Dean Ornish Says Your Genes Are Not Your Fate

1. Take-Aways

Human genes can not only be altered, but changed by people’s healthy eating habits and lifestyles. Not only can people change their genes, but they can also do it fast, which can be very accommodating to healthier, brighter futures. Dean Ornish states that “When you eat healthier, manage stress, exercise and love more, you brain actually gets more blood flow and more oxygen. But more than that, your brain gets measurably bigger.” When this blood flow is greater, a person can stay younger and healthier. They can also possibly prevent the development of prostate cancer and breast cancer. Studies are continued to be done and so far have found that people who make these life style changes have changed nearly 500 genes for the better.

2. Effective Speaking Techniques

Dean Ornish is very relaxed throughout his talk. He almost seems nervous a little bit because he kid of mumbles every once in a while and pauses constantly. He is a tad quite, which makes it hard to understand everything he is saying. His voice is very monotone throughout his speech and that makes it a little hard to stay in tuned to, even though the subject matter is quite interesting.

3. Presentation Style

Dean uses a lot of examples throughout his Ted Talk. He opens up with an example on how human genes can be altered through a study done by Craig Venter. He also uses the example that Robin Williams found out that many things can now be measured that couldn’t years ago. Studies that have been done assist Ornish in his idea that people can change their genes. In these studies, specific ideas are presented in the fact that he uses examples of foods that increase the production of cells in a person’s brain to make them age slower, and prevent their bodies from disease. He shows a picture to explain the significance of how these foods decrease the amount of fatty buildup[ in the arteries near the heart.

4. What Matters

Every day foods such as blueberries, chocolate, tea, stress management, some alcohol and canabanoids can cause the human brain to develop newer cells for the body, changing the genes. This creates a breakthrough in technology and studies done. Once before, genetic makeup was genetic makeup and it could not be changed. A person received their genes from their parents, who received them from their parents, and so on. Now we find that humans can change this, and change themselves. People have a say in who they get to be. Ornish states that these kinds of foods send more blood flow to your skin, henceforth making a person age less quickly. He also states that when the heart gets more blood flow, it reduces the risk of heart disease, or even reverses it. This is a step forward in creating healthier America. In this time and age, more and more Americans have become overweight and obese, that this study could change those statistics if people could just tweak their lifestyles and make healthier choices. We could come together as a healthier America, creating new jobs, and way of life.