Deficiencies in folic acid that go back as many as five generations could have an impact on developmental risk factors and later risk of disease, according to new research in mice. Just as healthy gut bacteria have a vital in our overall well-being, so healthy parents, make healthy baby, healthy grand-baby and healthy great-grand-baby (and great-great ...)! Epigenetic effects across five generations have now been demonstrated in animal studies, but should come as no surprise to those of you who follow my blog.
The researchers from The University of Cambridge state in their conclusion “It surprised us to find that the great, great grandchildren of a parent who has had a folic acid deficiency could have health problems as a result. More importantly our research shows that disease in general can be inherited through epigenetic means rather than genetic means, which has huge implications for human health. Environmental factors that influence epigenetic patterns e.g. diet, epigenetic disruptors in the environment such as chemicals etc. may also have long term, multigenerational effects”.
Once again, the fact that adverse trans-generational effects of nutritional insufficiencies were observed at first hand by Dr. Weston Price in the 1930s makes these recent studies and their “surprising” conclusion very frustrating. It also makes the widespread embrace of the Healthy Parents, Healthy Baby program a vital and immediately-necessary step if we are ever to reverse the epidemic of metabolic, immune, neurological and digestive disorders in children and reduce the widespread incidence of chronic degenerative disease in adults.
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