Macronutrient and Micronutrient Intake during Pregnancy: An Overview of Recent Evidence

Abstract

Nutritional status during pregnancy can have a significant impact on maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Requirements for macronutrients such as energy and protein increase during pregnancy to maintain maternal homeostasis while supporting foetal growth. Energy restriction can limit gestational weight gain in women with obesity; however, there is insufficient evidence to support energy restriction during pregnancy. In undernourished women, balanced energy/protein supplementation may increase birthweight whereas high protein supplementation could have adverse effects on foetal growth. Modulating carbohydrate intake via a reduced glycaemic index or glycaemic load diet may prevent gestational diabetes and large-for-gestational-age infants. Certain micronutrients are also vital for improving pregnancy outcomes, including folic acid to prevent neural tube defects and iodine to prevent cretinism. Newly published studies support the use of calcium supplementation to prevent hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, particularly in women at high risk or with low dietary calcium intake. Although gaps in knowledge remain, research linking nutrition during pregnancy to maternofoetal outcomes has made dramatic advances over the last few years. In this review, we provide an overview of the most recent evidence pertaining to macronutrient and micronutrient requirements during pregnancy, the risks and consequences of deficiencies and the effects of supplementation on pregnancy outcomes.

The Nutritional Behaviour of Pregnant Women in Poland

“…Nutrients in a women’s diet are important for a child’s development during gestation, particularly: folic acid, calcium, iodine, iron, zinc and long-chain polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids [19,20]. Deficiencies can often occur during this period.…”

Significant Effects of Maternal Diet During Pregnancy on the Murine Fetal Brain Transcriptome and Offspring Behavior

“…These micronutrients have all been shown to influence neurodevelopment in both human and animal model studies (Beard and Connor, 2003;Armony-Sivan et al, 2004;Hirzel et al, 2006;Corniola et al, 2008;Gao et al, 2009;Adamo and Oteiza, 2010;Gogia and Sachdev, 2012;Chung et al, 2015;Claus Henn et al, 2017). Maternal supplementation of these micronutrients has been demonstrated to improve neonatal and pregnancy outcomes, including incidence of congenital anomalies, low birth weight, low IQ or developmental delay, preterm birth, preeclampsia, and preterm premature rupture of membranes (Keats et al, 2019;Mousa et al, 2019). It is important to note the limitations of available data on the impact of particular micronutrients on fetal and offspring brain development, particularly data from human cohorts.…”

“…The powdered chow was also relatively deficient in all vitamins, with vitamins A, B1, B2, Niacin, B6, pantothenic acid, B12, biotin, and folate all two-to four-fold higher in pelleted chow and Vitamin E 1000-fold higher in pelleted chow. Vitamins A, E, B6, B12 and folic acid have all been demonstrated to impact brain development, with deficiency during key developmental windows associated in human cohorts with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes including cognitive and motor deficits, as well as autism spectrum disorder (Dias et al, 2013;Wachs et al, 2014;Altamimi, 2018;Mousa et al, 2019). Vitamin E, which was 1000-fold lower in the powdered chow diet, is known to serve as an antioxidant, with fetal neuroprotective effects demonstrated primarily inrat and hamster models in the setting of maternal toxic exposures and/or oxidative stress (Erdemli et al, 2016;Sampayo-Reyes et al, 2017;Sakamoto et al, 2018;Zhang Y. et al, 2018).…”

“…While the impact of maternal macronutrient and micronutrient intake in pregnancy has been examined in several human observational studies, these focus primarily on the impact of maternal intake on pregnancy outcomes such as preeclampsia and preterm birth, on fetal growth trajectory, and on neonatal outcomes such as small-and large-for-gestational age, and incidence of congenital anomalies (Mousa et al, 2019). Fewer studies have focused directly on the impact of maternal pregnancy and lactational nutrition on fetal brain development and offspring behavior (Prado and Dewey, 2014;Li et al, 2019).…”

<i>Bredemeyera floribunda</i> Wild Elemental Content and Comparison with Nutritional Recommendation for Adults: Medicinal Plant Used by the Brazilian Rural Population to Treat Fatigue and Exhaustion

“…The main objective of this study was 1) to report the method of preparation of the so-called "B. floribunda fortifier" and its dosage, 2) to compare the contents of B. floribunda roots detected in [28] with tolerable maximum intake levels established by Dietary Reference Intakes (RDI) for males, females and lactating aged 19 -50 years [30], and 3) to compare the values with those recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and other countries for medicinal plants. Macro-and micronutrients requirements vary depending on age and sex [30], as well as, level of physical activity, dietary habits and pregnancy are also important factors [31]. According to studies, breastfeeding women have higher nutritional needs due to their increased physiological body needs to breastfeed the baby [32].…”