and Epigenetics - You are notdoomed.

(Edible Flowers)

The modification of gene expression

Epigenetics is the study of changes in organisms caused by the modification of gene expression, rather than alteration of the core genetic code itself.

As we will see, the idea that your DNA - your core genetic code - becomes ‘mutated’ (structurally changed) is much rarer than people would have us believe. Far more likely is that something important has happened around (epi-) the DNA (genetics).

And this highlights a fundamental split in two schools of thought on cancer (and indeed many chronic illness). There are those who believe major illnesses stem from genetic changes which are irreversible, and thus the job of medicine is to help people manage the symptoms; and there are those who believe that the changes lie around the genome, and are thus metabolic in nature and can therefore be reversed. The job of medicine is therefore to free the metabolic ‘shakles’, and so cure you.

These beliefs are not polarised by field. It is not the drugs companies who believe in genetic change and the ‘alternative’ field who believe illness is reversible. The Pharmaceutical companies have vast teams of scientists working right now across the globe, looking at ways to reverse the blockages around the DNA.

Also, the situation may not be black or white. Some breast cancers might be caused by genetic change, while others might be the result of genetic blockage. The Truth? We don’t know as much as we think we do!

Epigenetics explained

Your DNA is about 1.8 metres long. But it is infinitesimally fine and is rolled up into a microscopic ball in every nucleus of your 7 trillion cells in your body. The ball is held together by histones, and in turn these histones are linked to the DNA surface by methyl bonds. However, the histones do not cover the whole length of the DNA. If they did, its expression would be completely blocked. Instead, there are gaps in the histone covering, allowing little ‘trains’ to jump on at certain points, read a message, hit the buffers and drop off. The message (a protein) then passes out of the nucleus and tells the cells what to do.

The histones also move – it is how your body regulates itself. One day you might need more of something; another day less.

The histones can, and do, build up over time. Prior to certain illnesses like cancer, increased levels of and amino acid called homocysteine are found in the plasma. And homocysteine is a methylating agent. We also know that homocysteine levels can increase as we age. It is also linked to Alzheimer’s and heart disease. Scientists at Oxford University have produced several studies now showing that certain B vitamins can reduce homocysteine blood levels, even recommending that we each took a B complex a day as we aged. Scientists who understand the microbiome (the gut bacteria) know that various factors (including drugs, antibiotics, infection, poor diet and simply ageing) reduce the diversity and volume of our friends in our gut, and it is they who actually make B vitamins for us from our foods. But I digress.

Another emerging truth is that you are not so much the product of your mother and father's chromosomes as your school biology lesson taught you, but far more a product of your lifestyle and environment; and even your gut bacteria – after all, their DNA outnumbers yours three to one! Recent research has shown that early-acquired gut bacteria can shape your life; that is, until someone gives you an antibiotic, drug or even vaccine.

A study of 12,000 identical twins in Sweden as long ago as 2002 concluded that your genes are not your destiny, and that at least 55% of your 'wellness' or 'illness' was determined by lifestyle and environmental factors. The lead researcher actually said that illness did not run in families; bad habits ran in families, but that anyone could break free of this supposed curse.

It is not surprising, then, to find that the science of epigenetics in 2010 showed that 4 factors that can alter gene expression: poor diet, environmental toxins, stress and hormones, like oestrogen.

Since then, we have learned more: It is now clear that gut bacteria and exercise are another two important regulators.

All in all, The Science of Epigenetics has grown exponentially in recent years and has transformed the way we now think about genomes. It is simply old fashioned to think of them as rigid structures producing consistent messages. The messaging process is flexible, changeable, and capable of manipulation. Scientists currently believe they can either alter the methylation and acetylation process linking the histones to the DNA, by attacking the enzymes that cause the methylation, or by attacking the bonds themselves with a whole new breed of drugs.

The Pharmaceutical companies are working today on drugs that can both ‘Protect’ and ‘Correct’ you.

Bioactive natural compounds have epigenetic benefits

While drug companies work tirelessly preparing drugs that might Protect and Correct you, mother nature has given us a huge diversity of minerals like selenium, iodine, boron, calcium and phosphorus which are all capable of affecting histone bond production and binding.

Hormones released when taking exercise, and compounds produced by gut bacteria can do this too.

  But the most talked about area is that of natural plant compounds like polyphenols, sulforaphanes, anthocyanins and carotenoids that have been repeatedly shown to do the job. Indeed, at the last count, there were more than 65 individual bioactive compounds capable of having positive epigenetic benefits; capable of freeing the message blockages.

Protect and Correct

  In 2012 several research studies conclusively proved that at the heart of cancers lay ‘cancer stem cells’. Researchers claimed that to be 100% true and certainly there were separate studies on cancers such as brain, lung, breast, prostate and multiple myeloma. Scientists at Cancer Research UK even isolated cancer stem cells. Unfortunately there is no drug known today that can kill off a cancer stem cell in a tumour.

  However, also in 2012 came research from the National Cancer Institute in America no less, and a Dr. Young S. Kim to be precise, that once a person had been treated for cancer and was ‘all clear’, a poor diet would cause the cancer stem cells to ‘re-grow’, while a good diet could most definitely prevent this happening. The good lady Doctor even went on to list the most effective natural compounds in those ‘preventative foods’ and say that people ‘could find them in quality supplements’.

Her Her list included sulforaphanes, curcumin, piperine, vitamin E, vitamin A, genestein, theanine and choline, and EGCG from green tea,

Bioactive natural compounds in

There are already 65 bioactive compounds well known to scientists. Here are, arguably, the top 25 Bioactive compounds that fight chronic illness in part using their epigenetic benefits:

Vitamin D (sunshine)
Curcumin (turmeric)
Fish/krill Omega 3 oils
Melatonin
Sulforaphanes
Catchetins (like EGCG in green tea)
Resveratrol
Conjugated Linoleic Acid
Coenzyme Q10
Indole 3 carbinol/DIM
Quercitin
Grape Seed Extract
Modified Citrus Pectin
Pomegranate
Soy/Genistein
Lycopene (tomatoes)
Pterostilbene
Apigenin
Silibinin (in Milk Thistle)
Vitamin E (especially the tocotrienols)
Choline
N-acetylcysteine
Piperine
Anthocyanins (deep purple of beetroot, plums, aubergine)
Coffee Diterpines

Vitamin D has been shown to have significant protective and corrective benefits (see page 34); as has curcumin (see page 35).

Possibly the most interesting are sulforaphanes, a group of phytochemicals found in cruciferous vegetables – greens like cabbage, kale, Brussels Sprouts, sprouting seeds etc. Put epigenetics, sulforaphanes into your Internet search engine and you will find page upon page of research information. For example ‘Demethylation of cyclin-2 by sulforaphanes’ (1)
And headlines such as ‘Sulforaphane causes a major epigenetic repression’. (2)

There are articles about the role of epigenetics in prostate cancer(3) and the corrective effects of sulforaphanes; and the same for breast cancer.(4)

From the abstract of one study(5) comes the following: “Evidence also suggests that sulforaphane may target the epigenetic alterations observed in specific cancers, reversing aberrant changes in gene transcription through mechanisms of histone deacetylase inhibition, global demethylation, and microRNA modulation.”

Frankly, if anybody tells you that foods cannot help you fight cancer, run! They are out of date and they just don’t know their research.

You can find far more on this, and the foods containing bioactive compounds with epigenetic benefits in our book, ‘’.