Got my genetics results....and what should I look for?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #21

I’m sorry you had to learn all this. I hope you aren’t too badly distressed by the knowledge.

(Bob M) #22

@Belisarius It probably is. For instance, I was told a story about a woman who found out her dad was actually the neighbor. That family stayed together, and the woman confronted her mother, who basically refused to admit it. But the family persists.

@PaulL I try not to get concerned about things I cannot change. To me, my brother is my brother, regardless of whether he’s a half brother or not.

What did stun me is that I’m not related to “Paul” (my mother’s first husband), and I was convinced my brother would actually be my half-sister’s real brother (meaning they both had my mother and “father” as parents, considering my mother had been married to my father at least 2-3 years when my brother was born). He’s not. That’s a lot of men involved (two husbands and two unknown men).

But my mother’s family was not a great one. 16 children, many taken away by the state. Something happened there, and I can’t judge what I don’t know. The little I do know indicates abuse, alcoholism, etc. Not a great environment.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #23

My experience is the exact opposite of yours, in terms of relatives, anyway. After years of thinking (hoping) I had to have been adopted, I was at an aunt’s wake, when all my uncles (including one who had married into the family, lol) pulled out their glaucoma drops—the very same one I was taking. And when I got sober, I thought I was the only alcoholic in the family, until relatives started letting me know their own struggles, and my mother said that my father was known to friends as a dry drunk (boy, that explained a lot! :scream:).

(Bob M) #24

Speaking of alcoholism, I thought this was a great interview:

There are a number of topics, but one of which is about alcoholism and how keto diets appear to help or cure that for many people. This includes the gut biome and GABA (which I’ve only briefly heard of). This might be spread into two parts, though.

He goes through the two camps of thought for alcoholism, one of which is that people become alcoholics because they “need” what alcohol provides, which in part is GABA. And what increases GABA? A keto diet.

This camp makes a lot of sense to me.

By the way, what’s a “dry drunk”?

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #25

It’s long been my understanding that addictions are mediated by the dopamine receptors of the nucleus accumbens, the brain’s “reward centre.” But given that GABA has a role in calming down excited neurons, I can see it having a role in helping the nucleus accumbens recover from having had to down-regulate its dopamine receptors (dopamine is an excitatory hormone, and too much can actually kill cells; hence the down-regulation, in self-defense).

I am always leery of any explanation involving the gut biome. I suspect people have taken the idea that it can affect the rest of the body and run far, far past what the data will support.

And a dry drunk is an alcoholic who does not drink, but who sure behaves as though he or she does. The most prominent symptom is an unstable temper, but there are plenty of others.

(Bob M) #26

I’m 100% with you on the biome stuff, but what he said made some sense, and he had studies to back it up.

One thing he said was there was a study where most people did well with fiber, causing less inflammation. But a subgroup did poorly, the fiber causing more inflammation. I’m in that subgroup.

I like his idea that most people don’t have a one size fits all diet.

And he said that many people can let up over time in carbs. But not go back to where you were but eat more good carbs. I have found that to be true.

He seemed reasonable to me.

Unfortunately, they did not link to the studies he used.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #27

I just watched a couple of videos by Dr. Anthony Chaffee, an American neurosurgeon in Perth, Western Australia, a carnivore who contends that fibre is always detrimental, except possibly on a high-carb diet. On the other hand, Chris Palmer is a respected psychiatrist and researcher, so who knows?

Part of the problem is that people who eat a lot of carbs probably need the fibre, so we get trapped in that mindset, making it hard to be objective. But as Fung says, “Carbs are the poison, and fibre is the antidote. But if you’re not taking the poison, you don’t need the antidote!” And Paul Mason’s great line is, “Constipation is like a traffic jam, and taking fibre is like adding more cars to the road. How does that make sense?” You can probably tell my bias from these quotations, lol! :grin:

Of course, for every forum member who finds that fibre makes bowel symptoms worse, there is an equal and opposite forum member who couldn’t have a bowel movement without it. Anecdotes may not be data, but after a certain number of anecdotes, we do have to start paying attention.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #28

Right from the beginning of my ketogenic diet, I have felt able to eat more carbohydrate, say 100-125 g/day and still be in ketosis (this would mean that though I was pre-diabetic, my insulin resistance wasn’t too bad). But I tried to eat as little carbohydrate as possible, anyway, once I really got started (I began by eliminating sweets and starches, but not worrying about grains and such). These days, I find that certain symptoms of excessive carb-eating start to creep back when I eat more than a minimal amount of carbohydrate, even if I still remain in ketosis.

Interesting. I suspect I will eventually end up going completely plant-free at some point.

#29

I really wouldn’t trust 23 & Me, it might just be a UK thing but the reviews are terrible. I got a refund, not because I thought the data was wrong, but because I didn’t get the kit - the service was appalling.

@ctviggen that’s a heartbreaking story. Must have been such a terrible shock and brought up questions that can never be answered.

(Robin) #30

@ctviggen Well, what a shocker. And such a sad one. I had some real surprises when my brother and I did our DNA. That’s been a few years now and we are glad we learned the truth. Because the test didn’t change anything, it just revealed what was already true.

I’m kinda glad I was blissfully unaware of the drama that was taking place all around us.

Oh, and I’m still waiting to find a child that I’m pretty sure my sister had one fateful summer when I was sent away without warning to live with friends across the country. I look back and realize what must have happened with my troubled and mentally ill sister.

Ah, the stories we believed and the truths withheld. And what really matters, in the end? Our experience.

BTW… I love the fact that a serial killer can be tracked down via a relatives DNA. Crazy times.

Will be thinking of you as you find your new balance.

(Jane) #31

My situation was kind the opposite. My mom was unfaithful to my dad and when he found out he wondered if I was really “his” since I don’t look like him. I look just like my mom. My older brother strongly resembles our dad.

Well, I found a bunch of relatives on dad’s side so I called him up and told him he had to claim me now. LOL. Not that he hasn’t always. If the news had been the opposite I never would have told him.

#32

Slate? Yes, with lots of references throughout. Good read.

(Rebecca ) #33

I’m sure the facts you have learned shocked you to the core. It would probably be helpful if you could talk it over with your Mom . I hope you can realize that whatever happened, she gave you life and you have gone on to be who you are and to create your own Family.