An old phrase once said, “You are what you eat”. However, scientists have shown that this might not fully be the case. New research has shown that, while mothers get all of the attention during pregnancy, the health of the father is often overlooked. It is known to science that father’s determine the gender of the baby, however it is not known that the diet of the father influences the health of the child. What the father eats prior to the conception is now known to play a large role in the health of the child.
The research that was done focused on the vitamin B9- also known as folate. During pregnancy, women are advised to eat green vegetables, fruits, meats, and cereal to keep the levels of this vitamin in an organism high. This helps stabilize the pregnancy and prevents miscarriages, and defects and birth.
Recently, research by the Kimmis group has shown that the amount of folate the father’s consume has the same impact on the child, as the mother’s folate levels. This means that fathers should also watch and make sure that they are eating a balanced diet before planning to consume a child, because the child is more likely to be born healthy if both the father and mother have enough folate and have sufficient nutrients in their organism and a balanced diet.
Research states "Despite the fact that folic acid is now added to a variety of foods, fathers who are eating high-fat, fast food diets or who are obese may not be able to use or metabolize folate in the same way as those with adequate levels of the vitamin," stating the importance of the father’s diet.
Furthermore, research has been conducted on mice, and comparing the offspring. The offspring was divided into those where fathers had a sufficient amount of folate in their organism, and those who did not. The results were shocking. They found out that if on the paternal side there was not enough folate consumed, the offspring had more birth defects, which is something that can directly be related to humans. Men that are planning to be fathers need to watch their diet, and exercise routine, and make sure to take enough folate to ensure the birth of a healthy baby. Also, it has come to my attention, that it is not only women who need to quit smoking and alcohol while trying to conceive, the habits and lifestyle of the father, also very much affect the baby!
Really interesting! Throughout the years no one even thought about the role that men play in conceiving a child and how much their health affects the baby - but now we can see that they have a very big influence, maybe even a bigger one than women.
ReplyDeleteThis is the first time that I hear about something like this, it is ineradicable, I dint know that males have so big role in child's health. But then is it just what father eats or something more so that new parents could assure that they did everything to prevent health issue with their baby?
ReplyDelete