Old superstition: You are at the mercy of your genes.

Fact: You control which genes you turn on of off.

We have moved away from the out dated view that the almighty DNA decided everything about you and your health.  The decades where you were a helpless passenger on this journey called life and that you had no control of your health destiny are over. Science and wellness experts now know better.

Another huge study published in the April issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine stated that carrying the “obesity gene” did not doom you to a life of obesity!  What made the difference you ask? Physical activity turned turn the “obesity gene” off, imagine that.  That is right, we all have genes for many health conditions, ailments or for abundant wellness but it is how we live, how we turn on or turn off those genes that makes us healthy or ill.   Each of us has the ability to turn off genes for diseases from obesity to cancer and heart disease.

“These findings have important public health implications, and indicate that meeting the physical activity recommendations may offset the genetic predisposition to obesity associated with the FTO [gene variant] in adolescents,” said lead researcher Jonatan R. Ruiz, a scientist in physical activity and fitness epidemiology at the Karolinska Institute in Huddinge, Sweden.

What does this mean to you? You aren’t at the mercy of your genes! Whether it is a team sports, playing catch walking, running, football or riding bicycles, the human body was designed to move and move we must.

Many totally negate this fact when they spend hours on the computer, video games watching TV or sitting around. These things literally kill the body faster and add unneeded pounds to our waistline.

So what can you do? Start moving today! Get going! The great news is that it doesn’t take hours of exercise to get the benefit discussed in the study. Burst training for just 12 min can revolutionize your health.  Burst training is interval training that maximizes growth hormone and minimized the stress hormone cortisol.  Ways to burst training can be found on our website www.ithacachiropractic.com under 'wellness' and videos can be found by google searching burst training or stop in the office and ask us about the best ways to get in the shape of your life.