Guy’s comments – A research study to demonstrate how nutritional deficiencies can effect DNA in your cells. In the emerging field of nutrigenomics, whereby the nutritional status of an individual can effect DNA replication and essentially influence aging of DNA and create chronic degenerative diseases (accelerated aging) that can be avoided by proper nutrition, from healthy soils, or possible supplementation.

A research group led by Yang Song from Department of Nutrition & Exercise Sciences and Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University have shown for the first time that low zinc intake leads to DNA damage in peripheral blood cells of humans.

The group’s investigation, published in the July 2009 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that inadequate zinc intake causes DNA strand breaks and that improving dietary zinc intake improves DNA integrity.  With marginal zinc deficiency estimated to affect a considerable portion of the population these findings may have important implications for cancer development.

Nine healthy men with adequate zinc intakes (an average intake above the RDA of 11 mg per day) completed three dietary periods; (1) a base line period were zinc intake was maintained at 11 mg per day for two weeks, (2) a period of zinc depletion during which zinc intake was reduced to 0.6 mg for one week then 4 mg per day for  5 weeks and (3) a period of zinc repletion were dietary zinc intake was restored to 11 mg per day for four weeks and an additional zinc supplement of 20 mg per day was taken for the first seven days.

It was found that “dietary zinc depletion was associated with increased DNA strand breaks in peripheral blood cells, changes that were ameliorated by zinc repletion. Plasma zinc concentrations were negatively correlated with DNA strand breaks during the zinc-depletion period.” Markers of oxidative stress including plasma total antioxidant capacity, and erythrocyte superoxide dismutase activity did not change significantly.

The research group also found that during the zinc depletion phase consumption of the marginally deficient zinc diet had no significant effect on the subject’s plasma and urinary zinc concentrations highlighting the lack of sensitivity in commonly used assessment of zinc status.

Comment:

These findings suggest DNA stability and repair is highly sensitive to marginal dietary zinc deficiency. If marginal zinc intakes are indeed more common than previously thought, zinc status may prove to be a common and modifiable factor that predisposes to chronic disease development. The group’s findings also question the sensitivity of conventional methods of assessing zinc status such as blood plasma, assessing  DNA single-strand breaks may be a useful biomarker of zinc deficiency however further study is needed.

Click here for effective Zinc supplementation

Sources:

Song Y et al. Dietary zinc restriction and repletion affects DNA integrity in healthy men. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;90:321–8.

The new findings come from a Dutch research group and were reported in the July 2009 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In this report healthy elderly subjects were assigned to either 1.8 grams daily of fish oil, 0.4 grams daily of fish oil or 0.4 grams daily of high oleic sunflower oil (control) for 26 weeks. At base line and the end of the intervention subjects blood samples were taken and immune cells (peripheral blood mononuclear cells) were analyzed for changes in 17,699 genes. The research group found that a high fish oil intake changed the expression of 1040 genes, whereas sunflower oil intake changed the expression of only 298 genes. Specifically fish oil resulted in “a decreased expression of genes involved in inflammatory- and atherogenic-related pathways, such as nuclear transcription factor kappaB signaling, eicosanoid synthesis, scavenger receptor activity, adipogenesis, and hypoxia signaling.” Leading the authors to conclude that intake of fish oil can alter the gene expression profiles of immune cells to a more antiinflammatory and antiatherogenic status.

Guy’s Comment: Nutrigenomic discovery (how nutrition effects the reproduction of DNA) is continuously highlighting the profound impact of small dietary molecules on cellular function and the development of disease. The finding that eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from fish oil can positively influence the expression of over a thousand genes in a single cell type, in this case human immune cells, speaks to the immense and often under appreciated role of nutrition in medicine.

This is not to mention the profound effects that fish oil has been shown to exert on the behavior of children and lengthening of attention their spans.

Click here for effective Fish Oil supplementation

Sources: Bouwens M et al. Fish-oil supplementation induces anti-inflammatory gene expression profiles in human blood mononuclear cells. Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun 10.