Obesity is NOT from Genetics

Dr. Sal [00:00:00]:

Genes only plays about 5% of obesity in America. Now what that means let's take a 100 obese children, only 5 of them may have a genetic issue or defects how do you explain the other 95% or 95 children that are obese? Welcome to the HealthQuest podcast. Your guide to god's will for your good health. Hello. My name is Doctor Sal, and I've been a practicing surgeon for well over 30 years. And my goal for each episode is that you'll be able to have your mind transformed to god's design for your health and hopefully affect the way you eat and the way you live. If you're new here, we release a new episode every week. And if you enjoy the content, would you please leave us a good review? It really helps our ratings and allows our show to reach more people to help them improve their way of life.

Dr. Sal [00:01:09]:

We thank you for your support. And on today's podcast, we're gonna talk about genetics. So let's dive right into today's health quest. Today's health class is really it's not your genetics. So often, I would go up to my patients and I would ask them You know, how did you come to being £315 at 5 foot 2? And, of course, a lot of my patients were very open with me, but some of these patients of mine would say, well, my doctor said it's my genetics. Well, you being my patient, and you having a family physician who referred you now makes you a mutual patient. And you gotta be careful because we physicians talk out our patients, especially when we have some questions. And it's important for us to do that because this way we can communicate really the necessary information of what's happening so that we could treat you better.

Dr. Sal [00:02:16]:

So what I would go up and talk to your doctor and say, well, Doctor Jones, I talked to Missus Smith and, you know, I asked her the question why she was so overweight feet. And she told me that you said it was her genetics. And invariably, 99.9% the time, your doctor will come up to me and say, I never said that. In fact, I told her she needed to go on a diet and start sizing. And so when you tell me it's genetics, well, folks, what we know today is that the rapidest and magnitudeed the obesity epidemic outpaced the timeline required for genetic for genetic changes. And there was a covariance structured analysis study that was done in 2002, and that suggested that obesity is rarely a genetic destiny. And that was by Doctor Siegel in 2002, Doctor Citi promoting environment. So what all what this all means is that it's not your genetics, but your epigenetic interaction that leads to your physical built.

Dr. Sal [00:03:22]:

Now you're saying, okay. Well, isn't that genetics? No. It's not. So what is epigenetics? Well, epigenetics is the science of living DNA. You know, many many of you may have seen a picture of a DNA looks like a twisted ladder. but that's just dead DNA. That's just protein tissue. That's all it is.

Dr. Sal [00:03:46]:

It is really the study of how our behaviors and our interaction with the environment to particularly how we eat that can cause changes that affect the way our genes hardware, and the epigenome is the software. So it's almost like saying, well, my computer has this kind of power and has this kind of storage capacity City. That's your hard drive, you know, and with it, you could do anything that you wanna do with it depending on the information that you download or software that you use to download onto that computer. So the epigenome does not change the DNA sequence. Your DNA sequence is always the same. In fact, folks this is an interesting fact. Every single one of us has the same DNA sequence every human being. Now you're gonna say, well, if that's the case, how come we don't look the same? Very simple.

Dr. Sal [00:04:50]:

I have green eyes, but I have the DNA for blue eyes, and I have the DNA for brown eyes. Fascinating. But just so happens that my epigenome that controls the DNA told my DNA to make the type of protein that gives green eyes, and that's the way that now pretty much that is how a lot of this information is carried down from our parents. So the epigenome can change how your body reads that DNA sequence. And that's what I was saying is that you've got all the different types of eye colors but the epigenome tells the DNA, this is what you have to read. This is the protein you have to make. So epi in Greek actually means over and above. And, of course, the genome means the gene.

Dr. Sal [00:05:39]:

So over and above the genes, The epigenome is really built around the DNA itself. So that's what really controls your DNA. Gene expression is a term that we use and refers to how often or when proteins are created from the instructions given to the genes. epigenetic changes affect gene expression. So it could either turn genes on or it could turn genes off. Okay. Environment, your behavior, diet, x ercise can result in epigenetic changes. This is amazing.

Dr. Sal [00:06:26]:

Now this is the kind of stuff that brings me closer to god because of the fact that god is brilliant. It's a raising how god created us and all of his creation, whether they're birds and fish, trees, plants, vegetation, all it and and and, you know, you say, well, what about evolution? Well, you gotta understand what the term means because tell you something right now. The bottom line is is that like Albert Einstein said, there is no way that all this organization coulda came out of chaos. There had to be a hand that controlled all this. I mean, a lot of people, there were some people that made a remark about me saying, you know, While you're a little bit too scientific or your terminology is a little bit more difficult to understand, folks, if you take a look at the research that I do in this stuff, when you take a look at how all of this stuff works, it just keeps going on and on and on the biochemistry and the chemical reactions. Like I said, The snap of a finger, one cell, it was a 100,000 reactions that just took place in one of my cells, and I made up of a 100,000,000,000,000 you do the math on that. That's what's happening. You're seeing me as a figure.

