loader from loading.io

Epigenetics – the Meeting Point between Genetics and Nutrition

The Ironman Executive

Release Date: 11/22/2017

Getting Back on Track: Why Medications May No Bet a Good Idea show art Getting Back on Track: Why Medications May No Bet a Good Idea

The Ironman Executive

Our guest for the week is Hyla Cass, an integrative psychiatrist practiced in the field even before the term was coined. Her 25-year long practice is marked by the non-drug, natural system boosting approach, which landed her the nation-wide acclaim along with numerous awards. She is here to talk to us about the subversive effects of medications, the systems approach to medicine, as well as about enhancing our cognitive performance. Side-effect Are Still Effects Stuffing oneself with medication rarely comes without the so-called side-effects. What is important to realize, however, is that the...

info_outline
Epigenetics – the Meeting Point between Genetics and Nutrition show art Epigenetics – the Meeting Point between Genetics and Nutrition

The Ironman Executive

Our guest for the week is Dr. Lucia Aronica, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford Cancer Center and an expert on epigenetic medicine. Her main focus revolves around genomics of nutrition, that is, the correlation between diet and the changes in epigenetic landscape. Holding a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Dr. Aronica has spent the last decade researching the influence lifestyle has on our genomes. Her endeavors landed her not just a few recognitions, Marie Curie Global Fellowship Award being one of them. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on food, diet, as well as sheds some light on the...

info_outline
New Studies in Longevity and Age Extension show art New Studies in Longevity and Age Extension

The Ironman Executive

Aaron Traywick is the founder at Ascendance Biomedical where they focus on helping people get the treatments and care they need to save their lives. They also specialize in helping fund and facilitate research by taking initial studies off shore before bringing the data back to the FDA. Learn more about this process as well as two studies they're currently working on. He shares some of the results they're seeing and potential for the industry with this particular treatment for longevity and life extension overall. Enrollment is currently open for trials to test “Bucky-balls” (also known as...

info_outline
Daniel Schmachtenberger - Systems Approach to Your Health, Wellness and Business show art Daniel Schmachtenberger - Systems Approach to Your Health, Wellness and Business

The Ironman Executive

Daniel Schmachtenberger enlightens us on how to use a science systems approach to our health, wellness and business. Listen in on how human behavior affects the systems we function in every day - economic, social, political and how we can make these systems stronger and more resilient by changing the human body's systems.

info_outline
The Epigenetics of Well-Being With Dr. Steven Cole show art The Epigenetics of Well-Being With Dr. Steven Cole

The Ironman Executive

Dr. Steven Cole is the Director the UCLA Social Genomics Laboratory. He has been pioneering human social genomics as a Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the UCLA School of Medicine. Dr. Cole’s studies have concentrated on Genomics and computational bioinformatics to map the biological pathways by which social environments affect gene expression by viral cancer and immune cell genomes.   Epigenetics of Wellbeing Biological effects of stress Our bodies are not built to be stressed out and miserable all of the time. We are only capable of handling stress in...

info_outline
Genetics and Genomics - How They Relate to Dietary Patterns show art Genetics and Genomics - How They Relate to Dietary Patterns

The Ironman Executive

With today's guest Nicola Pirastu we learn the difference between several common genetic terms, how your diet choices may or may not be good for your personal health and how your diet can impact your genes and their expressions. Genetics Vs Genomics The terms genetics and genomics sound alike, and they are often used interchangeably. But there are some important distinctions and similarities between genetics and genomics and how they affect our dietary patterns. But firstly, what do they mean? Genetics is the study of heredity, or how the characteristics of living organisms are transmitted...

info_outline
The Father of Gene Therapy Shares What the Future Holds With Genomics show art The Father of Gene Therapy Shares What the Future Holds With Genomics

The Ironman Executive

Pioneer in the world of Gene therapy, Dr. Theodore Friedman shares with us today the exciting future of what gene therapy holds. Listen in as we hear how manipulating certain lacking or misbehaving genes from causing disease has been proven in several types of diseases through clinical experimentation and how it will benefit future generations. We discuss whether or not it will be a solution to all disease. What the census is on how fast it will take or the prediction of genomic therapy within the scientific world. Gain greater awareness of gene modification within the world sport arena...

info_outline
Cracking the Aging Code with Josh Mitteldorf  show art Cracking the Aging Code with Josh Mitteldorf

The Ironman Executive

Welcome back to the Ironman Executive Podcast where today we talk with Josh Mitteldorf, he is both a researcher and science writer. He recently released a book called Cracking the Aging Code which not only transformed my perspectives on aging but will bring awareness and knowledge into your own understanding of aging. Learn the importance of epigenetics in aging as we discuss current research, research that may happen over the short term and long term in the science world in regards to how reversing aging may be possible. Caloric Restriction There is good evidence that suggests caloric...

