What You Eat Could Affect Your Baby’s Allergies

We’ve all heard the phrase “eating for two”. Now, we all know that this doesn’t actually mean that pregnant women can eat a lot more food. What it means is that everything a pregnant woman eats, her baby eats as well. This can be a problem in some cases, because if the unborn baby has food allergies which are not yet able to be detected, it may be that he or she is going to be allergic to the food you are eating. In fact, your baby could actually develop allergies because of your diet.

A new study, which was published in The Journal of Physiology, shows that there is a possible link between the food that pregnant women eat and the risk of babies developing allergies. There are certain foods that women really should try to eat as much as possible of during pregnancy, especially a group of polyunsaturated fatty acids that are often found in fish, flaxseed and walnut oils. If these foods are in a mother’s diet, the immune cells of the baby’s stomach will help the baby to respond better to certain foods, and less likely to develop food allergies.

We have always known that these foods were excellent for pregnant women to have in their diets, but until recently, we did not fully understand why. This new research shows that more and more people are eating foods with different oils, which have a different type of fatty acid. This fatty acid is one that really should be avoided most of the time, and it is often responsible for causing babies to develop allergies, even later on in life.

What You Should Be Eating

If you are pregnant, unless you are already following an extremely healthy diet, you are probably going to have to make some major changes to your eating habits. Gone will be the days of living on greasy fried foods and sweets. Of course, you can still enjoy these foods, but it must be in moderation. There are certain foods that you really should be getting a lot of if you are pregnant, including:

• Healthy fish, including salmon and tuna.
• Lean red meat that is loaded with protein.
• Poultry
• Nuts, especially walnuts, which contain the oils that help to prevent allergies from developing
• Low fat dairy products
• Flaxseed oil

It is important that you eat plenty of healthy foods while you are pregnant, and continue to do so while you are nursing. Of course, you should always be following a healthy diet anyway, but it is even more important for the health of your baby to make sure that you are eating the right foods.

It is a really good idea to talk to your physician or dietitian to learn about a healthy pregnancy diet. Make sure that you are getting plenty of the right fatty acids, and avoiding the bad fats, and you will help keep your baby from developing allergies, even later on in life, and you will be ensuring that you are doing everything possible to bring a healthy baby into the world.