20 Practical Uses for Coca Cola…

20 Practical Uses for Coca Cola…

Proof That Coke Does Not Belong In the Human Body

Coke is the most valuable brand in history, and “Coca-Cola” is the world’s second-most recognized word after “hello.” However, the beverage itself is an absolute poison to the human metabolism. Coke is very close to the acidity level of battery acid and consequently it can clean surfaces equivalent to and often better than many toxic household cleaners.

It’s cheaper and easier to buy Coke in some third world countries than it is to access clean water. Coke uses “public relations propaganda” to convince consumers and entire nations that it is an “environmental company” when really it is linked to pollution, water shortages, and disease.

People who consume soft drinks such as Coke have a 48% increase in heart attack and stroke risk, compared to people who did not drink the sodas at all or did not drink them every day. A study published in the journal Respirology reveals that soft drink consumption is also associated with lung and breathing disorders including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The carbonation in Coke causes calcium loss in the bones through a 3-stage process:

The carbonation irritates the stomach.
The stomach “cures” the irritation the only way it knows how. It adds the only antacid at its disposal: calcium. It gets this from the blood.
The blood, now low on calcium, replenishes its supply from the bones. If it did not do this, muscular and brain function would be severely impaired.
But, the story doesn't end there. Another problem with most Coke is it also contain phosphoric acid (not the same as the carbonation, which is carbon dioxide mixed with the water). Phosphoric acid also causes a draw-down on the body’s store of calcium.

So Coke softens your bones (actually, makes them weak and brittle) in 3 ways:

Carbonation reduces the calcium in the bones.
Phosphoric acid reduces the calcium in the bones.
The beverage replaces a calcium-containing alternative, such as milk or water. Milk and water are not excellent calcium sources, but they are sources.
Esophageal cancer was very rare two generations ago — now, it’s common. The basic mechanism works as follows:

Mechanical damage to cells is a huge risk factor for cancer. It’s why asbestos particles, for example, cause lung cancer.
All soft drinks cause acid reflux (stomach acid rising up past the esophageal valve). This is more pronounced when the body is horizontal (as in sleeping), but the sheer volume of Coke and soft drinks consumed in the USA means the acid reflux is well past the danger point. Any time you ingest a gassy drink, you are going to get belching–and acid into the esophagus. How much is too much? The research doesn't say where the limit is–it only shows that most of us are far, far, far past it.
stomach acid dissolves tissue — that’s its purpose. The stomach lining does not extend into the esophagus, so the lower esophagus gets damaged by acid far more frequently in soft drink users than in non soft drink users. This results in a radical increase in cell mutations, along with a far higher level of free radicals.
20 Practical Uses For Coke
Coke acts as an acidic cleaner. The amount of acid in soda is enough to wear away at the enamel of your teeth, making them more susceptible to decay. In tests done on the acidity levels of soda, certain ones were found to have PH levels as low as 2.5. To put that into perspective, consider that battery acid has a pH of 1 and pure water has a pH of 7.

To prove Coke does not belong in the human body, here are 20 practical ways you can use Coke as a domestic cleaner:

Removes grease stains from clothing and fabric
Removes rust; methods include using fabric dipped in Coke, a sponge or even aluminum foil. Also loosens rusty bolts
Removes blood stains from clothing and fabric.
Cleans oil stains from a garage floor; let the stain soak, hose off.
Kills slugs and snails; the acids kills them.
Cleans burnt pans; let the pan soak in the Coke, then rinse.
Descales a kettle (same method as with burnt pans)
Cleans car battery terminals by pouring a small amount of Coke over each one.
Cleans your engine; Coke distributors have been using this technique for decades.
Makes pennies shine; soaking old pennies in Coke will remove the tarnish.
Cleans tile grout; pour onto kitchen floor, leave for a few minutes, wipe up.
Dissolves a tooth; Use a sealed container…takes a while but it does work.
Removes gum from hair; dip into a small bowl of Coke, leave a few minutes. Gum will wipe off.
Removes stains from vitreous china.
Got a dirty pool? Adding two 2-liter bottles of Coke clears up rust.
You can remove (or fade) dye from hair by pouring diet Coke over it.
Remove marker stains from carpet. Applying Coke, scrubbing and then clean with soapy water will remove marker stains.
Cleans a toilet; pour around bowl, leave for a while, flush clean.
Coke and aluminum foil will bring Chrome to a high shine.
Strips paint off metal furniture. Soak a towel in Coke and lay it on the paint surface.

