Scientific research confirming and clarifying the importance of epigenetics in biology - specifically, the passing on of traits to offspring - just keeps coming. A recent study published in The Quarterly Review of Biology (University of Chicago) highlighted over 100 examples of specific animal traits passed to offspring via non-DNA inheritance.

A Current.com post includes selected examples from the study, as well as commentary on the conclusions. Here are a few examples:

Fruit flies exposed to certain chemicals transmit changes—bristly outgrowths on their eyes—down at least 13 generations.

Exposing a pregnant rat to a chemical that alters reproductive hormones leads to generations of sick offspring.

People malnourished in adolescence transmit higher rates of heart disease and diabetes to their children and grandchildren.

In these and 97 other cases the changes in subsequent generations were not from changes in DNA but from epigenetics.

According to the Current.com post, the biggest implication of this new research is that “All the stuff we’re synthesizing and creating from plastics to nanomaterials is going to live in our bodies and take its toll down the generations for a long, long time.”

The “glass-half-full’ flipside to this opinion is epigenetic nutrition: we can identify nutrients and specific foods, used by our ancestors, that meet the needs of our present-day bodies.

Epigenetic Nutrition is ancestral sourced whole food nutrients selected through a study of the non-DNA memory or shadow memory in your genes.

Significant advancements have been made in the field of genetic genealogy. Scientific studies now show that there is much more to our genetic makeup than just our DNA. Our DNA or genes are only part of the equation. Human DNA is 99.9% the same. What makes us different – have different color eyes and hair, different heights, etc. – is the memory in our genes (epigenetics).

Think of it this way – your genes are like soldiers – they will do whatever the general instructs them to do. Your epigenome is like the general spouting off orders to your gene soldiers. Your epigenome determines if a cell becomes a heart cell, brain cell or a skin cell. It provides constant instruction to your genes.

The core of genetic health is to ensure your genes are expressing themselves ‘healthily.’ Cancer, for example, is your DNA expressing itself in a harmful way.

A large part of keeping your genes healthy and your body functioning properly is good nutrition. Your DNA ancestry may play a big role in determining which nutrients your epigenetics with respond positively to. Through genetic genealogy, anthropology and archeology, scientists are now able to determine what your hunter-gatherer ancestors ate tens of thousands of years ago.

Because our bodies evolve so slowly, our DNA is almost exactly the same as it was during hunter-gatherer times. Many scientists agree that our genes have not evolved to consume a diet of processed foods, grains, or milk (this is often referred to as the Paleolithic Diet or the Caveman Diet). The ideal diet to keep us healthy and reduce the likelihood of disease is that of our early Paleolithic ancestors. But these diets don’t take into account that ‘caveman food’ isn’t readily available.

To learn how to access ‘caveman nutrition,’ download your free genetic health report: “Epigenetic Nutrition: Attaining Good Health through Ancestral Sourced Whole Foods”

The main purpose of this blog is to update you about EpiGaia and the world of epigenetic nutrition, genetic health and DNA ancestry.

We have spent the last three years creating a nutrient formula based on the study of genetic genealogy, anthropology, biology and archeology. We believe it is the most optimal nutrition available today. If you are interested in learning more about EpiGaia, the first step is to download the Free Report.

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Thanks for reading this post and we look forward to communicating advancements in the field of Epigenetic Nutrition.