We think our genes are set in stone but it turns out that they can be impacted by our lifestyle.

Comprehensive lifestyle changes including a better diet and more exercise can lead not only to a better physique, but also to swift and dramatic changes at the genetic level, U.S. researchers said on Monday.
In a small study, the researchers tracked 30 men with low-risk prostate cancer who decided against conventional medical treatment such as surgery and radiation or hormone therapy.
The men underwent three months of major lifestyle changes, including eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products, moderate exercise such as walking for half an hour a day, and an hour of daily stress management methods such as meditation.
As expected, they lost weight, lowered their blood pressure and saw other health improvements. But the researchers found more profound changes when they compared prostate biopsies taken before and after the lifestyle changes.
After the three months, the men had changes in activity in about 500 genes — including 48 that were turned on and 453 genes that were turned off.

My husband can attest to the benefits of diet and exercise on blood pressure. He was only on his diet for a little while and noticed a huge drop after only a minimal weight loss. 30 pounds later and his blood pressure is normal. His doctor had threaten to put him on blood pressure lowering medication because he was near the hypertension level but gave him 3 months to lose weight and lower it on his own. That was enough of a motivation to get him moving.
I mentioned it to her when I broke my nose (she’s my doctor as well) and she was stunned that she was able to motivate him, usually her patients don’t lose the weight, which I find amazing! I would think that the fear of being put on medication for life would be motivation enough. I wouldn’t want the expense and having to live with the side effects of the medication. Is that cheeseburger really worth the hundreds of dollars a year and the annoyance of having to take a pill everyday for the rest of your life?
Update: Ugh! If I have to have a typo in my post, why the heck does it have to be in the title!!!