Eating this during pregnancy may help babies development, says new study

 

When you're pregnant, it seems that everyone has different advice for you.

 

There are so many recommendations and tips that are given, it can all make your head spin.

 

But when you're getting ready for baby to come, you want to do as much as you can to ensure that it is the healthiest that it can be.

 

According to one study, this can be helped by adding certain foods into your diet.

 

So what does the research say?

 

 

This new study claims that women who have fish-rich diets are actually boosting their babies brain development. 

 

Good news for any seafood fans. 

 

A small-scale study out of the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital in Finland set about looking into this. 

 

They said that regular consumption of fatty seafood throughout pregnancy might help an unborn baby's eyesight and brain function.

 

The findings, published in Springer Nature's Pediatric Research Journal support this and say that this food might have an impact on the babies eyesight, particularly the retina. 

 

 

Kirsi Laitinen, Ph.D., who led the study explained that, ''the results of our study suggest that frequent fish consumption by pregnant women is of benefit for their unborn child's development.''

 

She continued, ''This may be attributable to long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids within fish, but also due to other nutrients like vitamin D and E, which are also important for development.''

 

In the study, Kirsi and colleagues  came to their results after analysing data from 56 mothers and their children, and finding out about dietary habits by asking mums to keep pregnancy food journals. 

 

When the babies were born, the team tracked the levels of fatty acids in the mothers' blood, and also took the blood from the infants in the study when they were 1-month-old.

 

The results? The infants of mothers who consumed  fish three or more times a week in their third trimester did better on developmental tests than those whose mums ate no fish or up to two portions per week.

 

Food for thought, right?

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