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How Food and Exercise Change Your Genes

Saturday, December 20, 2025
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People often wonder how food and exercise affect the body. One key player in this process is a substance called β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB).

What is BHB?

  • Energy Source: Made when the body breaks down fats for energy.
  • Beyond Energy: Helps control inflammation, protects the brain, and changes how genes work.

Boosting BHB Levels

  • Diet: Foods with medium-chain fatty acids, fasting, ketogenic diet.
  • Activity: Moderate exercise.
  • Supplements: Quickly raise BHB levels without strict diet changes.

Genetic Influence

BHB affects genes through a process called lysine β-hydroxybutyrylation (Kbhb).

  • Gene Regulation: Changes how genes are read and how proteins function.
  • Body Balance: Influences diseases and keeps the body balanced.

How Kbhb Works

  • Enzymes:
  • HDACs and SIRTs: Remove modifications.
  • E1A-binding protein p300 and CREB-binding protein (p300/CBP): Add modifications.

Understanding these processes can help us see how diet and lifestyle affect health.

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