Pregnancy the Benefits of Fatty Fish Confirmed by a Study

Pregnant women can really help to improve the sight and brain development of the unborn baby by eating fatty fish regularly. A new study confirms this.

Countless studies highlight the benefits of (reasonable) consumption of oily fish during pregnancy, for the health of the fetus, including brain development. For those who still doubt it, here is a new study that reaffirms the virtues of oily fish for the future baby.

Conducted by the University and University Hospital of Turku, Finland, this study was published in the journal Pediatric Research. According to this, the mother's diet during pregnancy and breast feeding is the main way to provide the fetus with the long-chain poly unsaturated fatty acids necessary for the proper development of the brain and sight. They play a key role in the formation of the retina and synapses, an intersection between two neurons in which chemical messengers (dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, etc.) circulate.

The researchers analyzed data from 56 mothers and their children. During their pregnancy, the participants kept a food diary and underwent tests to measure their blood glucose and blood pressure. Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid levels were measured in the blood of pregnant women and then their one-month-old child.


 As a result, later visual tests revealed that infants whose mothers ate fish three times a week or more during the third trimester of pregnancy were doing better than those whose mothers had eaten less or no fish this trimester.

 "The results of our study suggest that frequent consumption of fish by pregnant women is beneficial for the development of their unborn child. This may be due to long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in fish, but also to other nutrients such as vitamin D and E, which are also important for development, "said Kirsi Laitinen, co-author of this work. "Our study therefore highlights the potential importance of subtle changes in the diet of healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies, beyond prematurity or nutritional deficiencies, in the regulation of infant neurological development," Kirsi added. Laitinen.

 Note that to limit exposure to heavy metals such as mercury, we will favor fatty fish at the bottom of the food chain, such as sardines or mackerel.