Disease Proof : Disease Proof : Health & Nutrition News & Commentary : Dr. Joel Fuhrman

New findings in the journal PLoS Medicine claim moms who take folic acid supplements for one year prior to getting pregnant are 50% less likely to have a premature baby. Experts analyzed self-reporting of folate supplementation by 38,033 mothers and found premature delivery rates were cut up 70%. The drop was most profound for resulting in cerebral palsy, mental retardation, chronic lung disease and blindness. Here are Dr. Fuhrman’s thoughts on the study:

The need for folate is reflective of the inadequacy of the Americans dietary practices. The medical profession and everyone else it seems translate all these findings into the need to take a pill, instead of the lack of green vegetables in the diet.

Taking a pill is permission to eat the same crummy diet that causes child to get cancer, as well as moms. If instead, we stated the truth that a low-folate diet is dangerous and you must eat your greens every day. Then we would really see childhood cancers plummet.

Via EurekAlert!

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Good news mommies. New findings in the upcoming May issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology claim mothers who breastfed were 10% percent less likely to develop heart disease or suffer a stroke than women who had never breastfed. The study, which involved nearly 140,000 postmenopausal women, also showed women who breastfed for at least one month had less diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol; from EurekAlert!

The benefits of breastfeeding are innumerable. Previous reports pin breastfeeding to breast cancer prevention, less likelihood of children becoming obese and reduced risk of allergies. Last year, it was reported 77% of new moms are breastfeeding. Not too shabby.

But some breastfeeding news can be icky. A Swiss restaurant was told no, they can’t serve human breast milk. Although, the story about the Chinese cop who breastfed infants in need during the rescue effort following last year’s deadly earthquake is heartwarming.

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Don’t put the baby on the treadmill just yet, but a new study in the journal Pediatrics claims gaining weight as an infant might foreshadow obesity later in life. A group of 559 mother and child pairs were examined after three years. For example, two infants with the same birth weight, but after six months differed in weight by 1.5 pounds, the larger being 18.4 pounds, puts the bigger child at a 40% higher risk of being obese at age 3; from EurekAlert!

Actually, other studies have linked a baby’s weight-gain to high blood pressure, saying babies who put on weight too rapidly can develop hypertension as adults. So don’t be like this idiot and only feed your toddler French fries. The woman needs her head examined.

In February, research found obese women are more likely to give birth to children with congenital anomalies, like cleft palate, and obesity can give kids heart disease too.

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New research Epidemiology claims babies born to obese moms are more likely to die in the first weeks of life than infants of normal-weight mothers. Scientists examined medical records of more than 4,000 babies who died in infancy and records of over 7,000 surviving babies and found among the babies who died, 8.8% had obese mothers, compared to 5.9% of surviving infants. And women who gained the most weight during pregnancy had the highest rate of infant mortality; Reuters reports.

A previous study determined a mother’s diet can actually influence the gender of her baby and gaining too much weight during pregnancy can increase a child’s likelihood of becoming overweight, even into their teenager years. Wow, good thing my mom ate like a bird when she was spawning me.

So, be careful when you’re pregnant! Dr. Fuhrman suggests avoiding things like cat litter, paint thinner and smoking and not eating foods like deli meat, sushi and alcohol.

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