Dr. McDougall's Online Discussion Board

Hi All,

I am a vegan living with my non-vegan partner and we will one day be trying to have children. He lives a very high fat unhealthy diet despite my efforts. He eats take out a lot and I am concerned this will give our child defects or illnesses, since half of a baby's genetics are from their father. Will my efforts and healthy eating be wasted? Any advice/knowledge is welcome

Thanks.

Hmmmm, I know the science of genetics is changing all the time, but your partner's bad diet should only affect your children if he feeds it to them after they get here; not genetically before they are even conceived.

Genetics concern the whole family, not only you two. But I agree with Gweithgar, it should only affect your child when he feeds it his way. If you are patient enough, I can tell you more in October. I will give birth to our little boy then and my partner and I have different ways of eating as well. I was a long time on Raw Till 4 before I decided to start with the Starch Solution - he lives quite unhealthy with a lot of meat and foods rich in fat. Until now my baby grows exemplary, the doctor use to say.

Yes, having certain genes is rarely a concern. It's the expression of those genes that will be a bigger issue. And that will depend on your childs diet as they pass through life.
If poor eating is a catastrophe to your offspring many of us would be doomed! Fortunately, the way we eat and it's effect on gene expression is much more important.
f1jim

veganandtrying wrote:Hi All,

I am a vegan living with my non-vegan partner and we will one day be trying to have children. He lives a very high fat unhealthy diet despite my efforts. He eats take out a lot and I am concerned this will give our child defects or illnesses, since half of a baby's genetics are from their father. Will my efforts and healthy eating be wasted? Any advice/knowledge is welcome

Thanks.

Just be patient! I hope he can minimize the damage of the unhealthy foods.

The main effect of a bad diet/caffeine, etc. on a father is sexual dysfunction and low sperm count. If you do conceive, then your diet is the most important, and a WFPB diet, without caffeine and plenty of water will program your fetus to be a veggie loving baby someday because of transmission of those flavors through the amniotic fluid, and the flavors of the foods even are supposed to be transmitted to mother's milk, so that when feeding times begin, you can start with the homemade WFPB puree's.

As far as the other comments so far, I have come across recent contrary info that I wanted to share, I don't mean to be a downer, but these are a few recent articles about the science of epigenetics. It is fascinating how environment can CHANGE genetics and affect their transmission. Definitely "food" for thought:

http://www.livescience.com/21902-diet-epigenetics-grandchildren.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/fathers-diet-may-affect-offsprings-development-study-of-mice-suggests/2013/12/14/006834a8-644e-11e3-91b3-f2bb96304e34_story.html
http://www.nature.com/nrg/journal/v12/n2/full/nrg2941.html

Now, this information probably won't sway your partner, although you can try, but my suggestion is to quietly switch out unhealthy things for the healthier alternative and try to make some delicious WFPB recipes for the home so that he isn't tempted to eat out. The first thing to try, is to make "cauliflower" wings - roast the cauliflower florets until browned, coat with buffalo wing sauce, and serve with home-made cashew ranch dip, celery and carrots on the side. If dishes can be made manly, perhaps he might eat them! Also try buying him these books: http://www.amazon.com/Meat-Pussies-How--Guide-Dudes/dp/0062320327/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440433231&sr=8-1&keywords=meat+is+for+pussies&pebp=1440433225557&perid=0VX3SJQCYGEJ5QC99K5J
http://www.amazon.com/Full-Plate-Diet-Great-Healthy/dp/1885167717/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440433313&sr=8-1&keywords=full+plate+living&pebp=1440433300852&perid=16BV9J3Z6M93VPRKKCQW

The latter book is all about reducing the non-fibrous food like meat, cheese, egg, dairy to less than 25% of one's diet. If someone won't go all the way, it will at least benefit health to go 75% WFPB. Make it easier for him to do so - some ideas are "vegan before 6" and vegan 5 days / off 2 days.

Choose your battles, and know your limits.