Low-Carb Dieting During Pregnancy May Benefit Your Baby!

 by: Melissa White

As low-carb dieters change there eating habits, it is likely that these habits will stay with them. There is no surprise then that more and more pregnant woman are trying to maintain there low-carb routine during the months of pregnancy. There are new studies being done on low-carb dieting that point to the fat that there may be benefits in the long run for children of low-carb dieting.

Scientists from the Southampton School of Medicine have used mice to study the benefits of low-carb diets during gestation. It was found that pups born to mice fed a high-unsaturated protein and fat diet and low In carbohydrates were more likely to have low liver triglyceride levels that the pups born to mice fed a standard diet which was high-carb and low-fat. Low-carb pups also had higher amount of protein that help in burning fat than the pups that were on the standard diet.

The mother mice were put on either the low-carb diet or the high-carb/low fat diets six weeks prior to being impregnated and stayed on the diets throughout there entire pregnancy as well as the duration of nursing. Post weaning all pups were fed the same high-carb diet, despite this fact, the pups born to the low-carb mothers were found to have significantly greater levels of the hepatic proteins CD36, CPT-1 and PPARá, which help with fatty acid oxidation.

The mice on the low-carb diet ate about 21 percent less than the high-carb/low fat diet. These low-carb mothers also consumed about 57 percent fewer carbs, 23 percent more protein, and 153 percent more fat than the high-carb mothers.

Humans too need to maintain low levels of liver triglyceride and a good lipid (fat) metabolism. This will help reduce the risk of coronary artery disease. This disease alone kills thousands of Americans each year.