Are you turning into your Parents? 😱 Genetics, Introjection & Epigenetics

Do you feel like you are becoming more like your parents each day?

Don't worry, you're not alone.

According to a recent survey, the average son feels like he starts turning into his father at age 37. And more than two-thirds of men say they feel more like their father every single year!

After just experiencing our third annual “Father - Son” weekend with my Dad, I can tell you with 100% certainty that I am becoming more like him! I see it in the mirror and in my actions every day. For years now, my family has been saying, "You're just like your Dad" with so many things. I'm not ashamed, because my dad is a pretty special person. However, I never thought that I would see the day that I would become my own father.

I shared my insights with several of our friends (men and women) and every one of them are noticing, in some respect or another, the same thing in their lives. So, what’s the deal?

While we can’t stop time, either for ourselves or our parents, I’d like to share some thoughts on family genetics, and physical & mental health.

We can help our parents and ourselves prepare for the future by staying alert and watching several important health trends. You’ll be glad you did, and you may even have some fun along the way.

Before we get started, many of you were motivated after reading last week’s newsletter, “Don’t give up on your Personal Health Goals”, and we had a lot of discussion about it in the office. If you missed it, you can use this link, Here.

Today, let’s find out how genetics and heritage affect our families, and why we often tend to take on our parents characteristics.

Are you turning into your Mom or Dad? 🤪

Have you ever seen those Progressive Insurance commercials that make fun of “Turning into your Parent”?

If not, do you find yourself clapping at the end of a film? (“No one who made the movie is around”)

Do you tell anyone who will listen about your morning? (“You woke up early, etc….. no one cares”)

Do you find yourself commenting on someone’s blue hair or strange appearance? (“We all see it. We all see it.”)

Do you find yourself fixing the placement of pillows on the couch? (“If you have nowhere to sit, you have too many”) 🤣

Well, it’s not your fault… It’s the work of Introjection!

WHAT is INTROJECTION?

Introjection is the phenomenon of humans absorbing the attitudes, values or traits of the people they spend the most time with.

Even if you don’t spend a lot of time with your parents these days, parental introjection is the absorption of the traits of the adults we were around “first” and most frequently.

Behavioral scientists and psychology researchers have found that there are several common experiences that trigger people to reflect adulthood traits displayed by their parents; from having children, experiencing deep personal loss, to buying their first home.

Behaving like your parent can be alarming when you don’t realize it and someone brings it to your attention. You may love your mom, or your dad, but may not be in a hurry to turn into them.

This is something we’re all going to do no matter what — and whether or not you want to admit it, everyone is going to take a phrase or a habit from their parents, whether they like it or not.

It’s normal to reflect your parents attitudes, values or traits. They raised you the very best they could, with the best of intentions. Now, whether you want to follow in their footsteps is a choice you can make.

I’m not a psychologist (and prefer to focus on the body and health), but a good humorous way to start looking at yourself in the mirror and how you may be reflecting your parents, would to be to read “Dr. Rick Will See You Now”; use this link, Here. Enjoy 🤣

GENETICS

Okay, here’s where I can help you the most! I can share research on family genetics and how your individual body can or may respond.

It is important to understand the basic laws of inheritance to appreciate how conditions are passed on in a family. An accurate family health history is a valuable tool to illustrate how conditions are passed down through generations.

A person has two copies of almost every gene, one copy from mom and one copy from dad. Scientists have studied human genes to learn how they normally work and how changes in genes can change how they work. Some changes are very minor and do not affect the way a gene works. These changes are often called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, pronounced “snips”) or gene variants. Other changes, called mutations, affect how a gene works and can lead to disease.

For some conditions, family members with the same mutation may not have the same symptoms. For other conditions, individuals with different mutations can have similar characteristics. This is because gene expression is influenced by genes, as well as by the environment.

To read more about inheritance patterns, you can read more, here.

Scientists estimate that each of us carries between 5 and 50 mutations that carry some risk for disease or disability. Some of us may not experience negative consequences from the mutations we carry, either because we do not live long enough for it to happen or because we may not be exposed to the relevant environmental triggers. The reality, however, is that the potential for negative consequences from our genes exists for each of us.

The answer to a long healthy life is this; you are born with a set of genomes and it’s up to you to create the best possible environment or lifestyle for your body to live in so that your genes can express themselves in the healthiest way possible!

To accomplish this, we need to understand the term Epigenetics!

