Genetic Expression and Lifestyle Choices

Review by Jule Klotter

Dirty Genes by Dr. Ben Lynch

HarperOne. New York, New York.

ISBN 978-0-06-269814-8; c. 2018; 371 pp; $27.99 (US)

With the discovery that some genetic disease tendencies can be turned off or on with environmental exposures and lifestyle choices (epigenetics), a new paradigm has arisen. Genetic inheritance now offers just possibilities instead of fixed destiny. Even the onset of debilitating inherited diseases like Huntington’s can be modulated by nutrition and other factors.¹

Naturopathic physician Ben Lynch, a graduate of Bastyr University, began delving into the ever-expanding literature on epigenetics over 10 years ago. He looked for specific ways to support health in people who, like his sons and himself, had genetic variations, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs, pronounced ‘snips’), that have far-reaching effects on body and mind. The result is the lay-friendly book Dirty Genes that aims “to teach every single interested person how to clean up their genes and achieve a whole new level of health.”

Humans have about 20,000 genes with over ten million known genetic polymorphisms, but only a minority of these variations affects gene function. Dirty Genes focuses on seven, well-researched genes whose SNPs have important health consequences: “MTHFR, the methylation master gene; COMT, whose SNPs help determine whether you’re focused and buoyant, or laid-back and calm; DAO, the gene whose SNPs can make you supersensitive to certain foods and chemicals; MAOA, the gene that affects mood swings and carb cravings; GST/SPX, the genes that can create detox dilemmas; NOS3, the gene that can create heart issues; PEMT, the gene that supports your cell membranes and liver.” If one of these genes is “dirty” or not functioning in a health-producing way, it will affect the function of other genes. “All our genes interact with one another,” says Lynch. “When one gene gets dirty, it doesn’t work properly, so several more genes step up to help—and now suddenly they get dirty too. Your body isn’t a set of discrete compartments that each work separately. It’s one amazing interactive system in which problems spread and multiply with amazing speed.”

For better or worse, diet and lifestyle factors significantly affect each of these seven genes, causing them to function in a health-promoting or illness-promoting way. Lifestyle factors that shift genetic expression towards illness include too much sugar, unhealthy fats, too much or not enough protein, nutrient shortages, too little or too much exercise, irregular sleep patterns and non-restorative sleep, environmental toxins, and physical and psychological stress.

A “normal” result on a genetic test does not mean that the gene is being expressed in a health-producing way. “Most of the folks who send away for genetic testing are unaware that a gene born clean can easily become dirty,” says Lynch. “When they read that their MTHFR is normal, they celebrate instead of realizing that—due to diet and lifestyle—it might in fact be super dirty.” Although Dirty Genes includes a list of laboratories that test for genetic SNPs in its resource section, testing isn’t necessary in order to use this book. The book gives good descriptions of the physical and behavioral characteristics of the “dirty” expression for each of the seven genes, along with patient examples, and a questionnaire to help readers identify their own problem areas.

Instead of prescribing a supplement to shift genetic expression, Lynch recommends starting with a two-week “Soak and Scrub Clean Gene Protocol” that uses basic naturopathic principles. In Week 1 (Soak and Scrub week), for example, he urges readers to track their meals and reactions, to fast 12-16 hours a day, and to eat nutritious food until 80% full, chewing the food thoroughly, and not drinking cold beverages with meals. He also gives suggestions for relieving stress, improving sleep, and removing chemicals from the environment. Week 2 builds on the first week with additional ways to improve digestion, indoor air quality, and reduce stress. At this point, a multivitamin and electrolytes—and possibly liposomal glutathione, molybdenum, or digestive enzymes, if needed—are the only supplements he recommends.

I found Dr. Lynch’s advice on supplements quite interesting. Instead of routine supplementation, he says to “tune in” and pay attention to how a supplement makes you feel. Does it have the hoped-for effect? He advises reducing or stopping the supplement upon the point of feeling “great.” “People who feel depressed often take supplemental methylfolate,” he explains. “In a few days, they feel great! Then they begin feeling irritable, snappish, wired, they experience that ‘jumping out of their skin’ feeling…they need to cut their methylfolate dose right away…. Because your body is always changing, the ‘right amount’ of any supplement is always changing too.”

After the Soak and Scrub Protocol come suggestions for ‘spot cleaning’. A questionnaire helps readers identify which of the seven genes still need more support via additional lifestyle, dietary, and environmental changes and supplements. Instead of focusing on the ‘dirtiest’ gene first, Lynch has found it more effective to address them in the following order: DAO, PEMT, GST, COMT, MAOA, MTHFR, and NOS3.

Although Dirty Genes does have some references, it is primarily written with a lay audience in mind. The book is a very accessible and practical introduction to epigenetics, and the advice for supporting gene function is sure to improve health.

1. Mo C, Hannan AJ, Renoir T. Environmental factors as modulators of neurodegeneration: Insights from gene-environment interactions in Huntington’s disease. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. May 2015;52:178-192.

Blurb:

“This book covers a far more advanced approach to genetics than is currently practiced in medicine today. The information you now have at your fingertips is not a Get Healthy Quick scheme. It’s a lifetime tool that you can revisit any time you need to tweak you dirty genes.”