Scientists prove that infant obesity can be avoided if the mother eats properly.
Many people who become obese were thought to be victims of bad genes which caused them to pack on the pounds. But a new discovery suggests destiny may be reversed through good nutrition in early childhood.
Scientists from Auckland University's Liggins Institute and their colleagues in Britain are examining how a mother's diet in pregnancy can determine if a baby will become obese in adulthood and suffer heart disease and diabetes.
Today in America, more than 20 per cent of adults are obese, double the rate 30 years ago, and a further 35 per cent are overweight.
In a study by the Liggins Institute, Southampton University and AgResearch to be published this week in a United States journal, the researchers describe molecular changes that can occur after dietary intervention in early childhood. Liggins director Professor Peter Gluckman, one of the researchers, said it also showed that genetic switches set in the womb could be reversed by nutritional changes in early childhood.
"It changes the way we should think about tackling the obesity epidemic," he said from Britain last night. "It's probably the most important intellectual breakthrough we've made in understanding development."
In the experiments, the newborn offspring of well-fed and undernourished female rats were dosed with leptin, a hormone that signals to the body when it has eaten enough. When the young rats became adults, the long-term effects were measured by checking genes that regulate metabolism in the liver.
Rats from well-fed mothers reacted to leptin in the opposite way to those from undernourished mothers.
Professor Gluckman likened the process to female honey bees developing as either queens or workers, depending on whether they were fed royal jelly as larvae.
"This is the first suggestion that this fundamental biological process operates in mammals, and has major implications for addressing issues such as obesity," he said. "Not everyone is the same - gene switches have been moved in early development to make some more or less sensitive to fat in the diet."
Co-researcher Dr Alan Beedle said the study, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, dispelled the common idea that a person's life course was set by their genetic make-up at birth.
"It's really development, and modifiable factors during development, that can change how we grow and what diseases you are susceptible to as an adult," he said.
The study's message for developed nations was that mothers should eat a balanced diet during pregnancy, with the right amounts of protein and vitamins. And if a fetus was under-nourished in the womb, it might be possible to detect that by a blood test at birth and correct the condition with good nutrition.
Scientists from Auckland University's Liggins Institute and their colleagues in Britain are examining how a mother's diet in pregnancy can determine if a baby will become obese in adulthood and suffer heart disease and diabetes.
Today in America, more than 20 per cent of adults are obese, double the rate 30 years ago, and a further 35 per cent are overweight.
In a study by the Liggins Institute, Southampton University and AgResearch to be published this week in a United States journal, the researchers describe molecular changes that can occur after dietary intervention in early childhood. Liggins director Professor Peter Gluckman, one of the researchers, said it also showed that genetic switches set in the womb could be reversed by nutritional changes in early childhood.
"It changes the way we should think about tackling the obesity epidemic," he said from Britain last night. "It's probably the most important intellectual breakthrough we've made in understanding development."
In the experiments, the newborn offspring of well-fed and undernourished female rats were dosed with leptin, a hormone that signals to the body when it has eaten enough. When the young rats became adults, the long-term effects were measured by checking genes that regulate metabolism in the liver.
Rats from well-fed mothers reacted to leptin in the opposite way to those from undernourished mothers.
Professor Gluckman likened the process to female honey bees developing as either queens or workers, depending on whether they were fed royal jelly as larvae.
"This is the first suggestion that this fundamental biological process operates in mammals, and has major implications for addressing issues such as obesity," he said. "Not everyone is the same - gene switches have been moved in early development to make some more or less sensitive to fat in the diet."
Co-researcher Dr Alan Beedle said the study, to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, dispelled the common idea that a person's life course was set by their genetic make-up at birth.
"It's really development, and modifiable factors during development, that can change how we grow and what diseases you are susceptible to as an adult," he said.
The study's message for developed nations was that mothers should eat a balanced diet during pregnancy, with the right amounts of protein and vitamins. And if a fetus was under-nourished in the womb, it might be possible to detect that by a blood test at birth and correct the condition with good nutrition.
Dr. Zach's Comments:
- What you're reading is astounding information that is going to change the way we, as a culture, look at growth, development, and health care in the future. Now, this isn't the first time researchers have reported such activity in our genetic code. In fact, there is an entire branch of genetic study reserved for just this type of work.
- The type of genetics these researchers are discussing is know as EPIGENETICS. Epigenetics is based upon the principle that your DNA does not control your destiny, but more importantly your environment does. To make a long story short, the idea behind epigenetics is that you can actually change HOW your DNA expresses itself by changing your environment. And as hard as it may be to believe if this is the first time you've heard of it, the process is actually quite simple.
- You see, the human genome is same in all of us. We all have the same number of genes (with rare exception), but it's which genes are outwardly expressed that determine things like eye color, hair color, etc.
- What these scientist have found is that your body composition (fat and muscle ratios) are to some degree regulated by genetics BUT (and this is a very BIG BUT - no pun intended) those genetics are CHANGABLE.
- How do you change your genetic expression.... Change you environment. How do you change your environment. Here are some ways: Nutrition, Exercise, Chiropractic Care, Spiritual and Religious Belief Systems, Work, Stress..... are you getting the picture? Be the change you want to see in the world!
