The Biggest Lie You’ve Been Sold About Your Health
- Brainz Magazine
- Jun 26
- 7 min read
Dee Mani is a holistic healing advocate and founder of My Way CBD, who transformed her life after overcoming an aggressive breast cancer diagnosis using natural remedies. She is an author, entrepreneur, and speaker dedicated to empowering others through the healing potential of cannabis and holistic wellness practices.
You’ve probably heard it before: "It runs in the family." That ominous phrase, usually said with a shrug and a side of helplessness, is used to explain everything from cancer and heart disease to anxiety and addiction. It’s become the ultimate cop-out in health conversations. Got breast cancer? Oh well, your mum had it too. Depressed since your teens? It must be your dad’s side. Struggling with infertility? Probably genetic. End of story.
Except it’s not. That’s not the end of the story, hell, it’s barely the prologue.
Genetics load the gun, epigenetics pull the trigger
We’ve been sold a narrative that our genes are our destiny. That we’re passengers in our own biological car, doomed to crash if our DNA says so. But here’s the truth they don’t want you to know: genes are potential, not prophecy. And the real driver of disease isn’t the DNA you inherited, it’s the environment you live in, the trauma you store, and the lifestyle you maintain.
This is the world of epigenetics, the science that proves your body is listening to everything: your thoughts, your stress, your food, your toxins, your trauma.
And it’s time we start listening too.
The myth of genetic predestination and its effect on your health
Let’s break down the scam, shall we? When you’re told you’re at risk of something because of your genes, it usually comes from some fancy-sounding test or a doctor with a stern face. But gene testing, especially the direct-to-consumer kind like 23andMe, is wildly misleading.
A 2018 study from JAMA showed that up to 40% of genetic variants identified in commercial tests are false positives. That means people are being told they have a gene mutation (like BRCA1 or BRCA2) that they actually don’t have. Even worse? Many of these tests don’t account for epigenetic factors, the actual biological switches that determine whether a gene is turned on or off.
In other words, you may carry the bullet, but something still has to pull the trigger.
Dr. Bruce Lipton, cell biologist and author of The Biology of Belief, has been one of the leading voices exposing the truth about genetic determinism. His research shows that less than 5% of all diseases are truly genetic. The other 95%? That’s you. That’s your environment. That’s your trauma.
A 2002 article in New England Journal of Medicine emphasized that genetic testing often provides little predictive value, especially for common diseases like diabetes, depression, or heart disease.
Trauma: The invisible trigger that medicine ignores
Let’s talk about trauma, because until we do, we’re just pissing in the wind.
Trauma isn’t just about what happened to you. It’s about what didn’t happen. The love you didn’t receive. The boundaries that weren’t respected. The safety you never felt. These things leave biochemical footprints in the body. They dysregulate your nervous system, sabotage your immune function, and leave you wide open to disease.
The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) study, first published in 1998 by the CDC and Kaiser Permanente, revealed a direct link between childhood trauma and chronic diseases in adulthood. People with high ACE scores are significantly more likely to suffer from:
Autoimmune conditions
Cancer
Depression
Obesity
Heart disease
Addiction
Why? Because trauma changes your biology. It’s not just in your head, it’s in your cells.
Chronic trauma activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, flooding the body with cortisol and inflammatory cytokines. Over time, this disrupts gene expression and mitochondrial function, leading to premature ageing and chronic illness. A 2015 study in Nature Neuroscience showed that childhood maltreatment alters DNA methylation in genes related to immune function and stress response.
Epigenetics: The biology of belief, behaviour, and biochemistry
Epigenetics is the study of how your behaviours and environment affect the way your genes work. Unlike genetic changes, epigenetic changes are reversible, which means healing is possible.
So what influences epigenetic expression?
Nutrition: Nutrient deficiencies or toxic overloads can switch genes on/off. Studies show that methyl donors like folate, B12, and choline can impact gene expression.
Toxins: Pesticides, heavy metals, and endocrine disruptors mess with epigenetic markers. BPA, for instance, is linked to altered DNA methylation in fetal
development.
Stress: Chronic stress reshapes your epigenome by altering methylation patterns of genes like NR3C1, which governs cortisol sensitivity.
Sleep & Circadian Rhythms: Genes like PER2, CLOCK, and BMAL1 regulate
circadian rhythm. Disrupting sleep alters their expression, impacting metabolism and immunity.
Cannabis and Phytochemicals: Compounds like CBD and THC influence epigenetic pathways related to inflammation, neuroprotection, and immune modulation.
The placebo and nocebo effects: Mind over molecules
In clinical studies, the placebo effect regularly outperforms pharmaceutical drugs. That’s not a fluke, it’s epigenetics in action. Your thoughts signal chemical responses that can heal or harm. The nocebo effect, where negative beliefs make you sicker, is equally powerful.
A 2015 review in The Lancet Psychiatry emphasized how expectations can modify pain perception, immune responses, and even motor function.
So when a doctor tells you, "You’ll always be depressed, it’s genetic," or "You’ll never have children, it’s your DNA," they’re not just giving you bad news. They’re giving you a biological command. And if you believe it? Your body obeys.
