Neuroepic: Nature, Nurture, Food, Family, Brains

As a society we are becoming more aware of how daily life patterns directly affect our health and wellness. Exercise, food, and sleep not only influence our short term mental and physical states, but there is increasing evidence that there are lasting effects on our DNA and potentially our offspring’s DNA. Our DNA, or genome, is composed of a specific sequence of nucleotides that control our growth, development, and the ability to carry out biological functions needed for survival. How the DNA is packaged and changes to this packaging is referred to as the epigenome. This can be thought of as a recipe, where the genome is a set of particular directions to make a dish. However, a cook can make a recipe their own and change up the steps to better fit a desired outcome, which is like the epigenome. If more steps are added to a recipe, it becomes more difficult to use, and less people will make the dish, and it can also be simplified by taking out more in depth steps. In the epigenome, changes are made to proteins, making them more or less easily accessible to make genes that our bodies need to function.

All a pregnant woman longs for is a healthy, happy baby at the end of her pregnancy. While most women get their wish, the unfortunate reality is that some women have complications for several reasons. One potential complication is Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM), which is when a mother becomes diabetic during her pregnancy. GDM occurs in 12% - 18% of all pregnancies, and the risk of developing this increases with age or a prior diagnosis of diabetes. Women diagnosed with GDM must undergo major diet and lifestyle changes to combat their increase in blood sugar levels. Multiple women discussed how they created restricted meal plans, walked or exercised more, took blood sugar measurements before and after each meal, and sometimes took insulin doses. It is important to educate people about the causes of GDM, as well as the short-term and long-term effects on the DNA of women and their children. Although GDM cannot always be prevented, it is important to understand how women can best help themselves and their children from the lasting effects of GDM.

There is a constant barrage of information about cancer-causing chemicals, damaging pollution, and other toxins making us sick. With headlines like “11 potentially cancer-causing things you might use every day” and news stories about “Environmental pollution killing more people than war”, it’s understandable that the public has become hyper-aware of the health consequences of chemicals and pollution. So, the prospect of protecting yourself and your loved ones with a simple diet change is intriguing.

The raging conflict in Ukraine is creating a humanitarian crisis through denial of food, water, and housing for those caught in the crossfire. Each day, thousands of people worldwide are added to a growing number of individuals facing food insecurity. Food insecurity is a widespread problem, even during peacetime. Families in the United States cannot afford consistent access to food. We must consider the psychological consequences of food insecurity, in addition to the physiological. The immediate victims are not the only ones affected, and their offspring will suffer from ailments tracing back to starvation.

Epilepsy is a seizure disorder that affects about 3.4 million Americans. It is characterized by abnormal or hyperactive brain cell activity. Although the cause of epilepsy is not always known, certain forms of epilepsy are linked to genetic disorders, stroke, infection, and brain injury. Epilepsy is most commonly treated with medications, which reduce the probability of having a seizure. However, anti-seizure medications don’t work for everyone. Here, we investigate the keto diet and its potential health benefits. We interview patients, families, dietitians, and researchers to uncover the connection between food and epilepsy care.

“Next to water, tea is the most consumed beverage worldwide with approximately 20 billion cups consumed daily,” which is almost 2000 olympic swimming pools. Tea has long been a staple in the diets of individuals all over the world and has been heralded for its health benefits. Lots of people have a cup of tea when they are sick, and recent studies have shown that tea might be able to prevent cancer. Much of the research about the potential anti-cancer effects of tea has focused on chemicals called polyphenols, which are the major active compounds in tea and are also responsible for the distinct flavors and aromas of tea. There are many common dietary sources of polyphenols, including berries, peppers, dark chocolate, red wine, and coffee, and they have a wide variety of health effects. These compounds are structurally diverse, but they all have multiple hexagonal, ring-like components called phenols. Different types of tea can contain different polyphenols. For instance, For instance, the major polyphenol in green tea is a catechin called (−)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, or EGCG. Theaflavins and thearubigins are commonly found in black tea. Polyphenols are a promising candidate for advancing numerous anti-cancer innovations due to their accessibility through common dietary sources like tea and potential ability to combat cancer through both reversing epigenetic changes and improving the efficacy of cancer treatments.

