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Raphaël Gruman (nutritionist)
According to a recent study, the so-called “Mediterranean” diet, frequently mentioned to reduce cardiovascular risks, would also have a protective effect during pregnancy, in particular on the risk factors of an unfavorable outcome.
We knew the Mediterranean diet, made of fresh products, legumes and good fats, beneficial to fight against cardiovascular diseases. We now know that this same diet consumed at the time of conception of a baby and throughout pregnancy, can also prevent the risk of seeing a difficult outcome looming (preeclampsia or eclampsia, gestational hypertension, premature birth). Indeed, it is the result of an American cohort study conducted on a wide variety of women, aimed at verifying the existing associations between this healthy diet and the risks at the end of pregnancy. An approach that had not been studied so far.
Crossing the mother’s diet with the risks of end of pregnancy
The research was conducted from a multicenter prospective cohort study, the study Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study: Monitoring Mothers-to-Bewhich recruited 10,038 women between October 1, 2010 and September 30, 2013, with a final analytical sample of 7,798 ethnically and geographically diverse women with singleton pregnancies.
Data analyzes were performed between June 3, 2021 and April 7, 2022 and exposure to an alternative Mediterranean diet was assessed by a score (low, 0-3; moderate, 4-5; and high, 6- 9) was calculated from data on usual diet during the 3 months around conception.
This score has thus been prospectively compared to the following elements which may occur during or at the end of pregnancy:
21% less risk of facing an unfavorable outcome
In this cohort study of 7,798 women, greater concordance with a Mediterranean diet was significantly associated with a 21% lower risk of developing an adverse pregnancy outcome. According to the results discovered, following a moderate Mediterranean diet (i.e. between 4 and 5) would effectively reduce the risk of end of pregnancy:
- A 21% lower chance of any adverse outcome generally ;
- A 28% lower chance of pre-eclampsia or eclampsia ;
- 37% lower risk of gestational diabetes.
There were no differences by race, ethnicity and pre-pregnancy body mass index, but the associations were stronger in women aged 35 or older.
In conclusion, researchers have therefore managed to prove the benefits of such a diet during pregnancy. By projection, the team also intends to study the possible relationship of a Mediterranean diet at the time of conception with the future development of cardiovascular disease risk factors during life.
A diet to adopt also in Europe
If the Mediterranean diet is scrutinized here on an American population, for Raphaël Gruman, nutritionist, member of the Doctissimo expert committee and in the middle of writing a book on diet during pregnancy, it represents an excellent alternative here too:
“The Mediterranean diet is indeed beneficial during pregnancy to avoid any risk of miscarriage or complication during this period. According to the study, this is particularly true in older women who have a greater risk of miscarriage. Concerning geriatric pregnancies which are more often associated with risk of preeclampsia, this diet also brings benefits because it is adapted to reduce arterial hypertension.”
But this is not its only interest:
“It also allows you to better control your weight during pregnancy, another risk factor during a “complicated” pregnancy, but also to control cravings and to diversify the diet to avoid any risk of deficiency. It is therefore completely makes it possible to adopt this diet from the first days of pregnancy and to maintain it until delivery, even afterwards, moreover, during the breastfeeding phase.