According to new Australian study findings from the University of NSW, mums don’t need to eat for two during pregnancy. A number of metabolic changes that occur during pregnancy, allow pregnant women to conserve more energy and extract more calories from food so they can lay down the fat stores needed for a healthy pregnancy without eating more. There are changes in gut bacteria to resistance to insulin and leptin, a hormone associated with the feeling of being full also allow them to extract more energy.
So, rather than eating more calories in a day and justifying that it’s ‘OK’ to intake twice the amount of food you’d usually eat, mums can continue on with their usual diet and their baby will get all the nutrients they need.
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The findings warn women who do eat a lot more during pregnancy may put on too much weight, putting them at risk of pregnancy complications including gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia. The mother could become obese and her baby could be at risk of premature death from heart disease, it says.
University of NSW researcher Professor Tony O’Sullivan says the findings “suggest the need for reassessment of nutritional advice given to pregnant women, as current advice to increase energy intake may be increasing the risk of excessive gestational weight gain”.
This news may not be what you’d like to hear, however, it’s great for women who’re in love with their fitness regime.
