Women who follow a Mediterranean-style diet in the years before becoming pregnant could face a significantly reduced risk of developing hypertensive disorders during pregnancy, new research from Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» of Queensland (Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³») suggests.
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» researchers found that young women who followed a diet rich in vegetables, legumes, nuts, tofu, rice, pasta, rye bread, red wine and fish before pregnancy had a 42 per cent lower risk of developing gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia.
The researchers analysed dietary information relating to 6149 pregnancies in 3582 women aged 25 to 30 years in 2003, through data from the .
Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³» School of Public Health PhD candidate Ms Danielle Schoenaker said the study emphasised the importance of a healthy diet for young women.
“Diet is a modifiable factor, and encouraging young women to consume a Mediterranean-style diet could lower their risk of developing gestational hypertension and pre-eclampsia, Ms Schoenaker said.
“No individual food could fully explain the association with hypertensive disorders, which suggests it’s the combination of foods in the Mediterranean-style diet that is important.
“Hypertensive disorders are a common complication during pregnancy, and lead to an increased post-pregnancy risk of mothers and their children developing chronic diseases."
Ms Schoenaker stressed that the results indicated a clear relationship between a Mediterranean-style diet and a lower risk of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, but further studies were needed to confirm the findings.
This study is published in .
Media: Ms Danielle Schoenaker, d.schoenaker@uq.edu.au, 0451 450 198.