Now can you imagine what it does to your stomach lining? 

Who needs the ‘household and cleaning’ section at the hardware store when we have Coke.
Please do good by sharing this information with your contacts....Source: http://worldobserveronline.com/

For your natural remedies see www.gooddeedsmall.com 

Social Media To Blame For Increase In Eating Disorders Among Teens (Study)

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Eating Disorders Soar Among Teens, Social Media To Blame

Social media is being blamed for the soaring numbers of teens suffering from eating disorders. It seems the popularity of celebrity culture and numerous social media outlets may be contributing to the increasing numbers of teens with eating disorders.

Eating disorders frequently appear during the teen years, when kids are most impressionable to social pressure to conform and fit in by say physical appearance to what is considered popular.

Studies have found avenues like Facebook can affect a young girls’ sense of body image, for example.

Researchers from the American University in Washington D.C. asked 103 adolescent girls to complete surveys over the course of a week. These questionnaires inquired about their Facebook usage and about their body image.

In the study, published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, the scientists assessed how frequently the girls used specific Facebook photo features, and asking the participants to rate their typical use for each of the features on a 5-point scale: one for “almost never or never” to five for “nearly every time I log on.”

Researchers analyzed the information regarding the girls accessed on the site, in addition to how long they spent on Facebook, and how it had the greatest influence on how they felt about themselves afterward.

TIME reports, the teen girls who allocated the most time to photo-related activities were more likely to internalize a thin ideal, succumb to self-objectification, and were dissatisfied with their weight along with an unhealthy drive to be thin.

An eating disorder is a serious disturbance in everyday diet, either from chronically under eating or compulsively overeating. A person with an eating disorder may initially start out eating smaller or larger amounts of food, but at some point, the urge to eat less or more becomes overwhelming and out of control.

An unhealthy preoccupation with body weight or shape may also characterize an eating disorder. Teenagers with eating disorders are consumed with body image, typically making disparagingly negative comparisons of themselves to peers and celebrities. This behavior further disintegrates their self-esteem.

Common eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder. For example, sufferers of binge-eating will typically engage in a binge and purge cycle by means of fasting, abusing laxatives, or inducing vomiting after meals in order to keep their weight down.

Eating disorders are no longer just a female’s disorder as the number of young male teens has also risen. But the numbers are still more prevalent among teen girls.

Social media has become ever-present on our phones, tablets, and laptops – streaming seemingly endless feeds and updates regarding the celebrities and wannabes many see as the standard of beauty.

The pressure to resemble the likeness of what we feel is attractive is palpable as we are bombarded by airbrushed, digitally enhanced imagery every waking minute of the day. Therefore some question the long-term impact of what social media has on the impressionable youth.

In the last three years, the number of teens with eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia has doubled. According to exclusive statistics given to The Independent, the number of teens looking for help with an eating disorder has grown to 110 percent within the same time span. The report cites social media as the primary catalyst to the increase.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, eating disorders are real, treatable medical illnesses that should not be ignored. They frequently coexist with other illnesses such as depression, substance abuse, or anxiety disorders. Abuse and PTSD are also factors. Source: Megan Charles Yahoo News

Jay Z's Roc Nation holds court at private mansion

 Source: Yahoo news

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — If there is a lesson to take away from attending Jay Z's super-exclusive pre-Grammy party, it's simple — don't come late.

Some guests learned the hard way Saturday when they were left on the outside looking in at the palatial mansion where the rapper's annual Roc Nation brunch was held.

Most of the guests were bussed to the secret location of the swanky bash — a private gated mansion. But it proved to be so popular that authorities prevented some guests from coming inside after a certain point because of overcrowding concerns.

