Monday, September 6, 2010

Father's Y Chromosome, the Gender of the Baby and Mom's Diet

I was reading an article today about research done (http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/07/want-a-girl-eat-dairy-shun-salt-and-have-sex-sometimes/) in Maastricht University in Holland according to which the gender of the baby is largely determined by the diet that the mom has, while adding that the diet of the father has no impact on the baby's gender. Apparently a Calcium (Ca) / Magnesium (Mg) rich diet results in a girl being born while a Sodium (Na) / Potassium (K) rich diet decreases the chance of the baby being a girl (and I assume this means a "Valency 1" diet of Na/K diet results in boy while a "Valency 2" diet of Ca/Mg results in a girl. I brought in valency just so that it is easier to remember what kind of diet can result in a boy/girl). Note that a diet of any "Valency 1 or 2" may not cause the mentioned result. The research specifically talks about Ca/Mg and Na/K. I brought in Valency 1/2 to make it easy to remember.

Now as we might know, the gender of the baby is determined by the type of the chromosome that the father donates (a male has X, Y chromosomes and he can donate either of the two while a female has two X chromosomes and hence always donates an X. If the baby gets a Y from the father then it's a boy, and if the baby receives an X chromosome from the father then it's a girl). As per the the chromosome theory, the woman plays no part in the gender of the baby.

With the basic theory mentioned above as the backdrop, the new research finding at Maastrict University comes as a surprise. How do we reconcile the new finding with the XY chromosome theory?

As per the research mentioned above 21 women followed a "Valency 2" diet and 16 of the 21 women gave birth to girls. Interesting, but based on too small a sample.

Applying the same logic to India where the preference is usually to have a boy rather than a girl, a high "Valency 1 (Na/K) diet may be recommended to pregnant moms. This would perhaps result in a high BP during pregnancy. In India it might still be considered a better bet to have high BP for 9 months than a high BP for 50 years (in case the baby turns out to be a girl).

I have always wondered whether the woman (or some other factor) could induce the male to donate a specific chromosome. Now is it possible that the mom's  "Valency 1" diet causes the father to donate a Y chromosome (and "Valency 2 -> X Chromosome)? And why would the mom's diet (or any other factor) affect the type of chromosome that the father donates? We will have to wait for more interesting stuff on this topic. See for example,
http://www.isna.org/faq/y_chromosomehttp://www.science20.com/news_releases/chromosomes_are_so_20th_century_male_genes_really_determine_baby_gender_says_study.

Here is one more study: http://healthydiet-sky.blogspot.com/2010/01/what-to-eat-their-food-can-help-you-boy.html. I am still trying to understand :(.

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