Dr. Sal [00:07:45]:

You're hearing my voice. You're looking at the colors of my shirt. Let me tell you something. There's all this stuff that's happening in your body that you don't even realize. And so that kind of control got basically built in our body. So let's let's go back to the, I I mean, I get I get so impressed with how god made us. I mean, it's just amazing. But the epigenome are really proteins called histones.

Dr. Sal [00:08:14]:

And what it looks like is like 8 8 pingpong balls. Think of 8 pingpong balls kinda clump together. And then they have these little tails that project from this cluster. Now the DNA in remember we said it's like a twisted ladder starts to wrap around these histones, creating repeated units that look like beads and a string. Okay? And these are called nucleosomes. Altogether, the DNA and histone proteins are called chromatin. So when we talk about DNA, we're gonna learn something here today, folks. That's half.

Dr. Sal [00:08:52]:

of your genetic makeup. You've got these histone proteins and all these tails and all these their molecules, and it all wraps around, you know, the DNA wrap around it. And it they just look like clusters. Now you gotta remember, like, a bead on a string. Okay? k? And this is what we call chromatin. So really, it's your chromatin. So when these beads on a ring are wound tightly together. The DNA so picture the DNA is that string in between the the beads.

Dr. Sal [00:09:26]:

So when it's wound tightly and the and the histones are close to each other, then the DNA is not exposed and the genes are turned off and gene expression or protein production cannot occur. When the beads on the string are opened up or they're stretched out. Now the DNA in between is exposed and the genes can now get turned on or expressed in proteins can be made. Fascinating. So what causes beads on the string to wind or unwind. It's the electromagnetic charges created on the histones that causes them to attract or repel each other. And these charges can be modified by adding or taking away specific chemical groups. And there's a bunch of chemicals like the methyl groups, acetyl groups, phosph risk groups, right, ribosylated groups, ubiquination.

Dr. Sal [00:10:28]:

So these are fancy terms, and these are basically carbon molecules with hydrogen Adams attached to the carbon. And and some of them has phosphorus or just the phosphorus group. they could attach to these tails. They could attach to the histones, or they can even attach to the DNA. So there are 3 types of epigenetic changes. And the first one is the and A methylation. So a methyl group, which is a carbon atom with 3 hydrogens attached, get added as a chemical to the DNA, almost like a lollipop or stop sign that that kinda like the lollipop in the stick or stop sign goes to a specific part of the DNA ladder, and it now prevents the DNA from being read. So it turns to DNA off.

Dr. Sal [00:11:19]:

And so no protein could be made. Now you're saying what what kind of protein are you talking about? Protein could be a hormone. It could be a neurotransmitter. that the neurologic system uses. It could you it could be a structural protein to help make part of the cell or make muscle or make bone. It could it could, that protein could be an enzyme which catalyzes or helps to facilitate a chemical reaction. Okay? Now if you remove that molecule, you remove that methyl group from the DNA, now it actually can allow the DNA to be red, and then you can actually produce. So these methyl groups or these little lollipops can go on the DNA and turn them on or turn them off, shut down protein production or turn on protein production.

Dr. Sal [00:12:10]:

And some of these enzymes could be used to either make fat or break down fat. Interesting. depending on what you put into your body. Now the other histone modification is where the chemical groups, we talked about earlier the methyl group, the acetyl group, the, phosphorylated groups, they bind to the histone tails, and then they modify their charges that then can open up the DNA and expose it to be expressed, or it could close it to turn it off. The other epigenetic modification is a non coding RNA. Now the DNA when it opens up and it acts as a template and RNA comes in and makes a copy of that template, breaks off from that DNA, the DNA then closes and shuts down. And that RNA now goes out into the cell, and it starts to pull the proteins together to start actuating the protein. So the DNA is used as a template to make this coding RNA, but it also makes a non coding RNA.

Dr. Sal [00:13:19]:

Now what is that? Well, you have, the coding which forms the protein. So you got this RNA that makes this protein. Well, the DNA can now, depending on how it's controlled, makes a non code RNA, which binds to the coding RNA and prevents the protein, production. So we realize that the epigenome is what controls the genes. And this also happens during fetal development. You got the epigenome that turns on or turns the genes off at specific times of the development. So in the study of embryology is studying how, you know, from the time of conception to the time of birth, how the fetus is actually developing in the uterus. And it's fascinating because the epigenome is what turns on the gene to say, okay.

Dr. Sal [00:14:19]:

time to make the arms. It's time to make the feet. It's time to make the liver. It's time to make the the kidney. So they all happen at different times of development in the 10 months or the 40 weeks that the mother is carrying you. That's a miracle, folks. That is a miracle in and of itself. It's a miracle how god put these mechanisms in our bodies to work that way.

