Now there is even more reason to eat a variety of vegetables during pregnancy. Research shows that your growing baby can benefit if you eat fruits and vegetables before pregnancy to prevent leukemia and during pregnancy prevent diabetes later in life.
Vegetables Lowered Child's Risk of Type 1 Diabetes
The first study of its kind took a look at the effect of vegetable consumption on the child's risk of diabetes. This new study from Sweden looked at mothers who consumed varying amount of vegetables in their pregnancy diet. Some of the mothers ate vegetables rarely and others consumed vegetables every day. The mothers who ate rarely vegetables as compared to those who ate them every day, had children with the highest risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
So a good rule of thumb is to make sure you are eating tons of veggies in your daily pregnancy diet.
Vegetables and Fruits Lower Mom's Chances of Upper Respiratory Infections
There may be a protective benefit for mothers who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables every day during pregnancy. Researchers have discovered that mothers who ate a total seven servings of fruits and vegetables every day had a lower risk of getting upper respiratory infections than mothers who ate fewer vegetables. Senior author of the study, Werler, believes that pregnant women may need to eat a larger amount of fruits and vegetables due to the greater demands on their bodies.
Interestingly, the study showed that the protection against upper respiratory infections was only evident if the mothers ate both vegetables and fruits.
Eating Vegetables, Fruits and Protein Before Pregnancy Reduces Leukemia in Children
It is important to get your pregnancy diet off to a good start even before you become pregnant. According to an NIH study, the children with the lowest risk of leukemia had mothers whose diet consisted of eating healthy vegetables, fruits and protein sources in the 12 months before becoming pregnant.
This study actually pointed to several specific foods as being the best ones to reduce your baby's risk of leukemia -- carrots, cantaloupe and string beans. The carotenoids in these three foods provide some of the best protection against cancers.
How to Add More Vegetables and Fruits to Your Pregnancy Diet
Why not add a fruit to your breakfast each morning combined with a protein? Then for lunch, add a fruit and at least one vegetable with a protein. For dinner, have two more vegetables with your protein source. If you eat one to two snacks, you can add another fruit or vegetable to be sure you are getting enough!
References:
http://dinsida.gu.se/english/guinmedia/
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/sep2004/niehs-08.htm
Werler, M "Fruits, Vegetables May Protect Against URTI During Pregnancy," Public Health Nutrition, June 25, 2009.
Brenda Lane - Brenda Lane is a published author, Lamaze certified childbirth educator, DONA certified birth doula and approved birth doula trainer.
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