Food and Behaviour Research
Building a baby's brain - the first 1,000 days
Early life nutrition directly affects the developing brain - with lifelong consequences
The nutritional status of any mother-to-be, both before and during pregnancy, plays a critical role in shaping the future development and lifelong health of her unborn baby, as well as her own health and wellbeing.
Scientific research has long shown that malnutrition in early life (from several months before conception until at least 2-3 years of age) can have lifelong negative effects on both physical and mental health. Conversely - ensuring good nutrition for mothers and infants during this critical period has lifelong benefits.
- If the mother's diet before and during pregnancy is healthy and well-balanced, providing all essential nutrients, this can offer powerful protection against the development of mental, as well as physical health problems in her children throughout their lifetimes.
'Nutritional programming' is the name given to the many ways in which early life nutrition can permanently influence gene expression, via so-called 'epigenetic' mechanisms.
Both 'Nature' AND 'Nurture' Matter
Since the discovery of DNA, a focus on genetics has tended to dominate both medical research and public perceptions of what determines health or disease - with environmental factors, including nutrition, often downplayed as secondary. However:
- Genes and environments always work together - and they constantly interact.
- It is never a case of 'Nature' OR 'Nurture' - because BOTH are always important.
Genes obviously matter (a lot). But DNA provides only a 'code' - like a 'recipe' or 'blueprint' - for assembling the proteins needed for the structure of body and brain tissues, and as 'enzymes' that enable basic biochemical reactions. The actual building blocks of those proteins are amino acids. And many of those amino acids are essential nutrients - so they must be provided by our diets. In other words:
- Nutrition is what provides the actual raw materials for our genes - so that they can build proteins. And in addition
- Nutrition also affects gene expression and regulation - i.e. nutrients can actually turn genes 'on' or 'off' - or increase and decrease their activity to match our needs.
This is why what we eat (or don't eat) has such a fundamental influence on our bodies and brains - affecting every aspect of our health and wellbeing.
Many of these nutritional effects on how our genes actually function keep operating throughout our whole lives. And these influence both everyday processes we take for granted (such as energy production, digestion, cell growth, division and damage repair) - and others that we may (or may not) be more aware of, including our sleep-wake cycles, and how we feel, think and behave.
However, during pregnancy and early life some of the effects of nutrition on gene expression and regulation on the developing child can be permanent. In other words, the nutritional status of mothers-to-be (and young infants) can have effects that are lifelong - and these are known as 'nutritional programming' effects.
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'Epigenetics' - how our environments affect gene activity
Epigenetics refers to changes in gene activity caused by environmental factors - including nutrition - that leave the genetic code itself (DNA) unchanged. Some epigenetic effects are short-lived, but others can be lifelong, especially those occurring in early life.
From Darwin's theory of evolution, genetic factors (involving random mutations) have received most attention. The concept of 'survival of the fittest' is often taken (wrongly) to refer only to genes. But any organism‘s fitness and ability to survive depends on its environment. In fact, Darwin himself emphasised that what he called 'the conditions of existence' - i.e. environmental factors - are actually the critical forces in 'natural selection'.
Nutrition and diet are major ‘epigenetic‘ factors. Others include exercise, exposure to toxins, and psychological & socio-economic influences. All affect gene expression, but nutrition is one of the easiest to change, when there is the means to do so.
Developmental Origins of Health & Disease
Poor nutrition (undernutrition and overnutrition) and/or exposure to toxins in pregnancy and early childhood can have lifelong consequences, including impaired brain and body growth (‘stunting’), and increased risks of 'non-communicable diseases' that often occur only later on in life - such as heart and circulatory diseases, diabetes, obesity, immune disorders, osteoporosis, kidney disease, and many more.
The 'first 1000 days' from conception, i.e. the period throughout pregnancy and early infancy, is a 'critical period', when many organs and systems - including the brain and nervous system - are ‘programmed’ in a way that will determine their development and functionality throughout life.
And many more articles on this subject can be browsed in FAB's Library here:
Nutrition during early life can also shape children's tastes and food preferences, as well as their physical and mental development. The taste preferences of young infants appear to reflect some features of foods eaten by their mothers during pregnancy.
A unique UK population study also showed that exposure to a high-sugar vs low-sugar diet in prenatal and very early life predicted not only higher sugar intakes throughout life, but 2-3 times higher rates of chronic diseases when those babies became older adults.
Getting the fats right: Omega-3/6 balance
Fats are an essential part of our diets - but one of the most misunderstood. There are many different kinds of dietary fats, each with very different effects on health. Most of them we can make for ourselves if needed, but some fats - the omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) - are dietary essentials, like vitamins and minerals
Our brains are 60% fat, so ‘getting the fats right' is critical for brain health at any age; but it particularly matters during early brain development.
