Dr. Eric Grasser is one of my favorite people to talk to. In this call with my Living Ayurveda Course students we dive deep into understanding epigenetics. Understanding epigenetics creates a design- your-own-body empowerment perspective that makes your food and lifestyle neurosis seem totally legit.

Take your genetic future into your own hands.

In Part 1 of this interview I talk to Dr. Eric Grasser about:

• Why we need to understand Epigenetics
• How epigenetics affects genetic expression
• How Diet influences our Genes
• The massive implications of the Epigenetics paradigm shift + your worldview
• The Ayurvedic Body Habits + Epigenetic implications
• How to imprint your future genetic reality and aging
• The science of Epigenetics and what genes you pass on
• AutoImmune + Epigenetics

What we mention in this Episode:

How to empower yourself with your genetic ….

• Healthy Methylation and Detoxification and Vegetables
• Why joining a healthy community is so important
• Worldview: victimization vs. empowerment
• Inherited Genetics vs. Epigenetics in the development of disease
• Research on soy turning off cancer genes; research on berries + genetic expression

Bio on Dr. Eric Grasser:   

Dr. Grasser is one of the world’s foremost experts in the integration of Functional Medicine and Ayurveda. Dr. Grasser supports his patients through his extensive experience in Western Medical practice as well as his deep knowledge of the alternative healing systems of Ayurveda, Yoga and Functional Medicine. 

Favorite Quotes from the Conversation

• “If you have a garden hose and you turn the water on, the water passing through the garden hose is the DNA being read sequentially to produce a protein. If you have a bend or kink in the hose it will affect the strength of the stream of the water that comes out. Similarly if the spherical structure of the histones is altered by the environment then the way in which the DNA is transcribed is affected.” Eric
• “What I continually see in my practice is that people will not ultimately get on the path to wellness and vitality until they change their lifestyle.” Eric
• “You can’t do this on an island. You need to built a network.” Cate
• “A lot of what is being touted as Paleo has nothing to do with what our paleolithic ancestors ate. But just as a concept that people are saying, “I’ve heard of this paleo thing… I want to do something different, because I’m waking up to the fact that my diet isn’t working for me.” (paraphrase from Eric)
• “If you look in Western Medicine how long it’s taken to proven that diet has something to do with chronic disease.” Eric
• “I had 12 hours of Nutrition in medical school. It was the class you didn’t even show up to.”
• “Most diseases are influenced directly from environment.”
• “We’re getting emerging research on diet and what can change the genetic expression.”
• “If you body is overwhelmed in recognizing things as non-self, it will turn upon itself and start to attack your own natural tissues. Whether that happens in your thyroid, your joints… it doesn’t really matter. There are 300 named autoimmune diseases. They are all the same. In Western medicine we like to name things and put them in little categories.  But the same process is occurring. The immune system is confused, it’s angry and it’s attacking your self. And when it’s too busy attacking your self, it  taking energy away from natural functions that correlate with health and vitality. So you get a fatigue, hair loss, rashes, photosensitivity and gut disorders  – a variety of physical symptoms. It’s a confused immune system. In Ayurveda this is an imbalance of agni and ama, a weakening of ojas, an imbalance in the doshas.”