For a long time, the conventional wisdom was that our DNA is fixed; whatever genetic characteristics we were born with are the traits that will characterize us throughout our lives. While DNA changes do occur, we have thought that they occur only very slowly—over millions of years, like the evolutionary changes that enabled small-brained primitive primates to develop into homo sapiens. This means if we were born with the genes that predispose us to heart attack or obesity, we are doomed to be fat and short-lived.
Not true. Or rather, it is true that the DNA we were born with doesn’t change, but it turns out that DNA isn’t the whole story. A new field called epigenetics has shown that lifestyle and conditions you are exposed to in life can change how your DNA is expressed—and those changes can sometimes be inherited by your offspring.
Epigenetics refers to heritable changes in the “wrapper” of proteins that surround the DNA. It does take many generations for the genome to change, but the epigenome can be changed by the addition or subtraction of a methyl group. A good analogy is that DNA, or the genome, is the hardware (hard to change) and the epigenome is the software (easy to change).
A methyl group is one carbon atom attached to three hydrogen atoms. When a methyl group attaches to a specific spot on a gene, it can change how the gene is expressed; it can dampen the gene’s effect or turn it off–or it can turn a gene on or boost its effect. This process is called DNA methylation.
So where do the Swedish chickens come in? In 2007, researchers at the University of Linköping in Sweden created the henhouse from hell, designed to stress the chickens that lived in it. The experimenters manipulated the lighting, causing the chickens to lose track of when to sleep, when to eat, and so forth. The discombolulated birds demonstrated a significant decrease in their ability to negotiate their way through a maze to find food.
When the chickens were moved back to a non-stressful environment, they conceived and hatched chicks that also demonstrated poor skills at finding food in a maze—even though they had never been stressed. The research went on to demonstrate that the mothers’ exposure to stress had resulted in a gene expression that the chicks inherited.
The chicken experiment is only one of many animal studies that have proved the validity of epigenetic theory. Another study, this time focusing on human beings (coincidentally, Swedish humans), also proves the point. In the 1980s, a preventive health specialist, Dr. Lars Olov Bygren, studied the effects of feast and famine years during the 19th Century in a remote population of people living in northern Sweden. He wanted to see if there were long-term effects, not just on the people who had experienced the feast or famine years, but also on their children and grandchildren.
Bygren discovered that people who had gone from normal eating to over-eating during the times of overproduction produced children and grandchildren who lived significantly shorter lives than those whose progenitors had endured famines.
So what does this all mean to us on a day-to-day basis? Epigenetics is a new science, and while the human genome has been mapped, the human epigenome has not yet been fully deciphered. We don’t really know enough to be able to say, “Do this” and “Don’t do that.” But we do know—thanks to the Swedish chickens and people—that stress and nutrition play major roles in epigenetics.
The best we can do with this new knowledge is actually old wisdom:
Eat a wide variety of fresh foods and stay away from highly processed foods such as sugar to assure getting enough vitamins and minerals, and also to avoid additives (whether or not additives can influence epigenetics is not known)
Don’t eat too much
Get plenty of sleep
Reduce stress as much as possible
The last point—stress reduction—has a previously unrealized link to weight loss. As we mentioned last week, researchers have discovered that dieting—especially crash dieting—can inhibit weight loss or even cause weight gain. This is because the stress created by dieting triggers the body to produce cortisol. Cortisol is the “fight or flight” hormone, and it can inhibit weight loss in a variety of ways—especially in an individual who is chronically stressed (and may not even be aware of it because “stressed out” feels normal). Cortisol floods the body with glucose, delivering a quick jolt of energy to the large muscles needed for flight. At the same time, cortisol suppresses insulin to prevent glucose from being stored, as the body under stress needs to use that energy immediately. (Remember, all these mechanisms evolved when a threat meant more than being a few pounds overweight; it meant becoming someone’s dinner.)
Elevated cortisol levels can retrieve triglycerides from storage and relocate them to visceral fat cells (those that lie under the muscles deep in the abdomen), causing the fat cells to grow. Cortisol can also stimulate appetite and craving for high-calorie foods. This is because the body’s logic tells it that if you are under threat, you need to keep the calories coming.
So reducing stress can have a positive effect on weight loss, especially if you follow a reasonable regimen aimed at losing weight gradually over a long period of time. Weight lost quickly via crash diets merely triggers the body’s cortisol mechanisms, resulting in the yo-yo weight loss/weight gain cycle we all know so well.
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Baby Chicks
Outside With Heat Lamp in
Gwynedd, Pennsylvania
We have many Rare Chicken Breeds for sale in Gwynedd Pennsylvania,
including Sussex Chickens, Welsummer Chickens, Turken Chickens and more.
Be sure to check out the Bargain Specials, as you can combine different
egg layers in smaller amounts and buy as an assortment. Gwynedd
Pennsylvania also has poultry equipment for sale, game chickens for sale in
Gwynedd Pennsylvania, bantams for sale, ducks for sale, geese for sale,
turkeys for sale, guinea for sale, peafowl for sale, pheasant for sale,
chukar partridge for sale, bobwhite for sale, many different breeds of
baby chicks for sale in Gwynedd PA.
