Wellness Foods - June 2008 - (Page 4)

HEALTHBITES Can diet affect gender of offspring? There is nothing like a sugar-laden breakfast to boost a woman’s chances of conceiving a son, according to researchers at the University of Exeter in Britain. Likewise, a low-energy diet low in calories, minerals and nutrients is more likely to produce a girl. The team came to that conclusion after asking 740 first-time moms-to-be to provide detailed records of their heating habits before and after they became pregnant. Fifty-six percent of the women in the group with the highest energy intake had sons, compared to 45 percent in the less-well-fed cohort. Besides higher calories, the group that produced more males consumed a wider range of nutrients, including potassium, calcium and vitamins C, E and B12. The odds of an XY, or male, outcome to a pregnancy also went up for women who consumed at least one bowl of breakfast cereal daily. These surprising findings are consistent with a very gradual shift in favor of girls over the last four decades in the sex ratio of newborns, according to the researchers. While the mechanism is not yet understood, it is known from in vitro fertilization research that higher levels of glucose encourage the growth and development of male embryos while inhibiting female embryos. A pregnant pause Indulging in chocolate during pregnancy could help ward off a serious complication known as preeclampsia, in which blood pressure spikes during pregnancy while excess protein is released into the urine, according to researchers at Yale University in New Haven, Conn. Rich in theobromine, chocolate (especially dark chocolate) stimulates the heart, relaxes smooth muscle and dilates blood vessels. It’s been used to treat chest pain, high blood pressure, and hardening of the arteries. The researchers looked at 2,291 women who delivered a single infant, and asked them about how much chocolate they consumed in their first and third trimesters. They also tested the levels of theobromine in infants’ umbilical cord blood, reports Epidemiology (May 2008). Women in the highest quarter for cord blood theobromine were 69 percent less likely to develop the complication than those in the lowest quarter. Togetherness is the key Television viewing has long been linked with poor eating habits, so researchers at the University of Minnesota embarking on a study of family meals fully expected that having the TV on at dinner would take a toll on children’s diets. They were surprised to find that families who watched TV at dinner ate just about as healthfully as families who dined without it. The biggest factor wasn’t whether the TV was on or off but whether the family was eating the meal together. Some 5,000 middle and high school students in Minneapolis and St. Paul were surveyed. The biggest effect was among the kids who didn’t eat regular family meals at all. Girls who dined alone ate fewer fruits, vegetables and calcium-rich foods and more soft drinks and snack foods than girls who ate with their parents. Boys who didn’t eat with their parents had fewer vegetables and calcium-rich foods than family diners. www.wellnessfoodsonline.com Food Processing’s Wellness Foods™ http://www.activin.com http://www.activin.com http://www.wellnessfoodsonline.com

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Wellness Foods - June 2008 Feeding Baby B12 Pumps Up Energy Drinks Strong as Iron The Lure of Lignans

Wellness Foods - June 2008

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