Your APOE Gene variant found to influence major biological traits including diet, muscle type, Alzheimer's, heart disease

In recent years the human APOE gene has become a hot topic for a number of reasons. You get one allele from each parent and each comes in three variants. These alleles correlate to a number of major biological traits. If you are among the 36% who have one of the less common APOE alleles (APOE2 or APOE4) it would be very beneficial to find out because your ideal diet and exercise will likely be very different from the typical regimens "work" for "most people" i.e. the other 64%. You can find out by doing a

APOE4 = 26% population population, thought to be the "oldest" allele, more slow twitch muscle fibers ex. marathon runners, higher carb/lower fat diets, handle fats well

APOE3 = 64% population"neutral" health wise, moderate fast twitch muscles ex. baseball, basketball, etc.

APOE2 = 10% population super fast twitch muscles ex. sprinters & boxers, special high risk for Alzheimers, suggested very high fat/low carb diet

APOE4 = "Ancestral Allele"?
Some scientists believe that APOE4 is the oldest allele. It seems to be very rare among highly agricultural populations and is thought to be a hunter-gatherer trait. One scientist calls it a "food collection" allele vs. a "food production" allele, viz. foraging for food in circumstances where supply is sporadic and unpredictable.

APOE4 = "Endurance" Allele?
A 2007 study by Williams & Folland  poinpoints the APOE4 gene as optimal for the slow-twitch muscle fibers required for endurance sports like marathon running etc., while APOE2 is optimal for fastest-twitch muscle fibers required for explosive sports like sprints boxing, etc. This seems logical insofar as the fastest-twitch muscles require sugar  (glycogen) to function whereas endurance muscle requires only oxygen.

APOE Spatial Variation in Geographic Distribution AfricaAPOE Gene varies widely across Africa. Since Africa is the cradle of humankind and APOE4 is the oldest allele, one might think that most Africans have APOE4. However, it is well known that many Africans excel at sprinting and other fast-twitch sports, which indicate APOE2 gene, the other extreme from APOE4. In fact, the 2007 study by Williams & Folland notes that West Africa is home to a higher percentage of sprinters but East Africa has more endurance athletes. This makes sense as East Africa (Ethiopia/Kenya/Tanzania/etc.) is the cradle of human civilization hence it would seem logical that it contains the highest percentage of the oldest allele APOE4.

Diet and the APOE4 Gene
There is extremely interesting discussion surrounding the question of what sort of diet suits the APOE4 gene since the risk of Alzhimer's is so high, but the topic is well worth investigating regardless of Alzheimer's risk. There is an "Alzheimer's Diet" which is super-high in fat, and indeed many recommend a high fat diet for APOE4, including Stefanie Seneff of MIT http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/ who has published studies on Alzheimer's like this one http://people.csail.mit.edu/seneff/EJIM_PUBLISHED.pdf

There is a book called the "APOE Gene Diet" but it after giving a brief outline of the different APOE Genes it its diet recommendations for the three types are so similar as to be meaningless, it is not a good source of dietary guidelines for APOE.


Some interesting sites on APOE

A study that seeks the genetic markers of elite endurance athletes and find APOE4 to be the endurance allele
http://jp.physoc.org/content/586/1/113.full

APOE4 - The Ancestral Allele

http://primale4.wordpress.com/

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