As some of you know, I had been waiting for months to get back my test results of my genetic blood test from the Berkely Lab and unfortunately had to redo the test three seperate times because the doctor's office that took the blood LOST it as hard as that sounds to believe.
At any rate, my dietician called me this morning with good news! 1. I am NOT at risk for heart disease 2. I am NOT at risk for early alzheimers disease and 3. I can digest fats (that cause deadly health issues) normally and can pretty much be on any type of diet I want without the risk of heart disease.
BUT....I still am contending with diabetes type 2 and I'm still trying to lose weight so I told my dietician that even though I inherited GOOD HEALTHY genes from both sides of my parents (I'm a 3/3 which means that I inherited good healthy genes from both parents. A 3 from one and a 3 from the other.) Had I inherited a 2 or a 4 from both parents, genetically I would have been screwed and more than likely would have seen my life shortened just from genetics alone.
What a relief! I was so worried because of the fact my mother has a really difficult time remembering things and because she had heart bypass surgery..her brother just died of heart failure...her mother had an enlarged heart and her other brother passed away from Kidney cancer that spread to his brain. My father's father lived to be nearly 100 years old despite the fact he was a raging alcoholic and chewed tobacco constantly and despite the fact my mother's mother had an enlarged heart, she lived to be nearly 100 years old too. So, at least I feel good that from a genetic standpoint, I might be as lucky to live that long as well.
My main concern was the alzheimers disease and heart disease and thankfully I am not pre disposed to either. If I do develop either one....its from the environment and not genetic. She laughed and said to me.."Okay so that doesn't mean you can go out and get crazy with the food!" *grin*!!! Yes....unfortunately I know! I am still dealing with having to count my carbs and watch the sugar grams in everything I put into my mouth. But at least I know now that I'm not screwed from a genetic standpoint...that I have inherited Good, healthy genes and if something happens like a heart attack or stroke......its because I allowed myself to live an unhealthy life style and it wasn't because of my genes.
My father passed away when he was in his early 70s because of his lifestyle choices of over indulging in smoking and drinking. I am very sure his life would have continued much longer had he changed his living habits back in his younger years. When we decide to live an unhealthy life style, we map out the road that is going to take us in the direction we've selected for ourselves. We do these things to ourselves. Yesterday, for example, I had 2 marguaritas and do you know I couldn't even enjoy them? I didn't even finish my second one. Because I knew it was causing my sugar levels to go sky high and because I knew that I should not be drinking them due to my diabetes....but I had not had a marguarita in months and thought I really wanted one...until I had one and then I knew that it wasn't as important as I had originally thought prior to going out and ordering one.
Last night I watched a segment with Dr. Oz....the guru of living a healthy life and who goes on Oprah Winfrey's show on occasion and he said...it is hard to live a healthy life because its so much easier to live an unhealthy lifestyle but the important thing is that you try. Your car doesn't yell at you or berate you if you have a GPS system and you make the wrong turn...it just redirects you to the closest next appropriate turn so that you can go in the right direction. I thought that was a great way of putting things into perspective. We are not perfect and we make mistakes but we can make changes for ourselves FOR the better, if we redirect the way we think about food and we redirect our choices in life. We don't have to berate ourselves if we make a mistake. My choice wasn't a mistake..it was deliberate! I wanted a marguarita because I absolutely USE to love them. Yesterday I found out that I don't love them as much as I thought I did and I think that is because I know that if I continue to drink them like I use to and if I continue to ignore the fact that my body can no longer process sugars or break down sugar like it use to, I will die and it will be may fault. I would be the driver of my own hearse taking myself to my own grave. Signing my obituary is pretty much what Dr. Oz said.
So while I am very delighted at the good news, I still must be aware of the fact that I have to make healthy choices in what I eat and how I live and what I do if I want to live a long, healthy life. I'm so glad these genetic blood tests are available! I think everyone should have one taken because I felt good at telling my sons that hey....from MY side of the family, you don't have to worry about dying young of heart disease or alzheimers and that you inherited good, healthy genes from MY side of the family. I think that is something all parents should be able to tell their kids.