Those who were lucky enough to make it in were rewarded. Jay Z, dressed in a suit and smoking a cigar, hugged his protégés Rihanna and Rita Ora and mingled with guests inside the stunning estate, which included fountains, a majestic pool, mouthwatering spread, free flowing drinks and a cigar station. Other guests included Will Smith's children Jaden and Willow Smith, Ne-Yo, as well as rappers T.I., J. Cole and Wale.

Jay Z's annual brunch was just one of several   events held on the eve of the Grammys. The Recording Academy had its own brunch with Janelle Monae at the Grammy Museum, where the singer performed for an audience that included schoolchildren and Make-A-Wish kids.

And Lorde, Robin Thicke and others performed at a brunch held by Universal Music Group.

View gallery

FILE - In this May 1, 2013 file photo, Jay-Z attends "The Great Gatsby" world premiere at  …

Rihanna, Shakira, Timbaland and Haim are some of the musicians managed by Roc Nation.

Jay Z is the most nominated artist at this year's Grammys, with nine. He and wife Beyonce are due to perform at Sunday's show at the Staples Center.

  

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — If there is a lesson to take away from attending Jay Z's super-exclusive pre-Grammy party, it's simple — don't come late.

Some guests learned the hard way Saturday when they were left on the outside looking in at the palatial mansion where the rapper's annual Roc Nation brunch was held.

Most of the guests were bussed to the secret location of the swanky bash — a private gated mansion. But it proved to be so popular that authorities prevented some guests from coming inside after a certain point because of overcrowding concerns.

Those who were lucky enough to make it in were rewarded. Jay Z, dressed in a suit and smoking a cigar, hugged his protégés Rihanna and Rita Ora and mingled with guests inside the stunning estate, which included fountains, a majestic pool, mouthwatering spread, free flowing drinks and a cigar station. Other guests included Will Smith's children Jaden and Willow Smith, Ne-Yo, as well as rappers T.I., J. Cole and Wale.

Jay Z's annual brunch was just one of several   events held on the eve of the Grammys. The Recording Academy had its own brunch with Janelle Monae at the Grammy Museum, where the singer performed for an audience that included schoolchildren and Make-A-Wish kids.

And Lorde, Robin Thicke and others performed at a brunch held by Universal Music Group.

View gallery

FILE - In this May 1, 2013 file photo, Jay-Z attends "The Great Gatsby" world premiere at  …

Rihanna, Shakira, Timbaland and Haim are some of the musicians managed by Roc Nation.

Jay Z is the most nominated artist at this year's Grammys, with nine. He and wife Beyonce are due to perform at Sunday's show at the Staples Center.

  

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — If there is a lesson to take away from attending Jay Z's super-exclusive pre-Grammy party, it's simple — don't come late.

Some guests learned the hard way Saturday when they were left on the outside looking in at the palatial mansion where the rapper's annual Roc Nation brunch was held.

Most of the guests were bussed to the secret location of the swanky bash — a private gated mansion. But it proved to be so popular that authorities prevented some guests from coming inside after a certain point because of overcrowding concerns.

Those who were lucky enough to make it in were rewarded. Jay Z, dressed in a suit and smoking a cigar, hugged his protégés Rihanna and Rita Ora and mingled with guests inside the stunning estate, which included fountains, a majestic pool, mouthwatering spread, free flowing drinks and a cigar station. Other guests included Will Smith's children Jaden and Willow Smith, Ne-Yo, as well as rappers T.I., J. Cole and Wale.

Jay Z's annual brunch was just one of several   events held on the eve of the Grammys. The Recording Academy had its own brunch with Janelle Monae at the Grammy Museum, where the singer performed for an audience that included schoolchildren and Make-A-Wish kids.

And Lorde, Robin Thicke and others performed at a brunch held by Universal Music Group.

View gallery

FILE - In this May 1, 2013 file photo, Jay-Z attends "The Great Gatsby" world premiere at  …

Rihanna, Shakira, Timbaland and Haim are some of the musicians managed by Roc Nation.

Jay Z is the most nominated artist at this year's Grammys, with nine. He and wife Beyonce are due to perform at Sunday's show at the Staples Center.

