{"id":26147,"date":"2014-07-14T19:41:06","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T23:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/2014\/07\/how-kids-health-is-linked-to-parents-nutritional-and-lifestyle-choices.html"},"modified":"2017-11-28T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T17:00:00","slug":"how-kids-health-is-linked-to-parents-nutritional-and-lifestyle-choices-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saratoga.com\/living-well\/2014\/07\/how-kids-health-is-linked-to-parents-nutritional-and-lifestyle-choices-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How Kids Health Relates to Parents’ Nutritional and Lifestyle Choices"},"content":{"rendered":"
This week’s topic is on how our lifestyle choices affect our children. Specifically, I will focus on nutrition and environmental exposures. I have discussed the role of epigenetics and nutrigenomics in the past. For those of you who aren’t familiar with what I am speaking of, they are the scientific terms that explain how our environment and nutritional status effect how our genes express themselves. This means that if one has a healthy diet or is conscious of environmental exposures, they will less likely turn on “genetic switches” that lead to diseases.<\/p>\n
Passing On Epigenetics<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
A recent rodent study using mice showed that cells could directly transfer information into sperm cells and carry that information to the offspring! This flies in the face of conventional understanding of genetics, in which it is believed that traits are inherited only through sperm and egg (germline) cells verses through bodily (somatic) cells.<\/p>\n
According to Sayer Ji from GreenMedInfo<\/i> the implications of this study are wide ranging:<\/p>\n
First, if your somatic cells, which are continually affected by your nutritional, environmental, lifestyle and even mind-body processes, can transfer genetic information through exosomes to the DNA within your germline cells, then your moment-to-moment decisions, behaviors, experiences, toxin and toxicant exposures, could theoretically affect the biological ‘destinies’ of your offspring, and their offspring, stretching on into the distant future. <\/i><\/p>\n
Exosome research also opens up promising possibilities in the realm of nutrigenomics and ‘food as medicine.’ (1-2) <\/i><\/p>\n
Below are some more examples of how future generations are impacted by our lifestyle decisions:<\/p>\n
Mom’s Nutritional Status and Baby<\/b><\/p>\n
1. The Role of Nutrient Intake in Mom and Asthma<\/u><\/p>\n
According to the American Thoracic Society International Conference abstracts, intake of dietary prenatal folate and other methyl donors in first trimester of pregnancy can affect asthma risk in children at age 7. (3)<\/p>\n
There’s a caveat here. Some people with specific variations may not be able to process excess methyl donors. If you want to learn more, I discussed this topic along with genetic variances in enzymes, such as the most well-known MTHFR single nucleotide polymorphism, on my homepage blog this week.<\/a><\/p>\n