Pride Angel

Eating avocados and dressing salads with olive oil could help women trying to have a baby through IVF, researchers claim. Foods typically eaten as part of the Mediterranean diet may triple the chances of success for women having the fertility treatment.

A study found monounsaturated fat – found in olive oil, sunflower oil, nuts and seeds – was better than any other kind of dietary fat for would-be mothers. Those who ate the highest amounts were 3.4 times more likely to have a child after IVF than those who ate the lowest amounts.

In contrast, women who ate mostly saturated fat, found in butter and red meat, produced fewer good eggs for use in fertility treatment. US experts behind the study believe monounsaturated fats – which are already known to protect the heart – could improve fertility by lowering inflammation in the body.

The study was presented at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Istanbul. It was carried out at Harvard School of Public Health, funded by the US National Institutes of Health.

Study leader Professor Jorge Chavarro said: ‘The best kinds of food to eat are avocados, which have a lot of monounsaturated fat and low levels of other sorts of fat, and olive oil.’

He said the study was small, but the findings merited further investigation. ‘While these results are interesting, this is the first time to our knowledge that dietary fats have been linked to treatment outcome in IVF,’ he said. Prof Chavarro said higher levels of monounsaturated fat were linked to higher live birth rates, which ‘ultimately people are looking for’.

The study took place among 147 women having IVF at the Massachusetts General Hospital Fertility Center. Their intake of different dietary fats was recorded and the outcome of fertility treatment compared between the highest and lowest third of intake in each category.

Women eating the highest levels of all types of fat had fewer good eggs available for use in treatment. Prof Chavarro said the link was driven by saturated fat intake, while high levels of polyunsaturated fat consumption produced poorer quality embryos. Higher intakes of monounsaturated fat were linked to a 3.4 times higher live birth rate than those with the lowest intake.

For those eating least, monounsaturated fat made up nine per cent of calories in their diet while it comprised a quarter for those eating the most. Prof Chavarro said ‘Different types of fat are known to have different effects on biological processes which may influence the outcome of assisted reproduction - such as underlying levels of inflammation or insulin sensitivity.

‘However, it is not clear at this moment which biological mechanisms underlie the associations we found.’ He said fish remained a source of ‘good’ omega 3 fatty acids, although the study was not able to pin down its contribution.

Article: 4th July 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

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Women who diet during pregnancy are more likely to have a child that could become obese or diabetic in later life, a study suggests. Researchers found in a study on sheep that giving ewes less food at the time of conception caused DNA changes in the brains of their young.

The University of Manchester scientists suspect the findings may hold true for humans as well and could explain why twins are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes in adulthood.

The study investigated twin pregnancies in sheep as well the pregnancies of ewes that received less food around the time the lamb was conceived. The researchers then looked at tissues from the brains of the unborn lambs to see if there were changes in the structure of the DNA.

Study leader Anne White said: 'We found that unborn twin lambs had changes in the structure of DNA in the region of the brain that regulates food intake and glucose that resulted in an increased chance of diabetes in adulthood.

'Our findings provide a reason why twins are more likely to get diabetes but we have also shown that mothers who don’t have enough food around the time of conception may have a child who grows up with an increased risk of obesity.'

The researchers believe their findings are relevant to humans as they reveal a non-genetic, or ‘epigenetic’, way in which the DNA of offspring can be altered.

Professor White added: 'Our study is important because it shows that factors in the brain can be altered by non-hereditary mechanisms and this results in changes in the body, which could make people obese.

'The findings may provide a new understanding of why twins can develop diabetes and also suggests that dieting around the time a baby is conceived may increase the chance of the child becoming obese later in life.'

More and more people are becoming obese and getting diabetes, while rates of twins are steadily increasing as women have babies at older ages and rates of conception using artificial reproductive technologies increase.

Dieting in young women is also very common and can occur in women who may not know they are pregnant. The team’s findings in sheep, if replicated in humans, suggest that obesity and diabetes could be more likely in twins and in children from mothers who aren’t eating properly, or dieting, around the time of conception.

Researchers say it could affect the advice giving to women who are planning a family to reduce future health risks for their children. The study was published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Article: 3rd April 2012 www.dailymail.co.uk

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Pregnant women should be encouraged by the Government to eat at least two portions of fish a week to reduce the risk of their children developing brain disorders, a group of leading nutrition experts have claimed.

