Is My Illness Genetic?

 
It absolutely amazes me how many people think that their genes are what is making them overweight, covered in pimples with mouths full of crooked teeth, blind without glasses, bogged down by aching joints, and filled with tumors and clogged arteries. This simply isn’t true. We inherit certain things, even flaws and susceptibility to certain ailments, but this is because improper nutrition and lifestyle habits are cumulative. This is one of the reasons why things are getting progressively worse in terms of illness.

Now don’t feel like I’m picking on you if you are one of the gullible ones who have bought into this. No one could’ve bit any harder on this one than I. In college I went so far as to deem myself unfit for reproduction. I thought that because of my severe health problems in childhood that I would have died if left to do so without medical assistance. This is definitely true. My appendix would have exploded and ended the story of Mateo assuming that I wouldn’t have died of an infection or asthma attack prior to that. Plus I couldn’t see three feet in front of face without glasses. Anyways, I thought it immoral and unethical to pass down my faulty “genes” onto the next generation. I envisioned a future with adopted children or none at all. Ahhh college years (when you know the least and think you know the most)!

Then I discovered the known immune-system crushing that is provided by infant formula, which I was raised (or lowered!) on. Then I received what is probably the biggest shock to the immune system that humans ever receive – vaccinations. My immune system might have handled this if I was properly nourished at the time, but I was not, and quickly developed chronic infections, allergies, asthma, etc. The poor eyesight, something that does not run in my family in the slightest, is verifiably attributable to nutritional deficiencies, particularly Vitamin A in fat soluble form – an ever-scarcer nutrient in the American diet.

Through this journey filled with revelations it has become very apparent that genetic flaws are really nonexistent. Not only that, but I’ve discovered that the only way to reverse the downward slide from generation to generation in our society is to interrupt the pattern with an abundance of nourishment, particularly through wholesome foods, cultivated according to nature’s delicate cycles.

From a historical perspective, researcher Weston Price never found a well-nourished primitive person, family, or race in his journeys around the entire planet that were noticeably flawed. Not a single person had a crooked or cavity-ridden tooth in some groups (and no dentists, toothpaste, floss, fluoride, etc.), everyone had excellent vision with no signs of deterioration with age, no one was born with birth defects (including mental retardation – clearly considered to be a genetic flaw nowadays), no one was significantly overweight, no acne, no arthritis, tuberculosis, and so on and so on. You get the point. His conclusion was that physical (as well as mental and even moral) flaws aren’t genetic, but are caused by inherited or adopted nutritional deficiencies. He was able to thoroughly rule out genes as a significant factor for any kind of illness or imperfection

So genetically, you and I and all humans alive with maybe an exceedingly rare exception that I’ve never heard about, have perfect eyesight, great skin, wonderful joints, strong, white, straight teeth, no allergies or asthma, lots of energy and stamina, lean bodies, and have no issues with infertility or degenerative disease. Genetically-speaking, even childbirth is quick and painless. Genetically, we are perfectly designed to function and thrive on this planet. Our ailments are not a practical joke by mother nature. They are merely the side-affect of modern technology and successful capitalism. But as we’ve experienced, the lifestyle choices of our grandparents, parents, and ourselves can easily throw kinks in our genetic makeup.

These kinks that we’ve been handed are reversible – if not for ourselves for future generations, but a quick departure from politically correct nutrition is essential. Don’t give up – thinking that being healthy is far-fetched and hopeless because you’ve tried what others recommend and it didn’t do squat. Just because everyone else is deteriorating and swelling doesn’t mean that you will too and that it’s just bad genes. It might as well be bad unicorns, because neither exists. Eat well, inform and nourish yourself, and join me on the path to rediscovering and repairing the human genetic construct. As always, for more of the world’s best information, visit the Weston A. Price Foundation website. To discover how to incorporate practical, sustainable, nourishing principles into your lifestyle with relative ease, read my latest book, Diet Recovery.