Books and beyond the “staying alive”
From time to time, the question of which books have truly inspired or touched our lives comes. As someone who reads slowly and whose memory is rarely completely reliable, my list of deeply impactful books isn't huge🤔. However, today I experienced some kind of epiphany, where the messages of the books that have stayed with me seemed to all connect and explain how I ended up here somehow.
For those who have been following my journey here, you know I'm a pharmacist on an exploration journey, which has led me back to the fascinating science of human health, functional medicine and the often-surprising ways our bodies work.
Today, I had the privilege of meeting a real expert in general medicine, functional medicine and gene testing 🧬. This doctor explained and showed me some concepts I had briefly learned about during my studies but hadn't fully grasped. One of these was epigenetics , think of it as an extra layer of information on top of our genes that fine-tunes how they work, depending on things like our diet.
I find it quite amazing how sensitive these epigenetic "markers" are to what we eat. A key process in keeping our genes healthy is called DNA methylation. Eating a diet rich in vitamins (such as folate, B-12, and choline)🥦 that donate important"methyl groups”, really helps this process along. This process means we're supporting our genes to be quiet in the right places and to respond well to life's experiences, from when we're first developing to when we're growing older.
Other helpful compounds, like the well known polyphenols found in fruits & colourful plants🍓 and the anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats in fish, also support the way our genes are controlled in healthier ways.
In one way, this all makes perfect sense to me. As a pharmacist, I know that certain vitamins and minerals are essential and that we wouldn't be able to live and develop normally without them. But I perhaps hadn't thought deeply about how we could really make the chemical reactions in our bodies work optimally based on our individual genes, with their unique strengths and weaknesses.
As I was reflecting in my car on the way back, after seeing this expert, I started thinking about why this is so interesting and energizing to me.
📚This brought me back to the question on books and I was thinking of those that are still on my mind and in my bookshelf today. When I was around 17 or 18, I read a book called "The Self-Healing Man" by a Swedish doctor living in the US. As said, my memory isn't great with details, but the main idea, as the title suggests, was that you can influence your health through nutrition and your thoughts. Already then...
The second book I still remember clearly and it has stayed with me over the years. It's "The Secret." While it's certainly not a secret to many people these days and perhaps not as groundbreaking as it felt to me 25 years ago, its message about the power of visualization and letting your mind work for you has stuck with me.
I truly believe in it and I am absolutely sure that this is the "method" that has taken me across the finish line in the challenges I have put myself up to over the years 🏃♀️.
And then my last book, "The Alchemist," a gift from a friend while traveling and working in beautiful Ireland. I was still young, around 20. I think it was the sense of adventure and the pursuit of dreams in that story that resonated deeply with me. It did then and has continued to do so throughout the years, though perhaps being more or less silenced until recent years.. Now I'm definitely on a journey to pursue some of my dreams, but with a more “mature” and thoughtful mindset.
I dream about being able to read so many more inspiring books. I want to be a super fast reader, but that particular ability seems to be permanently "switched off" in my genes! 😄
However, there are many other things I'm grateful for when it comes to my genetic makeup. I was able to recently celebrate my 45th birthday happy and healthy and my plan is to continue my Vivante, vibrant life for as long as possible 🪄. Potentially with some additional, personalized epigenetics support shortly😜.
I will keep you posted.
With sunshine & love,
Åsa
