Mother’s Diet Influences Gene Function in Offspring
Pregnancy may be the only time in a woman’s life when she feels free to eat whatever and however much she likes. The reality is, pregnant women only need about 300-500 extra calories a day with 10% of total calories coming from protein, 35% from fat, and 55% from carbohydrates (these numbers are subject to debate). (Netdoctor.com) A recent study suggests that special attention should be given to the amount of protein eaten by mothers during pregnancy as it may affect their offspring’s risk of disease.
Researchers found that rats born of mothers who had a high protein diet were predisposed to insulin resistance and subsequent diabetes in adulthood. On the other hand, if mothers were deprived of protein during pregnancy, rats tended toward a largery body type. (New York Times News Service, June 3, 2005) They hypothesize that maternal diet may lead to a change in the function, not DNA sequence, of genes.
One potential answer comes from the new field of epigenetics. It suggests that what mothers eat when they are pregnant could alter the function of key genes in their offspring, even without changing the genes’ fundamental DNA sequence.
These results serve to remind us that we should try to maintain an appropriately healthy diet and weight even while pregnant.
NB: Beware of misleading titles such as the one in the New York Times article quoted here -
Mom’s diet could alter offspring’s genes. This title suggested that the actual DNA sequence was changed, which was clearly not the case.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health
.gif)
8 opinions for Mother’s Diet Influences Gene Function in Offspring
Krissy
Jun 7, 2005 at 7:41 am
Meh.
Interesting from a research perspective. Completely useless from a parenting perspective.
Oftentimes what a pregnant woman eats is whatever she can keep down without vomiting everywhere. And I don’t think any mother is under the delusion that eating right isn’t good for the baby.
I’d like to know how this corrolates with the recent testing that suggests that regular chocolate consumption is good for gestating moms and consequently their babies.
Interesting, but at the end of the day I just have to shrug.
Lei
Jun 7, 2005 at 8:52 am
Hi Krissy, These data are definitely preliminary and not particularly useful for everyday life. It just struck me as interesting that a mother’s diet could alter the function of her *offspring’s* genes, perhaps permanently.
Krissy
Jun 7, 2005 at 1:39 pm
Like I said, it’s interesting, but it’s so ambiguous.
I mean, if you look all over the world people’s pregnancy diets are so extremely different. I don’t really see it as a predictor of anything much. Anecdotally a woman who eats more protien could put her kid at risk for later developing diabetes, while another woman might do the same by getting too many carb and contracting GD.
Once you start getting into the picky details, I think everyone’s a critic, you know? If the government and dietiticians can’t even agree on what’s truly healthy (carb-heavy, protien-heavy), how are scientists going to lock down what a pregnant woman should eat?
It just strikes me as one more thing for expecting mothers to mindfuck, and I’d be really surprised if they wind up with anything that’s true of prenatal diets across-the-board.
Lei
Jun 8, 2005 at 10:03 am
When I was pregnant, we were living in Japan. There were no prohibitions against eating sushi/sashimi. IIRC, I think we were encouraged to eat more fish despite warnings about mercury to boot.
I think a moderate, healthy way of life is the way to go regardless of the circumstances. Anything in excess whether in diet restriction or indulgence is asking for trouble.
rtwo (rachel)
Jun 9, 2005 at 7:16 pm
Ah, the classic case of the misleading headline. That happens so often and as a reporter it is SO irritating because everyone associates the error with your name.
But the reporters don’t actually write the headlines — that’s the problem! Some copy editor, who gets approx. 20 minutes to read and understand the study has to come up with the headline. The reporter never sees it until he picks up the paper the next day.
It’s a horrendous system, based largely on the fact that article placement (and consequently the amount of space provided for the headline) changes right up until the very last minute of production, which is so late in the evening that all the reporters have left hours prior.
Lei
Jun 9, 2005 at 7:21 pm
Thanks for the explanation, Rachel! There’s a lot of misinformation and disinformation out there. I’m sure I contribute to the problem too, but hopefully not too often!
Genetics and Health » New Genetics Blog: Epigenetics News
Apr 2, 2006 at 7:55 am
[…] You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your ownsite. […]
Genetics and Health » Scottish Mothers’ Diet Influences Children’s Future Weight
Jul 3, 2006 at 4:37 am
[…] For more reading, see Mother’s Diet Influences Gene Function in Offspring and Mothers’ Vitamin Intake Affects Gene Function in Offspring. […]
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: