Why you struggle to relax, get motivated & focus properly!
10 Tips to Get You Back on Track!
Nutrigenomics, the science behind your own personalised DNA report, is how we profile our genome to determine the optimal diet and lifestyle for each individual, reveals many fascinating insights. Firstly, it underscores the fact that we are all inherently unique, shaped by a complex interplay of genes and environment. Environment encompasses various factors, including the people we surround ourselves with – a reminder of the importance of choosing our friends wisely and cherishing those rare, genuine connections.
Moreover, environment extends beyond social circles to encompass geographical location. Living at different altitudes or in varying settings can profoundly impact our bodies. For instance, residing in farmland exposes us to more pesticides, while urban living increases our exposure to EMFs from technologies like Wi-Fi and 5G, as well as carcinogenic by-products from vehicle exhaust.
Importantly, our environment is also an internal landscape, encompassing elements such as gut bacteria and dietary choices. These factors, along with our genes, only account for slightly less than 20% of the overall health picture. Understanding this dynamic interplay highlights the need to consider the entirety of our environment, rather than reducing health to isolated aspects.
By acknowledging the multifaceted nature of our environment, we gain deeper insights into how it influences our well-being. It underscores the importance of holistic approaches to health that consider all aspects of our environment, both external and internal.
Take our personality for example. We might think that we are totally unique, however, there are many predictable aspects of character that are revealed in certain combinations of genes. I can often tell by talking with someone what mutations they have on their genes these days, especially with respect to personality. When we think about the neurotransmitters that shape motivation, excitement or relaxation then these are serotonin (for feeling good and also appetite), dopamine (for motivation and attention), adrenaline (action) and melatonin (for sleep).
Of course, each aspect of behaviour created by neurotransmitters needs to be relevant. If you have just done a big workout in the gym then you will want to feel a rush of dopamine, your reward. That might just keep you coming back for more. When you do something kind, you may feel a rush of serotonin and maybe adrenaline for your pleasure centres and of course when night falls that serotonin gets turned into melatonin so that you can fall asleep effectively and hopefully stay asleep all night long.
Where things go wrong, when our neurotransmitters aren’t working effectively, or at relevant times then we start to behave in ways that can come out as symptoms: These can be anxiety, depression, low mood, difficulty relaxing, feeling just flat without really any spirit, a lack of motivation, jitteriness, frequent waking at night, lethargy or fatigue and even brain fog, difficulty concentrating or memory issues.
The reason these things don’t work is down to a little something called methylation. Methylation is a process in the body that allows the right genes to switch on and switch off at the right time, without that you have biological chaos.
Simply put methylation is the process of adding a carbon atom with three hydrogen atoms attached to it (CH3) to genes, enzymes or molecules to allow them to work properly.
You need to have the right environment for methylation to work properly.
While you may not be able to move geographical location immediately you can certainly eat the right foods and make sure that you move and exercise properly.
The right foods for methylation include:
- Two handfuls of leafy greens every day
- At least one egg a day
- Good quality animal protein, every day. Yes, the human body NEEDS animal protein to be healthy and this is because of the range of B vitamins, essential amino acids, choline and good quality saturated fats in the meat.
- Healthy fats like olive oil (not from a plastic bottle), organic butter and coconut oil.
- Ideally a cup of organic green tea every day.
- Clean filtered drinking water
- Nitrate containing foods like beets or spinach
- A range of different vegetables and herbs every day for antioxidants
- Avoiding processed foods, seed oils/vegetable oils.
- Eat organic and local wherever possible
If you follow this set of recommendations, you will give your body the range of materials it needs to express great health and that will allow your body to create neurotransmitters for your ‘personality’ in appropriate ways and also allow you to detoxify them when they have done their job. You may even find after doing this for 12 weeks that you feel better, happier, you have vitality and your quality of life improves.
If you would like to find out which diet and lifestyle are right for you to alleviate any symptoms you experience or to improve your health then you can book in for a consultation with me for personalised nutrition through my website.
Main – Photo by Andrea Piacquadio
