Good food can beat bad genes: CCMB, NIN, MDRF studies show heredity is not destiny

Hyderabad: For years there has been an unwritten rule! If parents and grandparents had high cholesterol or heart ailments, then you could invariably expect to inherit the same fate. It meant that if your genes were stacked against you, severe health issues were only a matter of time.

However, path-breaking population and nutritional research from multiple Hyderabad-based research agencies and other parts of the country have consistently indicated that for Indians, bad genes, passed on from generation to generation, are not a life sentence.

Pioneering work from premier city-based laboratories has long laid the groundwork for this paradigm shift. Researchers at the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have extensively mapped population genomics and non-coding genetic variations across South Asian groups.

The research by geneticists at CCMB has consistently shown that even if your DNA sets a certain baseline, what actually happens inside your body depends far more on your daily habits like how you eat, move, and live.

In fact, another top research institute in Hyderabad, the ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) has in a separate study highlighted that Indians possess a distinct metabolic phenotype, making our bodies exceptionally responsive to dietary shifts.

NIN’s landmark studies show that simple changes such as cutting down on white rice and refined flour and moving back to traditional, fibre-rich foods, can effectively stop bad genes from acting up, protecting you from the health problems that have traditionally been common in the family.

Apart from CCMB and NIN, another top research group from Chennai has recently published a comprehensive multi-institutional study (PLOS ONE), led by Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (Mdrf) and University of Reading, UK, which provided solid proof that a healthy lifestyle actually works and can beat genetic predispositions.

The research team set out to answer whether good food can protect individuals with a genetic history of chronic ailments in the family. They tracked South Asian adults and found a clear answer. If you eat junk and poor food, your bad genes will kick-in, and your cholesterol shoots up but if you lead a healthy lifestyle, stick to a balanced diet, that risk completely disappears.

In fact, the results showed that for individuals who ate clean, healthy food, there was practically no difference in cholesterol levels between those with ‘bad genes’ and those with ‘good genes’. Simply put, eating junk food triggers your body’s hidden weak spots, while eating clean acts as a solid shield.

Important points:

• Genetics are not final destiny as bad genes from parents are not permanent life sentences for Indians
• Lifestyle matters as it dictates internal biology far more than DNA
• CCMB and NIN research shows South Asian bodies are exceptionally responsive to dietary changes
• Impact of bad genes can be stopped by adopting traditional fiber rich foods
• Major MDRF-University of Reading study proves a healthy lifestyle neutralizes genetic cholesterol risks
• Eating clean acts as a biological shield, erasing cholesterol differences between high and low-risk genetic groups