Protein Lessons Learned from the Womb

This is the second entry regarding the conference I recently attended on what can shape your future before you were born.

One fascinating tidbit was the research on protein intake of pregnant women.  Before we talk about the results here’s a few quick physiology lesson.

Your pancreas is the organ which produces a hormone called insulin.  Insulin is essential to life since it allows all the cells of your body to be “fed.”  Inside the pancreas are critical cells called beta cells which produce the insulin.

If your beta cells start to die off you become a high risk for diabetes.  Research showed that when pregnant women ate a low protein diet the number of beta cells decreased.

One take home message for pregnant women is the importance of protein intake throughout their pregnancies.  For the majority of us this information can show us the importance of protein on a daily basis.

Not only is protein critical during pregnancy to maintain beta-cells, but during your lifespan eating protein throughout the day can keep your blood sugars even keeled and possibly keep your beta cells alive and well.

Easy sources of protein are eggs, cottage cheese, lean red meat, poultry, fish, nuts/seeds, nut butters, plain yogurt, low fat milk, and cheese.  Eating protein is an easy change to avoiding diabetes – and nothing lost - but gaining important cells to help your sugars.

The Genetics of Weight and Diabetes

A few weeks back I attended an international conference on pregnancy induced diabetes also known gestational diabetes.  Little did I know the surprise I was in for with the most fascinating and disturbing information I have ever heard on these topics.   Over the next few blogs I’ll share some of those insights, some of which may surprise you.

The conference gave details of what happens in the womb to determine whether or not you become overweight or have a predisposition towards diabetes. 

A prominent topic we hear about in research is inflammation in the body.  Inflammation is believed to be the precursor of most medical issues – weight, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and arthritis to name a few.

Excess weight or fat prior to pregnancy can significantly increase the chances of the placenta transferring inflammatory hormones to the baby.  These hormones can increase the baby’s chance of an increased body fat or a higher triglyceride level.

What does this mean?  Babies born to overweight or diabetic moms have almost double the body fat of normal weight or non-diabetic moms.  Starting out with a higher body fat as an infant drives obesity in childhood and adulthood.  A higher triglyceride level (the storage form of fat in the blood) can increase the risk of fatty liver disease and obesity in children.

What is the take home message here?  It depends on where you are in your journey of life.  If you are planning to become pregnant it is in the best interest of your future child to have the healthiest body and diet before conception.

If you are someone who struggles with weight or diabetes, it is important to know that part of your struggle happened before you even entered the world.  I have struggled my whole life with managing my weight and working hard not to become diabetic.  After this conference I had much more empathy for myself in this journey.  I knew I had power over my lifestyle factors but the backbone of the struggle I had no control over. 

Work with your body and know there is hope.  Keep your diet clean, exercise as much as you can, and get your rest.  One bright spot presented with this information was the power of omega 3 fats to promote resolution of the inflammation both in vitro and later in life.  Daily fish oil and flax seed is one easy thing to add to your lifestyle regimen – even if you are not planning to have a baby all too soon.

Juice equals Soda?

The last 2 lectures I gave were well received, with the individuals open to knowing new information except for one thing that touched a raw nerve – my assessment of drinking juice.  This morning’s Los Angeles Times sums up what I have been saying:  drinking juice is equal to the same amount of sugar as drinking a glass of soda.  This information has not been well received.  Many people like their morning juice!

What exactly are the experts saying? Dr. Charles Billington, a researcher in obesity at the University of Minnesota, quoted in the Times article, states that juice is “pretty much the same as sugar water.”  Think of all the oranges or apples you would have to squeeze to obtain a cup of juice.  You are drinking all the sugar from the juice minus the fiber that helps stabilize your blood sugar when eating the fruit. 

Earlier this year a new study showed that women drinking juice during their pregnancies have a 37% higher rate of gestational diabetes.  Numerous studies show that a high concentration of fructose not only increases fatty liver but also makes your brain deaf to leptin, the hormone that lowers your appetite.  Studies with children drinking juice show they are more than twice as likely to have weight issues as children who don’t consume juice.

So the bottom line on juice?  Enjoy once in a while but stick to drinking water or other beverages without the extra sugar.  Your body and liver will thank you!

Gestational Diabetes

Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times had a review on how treating both mild gestational diabetes in addition to gestational diabetes leads to less preterm births and fewer cases of problems with pregnancy and delivery.

Since pregnancy is a state of insulin resistance, many pregnant women are susceptible to blood sugar changes.  Women with gestational diabetes (diabetes brought on by hormones in pregnancy) have a high propensity to have diabetes later in life.  Gestational diabetes mellitus is defined as carbohydrate intolerance of variable severity with onset of first recognition during pregnancy.

Having gestational diabetes can almost be looked at as a blessing since it is a forewarning and can be treated.  If women with gestational diabetes change their diets and lifestyle both during pregnancy and afterward, they can avoid getting adult onset or Type 2 diabetes in the future.  Of course, this is not always the case, but a diet and exercise alteration now can deter or obliterate diabetes later in life for many women.

Treating gestational diabetes can be as simple as eating more protein with a balance of healthy carbohydrates from vegetables, fruits and dairy products with healthy sources of fats such as nuts, seeds, peanut or other nut butters and avocado. 

Checking the blood sugars one and a half to two hours after eating can also be helpful in terms of knowing how your food is affecting you right now.  It is important to get help from a Registered Dietitian who is familiar with diabetes in pregnancy and can help you stay on track.  I have more detailed information on pregnancy and gestational diabetes in my new book A Recipe for Life by the Doctor’s Dietitian, which became available last week.