Mother's diet can help determine sex of child: study
lazymoon13
Posts: 838
I found this article very interesting...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080423/ts_afp/healthdietsexchildren
PARIS (AFP) - Oysters may excite the libido, but there is nothing like a hearty breakfast laced with sugar to boost a woman's chances of conceiving a son, according to a study released Wednesday.
Likewise, a low-energy diet that skimps on calories, minerals and nutrients is more likely to yield a female of the human species, says the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Britain's de facto academy of sciences.
Fiona Mathews of the University of Exeter in Britain and colleagues wanted to find out if a woman's diet has an impact on the sex of her offspring.
So they asked 740 first-time mothers who did not know if their unborn foetuses were male or female to provide detailed records of eating habits before and after they became pregnant. The women were split into three groups according to the number calories they consumed per day around the time of conception.
Fifty-six percent of the women in the group with the highest energy intake had sons, compared to 45 percent in the least-well fed cohort.
Beside racking up a higher calorie count, the group who produced more males were also more likely to have eaten a wider range of nutrients, including potassium, calcium and vitamins C, E and B12.
The odds of an XY, or male outcome to a pregnancy also went up sharply "for women who consumed at least one bowl of breakfast cereal daily compared with those who ate less than or equal to one bowl of week," the study reported.
These surprising findings are consistent with a very gradual shift in favor of girls over the last four decades in the sex ratio of newborns, according to the researchers.
Previous research has shown -- despite the rising epidemic in obesity -- a reduction in the average energy uptake in advanced economies. The number of adults who skip breakfast has also increased substantially.
"This research may help to explain why in developed countries, where many young women choose low calorie diets, the proportion of boys is falling," Mathews said.
The study's findings, she added, could point to a "natural mechanism" for gender selection.
The link between a rich diet and male children may have an evolutionary explanation.
For most species, the number of offspring a male can father exceeds the number a female can give birth to. But only if conditions are favorable -- poor quality male specimens may fail to breed at all, whereas females reproduce more consistently.
"If a mother has plentiful resources, then it can make sense to invest in producing a son because he is likely to produce more grandchildren than would a daughter," thus contributing to the survival of the species, explains Mathews.
"However, in leaner times having a daughter is a safer bet."
While the mechanism is not yet understood, it is known from in vitro fertilisation research that higher levels of glucose, or sugar, encourage the growth and development of male embryos while inhibiting female embryos.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080423/ts_afp/healthdietsexchildren
PARIS (AFP) - Oysters may excite the libido, but there is nothing like a hearty breakfast laced with sugar to boost a woman's chances of conceiving a son, according to a study released Wednesday.
Likewise, a low-energy diet that skimps on calories, minerals and nutrients is more likely to yield a female of the human species, says the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Britain's de facto academy of sciences.
Fiona Mathews of the University of Exeter in Britain and colleagues wanted to find out if a woman's diet has an impact on the sex of her offspring.
So they asked 740 first-time mothers who did not know if their unborn foetuses were male or female to provide detailed records of eating habits before and after they became pregnant. The women were split into three groups according to the number calories they consumed per day around the time of conception.
Fifty-six percent of the women in the group with the highest energy intake had sons, compared to 45 percent in the least-well fed cohort.
Beside racking up a higher calorie count, the group who produced more males were also more likely to have eaten a wider range of nutrients, including potassium, calcium and vitamins C, E and B12.
The odds of an XY, or male outcome to a pregnancy also went up sharply "for women who consumed at least one bowl of breakfast cereal daily compared with those who ate less than or equal to one bowl of week," the study reported.
These surprising findings are consistent with a very gradual shift in favor of girls over the last four decades in the sex ratio of newborns, according to the researchers.
Previous research has shown -- despite the rising epidemic in obesity -- a reduction in the average energy uptake in advanced economies. The number of adults who skip breakfast has also increased substantially.
"This research may help to explain why in developed countries, where many young women choose low calorie diets, the proportion of boys is falling," Mathews said.
The study's findings, she added, could point to a "natural mechanism" for gender selection.
The link between a rich diet and male children may have an evolutionary explanation.
For most species, the number of offspring a male can father exceeds the number a female can give birth to. But only if conditions are favorable -- poor quality male specimens may fail to breed at all, whereas females reproduce more consistently.
"If a mother has plentiful resources, then it can make sense to invest in producing a son because he is likely to produce more grandchildren than would a daughter," thus contributing to the survival of the species, explains Mathews.
"However, in leaner times having a daughter is a safer bet."
While the mechanism is not yet understood, it is known from in vitro fertilisation research that higher levels of glucose, or sugar, encourage the growth and development of male embryos while inhibiting female embryos.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
how? with his eating habits? this stuff fascinates me.
Gender is determined at conception, what sperm gets to penetrate the ovum(egg)first. A woman's eating habits and ph balance could either nourish male factor sperm or kill it off. Likewise with female factor sperm.
Anatole France
yes, however, from this article it seems like the mother can create an environment in her body that is better suited for X or Y chromosomes to develop into an embryo.
Exactly.
p.s. i have 3 daughters and 1 son. but then again so did my mother and her mother before her.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
That's exactly my understanding of it too.
*~You're IT Bert!~*
Hold on to the thread
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wow what are the odds?
im sure these patterns occur a fair bit.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
i'm sure it does. thats why I'd be interested in knowing the odds
hmm cause it looks as if we have enough boarish men.
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
:rolleyes: And all you folk that can't get past judging someone for how they look instead of who they are or objectifying women need to learn to bite your tongues so we don't know how ridiculously simple minded some of you can be. Can't see that getting anyone laid either.
oh and edit: What any of it has to do with the thread topic I'll never know.
*~You're IT Bert!~*
Hold on to the thread
The currents will shift
skinny women = more women, according to this anyway.
hey, i dont like it any more than you. i like em a bit thick myself. but i am willing to sacrifice for the greater good.
I like that you've come up with the assumption you have though and that you're willing to make sacrifices.
*~You're IT Bert!~*
Hold on to the thread
The currents will shift
My father had all boys, 5 total, and I have all boys, 3 total. I'm pretty sure had I not closed shop and kept having kids I would probably continue to have boys.
another interesting thing is, that male babies are usually weaker and although there are more male fetuses, miscarriages are more likely to happen to a male fetus. in the end the number of male/female babies that are born is pretty much balanced out. but if the mother is making a diet, the body may signal that there are not so good circumstances for the baby to be born, and maybe that could more likely cause a miscarriage.
so i guess there are more factors involved than just the chromosome on the sperm.
maybe the diet of the male influences the gender of his sperm...well, what do i know?! ;-) just some thoughts....
Munich, Germany 2007
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