Saturday, August 3, 2013

Exercise can affect your genes

So now I am going to shout out loud this word that everyone fears: EXERCISE!!!

 What do you feel and imagine when you hear/read the word 'exercise'? Sweat drops touching the ground with the speed of the sound? The classic running on the treadmill like there's a lion chasing you scenario ...and puking sooner than expected? Tired, angry people that drag themselves along to the gym only to feel more depressed by how much they cannot do?

 Oh well, we're living in a world where self image is important like never before and where everyone seems to always proudly comment about how fat they are. While I believe there is nothing wrong with acknowledging the true composition of your body and wanting to do something about it, I think that nowadays we use excuses as a form of 'exercise' (and the only 'exercise' unfortunately). And even if not everyone's dream is to be a marathon runner, we all long to like our bodies. As the Holy Bible says, the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit: we are to nourish and take care of our bodies (the body is a temple!!!).

 As everyone seems tired of trying the next famous diet, as everyone gets depressed by that pound that just refuses to drop off at our feet, as everyone just gives you that 'you've got one life and you need to enjoy it' grin, we are all just losing hope.

 But there is hope. The hope that you have in your spirit (that all things are possible through God who gives us the strength) must be made practical in our day to day life. Where there's a will, there's always a way of achieving it. The fact is that people, scientists, and doctors have been very intrigued by the obesity epidemic which hit the developed countries in the last few decades. While many have linked it to the food we eat and to the static lives we enjoy, obesity remains a complex phenomenon that no one has quite resolved yet.

 But, the great news is, there are doctors with a heart for humanity and if they refused to produce a more powerful diet pill, they looked elsewhere for answers. 

 Juleen Zierath, a contemporary professor in clinical integrative physiology, was the one who discovered how exercise can change our genes. (And we all know how important genes are today, everyone is out of shape because of bad genes).

 Juleen Zierath holds both American and Swedish citizenship and is well known worldwide on the research on metabolism and diabetes. She is a professor of Clinical Integrative Physiology at Karolinska Institute since 2001 and also works at the Departments of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, as well as Physiology and Pharmacology. She is the first female Chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, and the Nobel Assembly will make its decision to award the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on October 7, 2013....so please stay tuned in.

In the study published in Cell Metabolism on 7 March 2012, she discovered how inactive but healthy men and women can change their DNA minutes after engaged in exercise. It is not science fiction, but please keep on reading.

 The researchers worked with 14 young, sedentary men, and women and asked them to work out on an exercise bike that measured their maximum activity levels. Researchers compared the muscle-related genes before and after the exercise. After the exercise the participants'  DNA showed less methylation - a molecular process in which some chemicals called methyl groups settle on the DNA and inhibit the cells' ability to switch on certain genes. The more intense the exercise -  the less methylation was shown. The less methylation - the more you help your DNA 'forget' about those fat, bad genes and help your body 'create' fat burning genes. 

 In other words, you CAN teach your DNA not to store fat and you can significantly improve your overall fitness levels as long as you engage in high-intensity exercise (your heart needs to pump at an 80% increase of your normal resting heart rate -every gym machine usually has a heart-rate chart displayed, so look up what is 80% for your age).

 The high intensity exercise intervals do not need to exceed 20 minutes and do not need to be repeated more than 3-4 times a week. So, you just work hard (heart-rate 80% above normal) but only for 20 minutes and only 3 times a week. This is great news, isn't it? Finally, we are not told to run until we drop (that should only be used for shopping, right?).

I think it is great news seeing science and research coming up with something achievable, doable and effective!!!!!  I think that this theory has been around for a while (Fit Curves and interval training promoters use it) but now we have the scientific research so we can even get eager about trying it out!!
Exercise is already known to induce changes in muscle, including increased metabolism of sugar and fat. Our discovery is that methylation comes first. Our muscles are really plastic (...). We often say "You are what you eat". Well, muscle adapts to what you do. If you don't use it, you lose it and this is one of the mechanisms that allow that to happen. (Juleen Zierath)
There was also research presented at the Integrative Biology of Exercise VI meeting in Colorado last October that demonstrated that high-intensity intervals burn more calories in less time. This research recommends 30 second sprint intervals at maximum exertion, followed by four minutes of light pedaling to recuperate.

 So, it is time to exercise! The research is supporting us! 

 The high intensity training (that both research studies used) can change our DNA and help us lose fat, and it helps us burn more calories too. There are more health benefits linked to the intensive training, and some of these are insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, as Dr. Mercola mentions. He also revealed a study that showed that doing only 3 minutes of high-intensity exercise a week, for 4 weeks, can lead to a 24% improvement in insulin sensitivity. Also, 
Another important benefit of high-intensity interval training is its ability to naturally increase your body's production of human growth hormone (HGH0, also known as the 'fitness hormone'. HGH is a synergistic, foundational biochemical underpinning that promotes muscle and effectively burns excessive fat. (...) (high-intensity intervals) also plays an important part in promoting overall health and longevity (...). (Dr. Mercola)
 So, I hope that this was helpful to you and that you're thinking about when to start exercising. I can only add that every journey is different and starting small is still doing something. Sometimes the body needs time to teach you how to breathe when running or it needs time to get to a certain speed and high intensity. The key is to keep exercising at your best - you will always do better and always get better.

 Happy exercising planning, everyone!
Exercise is medicine, and it seems the means to alter our epigenomes for better health may be only a jog away (...) (Juleen Zierath)
 
Resources:
http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/07/how-exercise-can-change-your-dna/#ixzz2aOLhKfXa

 http://healthland.time.com/2012/03/07/how-exercise-can-change-your-dna/#ixzz2aOMADACl

 http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/abstract/S1550-4131(12)00005-8
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