Nutrients Promote mom’s health before and after birth
- Vitamin D cuts inflammation
Women of any age, but particularly those of childbearing age, can have a bacterial imbalance in the vagina with too little lactobacillus, a condition called bacterial vaginosis (BV), which can cause poor birth outcomes. In this review of 14 studies covering 4,793 pregnancies, women who were deficient in vitamin D anytime during gestation were 54 percent more likely to develop BV compared to women with good vitamin D levels.
During the first trimester, those who were deficient in vitamin D were 122 percent more likely than those with healthy levels of vitamin D to develop BV. Among different races, Black women were 56 percent more likely to develop BV anytime during pregnancy, which doctors suggested may be due to darker skin pigmentation reducing vitamin D synthesis from sunshine.
REFERENCE: FRONTIERS IN NUTRITION; NOVEMBER, 2022, ARTICLE NO. 16592
- Anti-inflammatory diet reduces postpartum depression
Doctors have recently been considering the relationship between inflammatory diets and mental health, employing the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII). In this study, using a food-frequency questionnaire, doctors measured the diets of 293 women who were exclusively breastfeeding for six months or less.
Overall, 60.1 percent of the women exhibited symptoms of depression, and had average DII scores suggesting an inflammatory diet. Women with the least-inflammatory diets were less likely to have depressive symptoms. In a second phase of the study, participants transitioned to an anti-inflammatory diet, which reduced postpartum depression symptoms by nearly 50 percent.
The inflammatory diets typically included red meats, saturated- and trans-fats, refined carbohydrates, soft drinks, and highly processed foods. The anti-inflammatory diets typically consisted of beta-carotene, fiber, garlic, ginger, magnesium, omega-3 fish oils, polyphenols, turmeric, zinc, and other minerals.
Discussing the findings, doctors said food directly impacts brain-nerve transmitters, hormones, inflammatory cytokines, and gut microbiota, all of which can influence sleep, mood, and behavior-signaling pathways.
Reference: Nutrients; November 2022, Vol. 14, No. 23, 5006