Dr. Sal [00:14:43]:

And you have to understand something. This can be altered by what the mother eats or the chemicals that she's exposed to or even malnutrition effects. For instance, years ago, there was a, medication called thalidomide And for women that were having difficulty with miscarriages, they gave you thalidomide, which would then prevent you from miscarrying, and you would cure the child through and be able to deliver it like a normal delivery. The problem was is these children were born with no arms or no legs or part of an arm or the hand would be attached to the shoulder so they had no arm. And you had a bunch of deformed babies because of this chemical that supposedly was preventing the miscarriage but was affecting the epigenome and the way it was directing the genes to make the body parts. Okay? being exposed to chemotherapy or radiation or what we talked about in one of our previous, podcast, these chemicals that we're being exposed to in the form of pesticides, industrial pollutants and so forth and these can also affect the differentiation and the proliferation. And these are terms that we mean the making of fat cells in the fetus. And that could also happen during times of famine.

Dr. Sal [00:16:19]:

there were studies that were done, during the world wars. How some of these people or these children that were born during time period develop certain diseases later on in life, like 40, 50 years after they were born. And then they're starting to show now that it goes back to the time of what their mothers were suffering from during these wars. Being exposed to other chemicals, for instance, like radiation chemotherapy, the bombs of Nagasaki and and Hiroshima during World War 2. all these chemicals that were being exposed do now, they're showing actually increase the production of fat cells during fetal development. So we're actually being born with more fat cells with these that are in our environment. Also, they noted mothers that went through the wars that, were malnourished. The children that were born from these mothers 40, 50 years later developed all these other diseases, and they're attributing it to the malnutrition during the pregnancy.

Dr. Sal [00:17:26]:

So the other, adding factor to that is what the baby eats in the 1st few years of the baby's life. Remember, processed foods versus home cooked meals. Right? Go off and we buy this package stuff that has chemicals in them. anytime you process something, you're you know, adulterating it, you're altering its nutritional value in how the body breaks it down and processes it. and also always going back there and taking a sentimental journey back to the microbiome, right, the gut bacteria. because the gut bacteria becomes very important and it starts at the time of birth, vaginal births versus c sections. Sasirians. As the child is going down the birth canal, it's taking in bacteria that actually then gets stored in the intestines which is actually beneficial for the child and they're getting the good bacteria versus a child that's born.

Dr. Sal [00:18:27]:

So Syrian, which bypasses that birth canal and now doesn't get those bacteria. Now I've heard some nurses playing like, oh, what are we taking a swab off the, you know, the birth canal and we're putting it in the baby's mouth so they can that's stupid. I'm like, you don't even know what that's about. I mean, people make these remarks sometimes. It's like, well, if it doesn't hurt you and it can benefit you, why not do it? breast milk, the human milk oligosaccharides. Okay. Those are the fibers that act helped. Those are the, the prebiotics, which actually helped a good bacteria to grow in the intestinal lining So, therefore, you get these good bacteria during the birth, and now you're feeding it with human breast milk, the the beauty about breast milk is that it contains classroom, which helps to develop the immune system for the child.

Dr. Sal [00:19:23]:

you see all these mechanisms were were bestowed upon us by god. Now, you know, you wanna compare that to formula. The problem with the formula is is that it uses a sweetener called corn syrup. Remember the high fructose corn syrup? Well, folks, you know, and we're gonna go over high fructose corn syrup and another podcast, but I'll describe how it gets broken down into the liver. and causes nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which is cirrhosis of the liver. It breaks it down just like alcohol, and this is what we're feeding our children. Now I can understand that, you know, sometimes mothers they they can't put they can't lactate. They can't, produce, you know, regular milk, and you have to give them a a substitute.

Dr. Sal [00:20:11]:

Well, there are other things we can give them that is natural that will help with the development of the child. So all of these factors taken into consideration you can never say it's your genetics. Now somebody told, Jack Lane years ago, they said, well, Jack, Take a look at the kid. He's big, but take a look at his parents. They're big too. And Jacqueline replied by saying, yeah, and look at what the look at the foods that they're eating. if you're passing anything down, it's your behavior, your eating habits, your eating patterns, that then you take down to your children, and then they're eating this stuff too. So if mom and dad are constantly going out and getting fast food or ordering the pizza every night or some other, fast food for their kids, cause it's just more convenient.

Dr. Sal [00:20:59]:

We're eating packaged foods. That's where the kid eventually eats, and that's what causes a lot of this stuff, especially with the, childhood obesity that's getting out of control today. So just remember, you can't go up to me and its genetics because we have the evidence now to show that it's a very small percentage. In fact, if you take a look at the literature, jeans only plays about 5% of obesity in America. Now what that means is for Let's say let's take a 100 obese children, only 5 of them may have a genetic issue or defects. So how do you explain the other for 95% or 95 children that are obese. This is important to know, folks, because god gave us these gifts, and that's we need to be thankful for, but we also have to reciprocate with god because god, again, like being in the Garden of Eden, You don't eat this, and you can eat this. Eat the stuff that god is telling us to eat, and that's not processed food.

Dr. Sal [00:22:05]:

So I'd like to thank you so much for watching our show. If you enjoyed this episode, please be sure to leave us a good review and visit our website and social media accounts to connect with us even more. you would like to see any of the sources of the research that we use on this episode, it'll be available on the show notes and the description So with that, I'm Doctor Sal. Have a great day, and God bless.