Optimal Nutrition During Pregnancy

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1:13:2003

Optimal Nutrition During Pregnancy

 

Introduction

 

Pregnancy obviously results in an increased need for vitamins and minerals.

Deficiency or excess of any of a number of nutrients can lead to birth defects

and/or complications during pregnancy for the mother. What is a mother-to-be to

do? Here are some key recommendations to increase the odds of a healthy

pregnancy:

 

Eat a highly nutritious diet that focuses on whole, unprocessed foods.

Eat 2-3 servings per week of cold-water fish (salmon, mackerel, herring,

halibut, etc.) or take a fish oil supplement containing EPA and DHA.

Take a " high potency, full-spectrum, prenatal multiple vitamin and

mineral.

Take additional iron if needed.

 

 

 

Recommendation #1 - Eat a highly nutritious diet

 

The importance of high quality nutrition during pregnancy is obvious. The key

recommendation is to focus on natural, whole foods. Stay away from processed

foods especially those foods that have no real nutritional value (i.e., junk

foods). Also, read food labels carefully and try to stay away from foods that

contain trans fatty acids and partially hydrogenated oils including margarine,

shortening, and most processed foods. Studies have shown that the higher intake

of trans fatty acids, the greater the risk of delivering a premature baby.1

These fats interfere with fetal development, especially in the brain. Another

type of food to avoid is cured and smoked meats. These foods contain compounds

(nitrites and nitrates) that appear to be very harmful to the fetus. Studies

implicate diets high in nitrites and nitrates during pregnancy with higher rates

of brain cancer, diabetes, and leukemia in the offspring.2

 

 

Recommendation #2 - Increase the intake of omega-3 fatty acids

 

The second recommendation to eat 2-3 servings per week of cold-water fish

(salmon, mackerel, herring, halibut, etc.) or take a pharmaceutical grade fish

oil supplement like RxOmega-3 Factors from Natural Factors to increase the level

of omega-3 fatty acids available to the growing fetus. One of the more important

omega-3 fatty acids for fetal development is docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). In

fact, DHA is essential for proper brain and eye development as it is the primary

structural fatty acid in the gray matter of the brain and retina of the eye.

Adequate levels of DHA are important for all ages, but it is particularly

important for pregnant and nursing women.

 

Significant brain and eye development occurs while the fetus is in the womb and

continues during the first year after birth. Infants rely on their mothers to

supply DHA for the developing brain and eyes initially through the placenta and

then through breast milk. DHA is the most abundant omega-3 long chain fatty acid

in breast milk and studies show that breast-fed babies have IQ advantages over

babies fed formula without DHA. But, DHA levels in the breast milk of U.S. women

are among the lowest in the world. Increasing DHA levels should be a primary

goal for all pregnant or lactating women.3

 

 

Recommendation #3 - Take a high potency multiple vitamin and mineral formula

 

The discovery that folic acid supplementation in early pregnancy can reduce the

incidence of neural tube defects by as much as 80% has been referred to as one

of the greatest discoveries of the last part of the 20th century. The evidence

became so overwhelming that the FDA finally had to reverse their previous

position and acknowledge the association and allow folic acid supplements and

high folic acid containing foods to claim that " daily consumption of folic acid

by women of childbearing age may reduce the risk of neural tube defects. "

 

Folic acid is just one of many essential nutrients. What about the others? Are

they less important than folic acid? Absolutely not! A deficiency of virtually

any nutrient during pregnancy is going to have serious repercussions for the

mother and the baby. Furthermore, adequate levels of key nutrients such as

antioxidants, calcium, magnesium, and other B vitamins may help insure a healthy

pregnancy and delivery by preventing complications of pregnancy such gestational

diabetes as well as the potentially life-threatening condition of preeclampsia

(also known as toxemia of pregnancy).4-7

 

Simply stated, taking a multiple vitamin and mineral designed specifically for

pregnant and lactating women makes perfectly good sense. The only caveat is to

make sure that the vitamin A content is provided by beta-carotene rather than

vitamin A. Do not take more than 5,000 IU of vitamin A per day if you are

pregnant unless it is provided in the form of beta-carotene rather than as

retinol.

 

In an order to provide the optimal levels of necessary micronutrients to promote

a healthy pregnancy and delivery, I developed MultiStart Prenatal formula for

pregnant and lactating women. In addition to providing optimal levels of

vitamins and minerals, this formula includes a number of important supportive

compounds including super green food concentrates from alfalfa juice, spirulina,

and wheat grass juice as well as extracts of ginger, dandelion root, and red

raspberry leaves. These herbs have longed been used to promote a healthy

pregnancy. Ginger is valued for its clinically-proven ability to lessen nausea

and vomiting of pregnancy;8 dandelion root extract works to relieve the burden

on the liver by promoting the proper detoxification and elimination of the

increased hormones produced during pregnancy;9 and red raspberry leaf extract

helps strengthen blood vessels in the uterus and placenta to help avoid any

premature rupture or contractions.10

 

 

Recommendation #4 - Take additional iron if needed

 

The dramatic increase for iron during pregnancy cannot usually be met through

diet alone. Supplementation is often warranted. Usually the amount of iron

contained in a prenatal multiple is sufficient, but if a mother-to-be develops

anemia or has evidence of low iron stores (serum ferritin is the best

determination) then additional supplementation is required.11 For iron

deficiency during pregnancy, a woman will need to take an additional 30 mg of

iron twice daily between meals for best absorption. If this recommendation

results in abdominal discomfort, then 30 mg can be taken with meals three times

daily.

 

 

Final Comments

 

Pregnancy carries with it tremendous responsibility. It is not enough to avoid

factors that can damage the developing fetus like smoking and alcohol, during

pregnancy proper nutrition is even more critical than usual. I urge all

mothers-to-be to follow the simple recommendations above to help give your

developing child the best odds of developing into a healthy baby.

 

 

 

Key References:

 

Decsi T, Burus I, Molnar S, Minda H, Veitl V. Inverse association between

trans isomeric and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in cord blood lipids

of full-term infants. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;74:364-8.

Blot WJ, Henderson BE, Boice JD Jr. Childhood cancer in relation to cured

meat intake: review of the epidemiological evidence. Nutr Cancer 1999;34:111-8.

Allen KG, Harris MA. The role of n-3 fatty acids in gestation and

parturition. Exp Biol Med 2001;226:498-506.

Kulier R, de Onis M, Gulmezoglu AM, Villar J. Nutritional interventions for

the prevention of maternal morbidity. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 1998;63:231-46.

Bendich A. Micronutrients in women's health and immune function. Nutrition

2001;17:858-67.

Villar J, Belizan JM. Same nutrient, different hypotheses: disparities in

trials of calcium supplementation during pregnancy. Am J Clin Nutr

2000;71(Suppl.5):1375S-9S.

Bolisetty S, Naidoo D, Lui K, et al. Antenatal supplementation of antioxidant

vitamins to reduce the oxidative stress at delivery--a pilot study. Early Hum

Dev 2002;67:47-53.

Vutyavanich T, Kraisarin T, Ruangsri R. Ginger for nausea and vomiting in

pregnancy: randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial. Obstet Gynecol

2001;97:577-82.

Bohm K. Choleretic action of some medicinal plants. Arzneim Forsch

1959;9:376-378

Bamford DS, Percival RC, Tothill AU. Raspberry leaf tea: A new aspect to an

old problem. Br J Pharmacol 1970;40:161P-2P.

Allen LH. Pregnancy and iron deficiency: unresolved issues. Nutr Rev

1997;55:91-101.

 

 

 

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