U.S. Olympic Swimmer Michael Phelps told ESPN that he eats between 8,000 and 10,000 calories a day. This is 4 times the amount of calories an average adult needs. Phelps must have a calorie-dense diet because of the large amount of calories he burns during high levels of physical activity he participates in when training and competing. University of Pittsburgh Director of Sports Nutrition Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, estimated that, given his 6’4’’ height at 190lb build he would burn about 1,000 calories per hour when training. In comparison, the average adult does not do as much physical activity and therefore does not burn, or need to consume, as many calories. One’s lifestyle and body composition can inform us on what we should eat. A more specific term for this concept is personalized nutrition. Here, we investigate potential benefits and controversies regarding the use of personalized nutrition in athletic performance as well as overall health.

Many people understand that a healthy diet can contribute to good health, but people might be less aware of how their diet can impact their future child's health. Pregnancy is a very sensitive period in which the behavior and diet of a mother can leave a lasting impact on her child. For example, studies show that Israeli children have an 81% lower rate of peanut allergies than their Western counterparts. This trend might be due to the widespread consumption of a popular peanut-flavored snack called Bamba during pregnancy and early childhood. Studies also demonstrate that consumption of folate, also known as vitamin B9, is associated with positive birth outcomes. Dark leafy vegetables, whole grains, peanuts, sunflower seeds, fresh fruits, liver, and seafood naturally contain folates. Mothers with a folate-poor diet during pregnancy have an increased risk of having a child with neural tube defects (NTDs) and other cognitive impairments. NTDs are severe birth defects that can cause serious health issues. On average, about 1-2 in every 1000 pregnancies are affected by NTDs. Therefore, many pregnant women take folate supplements throughout their pregnancy.

When I was younger, I was convinced my father was lying when he swore that salads made him sick, yet he could eat a ribeye-steak with no problem. It was comical then, but with age I learned that this was his harsh reality with Crohn’s Disease. Chronic Crohn’s Disease impacts half a million US individuals and is a heritable form of inflammatory bowel disease known to cause symptoms such as abdominal pain and weight loss. These symptoms can be managed with proper dietary restrictions, but the wide variability in both personal food-triggers and tolerance levels makes full treatment difficult. With similar disruptive symptoms and heritability, Celiac’s Disease impacts about 1% of the US population and is also difficult to treat. Despite the only restriction being food containing gluten, this protein is found in wheat, barely, and rye, so many foods contain it. Additionally, an individual’s tolerance to gluten may vary. Both Crohn’s and Celiac’s diseases often feel like an invisible battle, with each dietary choice needing to be made with care. This heightened awareness is only half the battle though, as beneficial treatment is often difficult to find given each person’s variability in symptom severity, dietary options, and tolerance levels.

Many of us have heard that taking care of one’s body is vital not only for physical health, but also for mental wellbeing. The supposed connection is that if the person has a healthy body then their mental health will follow suit. And how exactly does one take care of their body? The three most commonly suggested methods of caring for one’s body are sleeping well, exercising, and eating. However, there is some natural ambiguity when trying to identify any of those three aspects of physical health as being a potential causal factor for positive mental health, or in trying to identify deficits in those areas which cause worsened mental health. Is poor sleep causing poor mental health, or does poor mental health disrupt sleep? Does a lack of exercise contribute to depressive symptoms, or does depression itself cause the lack of motivation that interferes with regular exercise? Does unhealthy food contribute to decreased mental health, or do depressed people simply tend to seek out sugary, fatty, unhealthy foods? The answer will surely not be easy to identify in conclusive terms, as either one could be causing the other, or they might be simultaneously causing each other, or there may even be other factors at play. Though sleep, exercise, and diet are assuredly all worthy of investigation, the question we will investigate is whether diet has an effect on mental health. Specifically, we want to examine the assumption that poor diets lead to an increased risk of depression and anxiety, and that good diets lead to a decreased risk of depression and anxiety.