Browse: Home / Epigenetics / What kind of a switch-athon did your Mom give you ?

Menu

Skip to content
  • About
  • Better Body Chemistry School
  • Book a health conversation
  • Speaking query
  • The “Big” Spoons
Header image

BBC

Small things can make a big difference to your health

advertisement

Menu

Skip to content
  • Home
  • Free Resources
    • 31 days to Better Body Chemistry
    • Willpower Report
    • Weight loss e-course
    • Better Body Chemistry for Expecting Moms
    • The ups and downs of insulin resistance
    • Candy Floss Boards
    • Weight tracker
  • Library
  • Shop
  • Lucky dip
  • Sound bites
  • Buy me a coffee
  • Contact

What kind of a switch-athon did your Mom give you ?

Posted by Dr Sandy on in Epigenetics | 325 Views | Leave a response
WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More
Tweet
Pin
Share
mom switching on the gene tree

At the time of conception there is a big switch-athon, hundreds of genetic switches are flipped. That switch-athon depends on your Mom’s dietary habits.

Even if you don’t always get it right, you intuitively  understand ……

YOU ARE, WHAT YOU EAT.

This is why “we” classify foods as “good” and “bad”, sometimes rather arbitrarily and strive to consume more good, than bad, and just to be safe, take out a little insurance.

The evidence is mounting that “WHAT YOU EAT” is only part of the story….

The light at the end of the tunnel

Genes are part of the story.  But owning a gene is step 1, what the gene is up to, is what really matters.  The million dollar question :

  • is the gene  fired up and churning out proteins, or
  • is it just sitting in your genome, looking pretty

The status of genetic switches is the stuff  “on top” of the genes i.e. epi-genetics.  And epigenetics matters.  A multitude of small things, flip your genetic switches.  Your  genetic switches are being flipped ALL THE TIME……

But, there are a couple of times when lots of switching happens simultaneously, these times of mass switching are  SWITCH-ATHONS.

Switch-athons

Science has identified three major switch-athon events

  • The moment of conception
  • Womb time
  • The onset of puberty

Since two out of the three switch-athons,  takes place inside Mom, the logical conclusion is….

You must be what Mom ate

It is imperative a Mom growing a baby, gets all the raw materials she needs, to build a strong healthy baby.   But, much of the switch-athon  happens early in pregnancy.   So does it matter what Mom is eating at the time of conception ?

Up until now, it has been difficult to study the significance of diet in human conception, but a team of researchers from the MRC International Nutrition Group, have been able to investigate the role of diet in this “switch-anthon”,  by taking advantage of a very natural phenomenon,  THE SEASONS.

Seasons in time

In Gambia, supermarkets and processed foods are not the routine.   People live off the land and what the land provides, depends on the season.   There are two Gambian seasons

  • The rainy season – when mother Nature is still in the process of making the food
  • The dry season – when she is done and the harvest is in

The dinner table looks very different in the two seasons,  as a consequence, blood nutrient profiles of women, show distinct variations during the course of the year.  The team decided to investigate whether these seasonal differences impacted the switch-athon process in babies born at different times of the year.

Making hay while the sun shines

2000 ladies from three villages,  signed up to be part of this switch-athon study.  Using a  selection process, which involved monthly check-ups of all the ladies,   the team were able to create two groups of Moms.

  • The rainy season Moms, all of whom conceived at the peak of the rainy season,  84 in all
  • The dry season Moms, these were women who fell pregnant at the peak of the dry season – 83 in total.

Blood samples were used to assess the nutrient status of each group of Moms, around the time of conception.  And then, when their babies were born, the team took blood and hair samples from the infants, to check the switch status of selected genes.

Patterns emerged…..

Switching in the rain

Rainy season babies showed higher levels of methylation across all the genes studied i.e. the epigenetics of the children was slightly different.  Different does not mean broken, but different does mean, the body chemistry is not exactly the same.   These small difference probably contribute to over-all  health destinies.

More interesting, the increased methylation levels seen in the rainy season babies, tracked back to differences in nutrient levels in the blood samples of the Moms, at the time of conception.   The team concluded…….. the methylation machinery is responsive to nutrient status at the time of conception.

Methylation machinery

A whole bunch of nutrients contribute to your methylation machinery

  • Folic acid
  • Betaine
  • Choline
  • Cysteine
  • Methionine

Folic acid is already on pregnant Mom’s radar,  but it is not the only nutrient impacting the methylation machinery.

Move over anti-oxidants

Up until now, dietary advice has encouraged the consumption of  LOTS of anti-oxidants,  their purpose, to mop up those pesky free radicals, generated as a consequence of  respiration.  But, our bodies also need methyl donors, to facilitate efficient switch-athons and keep our genes in tip top shape.

