expressed by signs and symptoms, of something in the body that has
gone wrong. Heart disease, for example, begins many years or
decades before the first sign of its presence appears (the most com-
mon one, unfortunately, being death). For almost all diseases there’s
a buildup of imbalances, and this eventually causes the end-result
diagnosable disease.
Perhaps the most important question you should ask yourself is:
Are there indications of these diseases earlier, in the pre-disease state?
The answer is most definitely, yes! Your body usually tells you when
something is going out of balance. In the case of heart disease, for
example, abnormal blood cholesterol ratios or chronic inflammation,
as discussed in later chapters, could be indications you are at risk.
Both can be assessed through simple blood tests. These signs of dys-
function may exist years before the disease. What about even before
your cholesterol goes askew? It’s well known that men who develop
even moderate amounts of abdominal fat are at much higher risk for
a heart attack. And, symptoms like sleepiness and intestinal bloating
after meals begin long before the fat begins showing up on the
abdomen. Even early clues such as being overfat in childhood, and
even birth weight, may be predictive.
Diet and Genes
The maturing field of genetics is showing us what many clinicians
have suspected for years — foods can immediately influence the
genetic blueprint. This information helps us better understand that
genes are under our control and not something we must obey.
Consider identical twins, both individuals are given the same
genes. In mid-life, one twin develops cancer, and the other lives a long
healthy life without cancer. Aspecific gene instructed one twin to
develop cancer, but in the other the same gene did not initiate the dis-
ease. One possibility is that the healthy twin had a diet that turned off
the cancer gene — the same gene that instructed the other person to
get sick. For many years, scientists have recognized other environ-
mental factors, such as chemical toxins (tobacco for example), can
contribute to cancer through their actions on genes. The notion that
food has a specific influence on gene expression is relatively new.
From the moment of conception, the genes our parents give us
provide continuous molecular instructions to cells and tissues, and
ASSESSING FUNCTION AND PREVENTING DISEASE • 21