From eNewsletter 4/17/2024
DID YOU KNOW that pregnant women eating modern diets are missing key nutrients needed for them and their babies?
A study from PLOS Medicine that examined more than 1,700 women found most were missing vitamins, many found in animal protein, including B12, B6 and D, folic acid and riboflavin which are essential for the development of fetuses in the womb.
According to the lead author, "The push to reduce our dependence on animal protein to achieve net-zero carbon emissions is likely to further deplete expecting mothers of vital nutrients, which could have lasting effects on unborn children. Our study shows that almost every woman trying to conceive had insufficient levels of one or more vitamin, and this figure is only going to get worse as the world moves towards plant-based diets. People think that nutrient deficiency only affects people in underdeveloped countries, but it is also affecting the majority of women living in high-income nations."
One positive result of the study showed that quality prenatal supplements reduce vitamin insufficiencies during the preconception, pregnancy and lactational periods.
To read the res of today's issue, please go to this page.