March 2002

Slowing the Aging Process Through Individualized Nutrition
By Jeffrey S. Bland, Ph.D

We are born. We pay taxes. We die. It is a very simple summary of life, but as they say, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” This axiom applies equally well to human aging, illness, and premature death.

The conclusion of the book that tells a person’s life story depends on how that book is read. We each have our own “book” that contains our life. It is called the human genome. The 23 pairs of chromosomes represent the 23 chapters in each book of life. In each chapter are a great many stories. These thousands of stories are our genes. They are unique to each of us. Fortunately, however, we do not have to read all of these stories. Some sad stories tell of premature aging, sickness, and reduced life expectancy. Other, more positive stories, tell of vitality, good health, and long life.

To a great extent, each person helps determine what stories are read in his or her particular book of life (i.e., genome) by the way he or she treats the book. This is a simplified explanation of the most amazing and unexpected scientific breakthrough of our era. The way we age and whether we get sick are, to a considerable extent, under our control. Diet, specific nutrients, exercise, stress, lifestyle practices, and the environment alter the way our genes are expressed. The decisions we make about how to live and what to eat wash over our genes to give rise to, delay, or prevent the diseases of aging.

We carry susceptibility in our genes, not predetermined disease. This new story frames the new concept of healthy aging. When Watson and Crick published their benchmark paper on the structure of DNA in 1953, they little suspected their discovery would initiate a revolution in medicine. They could not know it would provide a revolution of choice for the kind of health an individual might select in growing older by investing in the care of his or her book of life.

Watson and Crick’s discovery heralded the dawn of what has been called “genomic medicine.” For clinicians it represents the age of “personalized medicine.” We now know that even diseases like cancer, which we once thought were “all in the genes,” are also caused by environmental exposure.

In an article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2002, investigators from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden reported that identical twins do not get cancer at the same rate. In fact, their study suggested strongly that genetic predetermination is responsible for no more than 30% of cancers. The other 70% are a result of the way individuals “bathe” their genes by their diet and lifestyle. And here’s the kicker: One person’s food may be another’s poison. Nutrients do help defend against cancer. Diet is a primary prevention factor, as powerful as any medicine.

We have recently learned that many people who get sick are like the vulnerable “yellow canaries” that were sent into mines to detect small levels of toxins. The book of life of such an individual is particularly susceptible to a bad outcome through exposure to suboptimal diet or environment. Such an individual carries in his or her book of life a number of what geneticists call polymorphisms. Genetic polymorphisms represent uniquenesses that increase an individual’s susceptibility. We all have at least a few of these polymorphisms among the stories in our book of life.

Some people carry polymorphisms that are more critical in determining the outcome of their book. The genes and their polymorphisms control the way we metabolize medications, alcohol or environmental carcinogens. The newly coined term “pharmacogenetics” describes this variation and deals with its consequences.

Researchers have recently discovered that specific nutrients modify the expression and function of these detoxification genes. Cruciferous vegetables, which include broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage, contain nutrients called glucosinolates. These substances break down in the digestive tract to produce chemicals such as indole-3 carbinol, sulfurophane, and phenylisothiocyanate. These chemicals, in their turn, activate specific genes that help detoxify cancer-producing substances. The mechanism by which specific nutrients help protect individuals with certain genotypes is just now being fully explained.

Other nutrients, such as glutathione, vitamins C and E, the B-complex nutrients, including folic acid, B-12, and B-6, and the essential minerals zinc, copper, and selenium, all assist the genes in expressing the story of protection against heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

As Willett and Stampfer pointed out in an article in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2001, the daily consumption of a well-balanced multi-vitamin and mineral supplement makes sense for a number of reasons. It supports the reading of the “healthy messages” in the book of life.

Like all things, however, there are limits. Too much of any good thing, including air and water, can be dangerous. Balance is the key. This is where the science and art of personalized medicine intersect.

We are entering a new world of nutrigenomics. We are witnessing the opportunity for individuals to achieve their genetic potential of healthy aging through personalized nutrition. Nutrition can be personalized to match genetic need. Although research in genetics has facilitated a more thorough scientific explanation, this concept is actually not new. Dr. Roger Williams described it in the 1950s and called it “biochemical individuality.”

The latest scientific discoveries are showing us the path toward healthy aging. The milestones thus far discovered include proper balance of insulin, reduction in inflammation, control of oxidative stress, balancing sex hormones and stress hormones, improving detoxification, and properly controlling the genetic messages and the way they are read. We can approach all of these features of healthy aging through personalized nutrition.

The successful doctor of the 21st century will know how to apply nutrition, lifestyle practices, environment, and structural therapies tailored to the needs of individual patients to slow the chronic disease process normally associated with aging. We might even say this new nutrigenomic healthcare can help slow the biological aging process.

The health-care arena is expanding to embrace the concept of the modification of aging. The old rules of the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs), or levels of nutrients that are advisable for everyone, are being replaced by personalized nutrition prescriptions. It is a pity that Irwin Stone, Linus Pauling, Adelle Davis, Carlton Fredricks, and the Shute brothers did not live to see the age when their predictions came true. It took the Human Genome Project to teach us that disease is not inevitable, and nutrigenomics is a big part of the future in extending the individual health span.

We are born. We pay taxes. We die. However, by exercising our individuality, we can do a great deal to affect what happens in between.

Dr. Bland is an internationally recognized researcher, educator and author in the field of nutritional biochemistry. He is the president and chief science officer of Metagenics, Inc., a leading health sciences company focusing on the research and development of products and services that are focused on “Genetic Potential through Nutrition.” Dr. Bland can be reached through Metagenics at 800-692-9400; or sign on to www.metagenics.com.