Shortages of methyl groups, change gene expression patterns and contribute to health problems.

We all need methyl donors, but for the wanna-be Mom, they’re especially important because they’re involved in a major switch-athon, the results of which, last a life time.

Share Button
Maternal nutrition at conception modulates DNA methylation of human metastable epialleles. Nature Communications (2014) 5. Paula Dominguez-Salas, Sophie E. Moore, Maria S. Baker, Andrew W. Bergen, Sharon E. Cox, Roger A. Dyer, Anthony J. Fulford, Yongtao Guan, Eleonora Laritsky, Matt J. Silver, Gary E. Swan, Steven H. Zeisel, Sheila M. Innis, Robert A. Waterland, Andrew M. Prentice, Branwen J. Hennig. 

Further reading

in utero environment stressed out baby sperm receiving epigenetic mark
Your very first home blings your genome forever Are you passing on your stress to your kids ?  Could your sperm be carrying the mark of the beast ?
Share Button

Better body chemistry for expectant moms

If you are an expectant Mom or know someone that is – invite them to participate, so they can create Better Body Chemistry during their pregnancy and raise a HAPPY HEALTHY little one.

Expecting ?
* indicates required

Close

WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More
Tweet
Pin
Share
Posted in Epigenetics | Tagged anti-oxidants, betaine, choline, conception, cysteine, diet, epigenetics, folic acid, genes, methionine, methyl group, methylation, pregnancy, seasons

Connect with us

facebook you tube pinterest 40 google plus 40 Linkedin

FEELING….

sign posts then you need better body chemistry.

Grab our free E-course

“31 days to better body chemistry”

The advice is simple to follow and based on REAL science, not hype

Need more information ? Click here

  • Popular
  • Featured
  • Recent
  • asprosin the sugar plum fairy

    Why sugar levels are high despite NOT eating

    20087 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    19384 views / Posted
  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    18938 views / Posted
  • chewing gum relieving postoperative ileus

    A stick of chewing gum gets the gut going after surgery

    16677 views / Posted
  • carbonated water bubbles fill you up

    Fizzing up the water flattens your appetite

    15469 views / Posted
  • sun extracting cholesterol

    Make sure you have your “annual” check-up in the summer time

    / Dr Sandy
  • sending your kid to bootcamp won't stop childhood obesity

    Moving more won’t stop your kid from getting fat

    / Dr Sandy
  • cholesterol at the scene of the accident

    Bone cells are stiffening up your arteries not cholesterol

    / Dr Sandy
  • brain size the problem in ADHD

    Are kids with ADHD just acting according to their brain age

    / Dr Sandy
  • plastering the blood vessel with calcium

    Calcium supplements are building bones and breaking hearts

    / Dr Sandy
  • If you’re glucose intolerant ALWAYS carry an apple with you for EMERGENCIES

    / Dr Sandy
  • sandman whipping up a fall asleep potion

    Hot eyes fall asleep faster

    / Dr Sandy
  • HOT or COLD – which is better metabolically speaking ?

    / Dr Sandy
  • A eye healthy diet should include eggs

    / Dr Sandy
  • It’s official – you cannot out run a bad diet, your biology won’t let you

    / Dr Sandy

RSS Recent posts

Dr Sandy Dr Sandy Evans, PhD

Located in Johannesburg, South Africa

Book an appointment with Spoonful of Science using SetMore
Disclaimer : The stories and articles are provided as a service. Dr Sandy's opinions are for information only, and are not intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.
 
 

Connect with Dr Sandy

facebook 40
you tube 40
pinterest 40
google plus 40
linkedin 40
meetup 40
 

Categories

Featured posts

  • asprosin the sugar plum fairy

    Why sugar levels are high despite NOT eating

    20087 views / Posted
  • poop getting stuck

    The fix for constipation is to go on a low fibre diet

    19384 views / Posted
  • oatmeal breakfast being beaten by egg

    Which is a better breakfast, egg or oatmeal ?

    18938 views / Posted
 

©2011-2022 Spoonful of Science

Menu

  • Meet Dr Sandy
  • Disclosure/disclaimer
  • Privacy policy
  • Comment policy
  • Contact
Redirect Stakk
Thank You

Beat your SUGAR CRAVINGS, using biology, NOT psychology

Download our FREE REPORT entitled, "How to get the Willpower you Need to Trump Sugar's Power"

  • Do you have a sugar gremlin ?
  • Discover the biology behind sugar gremlins
  • Learn about the 10 weapons you can use to TAME YOUR SUGAR GREMLIN

Get instant access

WhatsApp
Reddit
Share
More
Tweet