Khaberni - A new study has revealed that smelling fatty foods during pregnancy, even with the mother consuming a healthy diet, may increase the likelihood of her children being obese.
According to experiments conducted on mice at the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism Research, mothers consumed a low-fat diet but it included flavors and aromas similar to the smell of bacon. Although their weights did not change, the surprise was found in their offspring, who showed a greater tendency to gain weight when consuming a high-fat diet, and they also developed insulin resistance, an early sign of diabetes.
The study published in "Nature Metabolism" showed that the brains of the offspring had indeed changed. The dopamine system responsible for stimulation and reward, as well as the "AgRP" neurons responsible for hunger and metabolism, responded differently to fatty foods.
Researcher Laura Casanueva Rimón stated: "The brains of the young appeared as though they were the brains of mice suffering from obesity, just because their mothers consumed healthy food that carried the scent of fatty food."
The findings suggest that the fetus is exposed to food smells through the amniotic fluid during pregnancy, and then through the mother's milk after birth. More dangerously, even the artificial activation of the neural circuits associated with fat odors in the early days after birth was sufficient to cause obesity in adulthood.
What do these results mean for humans?
Although the study is still in the animal testing phase, it opens a new door to understanding the relationship between the mother's diet and the child's health later on.
Research supervisor Sophie Stickolorum explained: "Scientists have long focused on the effects of the fats the mother consumes, but our findings suggest that the aromas alone, if they reach the fetus or infant, could play a role in shaping their future health."
The study confirms that exposure to flavors only occurs when the mother eats food containing fatty smells, not merely by the presence of the smell in her surroundings.
Researchers relied on flavorings that are typically used as food additives, and found that one of these components alone was capable of causing the same behavioral and metabolic effects in the offspring.
Stickolorum concludes: "These findings call for further research to understand how these substances affect child growth and metabolic health during pregnancy and breastfeeding in the future."