The nutritionists fear that current official advice to women, which recommends they eat no more than two portions of fish a week, is leading to an increase in brain disorders.

They say recent research has shown that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish, known as docosahexaenoic acid, are essential for the brain to function properly and current Government advice is insufficient to provide women and their children with enough.

The researchers are to appeal to the Food Standards Agency and the Government's Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition in an open letter asking the two bodies to revise their advice.

They believe that women should be eating at least three portions of fish a week.

Fish consumption among women of child bearing age and girls is currently restricted due to concerns about the presence of potentially harmful contaminants in fish such as dioxins and methylmercury.

Speaking at a conference held at the Royal Society of Medicine in London last week, Professor Jack Winkler, director of the Nutrition Policy Unit at London Metropolitan University, said the benefits of fish oil far outweighed other risks.

He said: "The Food Standards Agency issued advice to women and pregnant women about fish in 2004 which was ultra conservative. Since then, there has been research which indicates that women who have eaten more fish than those recommendations suffer no harm but their child's brain performance improved.

"The evidence is beginning to show that this ultra conservative advice is effectively denying women the benefits of fish. Worryingly the current advice is scaring women off eating fish completely as the message it gives is that fish is risky."

A study published in the Lancet in 2007 of almost 12,000 pregnant women showed that those who ate less than 340 grams of seafood a week, which is equivalent to two and a half portions, had children who were at greater risk of having low verbal intelligence.

It concluded that the risks from loss of nutrients were greater than the risk of harm from contaminants in fish.

Professor Michael Crawford, director of the Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition at London Metropolitan University, said: "Unlike the rest of the body, the brain is mainly made of fat. It needs these fatty acids for brain growth and development.

"We are deeply concerned that this has been more or less neglected in the current advice and unless there is a change in nutrition advice to take the brain into account, then mental disorders are going to continue to grow at an alarming rate."

New research presented at the conference also suggested that docosahexaenoic acid deficiency may also play a role in the development of behavioural disorders such as ADHD in children.

A study by Dr Robert McNamara, from the department of psychiatry at University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, found that boys aged between eight and ten who were given additional docosahexaenoic acid had increased brain activity in attention tasks than those taken placebos.

Fish oil has also been linked to a number of other health benefits including reducing the risk of heart disease and cancer, combating memory loss and arthritis. The sale of supplements containing omega 3 fatty acids is now a major business.

Some recent studies have also found no evidence that taking fish oil tablets had any effect on boosting the academic abilities of children.

A spokesman for the Food Standards Agency said: "Our advice on oily fish consumption in pregnancy is based on a 2004 review involving two independent scientific committees who weighed up the nutritional benefits of oily fish against the possible risks, and the report included pregnant and lactating women."

Article: 30th May 2010 www.telegraph.co.uk

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Pregnant woman are not getting enough vitamin D, according to new research.

While taking prenatal vitamins does raise vitamin D levels in mothers-to-be, the study suggested higher doses are needed for many women.

Study author Professor Adit Ginde, from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, said: 'We already know vitamin D is important for bone health of the mother and infant, but we are just starting to scratch the surface about the many potential health benefits of vitamin D during pregnancy.'

The study, to be published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, found 70 per cent of pregnant women in the U.S had insufficient levels of Vitamin D.

Women with darker skin, those who cover their skin for religious or cultural reasons and those living further north during winter months are at particularly high risk for lower vitamin D levels.

'Prenatal vitamins do help raise vitamin D levels, but many women start taking them after becoming pregnant. Although research is ongoing, I think it's best for women to start a few months before becoming pregnant to maximize the likely health benefits,' said Professor Ginde.

There is a growing body of evidence that vitamin D levels have fallen below what's considered healthy in the overall population - likely from decreased outdoor activity.

And vitamin D has reemerged as an important nutritional factor in maternal and infant health. Vitamin D deficiency early in life has been linked to increased risk of respiratory infections and childhood wheezing.

Lower levels in adults have been linked to cardiovascular disease and specific types of cancer.

Article: 12th May 2010 www.dailymail.co.uk

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