Originally published June 16 2005
Emotional state of pregnant women affects eating habits, study says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A recent New York Times article said researchers at John's Hopkins found that pregnant women eat larger quantities and less healthy foods when stressed, anxious or fatigued, and physicians need to take mood into account when counseling pregnant women about their diets.
Stress and fatigue can lead pregnant women to change their eating habits, for better and for worse, a new study shows.
Writing in the current Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers from Johns Hopkins said that in general, the pregnant women studied ate more, if not more healthily, when they were fatigued, under stress or anxious.
The researchers followed the pregnancies of 134 women, periodically surveying them about their emotions and eating habits.
The women were checked for anxiety, depression, anger, fatigue and stress and asked about how much social support they were receiving.
Most reported taking in too little iron, folate and fiber and too much protein and fat, the study found.
But different patterns emerged when the researchers compared diet with mood.
Women who said they were fatigued, for example, reported taking in more energy over all, including more carbohydrates, fats, proteins and zinc.
Women who were under stress said they ate more breads, as well as fatty foods and sweets.
Anxious women also went for fats, oils and sweets, and they appeared to take in too little vitamin C.
The results, said Dr. Laura Caulfield, one of the researchers, suggest that doctors who are counseling women about their diets during pregnancy should take into account their emotional situation.
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml