Dr. Mercola July 20 2002 790 views
Consuming vitamin C-rich foods may lower the risk of developing dangerously high blood pressure in pregnancy.
Preeclampsia is a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure and swelling in the legs that affects as many as 1 in 10 women pregnant for the first time. If left untreated, preeclampsia can develop into eclampsia, a life-threatening condition in which a woman has convulsive seizures in late pregnancy or during the first week after delivery.
An estimated 50,000 women per year worldwide die from preeclampsia.
While there is no way to prevent or treat the condition other than elective delivery of the fetus, consuming foods rich in vitamin C or taking vitamin C supplements during pregnancy might lower the risk.
Preeclampsia is thought to be caused by oxidative stress to blood vessels, which occurs when damaging compounds called free radicals are released during normal body processes. Vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning it can help fight damage from oxidative stress.
Women who reported eating less than the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables daily up to a year before delivery were nearly twice as likely to develop preeclampsia.
And women who consumed less than 85 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C daily, as calculated from their self-reported diets, were twice as likely to be diagnosed with preeclampsia. The recommended daily intake for vitamin C is 85 mg for adults and more for pregnant women.
Finally, women with the lowest levels of vitamin C in the blood during labor were nearly four times more likely to be diagnosed with preeclampsia, compared with women who had the highest levels, regardless of their age, calorie intake, and whether or not they were overweight before pregnancy.
Epidemiology July 2002;13:409-416
While vitamin C appears to be protective, a careful read of the study suggests they only tracked foods containing vitamin C, not vitamin supplements. In 2001, I posted a study demonstrating the same results. Whole foods are the key to preventing yet another complication.
Unfortunately, I only recently appreciated the fact that omega-3 fats, commonly found in fish oil, are also useful in preventing the common pregnancy complication, preeclampsia. This was known as recently as 1995. Another study, published earlier this year in the British Medical Journal, showed that fish oil consumption is also associated with a lower risk of premature delivery.
I contacted the leading nutritional physicians across the country, but they could only provide suggestions regarding vitamin B6 and magnesium. They were also clueless, as I once was, about the importance of omega-3 fats in preventing the pregnancy complication. Yet another benefit of consuming omega-3 fats during pregnancy is that they do dramatic wonders to improve the health of the children.
A natural solution is always most welcome. It appears that vitamin C (whole vegetables and fruits) can now be added to omega-3 (fish oil) and other nutritional therapies that appear to be helpful for this problem. The list now includes:
Fish oil Whole vegetables and fruits Vitamin B2, B6, and B12 Folic acid Calcium Magnesium
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