If you’re planning for a baby, you might want to keep an eye on what’s being eaten in the house.
That’s because new research has found that the diet of the father can determine the child’s future health and eating habits.
While we know that both parents’ genetics influence the baby’s personality and physiology, it seems that what dad eats before conception is actually very important.
According to the
Express, the study by the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Basic Metabolic Research studied a number of sperm samples from both lean and obese men.
They found that the sperm cells possess different epigenetic marks and what is passed down “can affect the development of a future embryo and shape the child’s physiology.”
Associate Professor Romain Barrès explained: “We certainly need to further examine the meaning of these differences; yet, this is early evidence that sperm carries information about a man's weight.
“And our results imply that weight loss in fathers may influence the eating behaviour or their future children.
“Epidemiological observations revealed that acute nutritional stress, e.g. famine, in one generation can increase the risk of developing diabetes in the following generations.”
So really the phrase should be “you are what your father eats” as opposed to “you are what you eat.”