 

Stephen Hawking shakes up theory (again): Black holes are actually gray

Alan Boyle, NBC News

David Parry / PA via AP file

Physicist Stephen Hawking says there's not a sharply defined event horizon at the edge of a black
 hole,  and thus it would be wrong to say that a black hole is truly black.

British physicist Stephen Hawking earned worldwide attention for his surprising
 claims about black holes, and he's doing it again with a new paper claiming 
that  "there are no black holes."

Actually, Hawking isn't denying the existence of the massive gravitational
 singularities  that lurk at the center of many galaxies, including our own Milky Way.
 He's just saying the classical view of a black hole as an eternal trap for everything 
that's inside, even light,  is wrong. In his revised view, black holes are ever so slightly 
gray, with a chaotic and shifting edge rather than a sharply defined event horizon.

"The absence of event horizons mean that there are no black holes — in the sense
 of  regimes from which light can't escape to infinity," Hawking writes in a brief paper
submitted to the ArXiv.org preprint database. "There are, however, apparent
 horizons which persist for a period of time."

Hawking's paper, titled "Information Preservation and Weather Forecasting for
Black  Holes," has kicked off a new round in the long-running debate over black 
holes and what  happens to the stuff that falls into them. Theoretical physicists, 
including Hawking, have gone back and forth on this issue, known as the information
 paradox.

Back and forth over black holes
For decades, Hawking contended that the information that disappeared inside a
 black  hole was lost forever. Then, in 2004, he reversed course and said the 
information  would  slowly be released as a mangled form of energy. That switch
 led him to pay off a bet he had made with another physicist about the fate of
 information  in a black hole. More recently, other physicists have suggested that
 there was a  cosmic firewall dividing  the inner region of a black hole's event
 horizon from the  outside, and that anything falling through the event horizon 
would be burnt to less than a crisp. But that runs counter to the relativistic view 
of black holes, which holds  that there should be no big difference in the  laws
 of physics at the event horizon.

To resolve the seeming paradox, Hawking says that black holes would have
 "apparent horizons" — chaotic, turbulent regions where matter and energy are
 turned into a confusing  mess. "There would be no event horizons and no firewalls,
" he says.
 Everything in a black  hole would still be there, but the information would be
 effectively  lost because it gets so  scrambled up. "It will be like weather 
forecasting on  Earth. ... One can't predict the weather   more than a few days
 in advance,
" Hawking writes.

Protests and jests
Hawking's paper wasn't peer-reviewed, but his peers are already weighing in on
the  accuracy of the black hole weather report.

"It is not clear what he expects the infalling observer to see," Joseph Polchinski,
a pro-firewall physicist at the University of California at Santa Barbara,told New 
Scientist.
 "It almost sounds like he is replacing the firewall with a chaos-wall, which could be
 the  same thing."

"The idea that there are no points from which you cannot escape a black hole is
 in some  ways an even more radical and problematic suggestion than the existence
 of firewalls,"  Raphael Bousso, a theoretical physicist at the University of California
 at Berkeley, said  in Nature's online report on Hawking's paper. "But the fact that
 we’re still discussing such  questions 40 years after Hawking’s first papers on
 black holes and information is  testament to their enormous significance." If the
 "no black holes" quote is taken out of  context, it makes Hawking's claim sound
 kind of ridiculous — and Andy Borowitz,  a humorist at The New Yorker, has turned
 that take into an Onion-Like jab at members  of Congress. "If black holes don't exist,
 then other things you scientists have been trying
 to foist on us probably don't either, like climate change and evolution," Borowitz writes
 in one faux quote.

Fortunately, we're getting to the point where we won't have to take any theorist's
 word for  the existence of black (or gray) holes. Astronomers are preparing to watch
 a huge cloud  of gas fall into the black hole at the center of our galaxy- and over the
 next decade, they're  planning to follow through on the   Event Horizon Telescope,
 a campaign aimed at direct observation of the galactic black hole's edge.

