BI215-A: Principles of Genetics

Personally, I crave salty and savory food over sweet foods any day. I would rather eat bread or fried food than sugar. However, within the category of fried foods, I prefer French fries over potato chips. This is just a preference in texture and “dip-ability”. My family’s food preferences and behaviors differ from person to person. My Dad cooks every meal my family consumes. His cooking ability and food preferences have been influenced by his family, his time spent in other countries, and his previous health concerns. My mom and one brother got really into the Whole 30 diet after my Dad’s last deployment and have since then been committed to eating as clean (preservative-free) as possible and have even repeated the Whole 30 diet. My other brother and I have just adapted to what my family buys and cooks while maintaining an affinity for foods outside of that realm. My family also only drinks water, milk, or coffee with the occasional light soda. My parents and other family member practice normal drinking habits. My food preferences were learned from my family and possibly through epigenetics. I crave vegetables and leafy greens often. My family’s food habits are relatively healthy and make a conscious effort to contribute to our overall wellbeing. With this learned information, I could continue to exhibit these healthy eating and drinking habits. In reference to children, a continuation of these habits and a cessation of alcohol intake will occur if I decide to have children and their preferences and behaviors. The discovery of epigenetic influence on histones from acetylation of alcohol may make me reconsider the consumption of alcohol in the future and how it could affect other factors of life I may not have considered.

Mews, P., Egervari, G., Nativio, R., Sidoli, S., Donahue, G., Lombroso, S. I., … Berger, S. L. (2019, October 23). Alcohol metabolism contributes to brain histone acetylation. Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1700-7