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Pregnancy diet affects baby's arteries
Filed under: Your Pregnancy, Health & Safety: Babies, Media
Here's a good excuse to not diet when pregnant: a new study has found that the less calories an expectant Mom consumed during pregnancy, the thicker the artery walls of her baby. Thick artery walls are linked to heart disease and strokes.
Researchers say that pregnant women need to eat about 2500 calories per day (roughly) to maintain adequate nutrition and energy. They also said it didn't seem to matter what proportion of calorie intake came from fat, protein, or carbohydrate - but that it was overall calorie intake that was important.
The association between artery thickness and calorific intake remained strong even after taking account of factors such as social class, smoking, exercise habits and sickness in pregnancy.
I'm always glad to see studies that discourage pregnant women to diet. For me, it wasn't an option: my body seemed to tell me what to eat and it was a lot. Lucky for me, it was also healthy, for the most part...although, I did enjoy ice cream sandwiches an awful lot too.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
7-31-2006 @ 9:19AM
Brenda said...Yaaaaaaaay! Another study to make moms with "morning" sickness feel guilty.
I am glad they are encouraging women not to diet while pregnant, though I am really not sure that is a problem. "Hmmmm.... I'm pregnant; must be time to go on a diet" just doesn't seem like a thought process people would go through.(Unless someone, especially a doctor, were telling them to for the health of their baby).
I lost 20lbs when pregnant. Maybe I was eating 2500 calories a day, but I somehow doubt it. I ate as much as I could and what I did eat was healthy (even if it was mostly fruit which due to it's high sugar content shouldn't be eaten when pregnant because it will lead to gestational diabetes )
Brenda
http://preoptimism.blogdrive.com/
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7-31-2006 @ 9:52AM
daisy said...Here's what I'm wondering: if you don't count calories when you're not pregnant, how do you know what 2500 calories/day is?
I've also heard that women who are overweight (on the BMI chart, not obese, not regular) should gain less weight when they are pregnant, only about 15-25 pounds. So does that mean fewer calories after all?
It's all very confusing. Though, dieting while pregnant seems like a bad idea all around!
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7-31-2006 @ 1:12PM
Marcia said...That's right Brenda. I am one of the lucky 'morning sickness all day' types and I'm in my 7th month of the pregnancy. Honestly I'd be shocked if I actually got 1000 calories to stay down each day but as long as I gain a pound between visits instead of losing 4 like between my last 2 I think I'll be ok. As for the study, sure it makes me worry and feel guilty because my body just simply won't accept foods of any kind regularly so that makes me feel like it's my fault for not smashing my face full of calories all day just to make sure I'm getting the full amount recommended. I'm sure some of you know how exhausting it is being sick all day, the last thing I want to do is be eating non stop without giving my stomach a break.
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