If you’ve heard throughout your life, “You’re just like your father...”
You probably thought, “Of course I’m like Dad; he gave me half of my genes.”
Right?
Not quite…
It turns out it’s not that simple. Sure, you have 50% of Dad’s genes, but that’s not the whole picture. Your DNA contributes to your appearance and some health traits, but it isn’t nearly as important as we once thought. The fact that we are all 99.9% similar in our DNA proves that our DNA doesn’t tell our whole story.
So, how did you get Dad’s dashing good looks and his ridiculous sense of humor?
(Fact – dad jokes aren’t genetic…)
So, what is it that makes us unique from one another? The answer lies in your gut microbiome!
Science has uncovered that your microbial genes play a big, if not a bigger, role than your human genes. You have about 20,000 human genes and between 2 and 20 million microbial genes – making you genetically 99% microbes.1
Your richest source of microbial genes is in your gut, which has caused many people to call the gut microbiome the “second genome.”2 We can be 100% different from the person next to us when comparing the genetic makeup of our gut microbiome, which causes scientists to suspect it’s a major source of our individuality.3
You see, your DNA is your body's blueprint, providing information on how to grow, develop, and reproduce. Your DNA is composed of genes that can be turned off or on and up or down. Epigenetics, or changes in gene expression, along with your gut microbiome, can influence which traits are shown to the world, also called your phenotypes. Phenotypes include things like your height, eye color, temperament, disease susceptibility, responses to therapies, recovery adeptness, and more.
Your gut microbiome mostly develops throughout your early years. Every time your dad played with you, hugged you, and kissed you, he shared some of his microbes with you, which helped build your gut microbiome.
Studies have even found that though your mother gave you many microbes during birth and through breastfeeding, most children have gut microbiomes just as similar to their father’s as their mother’s. 4
Pretty awesome, right?
Does that mean the more you hang out with Dad, the more you’ll become like him? Later in life, probably not as much since your gut microbiome is already well established. But when you were a child, the microbes you were introduced to mattered a ton, and Dad greatly influenced that.
It’s important to understand that your gut microbiome is a community, and each microorganism behaves differently depending on what other microbes are present. Just how we might act a little differently in front of Mom or Dad. It’s how we always knew which one to ask for things to increase our chances of getting a “yes.”
The overall community of microbes in your gut can be healthy or potentially toxic. The only real way to know if your gut microbiome is toxic or healthy is through a gut microbiome test. Viome looks deep inside your microbiome and analyzes what’s being consumed and what’s being produced by your microbes. Viome then makes food and supplement recommendations so you and Dad can make changes specific to your gut microbiomes to optimize your health and wellness.
Your dad might even discover his gut microbiome has been contributing to his dad bod. That’s right. Some people find they have trouble losing weight, and it is simply because they are eating the wrong foods to nourish their microbes.
Food truly is medicine, but identifying foods that are best for you is a more individualized process than we’ve been led to believe. If there’s one thing gut microbiome science has uncovered, it’s that –one man’s food is another man’s poison.
If your dad isn’t feeling great, if his health has been a struggle, a major factor could be as simple as eating the wrong things for his gut microbiome. With Viome, you can help him feel like Hercules by helping him discover the right foods that are developed specifically for him.
Just like there is no one right way to be a good father, there is no universal diet perfect for everyone. Help Dad find the ideal diet with Viome!
Resources:
1. Zhu B, Wang X, Li L. (2010). Protein Cell. 2010 Aug;1(8):718-25. doi: 10.1007/s13238-010-0093-z. Epub 2010 Aug 28. PMID: 21203913; PMCID: PMC4875195.
2. The Second Genome. John's Hopkins Center for Talented Youth, online at cty.jhu.edu
3. Gilbert JA. (2015). Genome Biol. 2015 May 14;16(1):97. doi: 10.1186/s13059-015-0664-7. PMID: 25971745; PMCID: PMC4430908.
4. Schloss PD, Iverson KD, Petrosino JF, Schloss SJ. (2014). Microbiome. 2014 Jul 21;2:25. doi: 10.1186/2049-2618-2-25. PMID: 25061514; PMCID: PMC4109379.
