Dr. Nashat Latib

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Epigenetics healthy baby

FERTILITY

Epigenetics in the Preconception Period

By Dr. Nashat Latib • Apr 18, 2023

How to Influence the Health of Your Baby Before They are Born

You may have heard about how choices you make when pregnant can impact your baby, but did you know you can influence your baby’s health before you even conceive?

Today, we break down what epigenetics are and how to use epigenetics to your advantage to grow a happy and healthy baby.

What is Epigenetics?

Epigenetics is defined by the CDC as “the study of how your behaviors and environment can cause changes that affect the way your genes work.”

It is not possible to change someone’s genes, but it is possible to influence how a gene expresses itself. Some of the factors that influence genetic expression include genetic factors:

  • Diet
  • Stress
  • Exposure to toxins

Epigenetics can have a long-lasting effect on gene expression and can even determine whether an individual ends up struggling with diseases. Cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes may be underlying diseases that are triggered through epigenetic expression.

How do Epigenetics Affect My Baby?

Your choices before and during pregnancy can impact your baby in many ways. Here are a few examples:

  • Maternal undernutrition during this preconception period has been shown to affect the baby’s growth and development.
  • Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of childhood asthma.
  • Maternal obesity can increase the risk of metabolic disorders in the later stages of life.
  • Exposure to prenatal stress can result in epigenetic changes in the hippocampus and cortex in adult offspring.

The breadth of research in the field of epigenetics is vast and still unveiling possible sources of chronic diseases. However, just as epigenetics can lead to unhealthy genetic expression and, ultimately, disease in the future, it can also lead to healthy genetic expression and great outcomes for our future offspring.

Ways to Influence the Health of Your Baby Positively

Fortunately, there are steps that we can take during the preconception period to promote healthy epigenetic marks that can have a positive impact on the health of your offspring. 

Let’s talk about 2 of our favorite recommendations to help you influence optimal health for your baby before they are even born.

Nutrition

I’m sure you know what you eat matters for your own health, and it impacts your baby’s health too. A diet rich in folate, B12, and choline can promote healthy DNA methylation and reduce the risk of neural tube defects. These nutrients are found in the following sources:

  • Meat
  • Fish
  • Poultry
  • Dairy
  • Eggs
  • Dark leafy greens
  • Peanuts
  • Whole gains
  • Sunflower seeds

​​Proper nutrition also goes hand in hand with getting to and maintaining a healthy body weight. Studies have shown that a high BMI before pregnancy and excess maternal weight gain during pregnancy contribute to an increased risk of obesity for your child later in life.

On the flipside, women who are undernourished or have poor gestational weight gain can experience an increased risk of low birth weight, hypertension, higher incidence of coronary heart disease, a more atherogenic lipid profile, obesity, and a weakened immune response.

This is why we focus on addressing nutritional deficiencies inside our programs in the following ways:

  • Functional Lab Testing: we use specific tests to help us determine where you may be deficient and design your plan accordingly.
  • Nutrition Modifications: if we can address your deficiencies with clean, whole foods, then we will! We love giving our clients hand-picked recipes and kitchen tips to support them in making healthy eating simple.
  • Targeted Supplementation: we recommend high-quality, bioavailable supplements to help fill any nutritional gaps that cannot be covered with food alone.

Shifting how you eat can take some time, and it’s important not to commit to too many changes simultaneously. We highly recommend getting individualized support as we offer in our programs because it will definitely make the process easier.

If you’d like to learn more about what it looks like to work with us, click here to watch our free, on-demand masterclass and discover the proprietary 4R Fertility FormulaTM we use to help you get pregnant naturally or get better results with IVF and IUI.

Stress Management & Reduction

One of the biggest epidemics of our time is stress, and stress can also create a negative switch in the gene expression of your baby, so it’s important to implement practices that will help you reduce and manage stress.

Engage in relaxing, stress-reducing activities such as:

  • Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR): a powerful combination of mindfulness and yoga that helps reduce the effect of chronic illnesses (North American Journal of Medicine).
  • Deep breathing: we love to recommend a technique called boxed breathing, where you begin by slowly exhaling all of your air out. Then, gently inhale through your nose to a slow count of 4. Hold at the top of your breath for a count of 4. Then gently exhale through your mouth for a count of 4. At the bottom of the breath, pause and hold for the count of 4.
Boxed Breathing method
  • Meditation: start meditating for a short amount of time, like 5 minutes, and work your way up to longer sessions over time. Apps like Calm or Headspace, or free guided meditation videos on YouTube, help make meditating more approachable.
  • Yoga: similar to meditation, you can start with shorter sessions and work your way up. We love yoga because it’s easy to do at home. Search YouTube for yoga routines designed for all skill levels.

Implementing any of these stress management practices during preconception and when pregnant will allow you to reap the reward of positively influencing your baby’s health.

Final Thoughts

The time before you get pregnant and during your pregnancy is critical to live a lifestyle promoting positive genetic expression for your future child. Understanding epigenetics is the first step, and we hope we’ve given you a primer on this topic. Take these changes step by step and know that you are helping create a better future for yourself and your children.

If you’d like to explore working with us on your fertility, watch our free, on-demand masterclass here and take the action step to apply when it’s presented to you.

References

Niazi, A. K., & Niazi, S. K. (2011). Mindfulness-based stress reduction: A non-pharmacological approach for chronic illnesses. North American Journal of Medical Sciences, 3(1), 20-23. https://doi.org/10.4297/najms.2011.320