Good nutrition is essential for every stage of your baby’s growth and development. But the efficiency with which your body metabolizes nutrients is partly determined by your genes, and common genetic variants can affect the metabolism of one-carbon nutrients that are critical for the development of your child’s brain and spinal cord. Genate Essential Prenatal Nutrition is a multivitamin formulated from academic research that provides women with a formulation optimized to support their baby’s cognitive development. It includes the one-carbon nutrients choline, betaine, methylfolate, and B vitamins that many women have trouble metabolizing and/or don’t get enough of in their diet.
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What are Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) & Why Do They Matter?
by Genate • August 23, 2023 • 3-4 minute read
It's very possible you’ve never heard of SNPs! Many, if not most, expectant mothers haven't. Let us explain what they are — and why understanding your SNPs is crucial to an optimally healthy pregnancy.
What Are Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)?
SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) are genetic variations that help predict how an individual will respond to certain pharmaceuticals, how susceptible that individual is to the effects of environmental toxins, and that individual’s risk of developing diseases. Human DNA can contain a multitude of SNPs. SNPs can also be utilized in the tracking of the inheritance of disease-associated genetic variants within families.
How Do Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) Work?
Discover the genetics that affect your baby's cognitive development
Here's more granular information about what SNPs are and how they occur: An SNP is a DNA sequence variation that occurs when a single nucleotide (thymine, adenine, guanine, or cytosine) in the genome sequence gets altered — and the particular change or alteration is present in at least 1% of the population. SNPs can tell scientists, geneticists, and/or physicians whether an individual will react positively to a specific treatment, therapy, or intervention.
In this regard, SNPs are in some ways akin to a magical crystal ball. SNPs can tell the future — and they can often tell us how someone will respond to a specific therapeutic intervention. They can tell us what's going to happen before it happens. That might seem like magic — but actually, it's science!
SNPs & Your Pregnancy
Knowing which SNPs you do and don’t have in your DNA can help you have an optimally healthy pregnancy from conception through delivery.
When it comes to understanding your unique set of SNPs, a popular adage holds true: Knowledge is power.
Read on to learn more about why.
When it comes to understanding your unique set of SNPs, a popular adage holds true: Knowledge is power.
Read on to learn more about why.
DHA and Choline: The Ultimate Building Blocks for Babies
Most expecting parents know that good nutrition is important for maternal and fetal health. But they may not know why. Let's deep-dive and talk about the ways in which certain key nutrients are crucial for an optimally healthy pregnancy.
Choline
Choline is a key nutrient that serves a variety of important roles in the body. Having the right amount of choline on board is crucial if your baby's brain and spinal cord are to develop in a healthy way.
DHA
DHA is also of vital importance — it's an essential fat that plays an invaluable role in optimal fetal development.
It’s important to be aware, however, that SNPs can affect the quantity of folate and DHA a pregnant woman requires. That’s a big part of why it’s so important to really understand your SNPs and what they mean.
SNP Testing with the Genate Test
If you’re eager to learn how you can ascertain which SNPs your DNA contains, you’ve come to the right place! SNP Therapeutics offers both the Genate Test and Nutrition Counseling to help you in your journey to becoming parents. Take the nutrition quiz to see how Genate can help tailor your prenatal nutrition to your unique genetic signature.
With the Genate Test, you’ll open the door to optimizing your baby's health — as well as your own — in a way never before possible.
And that’s a beautiful thing.
This article is not intended as medical advice to treat or diagnose any health condition but rather as educational health information for the general public. It should not be used as a substitute for individualized medical care from your healthcare provider.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the benefits of my baby getting the proper nutrients?
What are one-carbon nutrients and fatty acids, and why are they important?
One-carbon nutrients and fatty acids are critical for brain and spinal cord development during pregnancy and through the first two years of life. Although all nutrients are important, the one-carbon nutrients choline, folate, betaine, and B vitamins, along with the omega-3 fat DHA, provide the building blocks for proper growth of your developing baby's brain. Research at Cornell and Harvard universities has shown cognitive benefits for children born to mothers who received increased levels of one-carbon nutrients during pregnancy, demonstrating that optimal nutrition during pregnancy can have lasting effects for your baby.
If I buy Genate nutrition supplements, do I still need to take the test?
Genetic testing is a personal choice, and only you can decide what’s best for you and your baby. But the Genate Test is a powerful tool for optimizing your nutrition status, as it identifies genetically-caused metabolic inefficiencies that may influence your body’ ability to make and use the nutrients critical for your baby’s cognitive development. If you have SNPs in any of the nutrient pathways tested, your Genate Report will provide personalized recommendations for optimizing your nutrition. Our registered dietitians can show you how to fill in the gaps with foods and supplementation, if needed, to make sure you’re getting the nutrition you and your baby need.
