Healthy Pregnancy: Essential Nutrition Tips You Need to Know

Are you pregnant? Wishing you an easy time and congratulations. But before anything else, you might want to read this article that brings the latest and most relevant studies on nutrition and dietary supplements during pregnancy.

Vitamin D supplement during pregnancy doesn’t always help. Best to head outside: For years, we heard about the importance of Vitamin D and bragged that in our sunny country, we were covered. Then came sunscreen, air-conditioned offices, and blood tests that showed we also lack Vitamin D. This vitamin can be obtained from controlled sun exposure and from eating dried shiitake mushrooms, fish, milk and its products, and eggs. Vitamin D is fat-soluble, and its main roles include regulation, absorption, and assimilation of minerals, especially calcium and phosphorus in bones, as well as strengthening the immune system, normal nerve function, and regulating insulin levels in the blood. Research results examining 829 pregnant women showed that taking a vitamin D supplement of 1,000 IU (International Units) per day from the 14th week of pregnancy until birth did not significantly increase vitamin D levels in the blood among women who gave birth in winter or those with low vitamin D levels at the start of the pregnancy, or women who gained significant weight during pregnancy. Go get tested, it’s important.

The risk of autism in newborns is reduced by 73% when the mother takes folic acid during pregnancy: Those who take a folic acid supplement before and during pregnancy significantly reduce their child’s risk of autism. So even if you're not inclined to swallow vitamins, don’t skip this one. It’s important, very important. It can affect the quality of life for your children, and certainly for you too. You can take a folic acid pill, or a prenatal multivitamin that contains a therapeutic amount of folic acid (meaning the amount in the multivitamin should be the same as that in a single folic acid pill). A study conducted in Israel examined the link between taking folic acid before and during pregnancy and autism in newborns. The study involved 45,300 children born in Israel between 2003 and 2007, followed and recorded until 2015. During these years, 572 children were diagnosed with autism. Analysis of the study data concluded that taking folic acid before pregnancy reduced the risk of autism by 61%, and taking folic acid during pregnancy reduced the risk by 73% compared to women who did not take folic acid at all. In short, swallow it.

Drinking diet drinks? Your baby might pay the price, at least weight-wise: We already know that artificial sweeteners can lead to obesity, sweet cravings, and other issues. But a first-of-its-kind study aimed to examine whether consuming drinks containing artificial sweeteners during pregnancy might lead to excess weight in the baby. The research was part of a large Canadian study on infant health. It involved 3,033 infants and their mothers. The researchers examined the mother’s dietary habits during pregnancy and the baby’s BMI at one year of age. About 30% of the mothers reported consuming diet drinks, with about 5% reporting daily consumption. Data analysis showed that compared to mothers who didn’t consume diet drinks, daily consumption was associated with an increase of 0.20 units in the standardized BMI and a doubled risk of excess weight in the baby at one year. This link wasn’t dependent on the mother’s risk factors, including their BMI, nutrition quality, and total calorie intake. In short, these sweeteners aren’t all that healthy for our sweet kids.

Want to know more? Purchase the "Growing Healthy" course, taught by naturopath Sarah Bar Asher. It’s available onThe Jewish Campus, on the Hidabroot website.

Sarah Bar Asher is a naturopath and lecturer on nutrition and the food industry.