A friend and co-worker of mine is a big advocate of Dr. Barbara Luke’s book on fetal programing and the research that has shown that eating certain foods during pregnancy can help promote health in your child and PREVENT chronic disease..
Program Your Baby’s Health
By Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein
Based on the newest scientific research which suggests that how children grow before birth and during early childhood affects their risks for developing many chronic diseases as an adult, including hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, even asthma, this book includes hundreds of references and readings. Originally termed the Barker Hypothesis, it is now known as metabolic programming, and it places good maternal nutrition at the heart of your unborn child’s well-being-- now and for decades to come. By eating right when you’re expecting, you can significantly boost your baby’s chances of enjoying excellent lifelong health, and this book shows you how. From preconception through pregnancy, then from birth through adolescence, this book translates the most current scientific knowledge into practical guidelines, focusing on diet, health, and growth. Included are menus and 60 recipes all chosen for optimal nutrition and maximum taste, as well as the newest Center for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts.
I tend to be a bit cyncial regarding such books…however my co-workers has a phD in nutrician and works in pregancy/health. She says there are studies that have shown the long term effects of food…anyone out there this?
Well I know that maternal ingestion of folic acid is essential for preventing spina bifada in a fetus. But I had never heard of such research regarding maternal nutrition in programming babies health. It's an interesting idea and I can see how it could be true.
Something I wanted to know maybe related, are the food cravings some women have during pregnancy a way by which the body lets them know what extra vitamins and minerals they need for the growing baby?
I know some women experience some pretty weird cravings and I don't know of any rational scientific reasoning, well nothing I've read anyway.
Something I remember form my biology class in the 10th grade. Our Biology Professor told us about this french woman who predicted the sex of the child by strictly eating different kind of food(This woman lived in the time when there was no Ultrasound etc). She had nine children. 5 boys and 4 girls and she controlled the gender of child by eating different fodd and she was 9 for 9. Our teacher did give us the resource but I dont remember now...it was long time ago...1986.
Some of the research for fetal programming is based on outcomes and studies of children who were born to mother's in war time Europe AND how states rationed the pregnant mother's food, thus there is information on food amounts and choices...which is leading to certain diseases in the children.
The folic acid issue is pretty common knowlege now....actually you need to have at least 3-6 months of folic acid uptake at the approrpriate level (400-800mg) BEFORE you even get pregnant...Just because accidents happen, my boss told a recently married co-worker ane me to start our vitamens now and went with pre-natal vitamens since they offer high folic acid content...
OF course as everyone in my office tells me...even if you do everything RIGHT that doens't mean nothing will go wrong..:)
Thap.. I vaguely remember discussing this with her but I will check with my co-worker on food cravings and pregancy nutrition before I post it. :)
I'm a firm believer in the natural way in which our bodies let us know what we're missing out on or indeed having too much of. If you've lived a life of generally good health, maybe your mild cravings, making you go for a snickers instead of an apple have had something to do with it?
Amelie, We're planning to have #2 soon and I'm taking prenatal vitamins before conceiving too. As for cravings, I remember being told that when my grandmother was pregnant, she used to eat clay. This is called pica. I used to have cravings for ice-cubes while pregnant. Pica is craving non-food items and is often related to the need for more iron in your diet. I was crazy for tomatoes, (salsa) and oranges while pregnant. But I'm sure all that vitamin c, not to metion fluid was important for me.
This research of fetal nutrition through mother is interesting because it doesn't stop after birth. Any mother who is aware of this study has to be a strong believer in breastfeeding as well. If you really want to ensure your child's health then you can't deny the disease fighting properties of breastmilk. It also lowers chances of obesity, heart disease, etc. in baby as well as providing immunological benefits.
To answer the question about cravings...most cravings are related to hormones HOWEVER, cravings for non-food items like clay/dough lhave been shown to be related to anemia..
HOWEver, since items such as clay/dough bind to iron and decrease iron absorption of the body it is unclear what comes first, cravings...leading to iron defficiency or iron deficincy then cravings, eating clay and then increased anemia.