Interesting news report on a gene variant common in South Asians with vegetarian ancestry.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/29/long-term-vegetarian-diet-changes-human-dna-raising-risk-of-canc/Long term vegetarianism can lead to genetic mutations which raise the risk of heart disease and cancer, scientists have found.
Populations who have had a primarily vegetarian diet for generations were found to be far more likely to carry DNA which makes them susceptible to inflammation.
Scientists in the US believe that the mutation occured to make it easier for vegetarians to absorb essential fatty acids from plants.
But it has the knock-on effect of boosting the production of arachidonic acid, which is known to increase inflammatory disease and cancer. When coupled with a diet high in vegetable oils - such as sunflower oil - the mutated gene quickly turns fatty acids into dangerous arachidonic acid.
I must say that the article is misleading in various respects ... obviously for any individual, with or without the mutation, having a vegetarian diet does not increase their risk of mutation or cancer and so forth.
Link to the study itself:
http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/03/09/molbev.msw049.short?rss=1What has happened here is that natural selection has favoured a particular variation (mutation) in the FADS2 gene in societies where vegetarianism was the norm. Those inheriting the variant were, statistically, benefiting from better nutrition from their vegetarian diet than those that did not. Thus the variant spread widely through the population over time. Now, with the increased use of some non-traditional vegetable oils (high in omega-6), it is found that the action of the gene leads to an increase in inflammation levels.
