Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Those words of wisdom describe the foundation of Dr. Marvin Singh’s practice. A leading gastroenterologist and wellness concierge, Dr. Singh is also pioneering a novel approach to preventative health care, which he calls, “Precisionomics.”
“Precisionomics is the next generation of healthcare and a brand new way of looking at your health and longevity,” Dr. Singh told NEW YOU. “The science and technology are here and available that now allow us to take the concept of precision medicine and actually practice it. The Precisionomics approach to health is precision medicine to the max and involves looking at a wide variety of things like your genes, your gut health, your immune system, your environment, your chromosomes, and putting this all together with the most advanced forms of imaging to screen for cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.”
The comprehensive and meticulous overview provided by Precisionomomics enables Dr. Singh’s patients to implement strategies that can improve their health and increase their longevity. Dr. Singh explained, “When you are able to look at your health in this way, then you can make changes in your life that can truly impact your long term health!”
Dr. Singh founded the Precisone Clinic in San Diego, Ca, where he and his team of board-certified physicians put Precisionomics into practice. Patients can choose between three levels of care, depending on how deeply they want to dive into their health evaluations. “The first level is very comprehensive,” Dr. Singh said. “It includes whole body imaging, body composition imaging, heart scanning, brain scanning, whole genome sequencing, microbiome sequencing and all the integrative medicine testing such as checking telomere length, micronutrient levels, toxin levels, food and chemical sensitivities and mitochondrial function. That’s when we do the maximum. If you want to skip the imaging, that’s perfectly okay because we can just do all the genomics and integrative testing. And if you want to skip the genomics, we can just get started by looking at all the other parameters mentioned. The point is to get started on your health journey by looking in the right places and addressing any issues that could be problems now or in the future.
He continued, “Precisionomics means different things for different people and it’s adaptable to the person based on what their desires and needs are. That’s what is so great about it. You can do whatever is best for you at this time but the point is, do something.”
In addition to Precisionomics, Dr. Singh also recommended several changes that people can make immediately in various areas of their lives to benefit their health and prolong their longevity. According to Dr. Singh, it all starts with the basic fundamentals of your lifestyle and how you live.
Diet:
“What you eat is very important because our gut microbiome digests food and makes our vitamins, neurotransmitters and hormones. When you eat good healthy foods, you get good healthy microbes making good healthy chemicals in your body. If you are eating junk food, fast food, packaged food and very processed foods that are high in sugar or are drinking too much alcohol and doing all those kinds of things that are not very good for your health, they are impacting you on a very high level. We often think of this superficially but there’s a lot of chemical changes happening in your body every time you ingest these bad foods. It’s about looking at your diet and eating a proper healthy, well-balanced diet with a good amount of colorful fruits and vegetables in it.”
Toxins:
“You should definitely be avoiding toxins like alcohol and cigarettes, but there’s more than that. The cosmetics that you use have chemicals in them. The water that you drink can have chemicals in it. The landscaper may be spraying pesticides outside so you can have toxic exposures. You can never eliminate toxins altogether because we live on a planet full of toxins but if you are aware of your environment, you can take measures to try to circumvent them as best you can. There are always alternatives to things that you purchase. You are going to use products anyway so you might as well use the good ones.”
Exercise:
“You have to make sure you are exercising and moving on a regular basis. Exercise helps you reduce stress and inflammation. You have to exercise. It doesn’t have to cost you any money. You can go for a walk. You can do push-ups in your apartment if you can’t go to the gym. The most important point is to make sure you are moving on a regular basis.”
Meditation:
“People that meditate on a regular basis live longer, have improved mood, and even lower levels of inflammation. The data suggests that those who meditate regularly may have longer telomeres(the protective caps at the ends of our chromosomes that help keep DNA intact) and improved telomerase activity(the enzyme that helps keep the telomeres intact).. You can meditate whether you are sitting in your car or whether you are sitting on a mountain(just make sure you’re not driving if you are sitting in your car!). These are things that are so important because they are so impactful in so many ways.”
Sleep:
“You have to sleep, so make sure you sleep right. We have a lot of data now that shows that our body responds to a good night’s sleep and our microbiome responds to it as well. For example, when you have altered circadian rhythms(meaning you aren’t having good sleep cycles), our microbiomes, our microbes in our gut, they shift in response to that altered circadian rhythm. The shifts that occur when someone has altered sleep are the same kinds of shifts that we see in people who are obese, overweight and have inflammation. These are very interesting findings. There is actually a biochemical reason for why eating better, sleeping well, and exercising is so helpful to our health and longevity. Understanding this and what you should specifically do to personalize your health plan is the really the important part.”
For more information on Dr. Marvin Singh and The Precisione Clinic, please visit precisioneclinic.com.
