Friday, May 18, 2012

Pregnant Mommy Diet builds a Better Baby

Today I want to write about some exciting studies coming out. The most notable is the idea that caloric control in a pregnant mother will "Build a Better Baby".

Is this true? Is that bundle of joy really made up of what mommy eats whilst bambina or bambino is in the womb? Through simple animal studies and even human studies, we know this to be true. Food and the chemicals that are in what we eat tend to make subtle changes to mommy AND baby's DNA. The building blocks of life.

Think of DNA like a blueprint of a house. The architect drew this wonderful house, which the builders will use to construct the house. Well, how many of you have built a house? It never goes as smoothly as the drawing would depict. Why? The builders are subjected to the elements of the environment. Rain, Hail, Winds, Snow.

Think of your body the same way. By introducing environmental changes, you can alter or slow down who you are really meant to be. This also holds true when you are building another human being inside of you.

So, it comes as now surprise to me, when we find out, prenatal diet matters. In this Meta Analysis (a compilation of studies) they discover dietary modification reduces risk of Pre Eclampsia and gestational diabetes. Surprisingly, exercise does not have the same effect.

You heard that right. Only diet in this study was shown to reduce risk of complications. The good news is, we can help with this. Weight gain control and dietary modification is the key and we excel at this!

The next study shows that maternal diet can cause obesity and metabolic syndrome in children. How? Through a set of chemical changes called epigenetics. Think of epigenetics as the sleet, rain, hail and wind of your home building. As you know, these environmental forces can have a devastating effect on your home. So too can epigenetic changes affect the way your are born and the diseases you may get.

The goal of diet is to have the right amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats. Ultimately that is the plan.

At Murphy Medical Weight Loss Programs, we can help plan a diet that will help you minimize weight gain during pregnancy and also feed you all the right nutrients to keep your "Forces of Nature" at bay!


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