Genes: Fate and Fat

As the embryo grows into billions of cells and differentiates into organs, nutritional adequacy is crucial. More biological milestones are passed before birth than after, and once a critical developmental phase is passed in the womb, you can’t start over. Some of these milestones won’t be evident at birth. For example, you won’t know if a newborn’s adolescent parts are working until children reach their preteen years. And so it goes with diseases that can take decades to develop, such as cancer.

Scientists believe that when the fetus is nutritionally deprived, nutrients have to be allocated. The developing brain gets priority. This leaves important organs like the kidney and heart vulnerable to not developing properly, possibly increasing the risk of diseases related to those organs. Here are some provocative examples.

Protection of Daughters from Breast Cancer

A headline-grabbing study was presented at the 2005 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research. The results indicated that mothers who eat foods rich in omega-3 fats during pregnancy and breastfeeding and continue to feed their babies such a diet (after weaning) may reduce their daughter’s risk of developing breast cancer later in life.

It’s been known that maternal diets high in omega-6 fats increase maternal estrogen levels, which in turn are linked to increased breast cancer among female children. In a study involving rats predisposed to cancer, Elaine Hardman of Louisiana State University gave them a diet high in either omega-3 or omega-6 fats while they were pregnant, breastfeeding, and weaning. All of the offspring exposed to the maternal omega-6 diet developed breast tumors. But the omega-3 offspring had a lower tumor incidence rate of 13 percent. While this study is far from definitive, the results are provocative.

Prevention of Asthma

Children whose asthmatic mothers ate oily fi sh during pregnancy were 71 percent less likely to develop asthma, according to research presented at the 2004 international conference of the American Thoracic Society. In contrast, the researchers also found that children whose mothers ate fish sticks during pregnancy were twice as likely to develop asthma. What gives? Fish sticks are deep-fried and contain omega-6 fatty acids, which are pro-inflammatory.

Prevention of Allergies

Australian researchers examined the effect of fi sh oil supplementation in 40 mothers-to-be on the immune response in their infants. The women all had a history of hay fever or asthma, making their
children at increased risk of developing allergies. At one year of age, the children of mothers who took fish oil were 3 times less likely be sensitized to egg allergen and 10 times less likely to have severe atopic (allergic) disease.

Blood Pressure

While hypertension is unusual during childhood, studies have shown that blood pressure tracks from early childhood (and now the womb) into adulthood. In a recent animal study, omega-3 deficiency during pregnancy caused high blood pressure later in life, even if the offspring were subsequently rehabilitated with omega-3s. Early omega-3 deficiency, regardless of subsequent supply, resulted
in hypertension.

A compelling study on children showed that blood pressure at age six was lower in those who as infants had been fed with a formula supplemented with omega-3s than in children fed formula without omega-3s.

Diabetes

If expectant moms eat enough omega-3 fats, it may prevent their babies from getting diabetes. The Norwegian Childhood Diabetes Study Group found that babies fed cod-liver oil during the first year of life had a 25 percent lower risk of type 1 diabetes. The researchers believe that omega-3 fats influence the genes that cause diabetes.

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