nancygrace
I'm 2!
Member since 9/05 6616 total posts
Name:
Live*Love*Laugh
|
Morning sickness may be due to diet
Morning sickness may be due to diet, not upset hormones
James Randerson, science correspondent
Wednesday July 12, 2006
The Guardian
Nausea and sickness during pregnancy are the body's way of protecting mother and baby against poisons and stomach bugs in food, according to research which brought together data from 21 countries.
The study shows a link between nausea and diet, suggesting that old ideas that sickness is due to the mother's ambivalence towards her baby or simply her messed-up hormones are false.
Nearly 90% of mothers experience nausea during pregnancy, with about half actually vomiting. The description "morning sickness" is a misnomer, because nausea can occur at any time of day. In the most serious cases it can become hyperemesis gravidarum, or excess vomiting, which can be fatal. Charlotte Brontë may have died during pregnancy because of it.
In many cases even the smell and sight of food cooking is enough to bring on a wave of nausea. "When my wife was pregnant, she just saw a picture of meat cooking on TV and she had to run out of the room," said Samuel Flaxman, an expert at Princeton University, New Jersey. One recent study found that 65% of a group of pregnant women said common smells - particularly fat and fried food - brought on nausea. Another found that half of women developed an aversion to alcohol in their first three months. Dr Flaxman said evidence was accumulating that sickness was the body protecting itself against harmful substances in food.
Gillian Pepper and Craig Roberts at the University of Liverpool put together 56 studies from 21 countries that looked at the prevalence of nausea and sickness in pregnant women. They linked these figures to the typical diet in each country.
They found that countries with a high intake of sugars, sweeteners, stimulants such as caffeine, vegetables, meats, milk and eggs had more sick pregnant women, and those with high intake of cereals and pulses had lower levels. "Taken together, our results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting links between nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and diet," they write in today's issue of Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
The finding fits with the idea that vomiting serves to rid the body of potentially dangerous compounds. Meat and dairy products, for example, are much more likely to harbour bacteria, so it may be that the female body has been adapted by natural selection to get rid of them during pregnancy. The mother's body is also vulnerable because her immune system is suppressed during pregnancy.
FAQ Morning sickness
Does it happen only in the morning? No, it can occur at any time of day
Does it happen to everyone? Over half of women do not experience it
Is it a serious problem? Very severe nausea and vomiting, called hyperemesis gravidarum, can be fatal
Is it caused by anxiety? A common belief among doctors, but it seems that the nausea causes the anxiety
|
