We plan to launch a range of products, called Thrive.

Why more products when there are so many in the market? I see that a lot of health and organic products are misleading. One really has to read the label carefully. My plan? Each item under Thrive will be selected to represent the highest quality and each product will do what it claims. Simply put, Thrive will be a range of products that have been scrutinized thoroughly, they would be what I use myself or give to my family. 

This is the question. Studies suggest that lifestyle (diet, exercise, emotions) can be powerful enough to switch on or off certain genes. So, while you can’t change the genetic set you are born with, you can control some of the switches. 

Dr Dean Ornish showed that some 15 years ago when he claimed that heart disease can be reversed. More recently, he showed that when men with early stage prostate cancer made lifestyle changes, the nature of the cancer changed. The actual cancer tissue started behaving differently. 

Just last month, another study showed that when it comes to diabetes, lifestyle can be more powerful than genes. The Finnish study followed identical twins to show that lifestyle can determine the switching on and off of genes linked to diabetes. 

Because the genes of the volunteers is identical, the finding suggests that environment contributes more than heredity to the development of insulin resistance in people who are obese.

Fascinating, I think…

I am often asked why can’t we just eat a “balanced diet”. Afterall, by now, we all should know what is healthy and what is not. I believe there is no such thing as one diet fits all. There is no one way to eat that is appropriate for everybody. This is the trouble I have with general nutrition advice. For example, the individual who is insulin-resistant  or has metabolic syndrome should not be advised to follow a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet. This individual should not be told to “eat a banana daily to get plenty of potassium” or “drink a glass of orange juice for vitamin C.” This advice would further create more insulin problems in the individual due to the high carbohydrate content of both of these offerings—making them inappropriate.