Genetic Nutritioneering by Jefferey S. Bland, Ph. D. with Sara H. Benum, M.A.

A SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION IS TAKING place in university and industrial molecular biology laboratories around the world. The results of this revolution will irreversibly change the way medicine is practiced and may result in the extension of both life expectancy and health span, or disease-free years of life. Many scientists have compared this scientific revolution to Darwin's articulation of the theory of evolution, or the quantum theory. This revolution is the Human Genome Project.

Events that are occurring every day in laboratories involved with the Human Genome Project would have been considered science fiction two decades ago. The Human Genome Sequencing Project is the attempt to analyze the nearly six billion pieces of DNA that comprise human inheritance factors. As of 1998 only approximately 2 percent of the human genome has been analyzed, but the amount of information about health and disease patterns is already staggering.

Many people have expressed concern that we might be better off not hearing about the messages locked within our genes. Those messages might tell us how and when we are going to die. Critics of this research project fear that a deterministic and fatalistic view of an individual's future might result. The results achieved by this research to date, however, have led us to the opposite conclusion. Genetic inheritance is merely the template upon which we build our unique life experience. That experience of life, in turn, gives rise to the expression of who we are and how we function.

Genetic Nutritioneering synthesizes the amazing scientific information that describes how diet, lifestyle and environment influence genetic expression and health as we age. Scientists involved with the Human Genome Project and affiliated research are learning that such age-related diseases as heart disease, adult-onset diabetes, arthritis, digestive disorders, loss of mental acuity and certain forms of cancer are not inevitable consequences of aging. They are being recognized, instead, as the results of a poor match between the genetic needs of the individual and the choices he or she makes regarding overall diet, specific nutrient intake, lifestyle and environment.

In reading Genetic Nutritioneering, you will learn not only about breakthroughs in molecular nutrition and genetics, but also about applying this information to your life. The goal of this book is to give you tools you can use every day to reduce your long-range disease risk and increase your energy, vitality and well-being. You can unlock the tremendous potential for good health that is stored within your genes. That potential may not be optimally realized at the present time due to a mismatch between what your genes need and what they are being given.

The work of thousands of scientists and health professionals has contributed to the information in this book. Knowledge and paradigm shifts occur not by the work or insight of a single individual but through the accumulated contributions of many people exploring similar questions from different perspectives. At a certain point in history the implications of this evolving body of knowledge become self-evident, and a cultural transformation occurs with its acceptance (i.e., the paradigm shift). The information contained in Genetic Nutritioneering will positively impact the evolution of our healthcare system.

For years we have been exposed to public health recommendations to reduce our risk factors for heart disease and cancer. Suggestions such as lowering our blood cholesterol, quitting smoking, managing blood pressure, and reducing dietary fat and cholesterol have aimed at preventing heart disease. Unfortunately, though, we all know of people with none of these "risk factors" who have still died of a heart attack. Similarly to prevent cancer we are advised to eat more fiber, stop smoking, stay out of the sun, reduce our dietary fat intake, eat more fruits and vegetables and avoid smoked, cured meats. Yet we know of people who followed these recommendations and got cancer anyway.

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Does this mean all disease is inherited and we can do nothing about it? As we explain in Genetic Nutntioneening, our genetic inheritance does play an important role in defining our risks to most age-related diseases, but healthy aging is even more controlled by how we communicate with our genes through our diet and lifestyle. Improving health as we age depends not just on the better delivery of general health messages, but also on the application of these recommendations for the needs of specific individuals as determined by the strengths and weaknesses of their own genetic inheritance.

Genetic Nutritioneering puts you in charge of your own health program. It accesses the medical and nutrition information emerging from the Human Genome Project to enable you to communicate with your healthcare providers to encourage the delivery of services tailored to your particular needs.

We are witnessing a renaissance in thinking about health and disease that is comparable to the great periods of cultural evolution in human history, and we can apply this information to our health needs today. It is a time of amazing paradox. On the one hand, we have developed a managed care medical system that delivers less and less care and contributes to the existence of an increasing group of medically disadvantaged patients. On the other hand, a new medical paradigm built upon the discoveries of molecular biology is opening up remarkable new ways to keep people healthy all through their lives. This opportunity, which is shared by healthcare consumers and doctors alike, is the focus of this book.

* Source: Introduction from Genetic Nutritioneering by Jeffery S. Bland, Ph. D. with Sara H. Benum, M.A.