We give our body tomatoes, carrots, apples and lettuce thinking that we need to provide minerals like calcium and magnesium, and vitamins like vitamin A and vitamin C. But food is much more than just nutrients. Food is information that our body is taking in and deciding what to do with. When you eat your breakfast, lunch or dinner you are feeding your body data. The question is: are you giving your body good information to work with?

Food isn’t the only knowledge that the body is continually taking it. Your environment also provides news to the body including temperature, moisture, air quality, chemical pollution, wind, and so much more. Are the reports from your environment friendly to your body or do they tax your body’s energy?

Even the people that you hang out with, your friends, coworkers, boss, and neighbors, give messages to your body. The people you have conversations with give your body a clue as to what is predominant, how much stress is around you right now and how much love is available? It’s all valuable for your brain and body. It also impacts how your body responds, how much energy it must use to mitigate what is happening and ultimately, it impacts your health.

Your body will respond to the messages by contracting, expanding, protecting itself or with one of many other natural responses. As data comes in, the body will try to assimilate it and decide where it can be best utilized for the body; whether it’s from a nutrient, temperature change or an angry coworker. In every situation the body has to decide what to do with the incoming forces and how to utilize or protect itself from what’s coming in.

So the next time you’re wondering how important it is to select the right foods for your body and to have the right home environment and job, consider what your body is taking in and how it has to process and deal with the material you give to it and what your body can do with that knowledge to maximize your health.

Good information coming in, equals good health going out.

If you’ve had an ear to the ground about the personalized health revolution, chances are you’ve heard the word “epigenetics” being tossed around. Of course, simply hearing the word and actually understanding it are two very different things. Let’s take a deeper look into what epigenetics actually is—and what it means for you.

First, let’s break down the word itself. The prefix epi is Greek, meaning “over” or “outside of.” Epigenetic, then, means something beyond genetic—in this case, it refers to both outside factors that influence DNA and the changes to the DNA itself.

Wikipedia describes, “In biology, and specifically genetics, epigenetics is mostly the study of heritable changes that are not caused by changes in the DNA sequence.” Which leads to the question—what are those changes caused by? Scientists are finding that heritable changes are being caused by outside influences to DNA, such as lifestyle and environment.

What does lifestyle include? The way you eat, the way you move, where you live, and even your relationships and your work. Almost everything you do, it seems, may have the potential to affect how your genes are expressed. All of these factors can actually switch genes on or off, which has significant implications not just for heritable traits, but also heritable diseases.

While the common line of thought used to be that what’s contained in your genetic code will dictate your health throughout the course of your life, epigenetic science is suggesting otherwise.

If you think of DNA as the hardware of your body, you could consider epigenetics the software. While DNA provides the basic genetic coding from which who you are comes into being (your eye color, hair color, skin color, etc.), epigenetics determines how and whether certain genes are expressed. As the software, it operates within and above your genetic hardware.

It turns out humans have about 20,000 to 25,000 genes linked to a variety of factors. These genes guide everything from the color of our hair to our propensity for certain diseases. Epigenetic science says that we can actually change the way some of these diseases are expressed.

For example, identical twins who lived completely different lives after birth may have nearly 50% functionally differing DNA (different in its expression) by old age. If one twin smoked or was a heavy drinker, or if one was malnourished or had a particularly stressful job, these factors may change how that twin’s genes are expressed.

Diet, hormone production, exercise, and a number of other environmental and lifestyle factors are all a part of epigenetics, affecting the expression of your DNA. Understanding epigenetics—scary word aside—means claiming your right to be as healthy as you can be. Starting right now.

It’s easy to feel like your health is out of your control, but there are some key factors that influence wellness at every stage of life. Here are 7 surprising life changes that may significantly affect your health.

1. Age: As you age, your health naturally changes and your body’s needs change as well. Hormones shift in both men and women, joints may weaken, bones may become more brittle, and your metabolism may slow down. Rather than causing alarm, this simply means you need to support your body to counter the effects of these changes.
2. Seasons: As the seasons shift, your body has different needs for both diet and exercise. In colder months, your immunity and health are dependent on staying warm. The reverse is true in the hotter months of the year. Consuming foods that foster heat or coolness in the body will keep you healthy. Eating with the seasons by buying locally sourced produce is a great way to start!
3. Location: The average American moves once every 5 years. When you move to a new location, you may find yourself in a completely different climate—and one that makes you feel and even look differently. Your body will have distinct needs in a hot and humid place than it will in a cool and dry place, and it’s up to you to address these needs through changes in your diet, exercise, and R&R.
4. Job: Statistics suggest that Americans will change jobs 5-7 times in their lives. The unique demands of your work will dictate your activity levels and caloric needs, as well as the environment you spend most of your time in. Whether you are at a desk under fluorescent lights, in a factory exposed to toxins, or working outside in the hot sun, each of these factors influences your health. Moreover, your stress levels, working hours, sleep, and modes of transportation to work can all influence your immune health and overall wellness.
5. Children: Aside from the obvious changes in your life and health when you have children, like pregnancy for women and lack of sleep for both moms and dads, having children actually changes your hormones. Levels of the hormone prolactin, which increases our caretaking impulse, will rise in parents, as will oxytocin, the “feel good” hormone triggered by bonding. Elevated levels of prolactin can also lead to decreased sex drive, however, and oxytocin may cause forgetfulness. But there are foods you can eat and exercises you can do to help balance those hormones back to normal.
6. Body Changes: Increases in abdominal fat, balding, gray hair, brittle nails, pimples, and more—these body changes indicate hormonal changes and are important to take note of. Your body often communicates what’s going on internally with changes on the surface.
7. Symptoms: Headaches? Stomach aches? Joint pain? Pay attention! Symptoms are a warning sign that something is off, and a signal to make changes to bring your body back into balance.