Both omega-3 and omega-6 long-chain polyunsaturated fats, in the right balance, are essential for normal brain structure and function. However, typical modern diets are very low in long-chain omega-3 (EPA and DHA, found in fish & seafood), and high in omega-6 (found in high quantities in many UPFs and seed oils).
Low maternal omega-3 status in pregnancy specifically increases risks for preterm birth (a cause of many lifelong physical and mental health problems), as well as predicting poorer behavioural, cognitive and mental health outcomes in general. However, for mothers-to-be with low omega-3 status, definitive clinical trial evidence shows that supplementation during pregnancy significantly reduces preterm birth risks.
- Read the 2022 consensus statement on Omega-3 fatty acids to reduce preterm birth, from the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids (ISSFAL)
Other research has shown that when mothers eat omega-6-rich, omega-3-poor diets in pregnancy, this permanently changes brain structure and connectivity in their offspring, who then go on to show more anxious and depressive traits even as adults. For details, see:
And for previous research showing similar findings - in fact the first study to demonstrate that omega-3 deficient (omega-6-rich) diets during pregnancy leads to lifelong increases in anxiety in the offspring via 'nutritional programming', see:
'Endocannabinoids' are hormone-like substances made naturally within the body and brain from both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. They are natural versions of cannabinoids (the active substances found in marijuana) - and they play key roles in the regulation of pain, temperature, appetite, mood, perception, cognition, and sleep, among numerous other brain and body functions.
Crucially, different kinds of endocannabinoids are made from omega-6 than from omega-3. And what this pioneering study showed is that during pregnancy, a maternal diet rich in omega-6 (and relatively lacking in omega-3) leads to an excess of omega-6-derived endocannabinoids, which can 'overload' receptors in the fetal brain and permanently 'desensitise' them, resulting in a lifelong increase in anxiety and emotional dysregulation.
Fortunately, while this early life nutritional programming effect is irreversible, subsequent animal studies have shown that supplementation with omega-3 in adulthood can still help to reduce the resulting anxiety and depression via alternative, compensatory mechanisms.
Vital vitamins for both brain and body
B vitamins are essential for healthy brain development, and (like omega-3 DHA) are so vital to brain function that they have their own dedicated transport system for crossing the ‘blood-brain barrier‘.
Together, the B-complex vitamins (and choline, which works with them) play a role in gene expression, neurotransmitter production, and synthesis, repair, and metabolism of DNA, making them key players in nutritional programming.
B-vitamin deficiencies before conception and in early pregnancy can cause neural tube defects, preterm delivery, failure to thrive, obesity, insulin resistance, and heart defects, as well as possible developmental and mental problems.
Pregnant women following plant-based diets need to take special care to ensure enough B-vitamins, as animal foods are the richest sources. Plant sources of some B-vitamins include legumes, green leafy vegetables, potatoes, bananas, and fortified cereals.
Vitamin B12 is particularly important to consider - because deficiencies during pregnancy or breastfeeding can permanetly impair brain development of the unborn child or young infant. B12 is only found naturally in animal foods - so vegans must supplement this essential nutrient (or get it from fortified foods).
Vitamin D
The so-called 'sunshine vitamin' is best known for its critical importance in helping to build and maintain strong bones and teeth, and a healthy immune system. However, adequate supplies of Vitamin D are also essential to brain and nervous system development and functioning.
Animal studies have long shown that maternal deficiencies of Vitamin D during pregnancy lead to permanent changes in both brain structure and function in the offspring - as this is a critical period for brain development.
What's more, these changes have been shown to cause abnormalities in motor co-ordination, attention, perception and behaviour that resemble those associated with ADHD, dyspraxia, schizophrenia and related conditions in humans.
Observational evidence also links prenatal vitamin D deficiencies with elevated risks for many developmental and mental health conditions in human, including schizophrenia, Autism and ADHD-type symptoms:
Even in the general population, a detailed birth cohort study showed that lower Vitamin D status of mothers during pregnancy predicts significantly poorer motor co-ordination and social skills in their children during pre-school years:
More FAB News and Research articles on these topics can be found in our library archives here:
- Pregnancy and Vitamins
- Vitamin B12 in Pregnancy and Infancy
- Vitamin D in Mothers and Infants
- Vitamin D and Schizophrenia
Key Minerals: Iron, Iodine, Zinc, Selenium
Iron is key for brain development, as well as muscle and red blood cell production; and early life deficiency impairs behavioural and cognitive development.