Baby
Chickens Care in
Gwynedd, Pennsylvania
Thumbing through a baby chickens for sale in Gwynedd Pennsylvania
catalog is a yearly traditions in many houses. My kids and I eagerly await
the Murray McMurray Hatchery catalog. We love looking at all the cool and
different chicken breeds available. Catalogs are free so head on over to
their site and request one if you are interested.
Typically hatcheries online offer both standard breeds
and bantams. Bantams are fun hardy little chickens, they lay tiny eggs
that kids especially love collecting. Bantams typically weigh less than 2
pounds when full grown. Just like ordering anything online there are pros
and cons to ordering baby chicks online. Pros of buying baby chicks in
Gwynedd Pennsylvania * Big Selection - If you are wanting a large
variety of different chicken breeds and egg colors, you will find the best
selection at an online hatchery. * Both Bantams and full sized chickens
available * You get to choose what sex you want. If you want a mixture of
both male and female then choosing a "straight run" will save you money
and you will get a mixture of male and female chicks. You can also choose
all males or all females too. * Weekly specials. Hatcheries have sales on
chicks, you are likely to get a good deal if you are flexible with the
breeds you are wanting. Cons of buying baby chicks in Gwynedd
Pennsylvania * Order early to get the best selection. Certain breeds sell
out fast, sometimes as early as 6 months in advance of shipping! If you
are wanting a certain breed it's best to order your chicks in the fall
before their orders sell out.
Baby Chicks
Raising in
Gwynedd, Pennsylvania
Quantity - you must order a certain number of chicks. Typically hatcheries
will require you buy a minimum of 25 chicks at a time. The number is
necessary for the chicks survival during shipping. All 25 chicks are put
in one small box without heat. They are crowded in the box and produce
enough body heat to arrive in good shape. * The wait - If you choose to
buy chicks from a feed store you will have them the same day but if you
choose to go with a hatchery you have to wait until they are ready to ship
and then wait for the chicks to arrive. Ordering baby chicks online in
Gwynedd Pennsylvania is easy and has always been a very pleasant
experience of me. It can be a little frustrating waiting for the chicks
but it's so worth the wait. When the post office calls and you hear all
those little "cheeps" or "chirps" in the background you'll know the wait
was worth it! How to Care for your new baby chickens in Gwynedd,
Pennsylvania Baby chicks are extremely
charming and
tough to resist,
yet it's finest to plan for their
arrival prior to you obtain them. Prepare first
by gathering not only the
appropriate products, however
likewise the correct
understanding to take care of
them. Raising baby chicks is reasonably
simple, you just need
to offer them with the following: A
clean and also cozy
environment A lot of food as well
as water Interest and also
love Environment Your environment can be a
simple box, fish tank,
cat provider, or guinea
pig cage. Line it with old towels and also
blankets (without loosened
strings!) to begin, as well as after a few weeks use straw over paper.
Note: Avoid utilizing just
newspaper or various other sandal
surface areas-- or your chicks legs could expand
malformed. You also need
something to dish out food and
water in, such as a chicken feeder and water
dish from the feed store, or a pickle container
lid for food and also a pet dog bird water dispenser from an animal shop. Also, as the chicks age you could present a perch
into the environment to obtain them
trained on setting down. Warmth To
maintain your chicks heat you need to
provide them with a heat source.
This could be as basic as a 100 watt
light bulb in a reflective clamp design lamp from a
hardware store, or an infrared reptile heat
light bulb likewise function extremely well (my
suggestion). Chicks need this
heat 24/7 till their downy fluff is
replaced with plumes (which can take up to 2 months). The newly
hatched require a temperature
between 90 and also 100 levels,
and each week this can
be decreased by
roughly 5 degrees approximately. The warmth source should be on simply one side of the cage
to allow chicks an array of
temperatures. The chicks are your ideal
thermometer- if they are hiding in the
opposite edge of your warmth
lamp, you need to
reduce the temperature level. If
they are surrounding each various other under the
warmth (not simply curling up),
you should put some warmth.
Home cleaning
Cleanliness is key as
well as it keeps your chicks healthy and
balanced. Make sure to change
the bedding
usually and
always offer clean
food and also water Food and also water.
Chicks expand quite quick
which requires plenty of clean
food and also water. Give
enough in any way times as well
as check
typically to avoid thirsty and also
starving chicks. Chick food is different than adult chicken food, and also it comes
in both medicated and non-medicated selections. Feed chick food for the
initial 2 months, then
switch to a grower food (~ 17 %
healthy protein) for one more 2 months,
then to a slightly
reduced healthy protein feed or a layer feed
(if you have layers). Soil Some chicks want
to get a head start on taking
dirt bathrooms, while others won't take
up that activity up until they are
older. If you have the area in your chick
enclosure, present a tray of sand or
dirt for them to shower in.
Interest as well as love There are a
few benefits to spending time with your chicks. To start
with, they will probably bond with you and also
not escape as grownups. Second, if you
analyze your chicks daily and also
see their habits, you can
capture illness or various
other troubles earlier. Watch out for wheezing, hopping, or
other undesirable
signs. Make sure to
also check out
their poop, as looseness of the bowels can result in matted plumes as well
as clogged cloaca.
Finally, it is essential to look out
for social problems, such as the
littlest chick obtaining teased. Vacant nest disorder So your
chicks are now totally feathery
and also its time for them to leave the
security of your residence
and move outside right into a
coop. Take a look at our
area on chicken coops to get more information
about cages and also
proper coop habitats.
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