info_outline
The Link Between Stress & Sleep With Dr. Kelly Olson show art The Link Between Stress & Sleep With Dr. Kelly Olson

The Ironman Executive

Today we’re talking to Dr. Kelly Olson, an expert in the area of neuroscience, stress and sleep. We discuss chronic stress and adrenal fatigue, as well as some promising supplements and treatments to support healthy stress response and better sleep habits. Chronic Stress and Adrenal Fatigue We’re all aware of the negative impacts of stress, how it has a huge impact on aging and can create a low-grade inflammatory response that contributes to a high percentage of illnesses. Of course, there are also positive aspects to some types of stress. Acute stress can provide a benefit, but you need...

info_outline
How to Boost Performance, Attention and Cognition with Audio - Visual Entrainment with Dave Siever show art How to Boost Performance, Attention and Cognition with Audio - Visual Entrainment with Dave Siever

The Ironman Executive

Today we’re talking to Dave Siever, an expert on the topics of neuro feedback and biofeedback. Dave discusses the audio visual entrainment (AVE) device – called the DAVID -- offered through his company Mind Alive, and how it can be used to optimize the brain in many different ways. Audio-Visual Entrainment vs. Audio-Visual Stimulation Dave explains how audio-visual entrainment is different from the audio-visual stimulation you’d get from, for example, watching TV, which doesn’t do much to benefit the brain. AVE, in contrast, provides a continuous stream of stimuli at a fairly steady...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Our guest for the week is Dr. Lucia Aronica, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford Cancer Center and an expert on epigenetic medicine. Her main focus revolves around genomics of nutrition, that is, the correlation between diet and the changes in epigenetic landscape. Holding a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Dr. Aronica has spent the last decade researching the influence lifestyle has on our genomes. Her endeavors landed her not just a few recognitions, Marie Curie Global Fellowship Award being one of them. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on food, diet, as well as sheds some light on the role epigenetics plays in weight loss.

Not All Food Should be Counted as Such

Coming from Italy, pasta and bread were an inseparable part of Dr. Aronica’s early life. But Mediterranean diet, hailed as it is, accounts for much more that the iconic, yet not so healthy duo. This diet holds precedence over typical ‘western’ diets mainly because of the olive oil, which pitted against omega 3 seed oils, strikes a dashing victory in terms of weight and triglycerides loss. The concept of food is also differently conceived in the Mediterranean diet. The quick fixes are not counted as food in Italy, nor should anywhere else: one has to find the time for some cooking.

Nature and Nurture Working Together

The single best way to attain nutritional health is to strike a steady and sustainable balance. Genetics does play a role and, to an extent, predestine the type of diet a person needs. But, it would be false to assume that our lifestyles do not play their role, for it is they that influence the epigenetic image in our cells. The combination of genetics and lifestyle make each of us different and nutritionally unique. Still, there are a few universals, one of which marks a respective correlation between the decrease in carbohydrates and the decrease of triglycerides. The latter in turn has an effect on cardiovascular risks and the amount of bad cholesterol that strikes the arteries. Lowering the carbs, therefore, plays the role in reducing the risk of atherosclerosis.

The Stanford Studies

Dr. Aronica is currently playing a role in one of the largest studies concerning weight loss. It is a follow-up to an earlier, Stanford A to Z study, where more than 300 women were subjected to four popular diets, (Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and Ornish) measuring their results after one year. At the surprise of many, the very low-carb Atkins diet came out on top in terms of weight loss, cholesterol, and blood pressure. The new study will be bigger, include both men and women, and explore more thorough results like micro-biome and body composition change, as well as the changes in epigenetic landscape. 

Epigenetics as a Growing Discipline

Gastric bypass patients yielded significant knowledge regarding the epigenetic research. The different epigenetic image and the weight-loss they experienced after the operation proved that the epigenetic markers are potentially reversible, in this case from ones found in obese to those seen in lean people. These markers may also be transmissible to future generations, but further study is needed to see whether sperm incorporates these epigenetic changes. Epigenetics is a growing branch of medicinal science, today even able to predict the risk of type-2 diabetes. But what of tomorrow? The future discoveries are imminent, due to the change in approach. Namely, instead of looking at a few genes or a few hundreds of them, epigenetic researchers, Dr. Aronica among them, are bent towards looking at the entire genome. Also, epigenetic research is determined to explore the DNA in its entirety, including the non-coding regions. It is quite a feat, but the outcomes potentially exceed the effort by a margin.

Resource Links

Dr. Aronica’s Stanford Research profile The Stanford A to Z study The Follow-up Study