Abstract: Bioactive components and nutrients in foods can change epigenetic phenomena such as DNA methylation and histone modification. Therefore, the expression of critical genes associated with physiological and pathological processes can control embryonic development, aging and carcinogenesis. It appears that nutrients and function foods can influence epigenetic phenotype either by directly inhibiting or activating enzymes for DNA methylation or histone modifications. In this regard, food and nutritional epigenetics has been viewed as an attractive tool to prevent overnutrition, metabolic diseases and cancers. In recent years, epigenetics has become an emerging research field with a broad range of diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, obesity, inflammation and neurocognitive disorders. The capability of functional foods and nutrients to promote a phenotype or disease progression can not only be exposed in the individuals, but also successfully be inherited in successive generations. The majority of environmental factors such as nutrients or toxicants such as endocrine disruptors do not promote genetic mutations or alterations in DNA sequence. However, these factors do have the capability to alter the epigenome. Epimutations in the germ line that become permanently programmed can allow transmission of epigenetic transgenerational phenotypes. Unfortunately, ccurrent knowledge about bioactive food and nutritional epigenetics is limited, and the mechanism of epigenetic transgeneration is unclear. In this paper, we provide an overview of the epigenetics and how food bioactive factors can promote transgenerational phenotypes and diseases. A new hypothesis is proposed based on the interaction between functional foods and organisms or their communication networks. However, further studies are needed to expand the available resources and better understand the applications of nutrients or bioactive food components for maintaining our health and preventing diseases through modifiable epigenetic mechanisms.

Key words: hypothesis, food nutrition, epigenetics, epigenome, transgeneration