Heredity and epigenetics

At the moment of conception, we pass on not only half of our genetic information to our future offspring, but also epigenetic patterns that can significantly affect their health later in life. If, for example, a parent is obese at the time of conception, the risk of not only obesity but even cancer increases in the offspring.

Throughout our lives, we encounter various situations that affect the epigenetic patterns in our DNA – they can turn important genes off and on, and thus, for example, influence susceptibility to various diseases. Among the influences with epigenetic effects are mainly lifestyle factors: nutrition, amount of exercise or environmental pollution.

However, recent research shows that we not only influence the activity of our genes (and thus our health) by our lifestyle, but many of the epigenetic changes can be passed on to our offspring at the moment of conception.

Thank your grandmother for a long life

One of the first studies on this topic (1) was conducted in 2007 and examined the association of childhood malnutrition with offspring longevity. It found that the key period is between the ages of 8 and 12 years and that any changes are transmitted even across generations, not to children but to grandchildren. If a woman had adequate nutrition at the critical age of 8 to 12, it greatly increases the chances of her grandchildren living to a ripe old age (specifically, this applies to her daughters’ daughters). In the case of men, the chances of a long life depend on the quality of their paternal grandfather’s nutrition.

Lose weight before conception

Further research has confirmed that we can significantly influence the quality of life of our offspring by being in good condition at the time of conception.

One of them (2) took place in 2010. The researchers first fed male rats a high-fat diet to induce obesity and glucose intolerance (a risk factor for diabetes). When they then mated them with healthy females, they found reduced glucose tolerance and insulin production in the resulting offspring. Thus, the unhealthy diet not only altered the activity of important genes (and thus the health status) of the rat dads through its epigenetic effects, but they then passed the negative changes on to their offspring via sperm, putting them at high risk of obesity and diabetes.

The “obese father – healthy slim mother” model was chosen for a simple reason. It ensured that the relevant changes were actually transmitted to the offspring via the germ cells and not due to negative factors during intrauterine development, as might be the case with maternal obesity.

Then, three years later, shocking research was published (3) that showed directly in humans both that paternal obesity at conception was linked to the risk of cancer in their offspring and that epigenetic changes were indeed the cause. When researchers analysed the cord blood of newborns, they found a surprising fact: the children of obese fathers had reduced levels of methylation of the gene responsible for the production of IGF-2 (insulin-like growth factor 2), which has been shown to be associated with a higher risk of certain cancers later in life (in particular, colon and ovarian cancer).

Can it still be fixed?

Fortunately, epigenetic changes are reversible. So, if your weight and health were not ideal at the time of conception, it is all the more important to ensure that your offspring have a healthy lifestyle – especially a healthy diet and plenty of exercise. Taking certain dietary supplements as a preventive measure can also help (for example, curcumin significantly reduces the risk of cancer, while EGCG from green tea can help to achieve and maintain a healthy weight).

But it should always be the case that when we long for a child, we should first put our own health and lifestyle in order. And this is true not only for dads-to-be, but especially for moms – they don’t just pass on epigenetic changes through their eggs, but will create many more in the baby throughout pregnancy.