What a Mom Eats at the Time of Conception Might Change Her Baby's DNA

A new study in a rural region of The Gambia indicated that the DNA of infants changed based on whether they were conceived during the dry season (when rice, millet, peanuts, and cassava dominate the diet) or the rainy season (when leafy green vegetables supplements the aforementioned staples).

Babies conceived during the rainy season had higher rates of methylation,a process that can silence the expression of a gene.”

Via Live Science:

“Our results represent the first demonstration in humans that a mother’s nutritional well-being at the time of conception can change how her child’s genes will be interpreted, with a lifelong impact,” senior study author Branwen Hennig, of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said in a statement.

…”It’s also important to note that their diet wasn’t the only thing that changed — there was more physical activity due to farm labor during the rainy season, which contributed to weight loss during the rainy season and regaining of weight during the dry season,” Waterland said. “Such changes contribute to what nutrients are circulating within the women.”

…The long-term consequences of these epigenetic effects in children remain unknown. “We want to develop a catalog of all regions in the human genome that can get altered epigenetically by diet,” Waterland said. “This will help give us the ability to tell what the likely role such changes might have in disease, and what particular diseases might be most likely to have an epigenetic component.”

So, if I’m reading this right (I’M NOT, IT’S A JOKE), it means that if I got pregnant right now I’d give birth to a veggie combo from the Ethiopian place by my house. I WILL LOVE YOU UNCONDITIONALLY, BABY VEGGIE COMBO.