The healthier a woman’s diet while pregnant, the better her future child’s health will be. Now research has discovered specific ways to reduce the risk of allergies and autoimmune disease in a child.

These findings were published in the journal Plos Medicine. It is a high quality study and is titled Diet during pregnancy and infancy and risk of allergic or autoimmune disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The researchers searched through all previously published data on the subject between 1946 and 2017.

Evidence from 19 clinical trials showed that oral supplementation with probiotics during late pregnancy and throughout breastfeeding may reduce the risk of eczema. Supplementing with fish oil during pregnancy and breastfeeding reduced the risk of egg allergy in infants. Longer exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a reduced risk of type 1 diabetes in children.

Our patients with allergies or autoimmune disease are usually concerned about passing on similar health problems to their children. It’s good to see that some quality research has shown how to reduce the risk. Eczema, food allergy and autoimmune conditions are far more prevalent in today’s children than a generation ago. This is largely due to problems with the parents’ immune system, as well as nutritional deficiencies while a woman is pregnant.

That’s why it’s important for a woman to work on improving her health as much as possible before falling pregnant. Fish oil is high in omega 3 fats, which have excellent anti inflammatory properties, and are largely deficient in modern diets. Vitamin D wasn’t mentioned in this particular research, but other studies have shown it too helps reduce allergies in infants.

Taking a probiotic like Floratone during pregnancy and breastfeeding helps to ensure the mother passes on beneficial bacteria to establish a healthy immune system in her child. Approximately 70 to 80 percent of our immune system resides in our gut, thus probiotics are extremely helpful. For more information see our book Healing Autoimmune Disease: A plan to help your immune system and reduce inflammation.

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