Consumption of Animal Fat Linked to Gestational Diabetes

ROCKVILLE, Md.Women who consume a  diet high in animal fat and cholesterol before becoming pregnant have an increased risk of developing gestational diabetes during pregnancy, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health and Harvard University. Women whose diets were high in total fat or other kinds of fats, but not in animal fat or cholesterol, did not have an increased risk.

Gestational diabetes is a form of diabetes seen during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes increases the risk for certain pregnancy complications, as well as health problems in the newborn.
The researchers used information from more than 13,000 women participating in the Nurses Health Study II. The women were 22 to 45 years old when they enrolled in the study. Every two years they responded to questions on their general health, pregnancy status, and lifestyle habits, such as consuming alcohol or smoking. In addition, every four years they completed a comprehensive survey about the kinds of food and drink they consumed.
About 6 percent of the participants reported having been diagnosed with gestational diabetes. The researchers calculated the amount of animal fat in participants diets as a percentage of total calories and divided participants into five groups, or quintiles, based on those percentages. Then the researchers compared the risk for developing gestational diabetes for each group. Women in the highest quintile of intake had almost double the risk for gestational diabetes compared to women in the lowest quintile.
They also observed that women in the highest quintile for cholesterol consumption were 45 percent more likely to develop gestational diabetes than were women in the lowest quintile.
The increased risk for gestational diabetes seen with animal fat and cholesterol also appeared to be independent of other, dietary and non-dietary, risk factors for gestational diabetes. For example, exercise is known to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes. Among women who exercised, however, those who consumed higher amounts of animal fat and cholesterol had a higher risk than those whose diets were lower in these types of fat.

This is the largest study to date of the effects of a pre-pregnancy diet on gestational diabetes," according to first author Katherine Bowers, Ph.D. Additional research may lead to increased understanding of how a mothers diet before and during pregnancy influences her metabolism during pregnancy, which may have important implications for the babys health at birth and later in life."