Soy in pregnant mother’s diet reduces obesity in child
A chemical compound in soy, genistein, has been demonstrated to affect the DNA of mice offspring when ingested early in the pregnancy of the mother. The mice whose mothers were fed the soy weighed half as much in adulthood as the mice whose mothers were not given the soy.
The exposure to the genistein in soy altered the expression of a singe gene in the mice through a process called methylation. Methylation occurs when exposure to certain environmental cues causes a group of atoms to attach to the regulatory portion of a gene. This alters the expression of the gene, either by increasing or decreasing the expression.
The methylation occurred at the equivalent of the eight day of gestation in humans.
Though not confirmed in humans, researchers speculate this could help explain why Asians, who consume large amounts of soy, have lower rates of obesity.
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[tags]soy, obesity, studies, genistein, genetics, pregnancy [/tags]