Feed Your Genes Right: Eat to Turn Off Disease-Causing Genes and Slow Down Aging - Hardcover

Challem, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471479861 ISBN 13: 9780471479864

Publisher: Trade Paper Press, 2005

Synopsis

In Feed Your Genes Right, renowned nutrition expert Jack Challem translates the hugely exciting science of nutrigenomics--which explores the link between nutrition and our own DNA--into practical eating plans and nutritional supplement recommendations for maximizing one's genetic inheritance, slowing the aging process, and reducing the chances of disease. After describing how food and nutrients can help repair flawed or damaged genes, Challem offers specific plans--complete with delicious carb-smart recipes--that target two dozen common or inherited diseases and conditions, including arthritis, cancer, diabetes, fatigue, gluten intolerance, heart disease, and obesity.

About this title

About the Author

JACK CHALLEM, known as the Nutrition Reporter, publishes a health newsletter by the same name, is a contributing editor for Alternative Medicine, Body & Soul, and Let's Live magazines, and is the co-author of the bestselling Syndrome X and author of The Inflammation Syndrome. He also writes for many scientific and medical journals, including Medical Hypotheses and Free Radical Biology and Medicine.

From the Back Cover

Praise for FEED YOUR GENES RIGHT

"Feed Your Genes Right puts the complicated issue of nature versus nurture firmly to rest at last. Nutrition plays a crucial role in how our genes express themselves, and in this book Jack Challem clearly shows us nutritional guidelines for how we can make the most of our genes for better health and longevity."
—Fred Pescatore, M.D., author of the bestselling The Hamptons Diet

"This book is a must-read for anyone who has a family history of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, or other common ailments."
—Dr. Earl Mindell, author of Earl Mindell's New Vitamin Bible, Earl Mindell's Diet Bible, and Prescription Alternatives

"A fascinating journey that uncovers and explains a whole new realm in the science of diet and healthy eating."
—Jason Theodosakis, M.D., author of The Arthritis Cure

"Jack Challem has once again proven why he is one of the world's premier health and nutrition writers. In Feed Your Genes Right Challem skillfully explains how mismatches between our stone-age genes and the typical western diet underlie virtually all chronic diseases of the 21st century. To correct this mismatch, Challem offers cutting-edge, practical dietary advice throughout the book. Essential reading."
—Loren Cordain, Ph.D., author of The Paleo Diet

How would you like to slow the aging process, reduce your risk of disease, lose weight, look better, and feel great? You can do this and more with Feed Your Genes Right, the breakthrough book from renowned nutrition expert Jack Challem. Drawing on cutting-edge medical research, Challem reveals how, by repairing and protecting your DNA through proper nutrition, you can avoid such common diseases as diabetes, cancer, obesity, and heart disease even if you're genetically predisposed to them. He presents practical, easy-to-follow diet and supplement plans that will help you feed your genes right—setting the stage for a long and healthy life.

From the Inside Flap

Today's medical researchers are exploring the far-reaching roles genes play in determining your risk for disease. Simply put, when your genes do their job properly, you enjoy good health; when they don't function properly, you are at greater risk for heart disease, cancer, and other common diseases. Now, in the groundbreaking Feed Your Genes Right, renowned nutrition expert Jack Challem has taken the latest findings of the emerging science of nutrigenomics—which explores the link between nutrition and our own genes, our own DNA—and translated them into practical eating plans and nutritional supplement recommendations to help you maximize your genetic inheritance, slow the aging process, and avoid diseases to which you may be genetically predisposed. Because you control the nutrients you consume, you can literally feed your genes right and prevent DNA damage while also losing weight, normalizing your blood sugar and insulin levels, and reducing inflammation.

In his reader-friendly and easy-to-understand style, Challem explains how nutrition affects your genes and your risk of disease, regardless of whether you have inherited "good" or "bad" genes. He then gives you a breakthrough nutritional program designed to enhance your DNA function and minimize your risk of common diseases and conditions ranging from arthritis, hypertension, Syndrome X and Alzheimer's to diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and many types of cancer. In Feed Your Genes Right, you'll discover:

• what you should and should not eat
• the disconnects between ancient genes and modern foods
• how the right nutrients can repair flawed or damaged genes
• the specific vitamins and supplements needed for healthy genes
• how to reduce the effects of stress on your genes
• nutritional recommendations for reducing genetic damage that occurs in aging, heart disease, certain inherited diseases, and many other conditions

Complete with easy-to-follow meal plans, delicious low-carb recipes, and guidelines for eating out, Feed Your Genes Right is the only book that lets you start improving your DNA and your health right away—setting the stage for an active, healthy, and long life.

Reviews

Offering an unusual mix of hard science, commonsense nutritional advice and even a handful of recipes, this book counsels readers to take control of their bodies (and, more specifically, their genes) by being knowledgeable about what to feed them. "Nutrients provide the building blocks of genes, and they turn many genes on and off," Challem notes. Therefore, what you eat determines not only your energy level and your belt size, but also your risk of DNA damage and disease. Challem, coauthor of Syndrome X, packs his volume with information on specific genetic conditions and advice on how to avoid or ameliorate them, as well as general tips for healthy living. The text is well organized but full of arduous terminology, particularly the latter half, which details specific diseases and their genotypes. At one point, for example, Challem notes that "people with an inefficient APOE E4 variation of the apoliprotein gene, which is relatively common in some parts of Scandinavia, tend to have higher blood-cholesterol levels and are more likely to suffer a heart attack." Though Challem stuffs his book with facts and makes frequent references to clinical studies, readers may be skeptical of some of his claims. (He asserts, for example, that many of the biochemical problems associated with Down Syndrome "can be circumvented through high-dose vitamin and mineral supplements and thyroid medications, leading to improved intelligence and appearance.") Not all readers will embrace Challem's prescriptions, or his sometimes technical writing, but those interested in the science of healthy living, particularly the nuts and bolts of the body's inner-workings, will find this a fascinating read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Links between genes and disease have become a popular subject of debate in the world of health. The obvious genetic basis of diseases such as cystic fibrosis has been recognized for years, but now there appear to be genetic causes for some cancers, heart disease, and types of diabetes. It also appears that people with genetic predispositions to certain diseases can cut their risks of contracting them if they pursue healthy eating regimens that provide plenty of nutrition and few carbohydrates. Challem calls the best foods "nutrient dense," foods that provide the most vitamins and minerals and the fewest simple sugars. This takes the low-carb diet to a different plane, one that emphasizes the health-giving aspects of food beyond mere consumption of protein. Challem offers specific nutritional advice for sufferers from many sorts of diseases, from prostate cancers to celiac disease to sickle-cell anemia. Proponents of nutritional therapies will find a lot of support here, and Challem's exhaustive bibliography leads the curious reader to basic texts and scientific studies. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Trade Paper Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0471479861
• ISBN 13: 9780471479864
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272