Vegan mothers-to-be are five times more likely to develop pre-eclampsia during pregnancy than those who eat meat, new evidence has found.
A new study conducted by the University of Copenhagen also found that newborn babies weigh 240g less if their mothers ate a plant-based diet.
Vegan lifestyles are mainly adopted by older women, and studies show that older mothers-to-be are already at higher risk of developing health problems during pregnancy.
During the trial, a team of academics assessed the health status of approximately 66,000 pregnant women.
Each participant was asked about their dietary and supplement intake when they reached the 25-week mark.
Then we divided them into different groups. The omnivorous group (65,872 people) who do not avoid any meat products, the fish and poultry consumers who do not eat red meat (666 people), as well as vegetarians (183 people) and vegans (18 people). ).
They found that babies born to vegan mothers were the lightest, while vegetarian babies were 34g heavier than omnivores.
Additionally, vegan women had approximately 5.2 days longer pregnancies than women who ate animal products, the study reported.
Of the 18 vegan mothers in the study, two developed preeclampsia. Meanwhile, of the 65,872 mothers who ate meat, 1,680 had pregnancy complications.
Preeclampsia is a disease that causes high blood pressure during pregnancy and after childbirth. If left untreated, the condition can become serious.
Data shows that around 5% of pregnancies in the UK and US are affected by pre-eclampsia.
Reality star Kim Kardashian and singer Beyoncé were reportedly diagnosed with preeclampsia during their pregnancies.
The study found that vegan women consumed 33g less protein than omnivorous women.
Additionally, the study found that omnivores had four times more vitamin B12 intake than vegans.
Vitamin B12 is primarily found in cheese, fish, and meat, but all of these products are not suitable for consumption in a plant-based diet.
“Given the small number of vegans, our findings are subject to uncertainty,” the authors write.
They added: “The sample size was still sufficient to detect meaningful differences in consecutive birth outcomes.
“Our study found that vegans had a lower birth weight of approximately 240 g compared to omnivorous mothers, reinforcing our observation that vegans may be at increased risk of delivering low birth weight babies. It has been.”
Previous research has shown that fruits, vegetables, and whole grains contain antioxidants that help maintain a healthy pregnancy.
Previous research has also reported that red meat, processed foods, and refined carbohydrates may increase a woman's risk of miscarriage.
The results of this study are now published in the journal Acta Obstetricia Et Gynamicica Scandinavica.
