It’s Not Your Genes. It Might Be Your Water.
Food, We Need To Talk
Juna Gjata
4.8 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode, we talk with Dr. Gary Miller, a professor at Columbia University, about how the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the products we use every day may be shaping our health more than our genes ever could. We dive into the science of the “exposome,” why diseases like Parkinson’s and obesity are rising so fast, and what everyday chemicals might be doing inside your body. Along the way, we get practical about what actually matters — from water filters and air purifiers to plastics, perfumes, and even flowers on cakes. Dr. Miller breaks down what’s truly worth worrying about and what’s not. If you’ve ever wondered how much control you really have over your environment (and your future health), this episode will change how you look at everything around you.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So, Yuna, back in the early 2000s, I don't know if you remember this, but the human genome project was underway. |
| 0:07.5 | And there were just incredible expectations. |
| 0:09.9 | I'm like, oh, my God, all we have to do is sequence our DNA and we will crack the code and solve all ailments. |
| 0:18.1 | Eddie, I don't know if you know this, but in the early 2000s, I was watching Sesame Street, so I didn't know. I had no idea what the genome project was. Granted. Fair enough. They didn't cover this on Sesame Street? Apparently not. I don't know. I must have missed the episode. But understand the optimism that we thought we're going to have all of the answers. |
| 0:38.7 | Okay. |
| 0:39.7 | And what happened? |
| 0:40.9 | Well, it didn't happen. |
| 0:42.1 | That's the point. |
| 0:43.3 | Yeah, I feel like we don't have any of the answers. |
| 0:45.1 | I feel like we have no answers. |
| 0:46.4 | Well, I think we actually have a lot more questions. |
| 0:48.4 | There are definitely some diseases that have really strong genetic links. |
| 0:53.0 | But many common, like, chronic conditions, the genes, |
| 0:56.5 | well, it's only like a small piece of it. And in a lot of cases, even identifying the genetic |
| 1:02.5 | risk factors, well, that doesn't really even explain like when or how or like why some people |
| 1:07.2 | have this gene. They don't get sick. And other ones do. Like, I'm tearing my hair out. I don't have any hair to tear out. So what you're saying is we thought that genes would have all the answers to our problems. And it turns out that that wasn't the case at all. So, you look at something like Parkinson's, autism, autoimmune disease. Well, they've gone up really fast, even obesity. |
| 1:30.8 | And our genes have not changed in the past 30 to 50. |
| 1:31.4 | No. |
| 1:33.6 | So what is happening? |
| 1:36.8 | Well, that's exactly what we're going to talk about on today's episode. |
| 1:39.1 | What role is the environment playing in our health? |
| 1:43.1 | And what can we do about the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the products we're using every single day to stop ourselves from becoming sick? |
... |
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