What is EPIGENETICS?

Your genes play an important role in your health, but so do your behaviors and environment, such as what you eat and how physically active you are. Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible and do not change your DNA sequence, but they can change how your body reads a DNA sequence.

Gene expression refers to how often or when proteins are created from the instructions within your genes. While genetic changes can alter which protein is made, epigenetic changes affect gene expression to turn genes “on” and “off.” Since your environment and behaviors, such as diet and exercise, can result in epigenetic changes, it is easy to see the connection between your genes and your behaviors and environment.

To learn more on how Epigenetics work and how they change during your lifetime, the CDC has published a simplified explanation you can read, here.

Your Epigenetics change as you age, both as part of normal development and aging and in response to your behaviors and environment.

Not all epigenetic changes are permanent. Some epigenetic changes can be added or removed in response to changes in behavior or environment. For example, smokers can heal themselves by quitting smoking depending on how long and how much someone smoked before quitting.

HOW CAN EPIGENETICS HELP YOU NOW?

Is pre-disposition predestined? The answer is no.

Epigenetics has proven that our behavior can influence which of our genes are turned on or off. This has been one of the biggest breakthroughs in medicine. Most people tend to attribute far too much power to their genes. I’ve seen thousands of patients who have blamed genetics for their ailments and diseases, however it is your lifestyle washing over your genes that determines who you are in any moment. What you eat, how you move, how you restore your system, along with your thoughts, feelings and social connections, regulate your genes. Those genes end up creating the expression of who you are and how you are. You can turn on genes that create health or disease, weight gain or weight loss.

Some genes can predispose you to obesity, type 2 diabetes or heart disease. But predisposition is not predestined. Ninety percent of our current health is controlled by the environment in which we bathe our genes – the food we eat, our exercise regimen, our resilience in the face of stress and our exposure to environmental toxins. You don’t have to sit back and accept that you’re doomed to become fat and sick.

If you’d like to read more scientific detail about Epigenetics across the human lifespan and environmental factors that influence human health, feel free to dig deeper by reading this article on the National Library of Medicine, here and a Pub Med article found, Here.

If you are pregnant, a parent, or thinking about becoming one, please read this Harvard article “Epigenetics and Child Development: How Children’s Experiences Affect Their Genes”, found Here.

For those of you feeling sick and tired of feeling, “sick and tired”, I can help you! Make an appointment and we can talk about your genes and the role of the microbiome in your health and its effects on your genes. We will discuss:

• What foods are good for your microbiome

• Healthy fats and how fat can become dangerous

• How your lifestyle is affecting your gene expression

• The importance of social interaction

• How meditation and breath-work can make you healthier

Thanks to Epigenetics, you actually have a say in your health and you can create optimal health with the power of food and lifestyle.

THE BOTTOM LINE

"The doctor of the future will no longer treat the human frame with drugs, but rather will cure and prevent disease with nutrition.” ―Thomas Edison”

“As long as you’re alive, you have more power than you could ever imagine.”

So back to where we started…..

Am I turning into my parents?

Yes, and No.

Do I have a choice? Yes

It’s all on me and my choices; thanks to Epigenetics!

For the past several decades genetics has been at the forefront in terms of understanding human health and disease. A recent addition to genetics has been epigenetics, which includes the role of the environment, both social and natural, including day-to-day habits, lifestyle and personal experiences on human health.

Epigenetics establishes a scientific basis for how external factors and the environment can shape an individual both physically and mentally.

The knowledge that environment and lifestyle can alter health brings with it awareness that habits, social environment, diet and other factors shape health beyond our acquired genetic traits.

Despite the risk presented by inherited genes and mutations, epigenetic factors play a decisive role in the actual development of disease.

Epigenetics gives us insights into how factors like diet and exercise can be customized to an individual in concordance with their naturally inherited genome in order to minimize the risk of developing a disease to which he/she is naturally predisposed.

I can help you use today’s Epigenetic research to improve your current health challenges. Together, we can maximize your health and potential.

Make a point to come see me so I can help you!

To make an appointment with me use this link: HERE

Or, you can give me a call at (973) 210-3838

I want to hear from you! Are you familiar and using Epigenetics to improve your health? Did you find this newsletter helpful?

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We bring tools such as these to you, our patients, by using proven cutting-edge therapies to extend the health-span, life-span and years of health for everyone (no matter their age)!