Jonny Bowden, author, nutritionist and weight loss coach cuts through all the misconceptions about diet and fitness to help you transform your body, your health and your life.

There's no doubt that genes have something to do with your weight. But not nearly as much as you might think.

According to a new study, lifestyle choices have a lot more to do with insulin resistance and obesity than heredity does. What you do -- or don't do -- can actually "turn on" these genes (or render them inactive).

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the body doesn't process sugar well, and it often leads to diabetes, obesity, heart disease or all three. But with all the talk of finding "genes" for these conditions, we often forget an important fact: Genes interact with the environment.

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Life is too short not to be fully "turned on." The Daily Turn On! energizes all aspects of "you." Every Monday The Daily Turn On! with That's Fit Life Fit expert Laura Lewis will provide you with ideas and tips to awaken your mind, your body and your life as you journey through each day of the week! Check in each Monday to get your tip for Turning On every day of your life.

Purple it up babe. Yup. Drink it up. Eat it up. And you may just be thinner, look younger, get healthier and live longer than "non-purple eaters." Is it important to ramp up these foods in your diet? You bet! Read on for some pretty cool reasons you need to include more fruits, veggies, herbs and even flowers rich in anthocyanins in your daily diet:

• Foods containing these natural red, purple, pink and blue pigments have been found to be powerful in fighting free radicals in the body. What do free radicals do? Cause disease, increase the aging process and cause a myriad of health problems. Foods with purple power are known "super foods!"
• Anthocyanins are involved in neurogenesis and have been found to enhance neuronal signaling capabilities and improve communication among neurons. Blueberries are known to enhance memory function. The blue pigments protect the brain and help neurons!

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According to eDiets, there's a new risk to your health called Syndrome X. Well, to be more specific, Syndrome X isn't a new disease. In fact, in varying forms it's been around for a long time, but it wasn't named Syndrome X until 1988. Syndrome X is the name that refers to a variety of problems, including central obesity, impaired glucose metabolism, high triglycerides and high blood pressure, and together these problems can lead to insulin resistance. Apparently, Syndrome X is a potentially serious condition, and you should take steps to reduce your risk.

Like? Lose weight, incorporate exercise into your life and take steps to lower your blood pressure and your cholesterol. Which you should be doing anyway, but it never hurts to have a wake-up call, right?

Have you heard of Syndrome X?

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You hear it all the time -- eliminate refined sugar from your diet, eat five small meals a day, keep your blood sugar steady. But do you know why that advice is so prevalent? This article takes the science of blood sugar and puts it into a fun, readable format.

Basically, when you eat your body converts the carbs into glucose, which insulin carries to your organs for energy. When you wait too long between meals, your body can't scrape up enough glucose, which makes your feel tired and shaky and contributes to poor food choices. When you eat refined sugars and junk food, your blood sugar shoots up fast and crashes quickly, leaving you irritable and hungry. But when you eat good carbs, protein, and healthy fats on a regular basis throughout the day, your blood sugar and your appetite stay level.

Eat a steady diet of junky, sugary carbs and your body will eventually quit letting insulin carry the glucose away. That's called insulin resistance and it can be a precursor to diabetes and really hard on your internal organs. Exercise can help reverse insulin resistance and help you remove excess glucose from your system (before it's converted to fat), which in the long run can help you lose weight.

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It lurks in your favorite easy chair, your hair dryer, even your microwave ... what is it? It's a chemical known as polybrominated diphenyl (PBDE). It's a flame retardant used in many different kinds of products to reduce their flammability, and manufacturers -- who have been using the chemical since the 1960s -- say the chemical could prevent consumer injury or death by fire by 45%.

So why do PBDEs have experts concerned? The chemical is so pervasive in our environment that experts say we come into contact with products containing PBDE over 100 times every day. The chemical is fat soluble, which means it dissolves in body fat, and it's been found to mimic the female hormone estrogen, as well as thyroid hormones. Researchers are unsure what those findings mean, but they believe the chemical may cause insulin resistance -- which can lead to type 2 diabetes -- or even make the body more prone to producing fat cells.

New studies on the effects of PBDEs in mice are just getting underway, but if these theories are proven true, researchers say it will be a mixed blessing. On one hand, PBDEs are nearly impossible to avoid. On the other, findings from these studies could yield even more clues in the development and treatment of obesity.

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Here's some surprising news from the infertility arena -- a recent study has found that the old standby drug clomiphene (Clomid) actually works better than diabetes drug metformin for treating PCOS-related fertility problems.

PCOS -- or polycystic ovarian syndrome -- is the leading cause of infertility today. Among the syndrome's symptoms are obesity and insulin resistance, as well as irregular ovulation and menstrual cycles. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that women with PCOS who take metformin ovulate on a more regular basis, so for several years the drug has been prescribed off label to women suffering from infertility. The old fashioned clomiphene looked to be on its way out, but this recent study may put it back into the spotlight.

Women in the study were divided into three groups. One group took only clomiphene, a second took only metformin, and a third took both. The group that took metformin alone had a live birth rate of 7% while the group that took clomiphene had a live birth rate that reached 22%. Interestingly, the group that took both drugs had a higher ovulation rate than the other two groups, but their birth rate was not significantly higher, leading researchers to believe that all ovulation is not created equal.

Though the clomiphene group was more successful, their success rate was still only 1 in 5, making it clear that more PCOS research is necessary to understand this syndrome and its role in infertility.

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Yet another lesson on the importance of moderation: Swedish researchers have recently completed a study that ties high-sugar diets with an increased risk for one of the deadliest types of cancer: pancreatic. As a result of following over 77,000 patients for an average of 7 years, the researchers found that people who added five or more servings of sugar to their diet daily (sugar in coffee or tea, cereal, etc) had a 69% increase in their risk for developing the deadly disease. And people who drank 2 or more soft drinks a day increased their risk by 93%, compared to those who didn't drink soda at all.

The connection seems to be that high-sugar diets can lead to increased insulin resistance and an increased workload for the pancreas itself. I think the data about soft drinks specifically is pretty scary, not to mention the fact that I like sugar in my tea! And with pancreatic cancer most often fatal within 5 years of diagnosis, seems like a good reason to try and develop some new habits.

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