An article in The Guardian on HG--HG and diet link

[Mom to Aidan & Daniel]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/ ... ationships




Morning sickness may be due to diet, not upset hormones
James Randerson, science correspondent The Guardian Wednesday July 12 2006 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

Compiled by Dr Brian Swallow at the University of Lincoln

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

[krdoty]

I'm glad that I read this all the way through. My knee jerk reaction was anger because I eat a MUCH healthier diet than the average American. But reading further, I saw that it was the use of processed foods. So even healthier versions of processed food with lower levels of fat and sodium would still be suspect. That I can understand because processed foods are an issue from an allergy standpoint because they have SO many different ingredients. Of course, if this theory is accurate...it's also not a good sign for devveloped countries where processed food is teh norm!

[Mom to Aidan & Daniel]

Kendra, I had the same initial reaction. But what you say is so true. I've been very into not eating any additives like preservatives, food colorings or flavor enhancers lately. But the sugar and salt, sigh, um, I'm weak there I wonder if a very simple, whole grain, low sugar/salt, etc. diet could help me in a subsequent pregnancy? It is odd that for some of us eating junk foods actually helped stave the nausea--might be a strange coping reaction by the body? A tolerance building of sorts?


I am intrigued by these findings and by the other one I posted today, on the link between HG and throid issues (which I was diagnosed with right when HG hit). It will be interesting to see if they lead to anything concrete in terms of treatment recommendations.

[krdoty]

It is odd that for some of us eating junk foods actually helped stave the nausea--might be a strange coping reaction by the body? A tolerance building of sorts?

Oh, yes! My safe foods were almost universally fast food and other junk food. Many were foods that I would not even consider keeping in the house on a normal basis. It was so bad that my husband's cholesterol numbers SKYROCKETED during my pregnancy. He is overdo for his next set of labs. I am curious to see how big of a drop there will be now that we are back to eating a normal diet.

[Natalie]

One thing... I don't get why say someone like myself who isn't at 'high risk' according to the researchers and couldn't actually eat from week 7 with Beth and week 5 with Theo - why my HG would persist to 20w. Also, others on here whose HG lasted the whole 9m when they aren't eating. E.g. people with TPN etc...

Thoughts?

Natalie, x

[RebeccaM]

TBH- I don't think this study is applicable to HG. Morning sickness, maybe. I've heard this theory before. I've even been "crackered" by it. I wish the solution were as simple as eating healthier and less processed foods. At the end of the article it talks about "meat and dairy" products being among those substances that the body would want to get rid of, so are those "unhelathy"? It just all seems very weird to me.

[Mom to Aidan & Daniel]

Natalie and Rebecca, very interesting points. Maybe there is in fact no link for HG, or could there be one to any degree??

[krdoty]

I wish the solution were as simple as eating healthier and less processed foods.

That was my knee jerk response. But when I read (and reread) the article, I see it differently. My interpretation is that they aren't commenting on your pregnancy diet, but your lifelong diet. As though eating processed foods over a long period of time programs the body somehow. Thinking this way, I can see why changing your diet during pregnancy wouldn't make a difference one way or the other. Of course, this all assumes that the hypothesis is valid to begin with.

[Natalie]

I still just went out and bought The Guardian lol

Natalie, x

[RebeccaM]

Well, it's always good to eat healthy anyways so it's worth a try, right?

I'm still skeptical that it relates to HG. I'm actually skeptical of the whole theory altogether. I totally have no scientific back for this opinion , so maybe I'm just a skeptic.

[Mom to Aidan & Daniel]

I guess it can't hurt! But actually, the article isn't so much about HG as it is about NVP, even if it does mention HG, so I misnamed the title of this post perhaps.

[JennyK]

This may be a dumb question, but what counts as a processed food? The term makes me thing of velveeta and tv dinners, but I don't know exactly what the definition of processed food is.

[krdoty]

I don't know if there is a definition of processed food, but I consider anything from a box to be processed. Essentially, boxed foods will generally include a much larger number of ingredients than foods you make from scratch at home. Of course, you can limit the number of ingredients if you shop carefully. Boxed organic foods typically have a shorter ingredient list.

[Mom to Aidan & Daniel]

In addition to that I consider anything with (chemical) preservatives, food colorings or flavorings to be "processed." Those are things that the body can potentially have the strongest negative reactions to.

[justme]

Well - in the processed food category, I am (to put it indelicately) screwed, and probably so is Riley IF this is viable information and IF I don't change my cooking habits (and boy, do I hate cooking).

If it is a lifelong diet thing - I wonder then if the incidence of HG is increasing as our diets (as a society) have become more and more processed. That would be an interesting trend to take note of.

But I hate blaming it on diet because that can allow them (society, doctors) to put the blame on us (hgers), which is not really helpful in the midst of hg.

Liked though that it said the hg CAUSES the anxiety. Thank you.

Karen

[Mom to Aidan & Daniel]

Same here on that last note! As far as blaming us, I think they couldn't do that, as diet trends are what we're ALL eating. But they probably would blame us anyway!