As for Hawking, it just so happens that this is a big month: He turned 72 years
old a couple  of weeks ago, and he appears to be keeping active despite his decades
 long struggle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. And this week marks the television
 premiere of  " Hawking" a PBS documentary about the good doctor's life and work.
 For still more  about the world's best-known physicist, check out his recently
 published memoir,

How do I sell myself having only had one job?

My role has been stripped back and I need to move on, but having relocated to the north jobs are few and far between

Southbound? A reader relocated to the north for a job, but the role has changed and other opportunities are limited. Photograph: Transport Image Picture Library./Alamy

Twice a week we publish the problems that will feature in a forthcoming Dear Jeremy advice column in the Saturday Guardian so that readers can offer their own advice and suggestions. We then print the best of your comments alongside Jeremy's own insights. Here is the latest dilemma – what are your thoughts?

I am a creative producer for websites, and relocated with my employer from London to another large city two-and-a-half years ago. I have worked solely for this employer since I finished higher education seven years ago, moving up from the bottom to a middle-weight position.

Until a year ago, I loved my job: it allowed me a great deal of creative freedom. However, those freedoms have been eroded from my job description and given to other teams. I have gone from launching exciting, ground-breaking projects to essentially filling in templates made by others. This isn't just confined to me; it has affected many people in similar roles and as a result many have moved back to London or into other parts of the business.

I would love to do the same, and have been recommended to do so by a few quite senior people. However, I have never worked anywhere else and have no idea how to market myself, or indeed whether or not my role exists outside the place I currently work. On top of this, jobs are few and far between up north and I don't know where to look – there don't seem to be any jobs in my area.

In addition, I am planning to start a family and my current company offers generous maternity leave. I don't want to be perceived as the kind of woman who joins a company only to go on maternity leave less than a year later. 

Source: The Guardian 

The great migration south: 80% of new private sector jobs are in London

Talented young people are leaving provincial cities to make a success of their lives in London and never go back, report shows -Source: Larry Elliot  economics  

London's calling: One in three 22- to 30-year-olds leave their hometowns to end up with Oyster cards and Boris Johnson as their mayor. Photograph: Bloomberg via Getty Images

Boris Johnson got into hot water recently with his claim that London,not Liverpool, was responsible for the success of the Beatles. The Fab Four might have been born on Merseyside, the capital mayor's said, but London turned them into the biggest band of all time.

While that was the cue for Liverpudlian indignation at what was seen as cultural piracy, a new report out on Monday suggests the arrival of the Beatles at Abbey Road Studios in 1962 to cut Love Me Do was an early example of a now dominant trend.

Talented young people are leaving provincial cities in their 20s, making a success of their lives in London and never go back. London is where the work is: the capital was responsible for four out of every five jobs created in the private sector between 2010 and 2012.

The brain drain meant that every major city outside the south-east is losing young people to London. One in three 22-30 year olds leaving their hometowns end up with Oyster cards and Boris as their mayor.

They don't always stay in the capital. Alexandra Jones, chief executive of the thinktank Centre for Cities, says that in their 30s many of those attracted by the bright lights of the capital tire of London and move out when they want to start families.

But they follow the example of John Lennon, who bought a mansion in Ascot, Paul McCartney with his farmhouse in Sussex and George Harrison with his spread in Oxfordshire in plumping for the home counties over returning to their roots.

The Fab Four might have been born on Merseyside, Boris Johnson said, but London turned them into the biggest band of all time. Photograph: Alamy

Jones says this pattern explains why it is misleading to see London, as some do, as the equivalent of a city state, cut off from the rest of the country. It is more accurate to say Britain is divided between London and its south-east hinterland and the rest. London does not end at the M25 but extends up the M11 towards Cambridge, down the Thameslink line to Brighton and along the M4 corridor where many high-tech companies are based.

If the giant sucking sound of London draining talent from the rest of the UK is one highlight of the Centre for Cities report, the other is the capital's ability to create jobs. Young people come to London because that's where the work is.

In the three years from 2010 to 2012 –a period marked by weak growth and austerity – London accounted for 10 times as many private sector jobs as any other city and also bucked the national trend by seeing an increase in public sector employment.

Highlighting the need for better infrastructure, investment in skills and reforms to planning, the report noted that Bradford,Sheffield,Bristol, Southampton,Blackpool and Glasgow saw employment shrink in both private and public sectors.

