Foods that Fight Genetic Disease

Additional Info

• Segment Number: 2
• Audio File: wellness_for_life/1517wl5b.mp3
• Featured Speaker: Mitchell Gaynor, MD
• Guest Website: Gene Changer
• Guest Bio: Mitchell Gaynor, M.D., is Founder and President of Gaynor Integrative Oncology and Gaynor Wellness in New York City. A renowned pioneer in the field of integrative oncology for 30 years, Dr. Gaynor is author, physician, speaker and composer of original sound healing meditations. His latest book, The Gene Therapy Plan – Taking Control of your Genetic Destiny Through Diet and Lifestyle (due in April, 2015, from Viking Press with a Forward by Dr. Mehmet Oz), provides a revolutionary approach to reverse gene damage associated with aging, cancer, obesity, and diabetes and to prevent future gene deterioration with specific programs that are appropriate for anyone who wants to maximize longevity for themselves, their children and future generations.
  
  Dr. Gaynor has a notable history in the treatment of chronic diseases, particularly cancer, with scientifically grounded therapies that augment traditional modalities. He has served as Director of Medical Oncology at The Strang Cancer Prevention Center in New York and was former Medical Director and Director of Medical Oncology at the Weill Cornell Medical Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine in New York. He has served on the Executive Review Panel at the Department of Defense – Alternative Medicine For Breast Cancer Sector and the Smithsonian Institute’s “New Frontiers in Breast Cancer and the Environment” Seminars. Board certified in internal medicine, medical oncology and hematology. He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American College of Physicians, and the New York Academy of Sciences. He is a post-doctorate fellow in molecular biology at Rockefeller University in New York City.
  
  Dr. Gaynor is a popular speaker and lecturer in hospitals, conferences, spiritual centers, and universities throughout America and abroad. His topics frequently focus on cancer and its causes, as well as his successful therapies that reverse cancer damage and promote vibrant health. He has spoken extensively in the field of integrative medicine and, most recently, about his Gene Changer Programs to promote healthy gene expression and reverse damage from chronic diseases.
  
  Dr. Gaynor has been consecutively listed in “The Best Doctors in New York” since 1997 and has served on the Board of Advisors for Healthy Living magazine, the Sass Medical Foundation, as well as on the Editorial Board of Integrative Cancer Therapies.
• Transcription: RadioMD Presents: Wellness for Life Radio | Original Air Date: April 24, 2015
  Host: Susanne Bennett, DC
  Guest: Mitchell Gaynor, MD
  
  You're listening to RadioMD. She's a chiropractic, holistic physician, best-selling author, international speaker, entrepreneur, and talk show host. She's Dr. Susanne Bennett. It's time now for Wellness for Life Radio. Here's Dr. Susanne.
  
  DR. SUSANNE: I love this quote “Nurture nature in order to nurture health”. This is perfect for Wellness for Life Radio. This quote is from my next guest who is best-selling author of The Gene Therapy Plan. Let’s welcome, Dr. Mitchell Gaynor. He will show you how to take your health and future into your own hands no matter what disease or illnesses you are faced with. Thank you, Doc. Your book has become super popular among all the celebrity doctors such as Deepak Chopra, Dr. Mark Hyman and Christiane Northrup including our RadioMD favorite Dr. Mehmet Oz. Now, tell us a little bit about the gene therapy plan and why your plan is so different.
  
  DR. GAYNOR: Well, it’s different because it’s the first book that is really focused on a field called “epigenetics” in a practical way. “Epi” means above so, it’s sort of above the genetic destiny we thought we had. So, the old thinking was that our genetic destiny was just like our eye color and our hair color--it was determined by the genes we were born with, so if we had a family history of people being overweight, well, we were going to be overweight. If we had a strong family history of cancer, well, we’ve just got to wait until it developed. If we had a family history of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, premature aging, that was just our destiny. But nothing could be further from the truth because what we now know is that either environmental toxins like white sugar, white flour, heat damaged oils, all those, negatively affect gene expression and promote a number of the diseases like cancer that we’re faced with. We’re living in a country where 100 million Americans are either diabetic or pre-diabetic. That’s a third of the country. Eighteen percent of the children in the country have either a learning, emotional, or developmental disability. A lot of this has to do with our external environment, so while we might not be able to control the air that we breathe or the quality of the air we breathe, we can control our internal environment by what we’re putting in our body and how we’re preparing what we’re putting in our body.
  
  DR. SUSANNE: That’s excellent, excellent. You know, in my practice I use a lot of genetic mapping and what I mean by that is we actually get the salivary testing done to see what kind of methylation issues, that’s one form of genetic coding that we look at to see, okay, how can we get your body to detox better? In your oncology practice and integrative practice do you use those testing as well?
  
