I have grown up in a house that eats generally healthy. My mom majored in exercise science when she went to college and worked as a personal trainer for several years before I was born. With her history, family dinners at my house would almost always contain a veggie or fruit. We would also always have an adequate source of protein for each meal and some carbohydrates, whether in the form of pasta, bread, or rice. My mom did not limit us from eating sweet or salty foods, but rather let us eat them just in moderation. With that being said, I absolutely have a sweet tooth. My mom recently started the “chocolate diet” a few years ago, and she has M&Ms and other chocolate candies in our front entry hallway and family room. These are dangerous because I walk past them every time I want to enter the kitchen. I tend to crave more sweet foods, but I do occasionally love salty snacks like pretzels or potato chips. Most of my family also has many of these same cravings, especially my little sister and brother. Much of my extended family is older than my siblings and me, as my parents are both the youngest in their families. At many of our family gatherings, there is alcohol present and many of my extended family members drink alcohol.
I found it very interesting that acetate is a by-product that is released from alcohol consumption. In a study on mice, it was found that the acetate leads to histone acetylation in the brain which changes gene expression. I also found it interesting that the gut microbiome could serve as another source of acetate and cause histone acetylation and alter brain function. I have learned about how alcohol affects the fetus when in utero and can cause serious developmental issues later on in life. I think that it is crazy how some foods that we eat can cause our gut microbiome to release acetate and possibly cause some of the same effects that alcohol can on children. In particular, the short-chain fatty acids can change the shape of the gut microbiome and influence the colon and participate in host-signaling mechanisms. A major source of the short-chain fatty acids comes from carbohydrates and some amino acids released from proteins.
This information scares me, as carbohydrates are essential to every person’s diet. Carbohydrates are also very essential to my diet because I have diabetes. My body cannot regulate glucose by itself, and I need insulin injections to regulate my blood glucose levels. If my blood glucose levels get too low because of too much insulin, carbohydrates are needed to help raise my blood glucose and keep me from going into an insulin-induced coma. Carbohydrates are also very essential to the production of ATP and creating the energy needed for everyday movement. With this being said, I am going to make some small changes to my diet. I will eat fewer carbohydrates, and I will try to consume fewer sweets since those are high in carbohydrates and sugar. Hopefully, some of these changes will decrease some of the changes that come from histone acetylation. While carbohydrates and alcohol cause histone acetylation, I think that these can be consumed in moderation without causing too much acetylation to completely change gene expression.
Consuming alcohol leads to epigenetic changes in brain memory centers. (2019, October 23). Retrieved from https://neurosciencenews.com/alcohol-epigenetics-memory-15113/amp/.
Rios-Covian, D. (2016) Intestinal Short Chain Fatty Acids and their Link with Diet and Human Health. Front. Microbiol. 7:185. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4756104/.