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Paternal nutrition before conception shapes metabolic health of offspring
Last reviewed: 09.08.2025
Scientists led by RA Patterson from the University of Alberta (Canada) have shown for the first time that the diet of males before mating – not only the mother’s diet, but also the father’s diet – has a significant impact on the metabolic health of their offspring. The article “Effects of a paternal diet high in animal protein (casein) versus plant protein (soy) on offspring metabolic phenotype” was published in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.
What did the researchers do?
- Model: Adult male mice were fed either a high animal protein diet (casein, 20% of calories) or a high plant protein diet (soy concentrate) for 8 weeks.
- Crossbreeding: They were then mated with females fed a standard diet. Only the offspring from the second litter were analyzed in the experiment to exclude the effects of early sperm.
- Offspring assessment: Both male and female offspring were assessed at 12 weeks of age for key indices of metabolic health: glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, body composition (DEXA), liver fat accumulation, and blood lipid profile.
Key Results
Glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity:
Offspring of males on a casein diet showed 20% worse glucose tolerance (AUC OGTT) and 25% lower insulin sensitivity according to the clamp test compared to offspring of soy fathers (p<0.05).
Body composition and body fat:
In the casein fathers group, the offspring showed a 15% increase in total fat mass and an increasing accumulation of visceral fat in the liver (three times more fatty inclusions), while the soy offspring remained closer to the control (p<0.01).
Sexual dimorphism:
The effects were more pronounced in male offspring. In females, differences in metabolic parameters between father groups were not statistically significant.
Mechanistic data:
The sperm of casein males contained increased levels of methylation of promoters of key metabolic genes (Ppara, Glut4), which likely sets the “memory” of metabolic programming in offspring.
Significance of the study
This is the first experimental evidence that a father's diet before conception can predispose offspring to metabolic imbalance and fatty liver disease. The authors emphasize:
- The importance of paternal health in pregnancy planning recommendations: not only mothers, but also future fathers should pay attention to the quality of protein in the diet.
- Intergenerational effects of nutrition: sperm methylation is a key mechanism for transmitting information about paternal dietary habits.
- Prevention perspective: Changing the protein source in the diet of men preparing for fatherhood may be a low-cost strategy to reduce the risk of obesity and diabetes in the next generation.
“Our findings are paradigm-shifting: family planning should include not only the mother’s health but also the father’s,” says Dr. Patterson. “Plant protein intake may mitigate the risk of metabolic disorders in children.”
Further research is needed to test the applicability of the findings to humans and to determine which specific components of plant protein (soy isoflavones, amino acid profile) have the greatest preventive effect.