategies so I can offer my patients a complete evaluation when it comes to reversing disease and aging backwards. What’s most fascinating is the flexible nature of genetics. Many people assume their genetics or heredity “is what it is,” and they’re either doomed or blessed from a health standpoint. In my experience, we can positively influence your genetics, and I’ll show you how.
DNA: Your Unique Blueprint
If you can remember back to high school biology class, you know a little bit about genetics. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) carries the instructions for building every living organism. DNA is tightly wound up and housed in the nucleus of all your cells. If all the DNA in just one cell (your body has trillions) were uncoiled and stretched out, it would stretch approximately 6 and a half feet!1 That amounts to an immense library of information.
Is It Possible to Improve Your Genetics?
Your DNA isn’t “on” all the time. Switches are constantly turning on and off, telling the DNA what the body needs. For example, when your body needs to make something, like new red blood cells, the appropriate part of the DNA unwinds so it can be transcribed. Sections of DNA, called genes, encode for different proteins. This is called gene expression. Some genes are only expressed briefly, while others are constantly expressed throughout life.
The DNA itself is made of units called nucleotides, including adenine (A), cytosine (C), thymine (T), and guanine (G) in a looooong strand. Sometimes these nucleotides can be switched with each other, and this is called a single-nucleotide polymorphism, or SNP. A minor polymorphism can decrease function. Genetic SNP testing is one of my favorite things—it’s like getting a person’s “blueprint”. I order SNP testing on patients to help understand how their genetics contribute to their health.
For example, some polymorphisms lower the activity of antioxidant enzymes, making your cells more susceptible to oxidative stress, causing damage.2 Others can impact our ability to absorb B12 from our diet or make critical nutrients such as choline or CoQ10. ApoE4 is a polymorphism associated with elevated cholesterol levels and Alzheimer’s.3
Your DNA sequence cannot be changed, but it can be influenced. Epigenetics is the study of how factors like nutrition, environmental toxins, and stress can alter gene expression, or those on/off switches. Epigenetic changes are reversible. I like to combine genetic SNP testing with Micronutrient Testing to measure nutrients that optimize genetic expression.
If you’re looking for a personalized approach to transform your health, you can schedule a discovery call here.
What is Methylation and How Does It Relate to Genetics?
Methylation is a chemical process that happens billions of times per second in all your cells, affecting activities like DNA synthesis, gene expression, hormone metabolism, vascular function, and many other functions. Methylation acts as the on/off switch for gene expression. Decreased methylation is associated with heart disease, autoimmune disease, diabetes, neurological diseases, mood disorders, and cancer.
The ability to methylate properly is connected to aging. A study looking at DNA methylation in newborns, middle-aged people, and the elderly showed that methylation decreases with age.4 Healthy methylation is crucial for healthy aging and disease prevention.
MTHFR and Other Methylation SNPs
I measure many methylation SNPs, and the most popular one is methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). This is an enzyme that helps your body make active folate (vitamin B9) used in the methylation cycle. If the enzyme is underfunctioning, which is quite common, you may be susceptible to any of the diseases associated with decreased methylation.
Important nutrients needed for methylation include folate, riboflavin, methionine, vitamins B6 and B12, betaine (trimethylglycine), and magnesium. Micronutrient testing can help identify the nutrient cofactor deficiencies that help the enzymes work better. The workaround to the MTHFR SNP is to give the active form of folate, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, to overcome the impairment.5 My approach is comprehensive – I also work on other factors that affect methylation, including gut health, exercise, stress management, and minimizing environmental toxicity.
MTHFR is just one of many SNPs that diet and/or supplements can optimize. For example, if a person has a catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) SNP that results in a slower functioning enzyme, estrogens and neurotransmitters like adrenaline may not be detoxified properly. Estrogens that are not methylated can be a risk factor for breast cancer, and adrenaline that is not metabolized can lead to anxiety.6,7 Methylation support and magnesium are important to help COMT work properly.11
Your Genes Aren’t Your Destiny
Just because someone has a genetic variant doesn’t mean it’s being expressed. This is why it’s helpful to work with someone who understands the testing – it has to be put into context with what is going on with your health. For example, a person can be positive for MTHFR C677T and have healthy homocysteine levels (homocysteine is a blood marker for methylation). If they eat a nutrient-dense diet, they can overcome their genetic expression. Lifestyle factors such as avoiding toxins, optimizing gut health, and managing stress also support healthy genetic expression.
I have to stress the importance of working with someone knowledgeable on genetic SNPs to understand the bigger picture. You could be taking seemingly helpful supplements such as curcumin, quercetin, and EGCG, which could have the unwanted effect of slowing enzyme function for some people.5 You need a personalized program tailored to you and your unique genetic makeup.
