In honor of Mother's Day, I posted health tips on my facebook page this week that focused on expectant mothers. In summary, I discussed the importance of consuming at least 400 micrograms of folic acid per day for women who are currently pregnant, or planning to become pregnant. The easiest way to obtain this level is through a pharmaceutical-grade nutritional supplement. However, there are natural sources of folic acid: green leafy vegetables, nuts, beans, citrus fruits,and inside many fortified breakfast cereals. In my health tips, I also discussed the importance of taking an iron supplement with somewhere between 28 and 90 mg of elemental iron per day, depending on an expectant mother's needs. Iron helps both the mother and baby's blood carry oxygen. And I also discussed the importance of supplementing with essential fatty acids like DHA. DHA, or Docosahexaenoic acid (an omega-3 essential fatty acid) is an important fat in the nerve cells of fetal and infant brains. DHA is also an important structural component of the retina and is therefore essential for eye development and growth. I mentioned that some health authorities have even recommended fortifying commercially prepared infant formulas with DHA to support health and nervous system development.
In my blog this week, I want to expand on the importance of fish oil (which contains essential fatty acids) during pregnancy and then discuss a few other nutrients that are important for women who are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant.
A study in the March 2008 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" looked at the importance of DHA (an omega-3 essential fatty acid) for neural development. It is speculated that DHA intakes are low enough in some pregnant women to impair infant development. The study looked at DHA in pregnant women and its relationship to early visual acuity in infants. The study compared eye development scores among infants of women who supplemented with DHA versus infants of women with typical diets. In the study, more infant girls in the placebo group than in the DHA group had a visual acuity below average and maternal red blood cell fatty acids were inversely related to visual acuity in both boys and girls. These results suggest that some pregnant women in the study population were DHA-deficient.
A separate study in the July 2008 issue of the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" shows a significant correlation between fish oil intake during pregnancy and asthma incidence during childhood. Children whose mothers supplemented with fish oil during pregnancy were significantly less likely to be diagnosed with childhood asthma than children from non-supplementing mothers. This provides strong evidence that fish oil intake during pregnancy may be associated with lower asthma incidence during childhood.
So for multiple reasons discussed in the previous two paragraphs, fish oil appears to have an important protective benefit for pregnant women.
Additionally, it has been suggested that maternal zinc intake influences growth in utero and in the first stages of growth after birth. In another study in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" that was released in July 2008, researchers assessed the effect of maternal zinc supplementation during pregnancy as well as its effects on infant growth during the first twelve months. It was determined that infants born to mothers that supplemented with zinc had significantly larger average growth measures beginning at 4 months and continuing through month 12. Prenatal zinc was associated with greater weight, calf circumference, chest circumference, and calf muscle area.
Moving on to another important nutrient, vitamin D status is often poor in women of childbearing age, and evidence suggests that the risk of bone fracture (due to osteoporosis) in adulthood could be determined partly by environmental factors during pregnancy and early childhood. A recent study investigated the effect of maternal vitamin D status during pregnancy on childhood skeletal growth. In this study, 31% of mothers had insufficient vitamin D levels, while another 18% had deficient levels during late pregnancy. Inadequate vitamin D in mothers during late pregnancy was associated with reduced whole-body and lumbar spine bone mineral content in children at age 9. Maternal vitamin D insufficiency is common during pregnancy and now looks to be associated with reduced bone-mineral accumulation in offspring during childhood. Vitamin D supplementation of pregnant women, especially during winter months, could lead to improved bone health and a long-term reduction in the risk of osteoporosis in their children.
Equally important, supplementing with calcium during pregnancy can prevent a new mother from losing her own bone density, as the fetus uses the mineral for bone growth.
And in one final study that was published in the "Canadian Medical Association Journal" in June 2009, research shows that women who supplement with multivitamins (which contain multiple key nutrients) have a lower risk of delivering a low birth weight infant compared to those who receive only standard iron and folic acid supplements. An inadequate intake of micronutrients during pregnancy increases the
possibility of nutritional deficiencies that can affect the normal growth of the baby. Low birth weight is often associated with increased infant mortality.
Hopefully, this blog article was helpful to you. My wish is for all of those who are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant, to have healthy, happy babies! Happy Mothering!
SOURCES:
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 87, No. 3, 548-557, March 2008
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 88, No. 1, 167-175, July 2008
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 88, No. 1, 154-160, July 2008
Lancet 2006 Jan 7;367(9504):36-43
Canadian Medical Association Journal 6/2009; 180(12).
No comments:
Post a Comment