An important new study from Dr. Dean Ornish shows that changes for the better in diet and exercise, plus adding daily meditation, can create rapid and dramatic changes in genetics.

After three months, 30 men who had avoided conventional treatment for prostate cancer had 48 genes that were turned on — and ten times as many (453) that were turned off. Disease-preventing genes increased activity, while disease-causing genes shut down.

Read it for yourself. Healthy lifestyle triggers genetic changes: study.

It makes sense. We’ve all heard of people who recover their health seemingly miraculously. It may have a lot to do with their belief (or suspension of disbelief) that it is possible to influence their health through changing their basic daily habits — simple changes in food and activity choices.

Thanks to Tim Ferriss for posting a link to this article on Facebook.

And…here’s a link to an abstract that found that just the basic “relaxation response” is enough to trigger positive changes in genes, in both short-term and long-term practitioners.

These studies of course will beget more studies, but no longer can you resign yourself to believing your fate is all in your genes. What you do can activate and de-activate the genes you were born with. DNA doesn’t change, but gene expression does.