Optimize Your Genetics and Age Backwards
Diet and lifestyle improvements are the best way to optimize your genetics. Supplements can also be helpful, but used alone, they may not be as effective as part of a comprehensive program. An interesting study showed that with diet, lifestyle, and minimal supplements, methylation can be impacted, and biological age can be reversed. This program focused on nutrient-dense foods, eating at the right times, quality sleep, stress management, movement, and gut health.8,9 At Aura Functional Medicine, we offer the Whole Health Transformation Program, which includes these same elements. We approach you as a genetically unique individual and aim to optimize your genetic expression so you can feel your best.
How Old is Your Body?
I just mentioned something in that last section – biological age. Your chronological age is how old you are using your birth date. Biological age can be younger or older than your chronological age, depending on how well you take care of yourself. The testing used in that research study is the same testing I use to monitor and track whether our efforts are impacting your genetics in the right way and if we are reducing your biological age.
Telomeres and Aging
The ends of your DNA have end caps called telomeres, and these DNA sequences get shorter with age. Unprotected telomeres activate DNA damage, causing telomere shortening. Telomere damage results from factors like smoking, alcohol, obesity, being sedentary, high sugar intake, and poor diet. The good news is that telomeres can be repaired with lifestyle strategies including exercise and a healthy Mediterranean diet. Telomere lengthening is a key anti-aging strategy.10
I want to encourage you in your health journey when it feels like it’s taking a lot of effort. Even though you might not see immediate outward improvements, all your efforts are having a beneficial impact on your cells and DNA right now. And this helps with disease reversal and prevention. And helps you to stay younger, longer. Keep up the good work!
If you’re looking for a personalized approach to transform your health, you can schedule a discovery call here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you reverse a gene mutation?
No. Your DNA sequence will always be the same. Genetic mutations range from minor to very serious. Minor mutations include single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) mentioned in this article. An example of a serious mutation is the BRCA gene mutation that significantly increases the risk of breast cancer. The focus on nutrition and lifestyle is important for optimizing genetic expression and health outcomes, but ultimately, it does not change your DNA or gene mutations.
Can I change my risk of getting a disease that runs in my family?
It depends. Some genetic mutations are very serious and are passed down to family members. In general, the risk of getting the disease is higher than someone without that mutation, but there is still a lot that can be done to optimize health and take a preventative approach.
Some diseases are a result of a family’s unhealthy diet and lifestyle habits, such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. In this case, you are not doomed to these diseases if you decide to make healthier choices than what you grew up with. These diseases can be reversed if addressed sooner rather than later.
I had MTHFR and other SNPs tested. When should I retest to see if there is improvement?
SNP testing is something that is only tested once because it’s looking at your DNA. Your DNA doesn’t change. The reason we measure SNPs is to understand your genetic potential so we can use nutrition, supplements, and other strategies to influence enzyme function.
However, there is testing to measure DNA methylation, which assesses epigenetic changes. This looks at genes that are turned on and off. Because this is a dynamic process, this testing can be measured over time to track progress.
References
- O’Donnell M, Langston L, Stillman B. Principles and concepts of DNA replication in bacteria, archaea, and eukarya. Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology. 2013;5(7).
- Mead MN. Nutrigenomics: the genome–food interface. Environmental health perspectives. 2007;115(12):A582-589.
- Raulin AC, Doss SV, Trottier ZA, Ikezu TC, Bu G, Liu CC. ApoE in Alzheimer’s disease: pathophysiology and therapeutic strategies. Molecular neurodegeneration. 2022;17(1):72.
- Heyn H, Li N, Ferreira HJ, et al. Distinct DNA methylomes of newborns and centenarians. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2012;109(26):10522-10527.
- Hodges RE, Minich DM. Modulation of Metabolic Detoxification Pathways Using Foods and Food-Derived Components: A Scientific Review with Clinical Application. Journal of nutrition and metabolism. 2015;2015:760689.
- Wan GX, Cao YW, Li WQ, Li YC, Li F. The Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Val158Met Polymorphism Contributes to the Risk of Breast Cancer in the Chinese Population: An Updated Meta-Analysis. Journal of breast cancer. 2014;17(2):149-156.
- Armbruster D, Mueller A, Strobel A, Lesch KP, Brocke B, Kirschbaum C. Children under stress – COMT genotype and stressful life events predict cortisol increase in an acute social stress paradigm. The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology. 2012;15(9):1229-1239.
- Fitzgerald KN, Hodges R, Hanes D, et al. Potential reversal of epigenetic age using a diet and lifestyle intervention: a pilot randomized clinical trial. Aging. 2021;13(7):9419-9432.
- Fitzgerald KN, Campbell T, Makarem S, Hodges R. Potential reversal of biological age in women following an 8-week methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle program: a case series. Aging. 2023;15(6):1833-1839.
- Balan E, Decottignies A, Deldicque L. Physical Activity and Nutrition: Two Promising Strategies for Telomere Maintenance? Nutrients. 2018;10(12).
- Bastos P, Araujo JR, Azevedo I, et al. Effect of a natural mineral-rich water on catechol-O-methyltransferase function. Magnes Res. 2014;27(3):131-41.
