Hereditary Illness or Hereditary Habits? A Different Way to Think About Health

Too often, we react to challenges by choosing the easy way out. I was reminded of this recently during conversations with some folks over the holiday week. We talked about so-called hereditary illnesses — diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol problems, heart issues, and the like.

My simple response was this: most of the time, it’s not truly hereditary. It’s that we’re eating the same foods and living the same sedentary lifestyles as the generations before us. What’s passed down isn’t just DNA — it’s habits. It’s culture. It's daily choices around food and movement that stretch on, generation after generation, creating the illusion of inevitability.

Longevity, I firmly believe, has more to do with diet and exercise than it does with a family history of illness. It’s easy to say, “Well, my mama had it,” or, “My granddaddy had it,” but the deeper truth often lies in what was on the dinner table and what kind of life they led.

I think about my mother. She lived to be a vibrant 97 years old.

Growing up, we used to tease her for always snacking on radishes, celery, cottage cheese — all that healthy, “boring” stuff. But now, looking back, I have to believe that her eating habits played a major role in her longevity. She was health-conscious long before it was trendy. She exercised regularly and even had one of the very first stationary workout bikes. (I wish we’d kept it — it’s probably a collector’s item now.)

Even well into her 80s and 90s, my mother stayed active. She cared about her waistline, not out of vanity, but out of a deep respect for her body. She never allowed herself to get too far off track. She lived with intention, and her choices reflected it.

Today, her baby sister is still alive at 100 years old, and her younger brother is pushing 98. They, too, have lived long lives rooted in healthy eating and movement. It’s no coincidence.

It’s fascinating, really. Her family grew up during the 1920s and 1930s, right through the Great Depression.

I remember my sister once asking my mother, “How did you all survive the Depression?” My mother, being half Black and half Mexican, laughed and said, “We didn’t even know there was a Depression — we were already poor.” That kind of resilience shaped her mindset. She would later joke about how you didn’t see Black folks jumping out of windows during those years — because they knew how to endure hardship.

I know I’ve drifted a bit, but the point remains: what we often blame on genetics is really the result of lifestyles passed down unexamined.

I guess I’m reflecting on all this because this morning, I finished my 40-minute martial arts cardio routine — 1,000 punches, 900 kicks in just 40 minutes. I’ll be turning 67 later this year, 2025, and I’m trying every day to make the best choices I can. I eat healthy most of the time. I exercise daily. And we'll see where this path leads.

More than anything, I want to pass down a different kind of inheritance to my children — not one of hereditary illness, but of hereditary health and intentional living. I believe I already see the results: my son is strong, muscular, and disciplined in his workouts, alternating upper and lower body every other day. My daughter, remarkably, has cut sugar completely out of her diet, eats clean, and maintains a consistent gym routine.

Honestly, they’re doing better than I was at their age. When I was young, health wasn’t even a thought in my mind. Like so many others, I took my youth for granted, not realizing that the decisions we make when we feel invincible will either protect us or haunt us later in life.

We all have a choice. We can continue the generational patterns of poor health and call it “heredity,” or we can break the cycle through conscious living. It's not genetics — it's momentum. And it’s up to us to decide which kind of legacy we want to pass on.

Just something to think about.