We Are What Our Environment Makes Us

This is where things get a little meta — or maybe deeply introspective.
Human beings aren’t all that different from other animals when it comes to diet. We eat what’s available, what tastes good, and what’s easiest to access. Cost and convenience shape our choices, and although modern transportation has dramatically expanded what we can buy and eat, we’re still essentially evolved animals responding to our surroundings.

In that sense, we share surprising similarities not only with other mammals, but even with insects and bacteria. All living things consume what their environment provides. We are, quite literally, products of our environment.

Genetically, all humans are remarkably similar — yet our environments and cultures go one step further to shape who we become. The word culture itself beautifully bridges biology and society: bacteria grow in cultures, and people grow up within them. Our diets are shaped not just by personal choice, but by tradition, history, family, community, and even our workplaces. Much of this influence begins before we’re aware of it.

Our genetic makeup and body chemistry determine how well we adapt to these environments — and whether we stay healthy or fall ill. Lifestyle, of course, plays a major role, but genes and biology set some of the parameters.

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Diet, Lifestyle, and the Modern Medical Culture

Many illnesses we face today are influenced by how we live — by what we eat, drink, and do. Family patterns in disease often reflect not just shared genes, but shared habits. Increasing research shows that diet and lifestyle changes can dramatically reduce risk, slow disease progression, or even lead to remission in some conditions.

Still, our broader culture makes this difficult. Convenience, processed foods, and sedentary routines are woven into daily life. The health system, built around treatment rather than prevention, can make real change feel out of reach.

Modern medicine saves countless lives, but it also operates within an economic system where drugs and procedures dominate. Prevention often gets less attention — not because it doesn’t work, but because it isn’t always profitable. In this way, our society becomes its own “petri dish”: our culture, policies, and economy all feed back into the health outcomes we see.

The result is a culture of excess and instant gratification — fast calories, quick fixes, and chronic disease. Yet, just as we’re products of our environment, we also have the power to reshape it. By rethinking how we eat, live, and heal, we can begin to change the culture from within.