Morgan Spurlock of "SuperSize Me" fame

I’ve heard it all; because several family members have had their gall bladders removed, the only reasonable conclusion is that it is”genetics”. I am not wanting to poke fun at anyone, but do we really need to place the blame for every ill on our genes? Really?!

Folks, genetics have been blamed for every ill under the sun: cancer, diabetes, heart disease, birth defects, excema, schizophrenia, obesity, breast cancer, etc.; along with a few “disorders’ such as laziness, obsessive compulsiveness, depression, shyness… You get the picture.

Well I’m not buyin’ it folks; I’m just not. After all, most of these diseases and disorders are particular to modern man, and certainly the rest occurred  infrequently at best in people who suffered from malnutrition, war, and lack of decent living conditions, or indulged to excess.

But, “No!”, you say. “My mother was diabetic, my grandmother diabetic, and I am also diabetic; therefore it must be genetic”. More importantly, “My doctor says it is genetic!”  Well, let’s bow down to the doctor/god who proclaims such truth!

Folks, we live in a processed world. Likely you are eating a similar diet as an adult to what you were fed as a child. This means your mother ate the same types of foods as you ate (and, scary though it seems, your children now do as well). Mom learned to cook from her mother, although Grandma likely ate far better as a girl than she did later in life, which is why she only developed diabetes as an old woman, not at 30, or 20, or… as people do now.

Our great grandparents ate mostly simple, local, whole foods. They had gardens, farms, or neighbors who were farmers. Their diets consisted of fresh, whole (unprocessed) milk, eggs, meat, fresh fruits & vegetables, and whole grains. They used lard and butter for cooking and baking, not crisco and vegetable oil. Fermented foods such as sauerkraut or pickles were part of the daily diet. Processed foods only began to make strong appearances on the local grocer’s shelves around the turn of the 20th century. Even still it was eggs, meat, and butter that were in demand. Now consider this: they and their parents died of old age, not degenerative disease!

I recall well my grandmother’s cooking; she was famous in our little Mid-Western town for her culinary skill. But she was feeding us on all kinds of new-fangled foods like sugar (and artificial color/flavor) laden Jello, casseroles made from canned vegetable and Campbells soup, and Tater Tots. Her pie crusts were dutifully made with Crisco, the fillings filled with canned fruit. Not good; Grandma died at 63.

My own mother fed us hamburger helper, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, turkey burgers (ultimate bluck!) and powdered skimmed milk. She has asthma, allergies, and developed other problems in spite of switching to “healthy” (low-fat) foods when I was a teen. I now tell people that it is important we get our nutrients from real food, not nutritional supplements: Mom popped multitude pills everyday, but even still refuses to eat butter or drink much whole, unprocessed milk (thankfully, she does consume some raw milk). She is proud of her 2 eggs a day, but suffers from severe short term memory loss and has had most of her major joints replaced. (Sorry Mom, but your story is just such a good example )

You must understand: we were not created to require knee replacements and back surgery. Nor were our bodies designed for behavior and learning disorders, degenerative diseases, depression, cancer. Our vision is supposed to hold out pretty well until we’re elderly, as is every other part of our body. And we were supposed to be able to eat all good things, not suffer from Celiac Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Then, when our time has come, we were designed to die of old age-what a concept!

There is now a new field of study called Epigenetics. This particular field explores how genes can be turned on and  off to display differing characteristics dependent upon environmental, nutrient and other factors. It is a fascinating study!

The research of Dr. Weston A Price and others, seems to corroborate  these findings. Dr. Price found that food played an absolutely integral role in the development of the human body and mind. Replacing nutrient-dense, traditional foods with the “foods of modern commerce”  caused birth defects and many physical weaknesses, along with degenerative diseases and mental/emotional disorders in the people he studied. Today’s foods are far worse than those of Price’s day, and we are also much further down the road of malnourishment, due to the displacement of nutrients in our modern, processed “foods”. The work of Dr. Francis Pottenger, as well as the information coming from the study of epigenetics clearly show that the effects of a poor diet can, in fact, be passed down for several generations. But it also shows that as individuals we can affect  change upon we, and our children’s, genes for generations to come.

So is it genetics, really? Well, in one sense I would say, “yes”. But to a much larger degree I must conclude that we hold within our hands, more specifically the tips of our forks, the power to change our very lives and the lives of future generations. It all begins with what we choose to put in our mouths, and the mouths of our families. Choose well.

Maureen Diaz is a certified Liberation Wellness Nutritionist, Educator, and Cooking Instructor. She works from home where she oversees the education and daily life of her large family. Maureen has also produced 3 cooking DVD’s including her latest available now, the Liberation Wellness Cooking DVD. For purchasing information email Maureen at: mamasfollies@gmail.com or visit her website, NourishingTraditionalCook.com, which is (sigh) still currently under construction.