We are what we eat, and during pregnancy this becomes even more important. Now, a study carried out by Johns Hopkins Medicine (USA) has discovered that following the Mediterranean diet during pregnancy could help reduce the risk of developing preeclampsia by up to 20%, a condition that manifests itself with high blood pressure and proteinuria, which is the presence of protein in the urine.
The research has analyzed 8,507 women with an average age of 28 from different racial groups, 47% were black, 28% Hispanic and 25 white or of other races. The pregnant women had to fill out a questionnaire between 24 and 72 hours after delivery, in which their eating habits during pregnancy were indicated, and based on this they were assigned a group: high, medium or low level of follow-up of the Mediterranean diet .
The Mediterranean diet is a type of diet in which vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish, olive oil, whole grains and low levels of red meat and processed foods prevail. This type of diet has been shown to have many health benefits, especially to prevent obesity or cardiovascular disease.
Racial differences in rates of preeclampsia
The results of the study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, showed that 10% of those surveyed had preeclampsia. In addition, they observed that women who had medium and high scores in following this type of diet had a 28% and 22% lower risk of preeclampsia, respectively, compared to those who only followed the Mediterranean diet.
Following the Mediterranean diet during pregnancy reduced the risk of developing preeclampsia by up to 28%
On the other hand, black women who prioritized this style of nutrition in pregnancy with high scores had a 26% lower risk of preeclampsia, and women who had chronic high blood pressure at the beginning of pregnancy had a nine times greater risk of this complication compared to women who did not have these without a history of hypertension.
Finally, the researchers found that having preexisting diabetes and obesity doubled the odds of developing preeclampsia. All of these findings indicate that the Mediterranean diet is generally beneficial for pregnancy and that there could be racial differences in preeclampsia rates in the US, where the research was conducted.
“While our findings strengthen the argument that following a healthy diet reduces pregnancy complications, clinical trials are still needed to accurately assess the benefits of the Mediterranean diet in various groups of pregnant women,” said Noel Mueller, lead investigator. of the studio.
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