Cornflakes, Yeah

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Spina Bifida In Babies Is Linked With Cornflakes And White Bread

By Robert Matthews

Science Correspondent

The Telegraph - UK

11-23-3

 

Pregnant women who eat sugary or highly processed food such as white bread

and cornflakes face double the risk of having malformed babies, according

to new research.

 

Scientists made the discovery after comparing the diets of mothers whose

babies had so-called neural tube defects such as spina bifida with those

of mothers with normal babies.

 

The study, involving almost 1,000 women, found that the risk of such birth

defects was substantially greater among those who consumed higher levels

of sugar and the highly refined carbohydrates found in potatoes, white

bread and rice and many popular breakfast cereals.

 

University researchers at the California birth defects monitoring

programme in Berkeley said such foods may double the risk of neural tube

defects in unborn babies, increasing to a fourfold risk among mothers with

obesity.

 

The new findings, reported in the latest issue of the American Journal of

Clinical Nutrition, add to the growing concern over food products with a

high glycemic index (GI). By producing a surge in blood sugar, the foods

trigger the release of a large amount of insulin, high levels of which

have already been implicated in birth defects.

 

Dr Ross Welch, a specialist in foetal medicine at Arrowe Park Hospital,

Wirral, Cheshire, said: " Assuming these results have a sound statistical

basis, then this is important. The question we have to ask is what do we

do about it? " Most mothers did not realise the crucial importance of diet

in the first days of pregnancy, Dr Welch said.

 

" High blood sugar levels have already been linked with foetal abnormality

in diabetes, and this new research seems to be in line with that. " He

added: " Preconceptual folic acid is, however, still likely to be more

important. "

 

The findings come amid mounting evidence that high GI foods may pose a

significant threat to health. Earlier this year, high GI diets were linked

to 50 to 80 per cent increases in risk of oral and ovarian cancer by

researchers at the Centre for Cancer Research in Aviano, Italy.

 

Most concern focuses on the role of such food in obesity. Research

published earlier this month by scientists at Oxford Brookes University

found that children given a high GI breakfast of cornflakes, Coco-Pops or

white bread consumed many more calories at lunchtime than those given a

low-GI alternative, such as bran flakes or porridge.

 

Professor Jeya Henry, who led the research, said that the results

supported evidence that high-GI foods boost appetite while cutting satiety

- the " full " feeling that normally follows a meal. Both are thought to

play important roles in developing obesity.

 

" It is time we got away from the idea that it is all just a matter of a

lack of self-control and exercise, " said Prof Henry. " Every measure to

reduce food intake must be explored. If we are serious about this issue,

we need the Government and the food industry to get together to fund more

research as a matter of urgency. "

 

Within the scientific world there is mounting anger over what is being

seen as foot-dragging by the food industry over its role in the increase

in obesity, which according to official figures is responsible for 30,000

premature deaths a year in Britain.

 

Neville Rigby, the policy director of the London-based international

obesity task force, said: " The food industry is the solution - they have

to be, but they are not doing enough. " However,the food industry insists

that the issues involved are complex. A spokesman for Kellogg's, which

makes many high GI cereals, said: " The science is relatively new and in

some areas controversial. For instance, simply adding milk to cornflakes

lowers their GI, while adding a banana lowers it even further.

 

" There is very clear evidence that foods such as Kellogg's Corn Flakes,

which are high in carbohydrate and low in fat, play an important role in

helping people reduce fat intakes, maintain weight levels and possibly

help their bodies to better control blood sugar levels. "

 

Parents with children suffering from spina bifida welcomed the research.

Su Scurr, from Tiverton, Devon, whose three-year-old daughter Briony has

spina bifida, said last night: " If these foods are a significant factor

then women need to be made aware of this research. I wouldn't wish what

happened to me on anyone. It was awful. We found out that I was carrying a

child with spina bifida in a scan at about 22 weeks.

 

" I took folic acid in the two months before I got pregnant and I made sure

I ate lots of fruit and salads but in the past I had eaten quite a bit of

sugar. Who doesn't eat cereals? We need more research into spina bifida. "

 

Mrs Scurr, a full-time mother, who lives with her husband Peter, a

chiropodist, Briony and two other - healthy - children, said abortion was

not an option. " I have no regrets. Briony is lovely. "

 

Tanni Grey-Thompson OBE, who was born with spina bifida and has become

Britain's best-known paralympic athlete, said last night: " These findings

are interesting but you have to put them into context. Living in areas

with heavy industry is also a factor, for example. It is really useful to

encourage women to eat a better diet but there are also financial reasons

why women eat what they do. "

 

Ms Grey-Thompson, who has won 14 paralympic medals and eight medal

placings in the London Marathon, added: " There are a huge number of scary

things that women are told when they become pregnant that can put a lot of

guilt on mothers. Sometimes disability is no one's fault and there is

nothing you can do about it. "

 

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/11/23

/nbif23.xml & sSheet=/news/2003/11/23/ixhome.html

 

Comment

From Gayle

11-23-3

 

Of course the nutritional issue here is destruction of the food source and

the removal of any trace of natural B complex vitamins. This is the

specific issue regarding the extreme rate of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in the

tribal people in the US. This is also an issue in the non-tribal

population. There is a multitude of related concerns: all of them lead

back to a base line of the non-functioning thyroid gland. There is a

direct relationship between lack of B complex vitamins and poor thyroid

health, continuing on to include DM. Obesity and many other health

problems are outer expressions of malnutrition. It won't be fixed with the

current approach, either in mainstream or " alternative " medicine.

 

Gayle

 

 

 

 

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" Once I was informed, I was entitled to have an opinion on it. "

--Bono, of U2

[Guest guest]

Interesting report. I always thought eating cereal in the

morning was supposedly healthy; especially those fortified

with vitamins and minerals. The practice of eating cereal

is encouraged for pregnant women b/c it is often enriched

with folic acid, a nutrient they need. (?)

Anyway, I am not a big fan of a bowl of cold flakes or cereal

in the early morning hours. I much prefer my hot coffee

and a warm bowl of oatmeal or cream of wheat gruel (sp).

 

~ PT ~

 

To know another language is to have a second soul.

~ Charlemagne, King of the Franks (742-814)

~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~~~~~~~~>

, The Stewarts <stews9@c...>

wrote:

 

> Spina Bifida In Babies Is Linked With Cornflakes And White Bread

> By Robert Matthews

> Science Correspondent

> The Telegraph - UK

> 11-23-3

>

> Pregnant women who eat sugary or highly processed food such as

white bread

> and cornflakes face double the risk of having malformed babies,

according

> to new research.

>  

> Scientists made the discovery after comparing the diets of mothers

whose

> babies had so-called neural tube defects such as spina bifida with

those

> of mothers with normal babies.