The Genome Factor: What Food Does Our DNA Need

She can “turn on” and “shut off” the genes that determine facial features, susceptibility to disease, and the level of health. But who gives her the signal—which genes to activate? Epigenetics provides an unexpected answer: it’s food.

We’re used to thinking of food as a set of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates—but that isn’t enough. Food carries information about the environment in which an organism lives. It is what tells the DNA which programs to activate and which to quiet down. A telling example: pigs were fed a diet without vitamin A—and the piglets born to them didn’t develop eyes at all. In other words, the absence of vitamin “informed” the DNA that it was always dark around, and that sight wasn’t needed.

The same thing happens with humans. And yet humankind has endured and adapted. The reason is that in the traditional cuisines of different countries, you can find four nutritional pillars that sustain beauty and health—and help us win in the “genetic lottery.”

In the book:
1) Healthy eating habits—what was in the diets of the most outstanding minds of humanity.
2) Four types of products found in any cuisine in the world.
3) Where is the “switch” of the obesity gene located?
4) How to “design” beautiful, healthy children.
5) The two most risky foods on our table—and what to replace them with.