By Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
(HealthDay)
TUESDAY, Dec. 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The Mediterranean weight loss plan delivers loads of health dividends, and latest research now discovers it might lower complications while pregnant.
Specifically, women who stuck to the weight loss plan had a 21% overall reduced risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm birth, delivery of a small baby and stillbirth, researchers report.
“We all know opposed pregnancy outcomes have gotten more common in the USA,” said lead researcher Dr. Natalie Bello, director of hypertension research on the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
These bad outcomes can have serious consequences for mom and baby, Bello said.
“While we still need more information, it looks like the adoption of a Mediterranean-type weight loss plan may very well be a vital lifestyle approach to stopping these opposed outcomes,” she added.
The Mediterranean weight loss plan is wealthy in vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes and fish, while it’s low in red and processed meats and alcohol. “This weight loss plan is related to lower blood pressure, and more favorable profiles of glucose levels, so lower sugar levels and fewer insulin resistance,” Bello said.
Bello noted this study cannot prove that this weight loss plan caused the lower risk of complications, only that it was related to a reduced risk.
“Our thoughts are that you might have a healthier background going into pregnancy,” Bello said. “Pregnancy could be a stress test for the body. A variety of individuals who eventually develop heart disease could have manifestations during their pregnancy in the shape of those opposed pregnancy outcomes. And so perhaps it lowers your baseline levels of inflammation and for those who go in healthier, you possibly can withstand the stresses of pregnancy higher,” she suggested.
For the study, Bello and her colleagues collected data on nearly 7,800 women who took part in a serious study of pregnant women. These women, who were all having their first baby, accomplished a questionnaire about their weight loss plan during their first trimester.
Specifically, those that followed a Mediterranean weight loss plan saw their risk for preeclampsia and eclampsia drop by 28%, while the danger for gestational diabetes dropped by 37%.
Preeclampsia, dangerously hypertension while pregnant, puts stress on the mother’s heart. If untreated, it will probably cause complications, reminiscent of weakened kidney and liver function, and decreased blood supply to the fetus, the study authors noted.
Surprisingly, the association between the advantages of a Mediterranean weight loss plan and the lower risk of pregnancy complications was strongest amongst women aged 35 and older, Bello said.
“Typically, women over the age of 35 have a much higher risk of developing preeclampsia,” she noted. “If anything, I might say it’s encouraging.”
“It is just not surprising that adhering to a more plant-based weight loss plan just like the Mediterranean weight loss plan improves pregnancy outcomes,” said Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Health in Latest York City.
“Research has found that one of these dietary pattern helps promote health and reduce the danger of chronic diseases as a result of the various varied compounds contained in plants reminiscent of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals,” explained Heller, who was not involved with the brand new study.
A life-style before and while pregnant that features a more plant-based, balanced weight loss plan and regular exercise is nice for mother and baby, she said.
“Actually, research suggests that a healthy lifestyle preconception can be good for the daddy and might affect sperm health and motility,” Heller added.
SOURCES: Natalie Bello, MD, MPH, director, hypertension research, Smidt Heart Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles; Samantha Heller, MS, RD, CDN, senior clinical nutritionist, NYU Langone Health, Latest York City; JAMA Network Open, Dec. 22, 2022, online
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