National Nutrition Week 2026: Can What We Eat Influence Our Genes?
Learn how the food and nutrients you consume influence gene expression without altering your underlying DNA sequence.
Published : September 2, 2026 at 2:20 PM IST
For decades, genes were considered to be an unchangeable biological template: something that we have inherited and cannot do anything about. Modern scientific knowledge has provided us with a different perspective. Although the foods we consume will not alter our DNA sequence, there are ways in which nutrition can affect the regulation of some genes. This new discipline called nutritional epigenetics, along with other environmental factors such as nutrition, may impact the gene expression without affecting the DNA itself.
This is helping scientists better understand the relationship between diet, cellular function, health and even stem-cell biology. With National Nutrition Week 2026 underway in India, let's understand the link between nutrition and gene expression.
How Food “Talks” to Our Genes
Says Dr. Geetika Jassal, Medical Spokesperson, Cryoviva Life Sciences, “The expression of genes is controlled by multiple biological mechanisms, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and microRNA. Nutrition can affect certain metabolic processes that are responsible for these pathways. Such nutrients as folic acid, vitamin B12, choline, and betaine, together with other metabolites of one-carbon metabolism, participate in metabolic pathways that help in the formation of molecules for methylations.”
The effects of nutrition on the regulation of genes may depend on various conditions, such as individual genetics, age, nutrition state, etc. Importantly, this does not mean that a particular food or “superfood” can rewrite our genes.
How Nutritional Epigenetics Works
Say you eat spinach, dal, eggs or leafy vegetables. Your body breaks these foods down into nutrients and other molecules. Those nutrients enter biochemical pathways. Some nutrients (particularly folate, vitamin B12, choline and methionine) are involved in a process called one-carbon metabolism. One of its jobs is to help produce molecules that the body can use for DNA methylation, which involves attaching small chemical groups called methyl groups to DNA. These tags can influence whether certain genes are more or less active. Importantly, the underlying DNA sequence isn't being rewritten.
Imagine your DNA contains the instruction manual for making a particular protein. Epigenetic mechanisms can affect whether the cell reads that instruction frequently, occasionally or barely at all. This can affect how the body functions. Since genes help control processes such as metabolism, inflammation and cell growth, changes in gene regulation can potentially influence these processes.
Where Stem Cell Banking Comes In
Adds Dr. Jassal, “Stem cells are sensitive to the cellular environment they find themselves in. The capacity to be in a resting state, regenerate or become specialized cells is dependent on the interplay between genetic signals, metabolism and epigenetics within the cell.”
Many studies have been done in this field, which will have great bearing in regenerative medicine and understanding cellular self-maintenance. It is important to note that whereas nutrition and metabolism have effects on cell functions and biology, eating certain foods has not been proven to improve the genetics of stem cells.
Since the year 1988, when the first cord-blood transplant took place, there have already been over 40,000 such procedures. They have shown success in certain blood, immune system, and metabolic disorders. As such, cord-blood banking guarantees the storage of the biological material that is collected at birth while nutrition is just one of the many elements in the environment affecting the cells. Therefore, cord blood storage is totally unique compared to nutrition and epigenetics since it is the storage of biological substance which will be harvested after birth and may be used in future for clinical purposes. On the other hand, nutrition affects the biological environment inside the body.
Personalised Regeneration
Another fascinating area of research exists where the fields of nutrition, metabolism, epigenetics and regenerative medicine converge, says Dr. Jassal. Research is being conducted to discover how the cellular environment and metabolic signaling affect stem-cell maintenance and tissue repair. It is evident that we cannot select the DNA sequence that we carry, and food does not have the ability to alter our genes; however, nutrition may affect the biological environment of the cells.
(This article is part of a mini-series for National Nutrition Week 2026)
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