  DR. GAYNOR: Yes and its very important that people know in the back of The Gene Therapy Plan, I have a whole list of tests people should ask their doctors to do regularly but what a lot of people don’t understand about detoxification is you don’t have to just do it all at once. People think about juice fasts or cleanses and things like that but the best form of detoxification is lifelong detoxification. So, you want to be putting foods in your bodies that on a genetic level increase the body’s production of detox enzymes. So, cruciferous vegetables are loaded with sulforaphanes so broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts. Sulforaphane literally increases the body’s production of detoxifying enzymes on a genetic level and it’s not just theoretical. A study recently came out of John’s Hopkins that compared women with and without breast cancer. They found the women with breast cancer are women with the lowest levels of the most important detoxifying gene, had a four-fold increased risk of developing breast cancer. Then there are foods like beets. Beets are loaded with something called “betalains”. They markedly increase detoxifying enzymes and inhibit inflammation. Inflammation lowers your ability to make detoxification. And then, I love avocado. Avocado is loaded with the nutrient called “persin” which actually turns on tumor suppressor genes, helps cancer cells die, reduces appetite directly and it increases detoxifying genes so really you’re doing gene therapy on yourself every time you eat for good or for harm.
  
  DR. SUSANNE: Well, you know, what I love about your book The Gene Therapy Plan is that not only are you giving about certain food--you have a whole list, which I love, of all the different types of phytonutrients in each food--but you also go into supplements, nutrients and supplements such as anti-oxidants and herbs that can really help up-regulate your ability to cleanse out these day to day toxins, as you’re saying. We need to detoxify every day and our cells more than just the liver. Every cell in our body naturally detoxes. So, can you give us some of those nutrients that are important for detoxification?
  
  DR. GAYNOR: Absolutely and the thing about supplements is, is there are just certain things that you’re not going to easily find in a Western diet. So, let’s take turmeric, for instance. Some people have access to be able to make Indian food and, you know, cook with curry. I have a lot of very easy recipes in the book for doing it. I talk about even how to do smoothies using turmeric but for some people that are busy, that have to take children to football or soccer practice and music lessons, they don’t have time to cook. So, you can get turmeric supplements that are very bio-available. Turmeric turns on detoxifying enzymes. It markedly decreases inflammation. It helps protect brain cells. Then black raspberries are loaded with something called “ellagic” acid and resveratrol. They block the major inflammatory growth factors and some of the most important growth factors that promote the development of cancer. Black raspberries aren’t always in season, so you can get black raspberry powder, for instance, and mix it in yogurt, mix it in water, mix it in your favorite juice or smoothie. It’s just a good way of getting things that are going to increase detoxification and it’s been found to turn on about 200 different tumor suppressor genes. And then, something like black cumin seed oil, a lot of people will take that in a supplement because they can’t find black cumin seeds regularly. They come from Turkey. They’re loaded with a nutrient called thymoquinone that helps with detoxification and induces the death of cancer cells, so it helps keep cancer cells dormant. So, it’s key to have the balance.
  
  DR. SUSANNE: You know, I’m a big believer in making sure that we all have whole foods, although some supplements as you were saying like resveratrol--you talked about ellagic acid, EGCG is one of my favorite green tea extracts--these are nutrients that we really can’t get in high levels unless you take it in actual capsule or powder form. What I do also love is that you recommend juicing. We only have a minute or two. Can you just give us juicing--what are the best juices for cancer care or prevention, should I say?
  
  DR. GAYNOR: Well, two of the best or two of the easiest to make…My own mother died, unfortunately, of breast cancer when I was 9 years old. She developed it when I was 6 and she knew she wasn’t going to be around to take care of me, so she taught me a lot of very simple juicing recipes. She was a big follower after she developed the breast cancer of Adelle Davis and tiger’s milk and things like that back then but I’ll give you just two simple juicing recipes anybody can do that I have in the book. You can make your own organic grape juice or your own organic apple juice. All you need is a blender, a strainer, and a spatula. And you can get a cup of organic red grapes, blend it for about 30 seconds, pour it through a strainer, use a spatula to press everything through you’ve got organic grape juice with no high fructose corn syrup, no added sugar, no BPA chemicals from a plastic bottle and it’s loaded with resveratrol and ellagic acid that are two of the most powerful blockers of the growth factors for cancer. You can do two apples, especially Granny Smith apples. Put them in the blender, run them through the strainer, loaded with quercetin very powerful anti-cancer agent. So, it’s easy for people to do. If they want more information I have a lot of juicing recipes and a free newsletter on GeneChanger.com.
  
  DR. SUSANNE: Everyone, thank you so much. Dr. Gaynor, I know all of our listeners will want to learn more about your book The Gene Therapy Plan. They can go to your website at GeneChanger.com or go to my Wellness for Life show page.
• Length (mins): 10
• Waiver Received: No
• Host: Susanne Bennett, DC