Poor Diet Can Change Mitochondrial DNA Which Can Then Be Inherited
This is a study which affects all animals and humans. It is a study which concerns mice who were given a poor diet extremely high in fat and sugar. It was found that this poor diet had an effect upon the metabolism of great granddaughters who developed insulin resistance and suffered other metabolic problems despite the fact that they were fed a healthy diet. The likely cause, it is thought, is a change in the mitochondrial DNA of the mice which is then passed down the maternal line and affects how cells produce energy.
This is an interesting study. It concerns obesity. We know that there is an obesity epidemic in domestic cats and in people in the West.
What the study is saying, as I read it, is that you can inherit obesity problems from your great grandparents!
Concerning cats, it is fortuitous that most random bred cats are spayed and neutered. Some purebred cats aren’t because they are breeding cats. However, if an obese cat is allowed to reproduce then it would seem that this study would apply to her/him in that her offspring and subsequent offspring may suffer metabolic problems associated with obesity and a poor diet notwithstanding that their diet is excellent.
I think people should at least pay heed to this study. It suggests that obesity can become fixed in the maternal line which is worrying because it presents another barrier to eliminating obesity.
The changes in mitochondrial DNA first surfaced in my 6 month education about fluoroquinolones. I’m going one step further on this for humans. It seems fertility is a huge issue among westernized women. And yet women in horrid third world conditions seem to have fewer issues in conceiving. It’s processed foods.
We use real butter ( organic and pricy ) Real cage free eggs from chickens raised on a natural diet ( pricey ) Real cheese and try and make sure the fruits and veggies and meat have not been sprayed or fed unnatural substances. We even purchase hormone free milk. As a result my husband cholesterol the bad stuff bottomed out and his good went way up. I also bake our bread. Investment in a good bread machine was key. I wish I could get my cats to eat a raw or at least partial raw diet.