An adequate diet that provides us with all the nutrients that the body needs for its proper functioning is essential at any stage of life, but during pregnancy it is especially important because the mother’s diet affects her health, but also the development of the fetus. . Fast food and ultra-processed foods should be avoided during pregnancy, but not only because they are rich in salt, fat or sugar, which is what you are probably thinking. There is another reason why pregnant women should not consume these types of products, according to a new study carried out by researchers at UW Medicine (USA).
According to the conclusions of the work, if you are expecting a baby you should think twice before eating a hamburger or a piece of industrial pastry. The curious thing, furthermore, is that the threat does not come from the food, but from what it has come into contact with before reaching the consumer. They refer to phthalates, a type of chemical substances found in plastics and can be released from food wrappers or containers, and even from the plastic gloves worn by food handlers.
The results of the work have been published in Environmental International and its authors have found that this chemical substance can cause oxidative stress and an inflammatory cascade in the fetal body. Previous scientific evidence has shown that exposure to phthalates during pregnancy can increase the risk of low birth weight, premature birth, and childhood mental health disorders such as autism and ADHD.
This is the first study in pregnant women to show that diets high in ultra-processed foods are linked to increased exposure to phthalates, the authors wrote. “When moms are exposed to this chemical, it can cross the placenta and enter the fetal circulation,” said Dr. Sheela Sathyanarayana, a UW Medicine pediatrician and researcher at the Seattle Children’s Research Institute and lead author.
Prevent phthalate contamination in food
Data from the Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Early Childhood Learning (CANDLE) research cohort, which included 1,031 pregnant women in Memphis, Tennessee, who were enrolled between 2006 and 2011, were used for the analysis. Phthalate levels were measured in urine samples collected during the second trimester of pregnancy. Ultra-processed foods made up between 10% and 60% of the participants’ diet, or 38.6%, on average. Each 10% higher dietary proportion of ultra-processed foods was associated with a 13% higher concentration of Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, one of the most common and harmful phthalates.
Ultra-processed foods, according to researchers, are made primarily from substances extracted from foods such as oils, sugar and starch, but have changed so much due to processing and the addition of chemicals and preservatives to improve their appearance or shelf life that they are difficult to recognize from its original form, they claim. These include, for example, packaged cake mixes, potato chips, hamburger buns, and packaged soft drinks.
In the case of fast food, gloves worn by employees and storage, preparation and serving equipment or tools may be the main sources of exposure. Both frozen and fresh ingredients would be exposed to these sources, explained Brennan Baker, a postdoctoral researcher in Sathyanarayana’s laboratory and another of the first authors.
“When mothers are exposed to this chemical substance, it can cross the placenta and enter the fetal circulation.”
According to the researchers, this is the first study to identify ultra-processed foods as a link between exposure to phthalates and the socioeconomic problems faced by pregnant women, a vulnerability that could be due to financial problems and living in “deserts.” “food”, where it is more difficult to obtain fresh and healthy food and traveling to distant markets is not a viable option.
“We don’t blame the pregnant person here,” Baker says. “We need to draw the attention of manufacturers and legislators to offer substitutes for these products, and others that may not be even more harmful.” The authors have highlighted the need to increase legislation to prevent phthalate contamination in food, regulating the composition of food packaging, or even the gloves that food handlers can use.
So what should pregnant women do? Sathyanarayana said pregnant women should try to avoid ultra-processed foods as much as they can and look for lean fruits, vegetables and meats. Reading labels carefully is very helpful here, she added: “Look for the fewest ingredients and make sure you can understand them,” she said. This even applies to “health foods” like breakfast bars. Check if it is sweetened with dates or if it contains a variety of fats and sugars,” she concludes.