Intergenerational trauma: Your pain isn’t always yours
The science of epigenetic inheritance shows that trauma can be passed down without changing your DNA sequence. Holocaust survivors, war refugees, and abused children have all shown transgenerational epigenetic markers.
A 2016 study published in Biological Psychiatry found that children of Holocaust survivors had altered cortisol regulation due to inherited epigenetic changes.
But here’s the thing: if it can be passed down, it can be reversed.
Studies in mice have shown that positive environments can erase trauma-linked epigenetic changes within a few generations. In humans, somatic therapy, psychedelics, cannabis oil, and breathwork are all showing promising effects in trauma recovery and epigenetic reprogramming.
Why the system will never teach you this
Let’s be blunt: there’s no money in empowered people.
The pharmaceutical industry is built on lifelong customers, not cures. If you knew that trauma healing, clean food, nature, and plant medicine could reverse gene expression, what would happen to their profit margins?
So they teach you to fear your genes. To outsource your power. To believe your body is broken. It’s not.
Your body isn’t betraying you. It’s trying to protect you. But it’s stuck in a loop, until you decide to break it.
How to take your power back: The epigenetic healing protocol
You don’t need a PhD to change your epigenome. You need awareness, consistency, and courage. You don’t need to be perfect, you need to be intentional. Healing isn’t linear, but it is possible. This isn’t a detox tea and a yoga class. This is radical self-responsibility.
Here's how you start:
Heal the trauma
This is non-negotiable. Trauma doesn’t disappear with time, it gets buried, and buried things rot. Begin where you are. That could mean:
Somatic therapy to release trapped emotions from the body
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) for trauma reprocessing
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (where legal) or cannabis oil as a gentle, plant-based trauma aid
Journaling, breathwork, inner child healing, even just naming the trauma is a start
Clean the body
You can’t thrive in a toxic soup. Your liver can only do so much. Try:
Removing seed oils, ultra-processed foods, and chemical-laden personal care products
Adding binders (like chlorella or activated charcoal), minerals (like magnesium and fulvic acid), and fibre
Doing seasonal detoxes (castor oil packs, infrared saunas, juice cleanses)
Supporting your drainage pathways (bowels, liver, lymph) before any heavy detox
Regulate the nervous system
A dysregulated nervous system will keep you sick. You can’t digest, detox, or repair in fight-or-flight. Begin with:
Daily breathwork (Box breathing, 4-7-8, or Wim Hof)
Cold exposure to tone the vagus nerve
EFT (tapping) to downshift stress responses
Humming, chanting, or singing to stimulate the parasympathetic system
Tech-free mornings and evenings to reduce nervous system overstimulation
Reclaim nature
You are not meant to be indoors under blue light all day. Your body needs connection to nature for regulation and repair:
Get sunlight early in the day to reset your circadian rhythm
Walk barefoot on grass or sand to discharge built-up electromagnetic stress (earthing)
Swim in the ocean or rivers, natural bodies of water restore electrical balance
Grow something, even a herb pot on the windowsill gives your cells a reason to relax
Own your beliefs
Your thoughts send instructions to your DNA. If you walk around saying "I’m broken" or "It’s in my genes," guess what your cells do? They comply. Try:
Practicing daily affirmations with emotional charge (e.g., "I am healing every day in every way")
Challenging inherited beliefs from family, culture, or medicine that no longer serve you
Vision journaling your health future, how would you feel if you trusted your body?
Surrounding yourself with content and people that reflect who you’re becoming
This is how you become your own healer. This is how you stop the pattern. This is how you reclaim your health, not by waiting for permission, but by choosing it daily.
You are not a victim of your biology. You are the architect of your epigenetic future.
You don’t need a PhD to change your epigenome. You need awareness, consistency, and courage. Here’s what that looks like:
Heal the trauma: Whether through therapy, somatic work, EMDR, psychedelics, or cannabis oil, you have to process it to release it.
Clean the body: Ditch processed foods, pharmaceuticals, and plastics. Add minerals, adaptogens, herbs, and organic whole foods.
Regulate the nervous system: Breathwork, cold water immersion, vagus nerve toning, and EFT tapping help reset your biology.
Reclaim nature: Sunlight, grounding, circadian rhythms, and connection to the Earth support gene expression.
Own your beliefs: Language is code. Stop saying you're broken. Start saying you're healing.
You are not a victim of your genes
If you’ve been walking around thinking you’re stuck with your DNA blueprint, this is your wake-up call. You’re not doomed. You’re dynamic.
So stop looking backward. Stop blaming family history. Start rewriting your biology, one belief, one breath, one bite at a time.
Free Healing Resource: Download my free Illness Prevention eBook here or book a 1:1 consult to start your own healing protocol.
You are not broken.
You are bio-intelligent.
And you’re allowed to heal.
Read more from Dee Mani
Dee Mani, Cannabis & Natural Health Consultant
Dee Mani is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, and holistic healing advocate who defied the odds by overcoming aggressive breast cancer through natural remedies, including cannabis. As the founder of My Way CBD, she is passionate about empowering others to explore alternative healing methods. Dee's journey from illness to wellness inspires her writing, where she shares insights on natural health, wellness, and the transformative power of nature. Follow her work to discover how to harness holistic practices for a healthier, more balanced life.
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