Jones, said: "Cities Outlook 2014 shows that the gap between London and other UK cities is widening and we are failing to make the most of cities' economic potential."

She added that Britain was one of the world's most centralised countries. In Germany, she said, the government was in Berlin, the financial centre was Frankfurt and there were cultural hubs in Hamburg and Munich. In the UK, London had it all.

What's more, the Treasury kept a much tighter hold of the purse strings than finance ministries in other rich nations. Local government raised 17% of its income from local taxation in the UK, compared to an average of 55% for other members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, a club of more than 30 rich countries.

Jones said the government should build on City Deals – an attempt to allow some of the UK's bigger cities more control over their economic destinies – and "devolve more funding and powers to UK cities" in order to ensure a "sustainable, job-rich recovery across the country."

Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister said the report showed the value of "tailoring policies to the distinctive needs of different cities". He added the government had been working to free cities from Whitehall control.

Hilary Benn, the shadow communities and local government secretary, said the report drew attention to "persistent and widening inequalities between different parts of the country", and agreed with Clegg and Jones that more power, resources and responsibility needed to devolved.

Centre for Cities said regeneration strategies in some of the UK's bigger cities were starting to pay off.Birmingham and manchester saw an increase in both private and public sector jobs between 2010 and 2012, while in Liverpool the loss of public sector jobs was more than compensated for by the creation of private sector employment.

Scientists find link between maternal diet and diabetes

By Neil BowdlerScience reporter, BBC News
A poor diet during pregnancy may have repercussions for the child

Scientists say they have found a mechanism which may explain why a poor diet during pregnancy can increase the risk of offspring developing diabetes in later life.

They say rat studies indicate an imbalanced diet in the mother can lead to the "silencing" of a gene linked to insulin production in the child.

The Cambridge study is in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Experts said it showed a healthy diet was important during pregnancy.

Silent gene

Scientists already suspect that a poor diet during pregnancy can result in health problems such as diabetes for the offspring in later life. What the researchers at the University of Cambridge have come up with is a possible explanation.

They believe an imbalanced diet in the expectant mother can compromise the long-term functioning of a gene in the child.

The gene, called Hnf4a, is thought to play a role in the development of the pancreas and in insulin production.

Because of the difficulties of testing the theory on pregnant women, they fed rats a protein-deficient diet and found higher rates of type 2 diabetes in the offspring, as expected.

What they also found in the offspring was that this Hnf4a gene appeared to be "silenced" or "switched off" as the rats aged. The researchers suggest this may both cause diabetes, and can be linked back to the maternal diet.

Dr Susan Ozanne of the University of Cambridge, who lead the study, said further research would be needed to establish whether high-fat diets or other imbalanced diets had similar consequences in rats.

She believes similar mechanisms to those seen in the study could occur in humans, and that the effects might be felt by more than just the immediate offspring.

"Having a healthy well-balanced diet any time in your life is important for your health," she said, "but a healthy well-balanced diet during pregnancy is particularly important because of the impact on the baby long-term and potentially even on the grandchildren as well."

Earliest stages

Type 2 diabetes is often associated with obesity, although several inheritable genes have also been linked to the condition.

This latest study focuses on what are called the "epigenetic" mechanisms which can affect whether a gene is expressed or not. Other studies have shown that these changes can be passed across generations without any modifications to our core DNA.

Professor Jeremy Pearson of the British Heart Foundation said the research did not change the advice to pregnant women to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and said there was no reason for expectant mothers to be unduly worried.

But he said the study "adds to the evidence that a mother's diet may sometimes alter the control of certain genes in her unborn child".

Professor Douglas Kell of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council said the research fleshed out some of the molecular processes at play.

"This study uncovers - through epigenetics and molecular biology research - an important piece of this puzzle and shows us how apparently minor changes within cells at the very earliest stages of development can have a major influence on our health into old age," he said.

Mother's diet during pregnancy alters baby's DNA

By James GallagherHealth reporter, BBC News
Can a baby predict the environment it will be born into?

