Your Beliefs and Your Habits Can Alter Your Child’s Genes

Inside every cell in your body is a nucleus. Inside every nucleus is DNA. And that DNA is supposed to be identical in every nucleus of every cell. It is your unique fingerprint.

But what is DNA?

Each one of us inherits 23 chromosomes from our Mother and 23 chromosomes from our Father. Residing on each one of those 46 chromosomes are genes. It is estimated that humans have approximately 23,000 genes. One single chromosome can, therefore, have hundreds of genes.

Each gene = an instruction, or computer code, that tells individual or groups of cells to perform specific tasks. Ideally, these tasks are intended to keep us alive and healthy.

So, your DNA is actually an instruction manual the body reads every day so that it can do what it needs to do in order to keep you alive and healthy.

But, an individual cell’s DNA can change, or mutate. These mutations occur for many reasons: diet, lifestyle, environment and ……

Habits and Beliefs.

That’s right. Your habits and beliefs can turn on or off certain genes. This is known as Epigenetics. Through Epigenetics, chemicals can be added to genes that turn specific genes on (methylation) or turn specific genes off (demethylation).

The release or triggering of these chemicals can occur in various ways and two of those ways is by your beliefs and your habits.

Example: If you believe you are about to be attacked, this stress trigger turns on the gene CYP17, whose job is to convert cholesterol to cortisol, preparing you for fight or flight.

Your habits and beliefs, therefore, can cause the release of certain chemicals that alter your genes. This is not only your problem, however, for two reasons:

1. You can pass your altered genes on to your yet-to-be-conceived children and/or
2. Your beliefs often become your child’s beliefs, thus causing your child to alter their own genes.

So, be very careful which beliefs and which habits you forge. Negative beliefs and bad habits can cause harmful genetic mutations that negatively affect you, your children and their progeny.

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