Iodine is needed to make thyroid hormones - vital during pregnancy for normal foetal brain development. Severe prenatal deficiency causes deaf-mutism and/or serious mental impairment; but even mild/moderate iodine deficiencies in pregnancy may lead to childhood language delays, reduced fine motor skills, and poorer verbal and reading abilities.
Zinc and selenium are other key minerals involved in nutritional programming, with each enabling the function of hundreds of different enzymes needed during pregnancy for normal development of the unborn child.
Animal foods provide the highest concentrations - and the most bioavailable forms - of all these essential minerals. Mothers-to-be who are following vegan or vegetarian diets therefore need to be made aware of any nutrients that they could be lacking, and may need to supplement to ensure adequate supplies of these (depending on what they are eating).
See below for more FAB News on:
- Pregnancy and Minerals
- Iodine in Pregnancy
- Iron in Pregnancy and Early Life
- Pregnancy and Vegetarian Diets / Vegan Diets
FAB Events providing more information on essential nutrients
● The importance of nutrient-rich soil, and genetic factors influencing nutrient absorption.
● Dietary changes can have a significant impact on overall health and well-being.
● Challenges in treatment and the need for holistic approaches.
● Rise of veganism: Marketing of Veganuary and its impact on dietary trends.
● Motivations for veganism: Ethical, environmental, and health considerations.
● Health implications: Comparing plant-based and ultra-processed diets.
● Evaluating dietary changes: Principles to assess the safety and effectiveness of dietary interventions.
● How Seafood Deficiency Impacts Family Health or Transform Your Family’s Mental Well-being with Simple Dietary Changes
● Balancing Omega-3 and Omega-6 for Optimal Health
A Special Note on Choline
Choline is neither a vitamin nor a mineral but is often grouped in B Vitamins due to its similarities.
It is essential to consume dietary choline to maintain health, as we can't make enough to meet the brain and body's needs - but it is seriously lacking from modern, western-type diets.
Most pregnant women and children (as well as most adults) don't consume enough choline to reach even 'adequate' intakes.
This reflects both changes in eating habits, and a general lack of awareness - because neither dietary guidelines nor public health policy have kept pace with the mounting evidence of choline's importance for both brain and body health.
In pregnancy and early life, choline is essential to support healthy brain development and function, and deficiencies can have lifelong effects.
Prenatal choline deficiencies increase risks for foetal alcohol spectrum disorders; and increasing evidence indicates that:
- a lack of choline in early life may play a role in common childhood developmental conditions like ADHD, autism, dyslexia and related behaviour and learning difficulties
- low choline intakes are also linked with memory and attention problems in adults, including age-related cognitive decline and dementia.
To hear from two leading experts in nutrition and neuroscience on the latest evidence on choline and brain health, we invite you to access our on-demand webinar:
Protection from harmful substances
Many harmful substances pass easily through the placenta, and some can have lifelong impacts on the unborn child.
Alcohol use during pregnancy (or even pre-conception), can result in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) - a group of conditions involving physical, behavioural, and intellectual disabilities. Smoking during pregnancy is also linked to pre-term birth, low birth weight, and some birth defects.
Other drugs can also negatively affect foetal development - but prescribed medications may be essential, i.e. benefits exceed risks - so should always be discussed with the prescriber.
Common environmental toxins include Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) - harmful compounds found in pesticides, cleaning products, paints, personal care products, vehicle exhaust, and tobacco smoke. Prenatal exposure to VOCs raises risks for premature birth, low birth weight, poor growth, and delayed neurobehavioural development.
Exposure to air pollution may also predict preterm birth and low birth weight, as well as poor immune system development.
Adequate intakes of all essential nutrients (including choline, vitamin E, folic acid, zinc, vitamin B-12, and omega-3 in particular) can help to reduce harmful environmental effects during pregnancy.
Minimising stress during pregnancy
Maternal stress during pregnancy can affect not only the mother’s health and wellbeing, but her child’s development. Potential programming effects include delayed infant growth, poorer immune function and cognitive development, and increased stress reactivity.
Maternal exposure to stress during pregnancy can also have long run detrimental effects on dietary outcomes of children and thereby on health conditions related to diet. For example:
Whilst ‘stressors’ are part of normal life, good nutrition (along with exercise, sleep and social support) can help to protect against potential negative effects. Diet is particularly relevant, as stress can increase our need for particular nutrients - including B vitamins, long-chain omega-3, zinc, and iron, among others.
Take-homes
- Adequate and balanced nutrition of the mother-to-be, and minimisation of toxic exposures, provides a child with the best start in life, supporting optimal brain development and long-term health outcomes.
- Nutritional programming can have long-term deleterious consequences on brain function and increase the risk of developing mental health conditions.
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