A mother's diet during pregnancy can alter the DNA of her child and increase the risk of obesity, according to researchers.

The study, to be published in the journal Diabetes, showed that eating low levels of carbohydrate changed bits of DNA.

It then showed children with these changes were fatter.

The British Heart Foundation called for better nutritional and lifestyle support for women.

It is thought that a developing baby tries to predict the environment it will be born into, taking cues from its mother and adjusting its DNA.

Epigenetics

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

What is surprising is that it explains a quarter of the difference in the fatness of children”

Professor Keith GodfreyUniversity of Southampton

Studies in animals have shown that changes in diet can alter the function of genes - known as epigenetic change.

It is a growing field trying to understand how the environment interacts with genes.

In this study, the researchers took samples from the umbilical cord and looked for "epigenetic markers".

They showed that mothers with early pregnancy diets low in carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch, had children with these markers.

They then showed a strong link between those same markers and a child's obesity at ages six and nine.

Professor Keith Godfrey, who is from the University of Southampton and led the international study, told the BBC: "What is surprising is that it explains a quarter of the difference in the fatness of children six to nine years later."

The report says the effect was "considerably greater" than that of birth weight and did not depend on how thin or fat the mother was.

The changes were noticed in the RXRA gene. This makes a receptor for vitamin A, which is involved in the way cells process fat.

Professor Godfrey said: "It is both a fascinating and potentially important piece of research.

"All women who become pregnant get advice about diet, but it is not always high up the agenda of health professionals.

"The research suggests women should follow the advice as it may have a long term influence on the baby's health after it is born."

Professor Mark Hanson, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "This study provides compelling evidence that epigenetic changes, at least in part, explain the link between a poor start to life and later disease risk.

"It strengthens the case for all women of reproductive age having greater access to nutritional, education and lifestyle support to improve the health of the next generation, and to reduce the risk of the conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, which often follow obesity."

Pregnant mother's fatty diet 'may alter baby's brain'

By James GallagherHealth and science reporter, BBC News

A high-fat diet during pregnancy has the potential to alter a baby's developing brain and increase its chances of obesity later in life, animal studies suggest.

The team at Yale School of Medicine, in the US, showed diet could change the structure of mice brains.

They argue this could explain why the children of obese parents are more likely to become grossly overweight.

Experts said the study had merit, but brain changes in humans were unproven.

Obesity can run in families and shared eating habits are a major factor.

However, there is evidence that diet during pregnancy can also influence a child's future waistline, such as through changes to DNA.

'Signal to the pup'

The latest foray into the field, published in the journal Cell, shows the structure of the brain itself may be changed.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Twenty years of research shows nutrition in early life has lasting effects on cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis and some cancers. It's extremely well established”

Dr Graham BurdgeUniversity of Southampton

The experiments on mice showed that mothers on a high-fat diet had pups with an altered hypothalamus, a part of the brain important for regulating metabolism.

These mouse pups were more likely to become overweight and develop type 2 diabetes than the pups of mothers given a normal diet.

One of the researchers, Prof Tamas Horvath, from Yale, told the BBC: "It could be a signal to the pup that it can grow bigger as the environment is plentiful in food.

"We definitely believe these are fundamental biological processes also affecting humans and influencing how children may eventually become obese.

"It seems, at least, that this could have a major impact and we need to explore it further in both animal and human studies."

He says a healthy diet during pregnancy may help to break the cycle of obese parents having obese children.

'Neurological circuits'

Commenting on the findings, Dr Graham Burdge, from the University of Southampton, told the BBC: "Twenty years of research shows nutrition in early life has lasting effects on cardiovascular disease, obesity, osteoporosis and some cancers. It's extremely well established.

"This is an intriguing technical advance showing neurological circuits are being changed, which hasn't been shown before."

He said the "concept fits in well with the data" but pointed out there were key differences in the way mice and people process fat, so the same might not be happening in pregnant women.

He added: "Much of what we know about the process comes from animals. The next big thing is to establish the same mechanisms operate in humans and if we can modify that."

For now he advises parents to "have a healthy balanced diet and ensure the diet of your child is balanced as well".