The One Hundred Year Effect
Did you know that the egg that made you was created in your mother’s ovary while she was still developing inside your grandmother’s womb? It’s mind-boggling, right?! The 100-year effect is the epigenetic imprint (changes to gene expression) passed down from grandparents to subsequent generations [1].
This genetic imprint sets in motion health and disease risks for your baby so it’s pretty major! What affects the genetic imprint may you ask? It’s affected by the NUTRITIONAL STATUS and STRESS LEVELS (both mental and physical) of both the parents at conception and of the developing fetus in utero. Babies who experience nutritional insufficiencies, stress, or growth restrictions in the womb are at increased risk of developing chronic health conditions later in life. For example, inadequate nutrition during pregnancy can affect how the baby develops and create metabolic changes that increase the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and high blood pressure. We now know this genetic imprint is far-reaching; changes to gene expression in utero can be passed down across at least two generations!
What does this mean for you and your partner while you’re trying to conceive? It means you have the opportunity to impact the lifelong health of your child even before they are conceived by adopting nutrition and lifestyle habits that support fertility and positive genetic changes in your egg and sperm.
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The ideal timeframe to get started with these habits is four months before trying to conceive (6 would be even better!). This is the amount of time that the follicles in your ovaries take to mature into a full-fledged egg. You can nourish those follicles and support a positive genetic imprint for your baby. While spermatogenesis (sperm development) takes about 2 months, I recommend both partners work on their nutrition and lifestyle together. This way you can support one another, make it more fun, and bond before trying to conceive!
If this speaks to you and you’d like to get started but feel overwhelmed and unsure where to begin, we’d love to support you! You can book a discovery call and learn more about our services below.
SOURCES
[1] CITATION: Finlayson J. You Are What Your Grandparents Ate: What You Need to Know about Nutrition, Experience, Epigenetics and the Origins of Chronic Disease. Don Mills: Robert Rose; 2020.
