Lifestyle medicine is the most powerful medicine in the universe, so we should pay attention to the style in which we live our lives! We tend to blame our genes (DNA) for our health issues, but in actuality they account for less than one percent of what happens to us. Medical science has come to the conclusion that epigenetics is far more important than our genetics.
It is time to move forward from the outdated "disease care" health model into a new era of true " health care" model!
Living a Healthy Lifestyle
Lifestyle is our most powerful medicine, is safe, and within our control to use. Even our genetic code, DNA, is clearly modifyable through lifestyle practices. Our belief system also has a powerful effect on our health; examples are provided. Phamacological drugs can be lifesaving, but compared to lifestyle medicine they are usually minor players.
Tracking Lifestyle Changes With Our Tools
Lifestyle is our most important prescription for good health. On doctorsaputo.com you can track your progress over time using our unique tracking system on your very own home page. Once you become a member you can follow your lifesytyle changes and your improvement over time of any health care condition you have and see how much healthier you are!
Flawed Genes Account for less than One Percent of All Diseases
According to editorials in August of 2012 from Sayer Ji of GreenMedInfo, and Elizabeth Renter of NaturalSociety, it has been estimated that less than 1% of all diseases are caused by flawed genes! Because the influence of our environment on genes (epigenetics) usually determines the expression of our genes, our lifestyle becomes very important in determining our health. Food, exercise, thoughts, and environmental exposures are all powerful modifyers of genetic expression. We even know that GMO foods can silence certain genes.
In the case of cystic fibrosis, we know that the abnormal folding of DNA can be corrected by a diet that includes cayenne, soy, and turmeric!
Flawed Genes Account For Less Than One Precent of All Diseases
Does Your Attitude Affect Your Genes?
The July issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences posted an article by UCLA and the University of North Carolina showing that different types of happiness have surprisingly different effects on the human genome. Narcissistic happiness, like prolonged stress, causes high levels of inflammation and low antiviral and antibody gene expression. On the other hand, the happiness generated by making someone else happy lowered the level of inflammation and strong expression of antiviral and antibody genes.
It seems that there is a natural selection for those people who give, share, and love rather than those who are hedonic and not particularly interested in the happiness of others.
Does Your Attitude Effect Your Genes?
Lifestyle Modifies Your DNA
The field of epigenetics is exploding. We now know that DNA changes in response to environmental exposures and causes major changes in gene expressivity. It is well known that prostate cancer genes (oncogenes) are turned on and off by diet, exercise, relation, sleep, meditation and more. The work of Dean Ornish, MD on prostate cancer proved this. We now have evidence that eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables can significantly weaken the effect of a gene that increases the risk for heart disease.
Creating Wellness with Nutrition
Lifestyle is the most powerful medicine in the universe, so the style in which you live your life matters! Our diet is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. As Hippocrates said 2500 years ago, "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food."
Our cells are microscopic industrial plants that require the raw materials needed to make energy, enzymes, hormones, structural components of the cell and much more. If we're short any essential nutrient we cannot make products that body needs to do its work. Our diet is crucial if we're going to enjoy good health!
Overview on the Importance of Exercise
Lifestyle is our most potent medicine and exercise is especially important for quality of life and longevity. There is no more powerful anti-aging medicine on the planet! The amount and intensity are important and the value of interval training is discussed. There are a myriad of benefits of exercise that include raising HDL cholesterol, lowering blood pressure, reducing stress and depression, holding weight down, and helping to prevent heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. It is fun and should be done on a daily basis if possible.
Dr. Saputo's Free Health Assessments!
All of the Health Assessments on DoctorSaputo.com have been developed to provide you with integrative and holistic medical information that may help you understand your health condition more fully and share our opinions about possible treatments you may choose to consider with your healthcare practitioner. All of our Health Assessments have been created by Dr. Saputo with the intent of taking just a few minutes of your time and, upon completion, providing instant emailed information in short audio and video files that are specifically related to your unique health condition as determined by the way you answered our simple questions.
All Health Assessments on DoctorSaputo.com are only intended to provide information to consider with your healthcare practitioner and are not intended to diagnose or treat any health condition.
Exercise Health Assessment
When you take our Exercise Health Assessment you'll answer questions about how much exercise you do, how intense it is, what your physical limitations might be, if you have an illness that can be helped by exercise, and coached (if you want) about nutritional supplementation.
While is is very important to consume the raw materials in our diet to produce sufficient energy (ATP) to be able to exercise, there are also particular nutrients that are important in enhancing athletic performance that can be obtained in special diets or with supplemetation. For optimal performance in sport it is important to prepare physically, biochemically, mentally and emotionally.
Lifestyle Health Assessment
Lifestyle is our most powerful medicine, is safe, and within our control to use. Even our genetic code, DNA, is clearly modifyable through lifestyle practices. Our belief system also has a powerful effect on our health; examples are provided. Phamacological drugs can be lifesaving, but compared to lifestyle medicine they are usually minor players.
Dr. Saputo's Lifestyle Health Assessment asks you about your diet, exercise, stress, sleep, weight, exposure to toxins, and meaningful purpose in your life. He will help you understand more about what you can do using lifestyle strategies to maintain optimal health.
Take our Lifestyle Health Assessment
Wellness Buffer
The "wellness buffer" is a range in a spectrum between ideal / perfect health and when the symptoms of disease begin. It takes loss of considerable reserve function before health deteriorates to the point where you first develop symptoms. We should all be working hard to preserve this buffer between perfect functionability and where dysfunctionality begins to become apparent. Unfortunately we've been convinced by the business of health care to wait until we get sick before we take action to preserve our wellness.
Dr. Len's health clinic
Immune system boosting meditations and Qigong exercises