As you age, as the seasons change, as you change locations or jobs, have children, change body shape, or change symptoms, your ph360 plan changes with you. ph360 is not just a diet, it’s not just an exercise plan, it’s a life plan, personalized for your optimal well-being, now and into the future.

How long did your last diet go on before you felt too exhausted by the complexity, concern, and lack of results to go any further?

The truth is you want to lose weight fast, not count calories, spend hours at the grocery store reading labels, and obsess over all the foods you can’t eat while starving yourself. Is the answer in a weight loss pill or a fad diet?

In a study released in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) recently, a detailed analysis of the results of popular diets since 1966 found the differences among all diets (such as Atkins, Weight Watchers, The Zone, etc.) to be minimal. In another study, in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the effectiveness of a low-carbohydrate diet versus a low-fat diet revealed the low-carb approach to be marginally more effective, with an average 7 pounds more in weight loss after one year. But in 2007, UCLA researchers led by Dr. Traci Mann found that dieting typically failed to produce the weight loss desired, and often increased average weight in dieters over time.

With all this contradictory evidence, what’s a would-be dieter to do? If you want to lose weight, experts are increasingly looking to personalized health solutions to make the difference. After all, nothing knows you better than your own DNA.

The way your DNA expresses yourself in your body shape, size, and health is called your phenotype, and this basic information can provide a wealth of insight into what your body needs to lose weight and achieve lasting balance. Every body has a wide range of distinct needs in order to reach its unique weight loss goals. A personalized solution will take into account your individual needs and challenges to provide a diet, fitness, and lifestyle plan that matches your genetic profile.
Personalized health programs will work with your body profile to create a plan that is far more effective than any diet ever could be. It’s time to take the road less travelled, but far more familiar, and begin with your own body. Putting yourself first is the key to figuring out what works best for you.

The Harvard Business Review blog recently published an article that emphasized the importance of eating foods that will be metabolized for optimal mental fuel. Ron Friedman, Ph.D. wrote, ”Not all foods are processed by our bodies at the same rate. Some foods, like pasta, bread, cereal and soda, release their glucose quickly, leading to a burst of energy followed by a slump. Others, like high fat meals (think cheeseburgers and BLTs) provide more sustained energy, but require our digestive system to work harder, reducing oxygen levels in the brain and making us groggy.”

Before you think you’ve heard it all before, let’s look at what the new research had to say. Friedman cited research published in the British Journal of Health Psychology that followed participants’ food consumption, behavior, and mood over 13 days. Researchers then assessed how food choices influenced daily experiences. They found that, “The more fruits and vegetables people consumed (up to 7 portions), the happier, more engaged, and more creative they tended to be.”

ph360 has long been abreast of such developments. Using the sciences of epigenetics, endocrinology, and anthropometry, the ph360 algorithm can actually determine which foods are best for the individual’s brain and metabolism.

However, what’s so new about saying that fruits and veggies are good fro you? Friedman reported, “Fruits and vegetables contain vital nutrients that foster the production of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a key role in the experience of curiosity, motivation, and engagement. They also provide antioxidants that minimize bodily inflammation, improve memory, and enhance mood.”

That means that eating the right fruits and veggies for your body can actually make you feel better, and make your brain happier and more effective. ph360 provides users with the power to eat in ways that will, take productivity to the next level. The ph360 FOOD dashboard provides exhaustive lists of the foods that are appropriate to eat, and those that should be avoided—all for maximum mental alertness and function, as well as weight loss and mood regulation.

Friedman concluded, “The trick to eating right is not learning to resist temptation. It’s making healthy eating the easiest possible option.” Fortunately, ph360 is about as simple as it gets. Though the scientific calculations behind ph360 are complex, users following ph360 are typically stunned by how easy it is to use.

That means more brain power for all you need and hope to accomplish at work and in your personal life! Explore your own personalized diet for optimal brain health today at ph360.me.