Wednesday, October 5, 2011

You are what you eat !..

 New evidence has shown that gentic material that we eat in food survives digestion without breakdown and and cirulates through the body.  Furthermore some of these gene fragments, are known to muffle gene expresson which lead to measurable biochemical changes.  (Cell Research, DOI:10.1038/cr.2011.158).

 The study, by Cheu-Yu-Zhang, of Nanjing University showed that  plant RNA's from the cabbage family, along with rice, brocoli, and possibly all the plants you eat can change the behaviour of your genes in ways previously unkown to science.   Among other things, the study looked at cholesterol levels in the blood and found that they could be influenced by the gene affecting affect of the  RNA plant fragments.

The studies have yet to be followed up and further validated. However, in the least case they will very likely result in a swell of research into the effects of food DNA and RNA on our health.  They may demonstrate both unknown adverse as well as advantagious affects and lead to the developent of new drugs.