Pregnancy is a time when everyone offers you advice about your diet, what you should eat, what you should avoid and how often you should consume which food. There is no dearth of studies and research on the effects of certain food groups on gestating women.
Fruits are an essential food group, which offer a myriad of benefits for moms-to-be. They contain essential vitamins that promote your unborn baby’s development. According to a recent study in Canada, fruits could also increase your baby’s IQ. In other words, adequate fruit in your diet during pregnancy can increase your baby’s IQ, even while he is in the womb.
Apricots, cherries, grapes, guavas, apples, mangoes, and many other fruits are all good for a pregnant woman, and can potentially help your baby get a head-start over all the competition.
According to the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development study, it was found that pregnant women who ate five to seven portions of fruits every day gave birth to babies who placed six to seven points higher on the IQ scale than their peers whose moms hadn’t had as much fruit during pregnancy.
Senior study author Dr. Piush Mandhane says, “We know that the longer a child is in the womb, the further he develops. One extra portion of fruit consumed by the mother every day has the same effect as being born a whole week later.”
The babies were marked on the Bayley scale of infant development. The measure considers varied factors like attention span, visual preference, memory and exploration.
While the results of the study were encouraging, and more women are urged to include fruits in their pregnancy diet, the scientists also noted that postnatal fruit consumption in babies did not seem to affect their IQ levels.
So, here is another reason why you must include fruit in your pregnancy diet. What fruits did you consume during pregnancy? How did it help you? Tell us about it below.