- [Dr. Lipton] The function of the mind
is to create coherence between
what we believe and the
reality that we experience.
If you believe there's a threat,
signals of thread released in the blood
will prepare the cells to
engage in a protection response.
But the problem is this,
maybe there was no real threat.
The cells don't know
whether it's real or not
because the cells only
respond to the chemicals.
They don't see the real environment.
So all of a sudden a say, if
we believe we're under stress,
we manifest stress in our physiology
even though the environment
in which we live
is not really promoting that.
All of a sudden we start
to see that our thoughts,
whether they're right or they're wrong,
are actually changing our biology.
Now this idea of thoughts
controlling our life is not new.
2,500 years ago the Buddhists
said what we think we become.
In fact that is exactly the
story of epigenetics today.
Epigenetics is saying what you're thinking
is translated into chemistry
which will determine what you will become.
2,500 years later, Buddha is right,
but now we know that mechanism.
Signal plus protein equals behavior.
Now I say when the behavior
is not supporting us,
then we can say we are
expressing a dis-ease.
Now in this equation I say
what can be responsible,
what can cause a disease?
The beautiful part about
it is there are only
two things on the other
side of the equation.
It's either the protein or the signal
can be considered the cause of disease.
I say well yeah proteins can cause disease
because defective proteins
lead to defective functions
which then are expressed as disease.
The question is how much of our disease
is actually controlled
by defective proteins?
The most amazing fact is
this that flawed genes
cause less than one percent of disease.
So when we go back to our chart
and I say proteins can
contribute to disease
and I say they can contribute
because defective proteins
as a result of mutations or
alterations of our genome,
then will mislead the fate of the cells.
In that case cells out
of harmony with the world
express disease.
Now we're down to a very
simple understanding.
If only one percent of disease
is related to proteins,
going back to the charts says
well then the other cause
of disease must be some
alteration in the signal.
So I say the signal can cause
up to 90% or more of disease
that we experience on the planet.
I say well how can the
signal interfere with health.
I say number one, if
you experience trauma.
Let's say you're in an accident
and you twist your spine and
you interfere with the flow
of information from the
nervous system of the cells,
then the alteration of that
interference of communication
could lead to a misunderstanding
by the responding cells
as to what's really going on
because the signals are altered.
Trauma can cause disease by interferings
with the propagation of the signals
from the brain to the cells.
Number two, if we put toxic
elements into our body
such as the toxins that
we acquire by eating
industrial farmed foods, toxic chemicals
can engage in the signal pathway.
But if they do, they don't promote
a normal signal propagation.
Toxic chemistry can distort the signal.
Relevance is this.
If the brain is sending a
signal to control the cells
and there's toxic
chemistry in the pathway,
then the signal that reaches the cells
is by definition altered
and therefore the behavior of the
altered cells can lead to disease.
Thirdly and perhaps the most
important cause of disease
influencing the signal
is really nothing wrong
with the body at all.
But what it represents is this,
the influences of our thoughts.
Our thoughts are what are
translated into the chemistry.
Now why is this relevant?
If we have a disease due to thought,
it's not because the body is defective,
it's because the signal is inappropriate.
This is really important
because it is recognized
now that our consciousness
is the primary problem
in the issues of health on this planet.
Especially as they relate to stress.
This issue is nothing
organically wrong with the body.
It's just that we're sending
inappropriate signals
at an inappropriate time
which leads to inappropriate
behavior which we call disease.
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(techno music)
