A study recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology reconfirms the importance of Vitamin A in the diet of expectant mothers. Indeed, Norwegian researchers studying maternal intake of vitamin A found that those women with higher intake of the vitamin bore fewer babies with cleft palates. Of course, these findings should come as no surprise since consistent studies prove that what a mother eats before conception and during pregnancy affects the development of her baby. This study comes on the heels of another which examined the relationship between a maternal modern western diet and incidence of cleft palate in the offspring. Again, mothers eating a modern diet doubled their risk of giving birth to a baby with cleft palate.
It seems that traditional societies–free from the trappings of the modern, processed diet–already knew that a proper, wholesome diet was critical for mothers-to-be. Many unindustrialized tribes went to great lengths to secure special foods for expectant mothers and those men and women who intended to conceive. Tribes across the world consistently and almost instinctively sought foods like crab, fish roe, liver, spring butter and other foods that are now known to be nutrient-rich and particularly dense in omega-3 fatty acids and the vitamins A and D.
Those mothers who ate their traditional, nutrient-rich diet rarely gave birth to offspring who suffered from cleft palates; however, mothers who abandoned the diet of their ancestors and adopted a modern diet heavy in processed foods like white flour and white sugar and lacking in essential vitamins gave birth to babies with a higher incidence of cleft palate and other birth defects.
The simple truth is that adequate vitamin A intake is critical not only to the health of the mother, but to the lifelong health of her baby. Indeed, the vitamin’s effects expand beyond the facial and palate development of a baby. If an expectant mother’s vitamin A intake is too low during her pregnancy, her baby’s vitamin A status will be low at birth. Low vitamin A status in neonates is associated with depressed immune function and higher mortality from infectious disease. That means that if a woman doesn’t take in adequate amounts of the vitamin during pregnancy, her baby is more likely to become sick and is more likely to die than if she had eaten a diet rich in the essential nutrient. Indeed, low vitamin A status is even linked to higher mother-child transmission of HIV.
The current recommendations for vitamin A intake are pitifully low, but still elementally protective. Women are encouraged to take in a minimum of 900 IU vitamin A daily and not exceed 10,000 IU. One 1999 study examined the incidence of birth defects in women taking upwards of 50,000 IU Vitamin A; in 120 births there was no incident of congenital malformation.
It is, therefore, essential for expectant and nursing mothers to consume adequate amounts of vitamin A. Good sources of true vitamin A include liver, cod liver oil and fish roe. Beta-carotene is a precursor to vitamin A and found in many vegetables including leafy greens and the famous carrot.
It’s important to note that while beta-carotene is vital nutrient and essential to health for its antioxidant capacities it is not a true form of vitamin A; rather it is a provitamin or precursor to actual vitamin A. It must be metabolized by the body and converted into vitamin A. Unfortunately, the body’s ability to metabolize and convert beta-carotene to vitamin A is inefficient and recent studies have indicated that our bodies are even less efficient at making this conversion than scientists used to think. Indeed, early studies indicate that under optimal conditions humans can convert beta-carotene to vitamin A at a ratio of 6:1 but more recent studies indicate that the true ratio is as high as 21:1 meaning that, under optimal conditions, you’ll need twenty-one units of beta-carotene to form one unit of vitamin A.
A 2001 study found that few people absorb enough dietary beta-carotene to make much of a difference and that limited amount that is absorbed is so poorly converted into vitamin A as to render it insignificant. The conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A is even more difficult and almost impossible for children, infants and those with health concerns such as thyroid disease or diabetes. That is why it is critical to provide yourself and your family with vitamin A from natural, animal sources.
© Jenny for Nourished Kitchen, 2008. |
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