Eating for Epigenetic Health

Our food system has provided us with amazing products, coming from far and wide, all around the world. But that can also come with a price, and not just the one in your pocketbook. With all of the emerging research on the micro-biome and gut health, and the impact that it has in our immunity, now more than ever we need to be thinking about how to maintain that delicate balance. Genetics has also been a huge trending topic in the media as of late. From gene editing with crisper to epigenetic’s it seems like there is new scientific discovery daily. One thing that doesn’t get a lot of attention is the idea that everything we eat carries its own unique genetic information that is then passed to us. We are literally made from that information. It stands to reason that eating and drinking off of your own local bio-region is the easiest way to be made out of your local environment. But that would involve a strategic plan to actually take part in ecology not just to be a passive onlooker with a backpack and hiking boots. It means getting off of the groomed trail, and it also means making an impact. This idea of “leave no trace” is an idea of modern convenience. It isn’t possible for a person to leave no trace unless they bring processed pre-made food and water which ultimately will leave a much larger trace in the overall footprint of mass industrial agricultural. Conservation through use is the idea that you can encourage growth of flora and fauna by harvesting intelligently leaving plenty but taking enough to encourage propagation. This not only the oldest form of tending the wild but it encourages mindful careful management of natural resources. It means knowing the carrying capacity of a given species within that particular environmental niche and working within those limitations. If done right, it can leave it better than you found it.
The concern around water is an ever increasing problem ranging from industrial pollution to commercial acquisition. Most water we are consuming near or in urban centers is highly processed. We are getting more comfortable talking about the deleterious health effects of eating processed industrial food containing little nutritional value, but not so much when it comes to our water. Water makes up nearly 60% of our body, meaning it is the most prized resource and nutrient in the entire body. Current nutrition science almost exclusively focuses on food, sure they recommend getting enough fluids, but the quality of those fluids is almost never discussed. Recent studies have been done on EZ water and structured water but it is far from being in the forefront of public minds. Finding local springs that produce deep rich water from underground aquifers that have been contained for hundreds of years until finally coming to the surface seems to fit the idea of using natural resources that are made from the source. Possibly providing the best and easiest way to build your gut biome,body, and blood from your local landscape.