What was your mother's diet like?

I've been on a binge of reading scientific studies that may relate to Crohn's Disease and other IBDs. I'm no scientist and thus my ruminations might be really far out in left field, but it's worth a try to nail a possible factor in the development of IBD and IBS. So far I've discovered that there is a psychological factor to IBS, and thus possibly IBD-
https://www.ueg.eu/press/releases/u...ession-and-abnormal-brain-response-to-viscer/

So here's where this post comes in: A study shows that a woman's diet before a baby's conception can permanently alter her child's genetic expression.
http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/news/2014/mothers_diet.html

If this is true, then surely Crohn's Disease and IBD, being that they are affected by both nutrition AND genetics, might be a consequence of poor maternal diet.
My question is, what was your mother's diet like before you were born? Obviously you can't just know that, but try to base your conclusion on recounts of her. Personally, my mother is a bit on the heavier side, and she's cooked hearty Italian food since I was born. She also has IBS.

This kind of feels like a shot in the dark, but I'm still curious about a possible correlation.

got separated from my mother early on so I don't know

do think the psychological aspect is interesting , after continued weekly stress in animals, their intestinal microbiome changes (you can't do this experiment in humans because of ethics obviously)

My daughter was diagnosed at 3 years old. Nice big happy family. Mom always available. Many loving sibs. Dad totally present and on board. So I think the psychological idea, from our experience, is bunk.

I had the same diet with her that I had for the 5 children that came before her. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and since I was borderline gestational diabetic, I had to blood test my sugars every day, avoid sweets and excess carbs. We never eat out, and always cook at home not just for health but for the economics of feeding a large family.

Not sure if we're outside the norm, but from our angle maternal diet is not a factor.

Pilgrim said:

My daughter was diagnosed at 3 years old. Nice big happy family. Mom always available. Many loving sibs. Dad totally present and on board. So I think the psychological idea, from our experience, is bunk.

Click to expand...

That is strange, especially since she was diagnosed at such a young age. It just goes to show how much we don't know about this disease. I suppose you could look into the genetic side of it - there's a company called 23andMe that offers a free DNA test of ancestry and health for IBD sufferers. They are not legally allowed to give a synopsis of your health anymore, but there are other sites that can interpret the raw data.

I don't think it's fair to completely dismiss the psychological factor in this. My most recent flare was triggered solely by psychological distress. I had been eating pretty poorly (fast foods and sugar) for a while and my symptoms were under control, but only when the stress came on did I severely flare.

My mother was a vegetarian who started to eat meat while she was pregnant with me...
I don't know if it's related but I do find it interesting that I was a vegetarian for 4 years and a vegan for 2 before I was diagnosed with crohns

Deleted double post

My mom is overweight, has been overweight since her early 20s. My guess is her diet was typical 'american' diet, including fast food and lots of butter. She had IBS (likely crohns - she told me she has 'borderline crohns') and so does her mom. Neither can eat milk or wheat without problems

kiny said:

got separated from my mother early on so I don't know

do think the psychological aspect is interesting , after continued weekly stress in animals, their intestinal microbiome changes (you can't do this experiment in humans because of ethics obviously)

Click to expand...

Do you happen to have a link to that study? That is extremely interesting.

Phil5813 said:

Do you happen to have a link to that study? That is extremely interesting.

Click to expand...

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15800998

Stress increased numbers of mucosa-associated E. coli in the cecum, which could increase epithelial permeability. E. coli of mice submitted to stress adhered to and altered the permeability of young adult mouse colon cells, whereas E. coli from the cecum of control mice were less adherent and had no effect on epithelial permeability.

it has been done with cows too

many ppl claim they got crohn's disease after a stressful event is maybe relevant

the fact they used a cat to stress out the mice is a bit funny