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Benefits of Having Probiotics During Pregnancy

Long time ago, I had posted about how introducing fish in a baby's diet before the age of nine months could lower eczema risk. It looks like besides genetic inheritance and other factors, a baby's risk of developing eczema is also dependent on the expectant mother's food habits.

A new research has found that women who take probiotics while they’re pregnant and breastfeeding could be less likely to have children with eczema than mothers who don’t.

Eat probiotics when you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Eat probiotics when you are pregnant or breastfeeding.


Excerpts:
Probiotic use during pregnancy and lactation was associated with a 22 percent lower risk of young children developing eczema, a common inflammatory skin disorder.

While the study wasn’t designed to prove how probiotics might prevent eczema, it’s possible that taking these supplements changes the composition of breast milk and influences the way a child’s immune system and skin develop.

This study makes it clearer that maternal probiotics during pregnancy and while breastfeeding seem to protect infants from eczema, whereas probiotics added to an infant’s diet directly do not seem to protect infants from developing eczema.

Probiotics include good bacteria and yeast that are similar to what’s in the body and help aid digestive tract health. Most of the trials focused on the bacteria lactobacillus, a common probiotic in yogurt and other fermented foods. 

These studies found a reduced eczema risk for kids when their mothers took probiotics during the final weeks of pregnancy and the first six months of breastfeeding. 

pregnant woman eating yogurt to prevent eczema in children
Pregnant & breastfeeding mothers should eat probiotic foods to prevent eczema in children.

Avoiding potentially allergenic foods like nuts, dairy and eggs during pregnancy didn’t appear to influence a child’s risk of eczema, the study also found. 

Another supplement, fish oil, was associated with a lower risk of egg allergies in kids. 

While you should be extremely cautious during pregnancy and nursing about the kind of foods you eat and the pills or antacids you pop, you should also make make sure that you are eating nutritious and gut healthy foods that could possibly boost the immune system of your baby and decrease his/ her risk of certain preventable diseases and infections.

On that note, I'd also like to share another study which has found that pregnant women who eat plenty of green vegetables could protect their children against asthma.

According to the research, babies born to women who regularly have broccoli, spinach, cabbage, sprouts or kale were half as likely to suffer wheezing by the age of two. However, the diet only works if expectant mums include healthy vegetables in their diet during the first few months of their pregnancy. Increasing intake after that seems to make little difference, the study found.

Comments

  1. Expert9:15 PM

    Breastfeeding leeches away a lot of nutrients of your body. This can leave your immune system weakened. Consuming probiotic-rich foods or supplements can help strengthen your immunity. It is also a great way to regulate your fluctuating metabolism.

    ReplyDelete

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