Many of you will have noticed that nutritional information and advice can sometimes be widely contradictory and therefore very confusing. I usually mention this at the start of any talk I may give. One of examples I often cite is the general recommendation to eat a low-fat, high-carb diet, though on the other hand some [...]

Here in the UK we are told that, generally speaking, women are electing to have children later and later in life. One obvious potential problem with this is that fertility generally falls off from about their mid 30s. So, by the time a woman decides she wants to have children, there is the risk that [...]

Earlier this month I focused one of my blogs on the apparently beneficial role of fish/omega-3 consumption during pregnancy [1]. The omega-3 fats found abundantly in certain fish have been linked with a variety of potential benefits including better neurological development of the foetus and reduced risk of post-natal depression. Other research has linked inadequate [...]

One of the burgeoning fields in nutrition concerns the influence that maternal diet can have on the health and development of her unborn child. Every baby starts out as an egg and a sperm, and ends up, say, 6 or 7 pounds in weight. The vast majority of a baby is composed of what the [...]

Today I was reading about a study presented this week at the American Thoracic Society conference which has found an association between eating apples in pregnancy and relative protection from asthma in childhood. This research found that women eating four or more apples a week were about half as likely to have an asthmatic child [...]

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the role that specific nutrients may play in helping ensure a healthy pregnancy. In addition to folic acid, another specific nutrient that has been the focus of attention are the so-called ‘omega-3’ fats found in oily fish such as salmon, mackerel and sardine. These [...]

The home page of drbriffa.com asks: “Ever noticed how health advice, especially natural health advice, can seem to flick-flack from one extreme to another?” Well, another example of the way health advice can seemingly blow in the wind came about this week when pregnant women were advised to be on ‘oily fish alert’. [...]

This week I’ve been working outside Toronto, and today found my eye diverted by a story on the front cover of the Canadian Globe and Mail about the use of nutritional supplements in pregnancy. The research, published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada (1) was a meta-analysis of studies in [...]

Folic acid enjoys a reputation as the pre-eminent pregnancy nutrient, one that is based on its ability to help ward against what are known as neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida. However, recent evidence suggests that folic acid may have broader benefits for babies: a study has suggested that adequate levels of [...]

Whilst most would-be mums will be cognisant of folic acid’s role in the prevention of birth defects such as spina bifida, they may be less familiar with other dietary factors that can influence the development of their unborn child. For instance, evidence suggests that certain nutritional elements found in fish can contribute to the [...]

While pregnancy and the life it creates is a wonderful thing, it can also be a significant nutritional drain on the mother. One nutrient that pregnancy can leave a woman short on is iron, and I was interested to read a report recently regarding the impact of this mineral has on the bonding of [...]