Eating peanuts during pregnancy may affect how a child's genes respond to breastfeeding: Study Suggests - Video

Scientists at Syracuse University studied how eating peanuts during pregnancy and breastfeeding might affect the DNA methylation (DNAm) patterns of children, potentially influencing their brain development and inflammation response. They recruited 35 children aged 2-7 and gathered data on maternal peanut butter and peanut consumption during pregnancy and lactation, breastfeeding duration, demographics, and child saliva samples for DNAm analysis.

DNAm-an epigenetic mechanism-affects how genes related to neurodevelopment (like BDNF) and inflammation (IL6 and others) are expressed. The study was published in the journal Food Science & Nutrition.

Researchers at Syracuse University studied how eating peanuts and peanut butter during pregnancy and breastfeeding affects children's DNA methylation, which influences gene activity. They recruited 35 children aged 2-7 and collected saliva samples for DNA testing along with questionnaires on maternal diet, breastfeeding, family background, and child experiences. They analyzed methylation changes in genes linked to brain development and inflammation. Results showed that children whose mothers consumed both peanuts and peanut butter during pregnancy had different DNA methylation patterns related to breastfeeding duration, suggesting maternal diet can shape a child's gene expression and health.

The study found that when mothers ate both peanuts and peanut butter during pregnancy, longer breastfeeding was linked to increased DNA methylation in key brain development genes (BDNF and BDNF-AS), which may affect gene regulation positively. However, when mothers consumed only peanut butter, longer breastfeeding was associated with decreased methylation, possibly increasing gene expression. Maternal peanut intake also influenced inflammation-related DNA changes depending on household income and race. These effects may reflect nutritional differences between whole peanuts and peanut butter.

Additional influences included household income and race, which interacted with maternal peanut intake to affect DNA methylation of inflammation-related genes, possibly reflecting differences in nutrient content or allergenicity between peanut products.

Though the small sample size limits generalization, this study suggests that peanut consumption during pregnancy and lactation can epigenetically “prime” children’s genes, affecting brain development and inflammation regulation. More research is needed to better understand these relationships and how maternal diet might set the stage for offspring health through epigenetic modulation.

Reference: Garay JL, Voss MA, Pilkay SR (2025). Effects of Maternal Peanut Intake and Breastfeeding Duration on Offspring DNA Methylation. Food Science & Nutrition, 13(10), e71129. DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.71129, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fsn3.71129.