Diet is Important for The Health of Baby

Enz Health - Diet is Important for The Health of Baby, even before conception - The feeding of the mother during pregnancy is very important for the baby's health and also there is growing evidence that this influence of diet begins even before the moment of conception. For the first time, a study in humans begins to unravel why.

Doctors recommend folic acid supplements for women who are planning to have a child. This vitamin helps prevent malformations in embryos, anemia and other health problems. Why is it so important to take this nutrient even before you were pregnant? The answer is given epigenetics, a science that is proving that the environment and our way of life cause changes in our genes, changes that in turn be passed on to our descendants.

The expression of genes that are inherited from parents is controlled by epigenetic modifications in DNA. One of these modifications consists in the "packaging" of regions of genes. But for this process to occur correctly it takes a number of key nutrients, such as folic acid, vitamins B2, B6 and B12, choline and methionine, which are acquired through diet.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, chose a group of more than 2,000 women in a rural area of ​​Gambia. This region the diet of the population depends on crops and is marked by the influence of the seasons: dry and rainy. By measuring the concentrations of nutrients in the blood and the analysis of blood samples and hair follicle their babies 2-8 months old, the researchers found differences between women who conceived their children during the season rainy and those who have done during the dry season.

"Our findings represent the first demonstration in humans that the nutritional well-being of the mother at the time of conception can change the way your child's genes will be interpreted, which will have a lasting impact on your life" , he stressed Branwen Hennig, lead author.

The next step will be to determine what the effects of these differences found, in order to define an optimal diet for mothers and for women who are planning to be are.