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

274 Pages·2005·1.57 MB·english

by  Jack Challem

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Feed Your
Genes Right
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Feed Your
Genes Right
Eat to Turn Off Disease-Causing Genes
and Slow Down Aging
Jack Challem
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Copyright © 2005 by Jack Challem.All rights reserved
Published by John Wiley & Sons,Inc.,Hoboken,New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Challem,Jack.
Feed your genes right :eat to turn off disease-causing genes and slow down aging /
Jack Challem.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-471-47986-1
1.Nutrition–Genetic aspects.2.DNA damage–Prevention.3.Diet in disease.I.Title.
QP143.7.C48 2005
613.2–dc22
2004024636
Printed in the United States of America
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I dedicate this book to DeWitt Garrett,who first taught me
about the health benefits of vitamins and nutrition.
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C O N T E N T S
Foreword by Kilmer S. McCully, M.D. ix
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xvii
PART I The Nutrition-Gene Connection 1
1 Your Genes Depend on Good Nutrition 3
2 DNA Damage,Aging,and Disease 11
3 Conflicts between Ancient Genes and Modern Foods 27
PART II Gene-Enhancing Nutritional Supplements 39
4 Nutrients That Enhance Energy and Prevent
DNA Damage 41
5 Nutrients That Make and Repair DNA 57
6 Nutrients That Protect DNA from Damage 68
PART III Gene-Enhancing Eating Plans 91
7 Dietary Guidelines for Feeding Your Genes Right 93
8 Recipes,Menu Plans,and Guidelines for Eating Out 117
PART IV Nutrition Plans for Protecting and
Enhancing Your Genes 139
9 Stress,Genes,and Nutrition 141
10 Nutritional Recommendations for
Specific Diseases,A to Z 153
Afterword 209
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CONTENTS
Appendix A Genetic and Nutrition Testing 211
Appendix B Resources for Supplements, Food, and
Additional Information 217
Selected References 225
Index 243
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F O R E W O R D
T
he study of DNA in heredity and disease has led to a great many
heady scientific discoveries and,ironically,to some humbling acknowl-
edgments of ancient medical wisdom.
Scientists discovered nucleic acids, the general chemical building
blocks of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and genes,in the 1890s.Within
several decades, biochemists and biologists had gained an impressive
understanding of how nucleic acids were involved in heredity,and by
1950 experiments with bacteria had proven that DNA transmits inher-
ited traits from one generation to the next.
Perhaps the single most dramatic event to ignite the imagination
and enthusiasm of biologists was the 1953 discovery by James Watson
and Francis Crick of the double-helix structure of DNA. All that
remained,or so it seemed at the time,was to decipher and describe the
genetic code in terms of its four-letter chemical alphabet.
But unraveling the details of DNA and its role in health and disease
has turned out to be a far more complex and,at times,vexing process.
As it turned out, the new millennium coincided with the complete
decoding of the human genome,and this catalog of all human genes has
led to many new insights into the function of DNA.Unfortunately,the
promise of turning these discoveries into practical ways of preventing
and treating disease has so far been disappointing.Cardiovascular dis-
eases remain the leading cause of death in the United States and most
of the developed world,while the scourge of cancer continues to take
its relentless toll despite minor advances in treatment and prevention.
Gene therapy has proven dangerous and difficult and has had few sig-
nificant successes.Despite our current understanding of cancer-causing
oncogenes and the details of how genes function, researchers have
devised few new and effective therapies for cancer patients.
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