Maternal diets with a high intake of beef and pork, eggs and chicken may prevent wheezing in their offspring

This post contains a synopsis of a study published in Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 2011 May 4 and a recipe for winter soup.

Study title and authors:
Maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and risk of wheeze and eczema in Japanese infants aged 16-24 months: The Osaka Maternal and Child Health Study.
Miyake Y, Okubo H, Sasaki S, Tanaka K, Hirota Y.
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan Department of Social and Preventive Epidemiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Department of Public Health, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21539616

Books:

The study examined the relationship between maternal dietary patterns during pregnancy and the risk of wheeze and eczema in the offspring aged 16-24 months in 763 mother-child pairs.

Three maternal dietary patterns emerged:
(i) "Healthy" which included a high intake of green and yellow vegetables, seaweed, mushrooms, white vegetables, pulses, potatoes and fruit.
(ii) "Japanese" which included a high intake of rice and miso soup
(iii) "Western" which included a high intake of beef and pork, eggs and chicken.

The study found:
(a) The "Healthy" and "Japanese" diets had no effect on childhood wheeze or eczema.
(b) The offspring of the mothers who had the highest amount of "Western" style diet (high intake of beef and pork, eggs and chicken) had a 41% decrease in childhood wheeze.

Miyake concluded: The maternal Western diet during pregnancy may be preventive against wheeze in the offspring.

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Recipe of the day

Quick and Easy Winter Soup

Ingredients:

Food Mall: Stew Meat

1.5 lbs stew meat, diced

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced

4 carrots, chopped
1 purple onion, diced
4-6 garlic cloves, minced
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups beef broth
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Black pepper to taste

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, mix well and cook on low for 8 hours. This is a great base for soup that you can be more creative with! Try adding in some cayenne for a kick, more or different veggies.

Winter Soup