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Can preconception nutritional status affect a woman’s risk of bearing an autistic child?
A study recently published in The Journal of Epidemiology suggests that yes – a woman’s nutritional status before pregnancy may indeed play a significant role in whether or not her child ultimately develops autism.
The study involved 707 children ages 24-60 months old who had developed normally or who had been diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum disorder.
Researchers examined the supplementation habits of mothers enrolled in the study to determine whether vitamins and/or other supplements were consumed during the 3 months prior to pregnancy and throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding.
Statistical analysis of the results determined that mothers with children who had developed normally were much more likely to have consumed prenatal vitamins during the periconceptional period, defined as the 3 months prior to pregnancy through the first month of pregnancy.
The association between taking prenatal vitamins during the periconceptional period and normal child development was even stronger for children with a genetic susceptibility for autism.
Periconceptional Nutrition Vital to Your Child’s Health
This study provides scientific validation of the practice of Traditional Societies, where both parents-to-be consumed special, nutrient dense foods prior to conception in order to ensure the health and optimal physical development of their children. Â This period of nutrient dense feeding typically started 6 months to a year before conception and lasted throughout pregnancy and nursing.
While this study bolsters the idea that women need to consciously take action to ensure adequate nutritional status prior to conception, prenatal vitamins are not the best choice as most contain synthetic vitamins as well as fillers and other undesirable ingredients.
A factory produced pill can clearly never match the nutrition and absorption of those special whole, nutrient dense foods that Traditional Cultures emphasized for healthy babies!
What is the Optimal Periconceptional Diet?
The optimal diet prior to conception (ideally consumed by both parents) as well as during pregnancy and breastfeeding consists of the following guidelines as specified by the Weston A. Price Foundation (Healthy 4 Life Booklet) and are based on the food choices of 14 healthy and isolated populations consuming their native diets:
- Cod Liver Oil – to supply 20,000 IU of Vitamin A and 2,000 IU Vitamin D per day {where to find}
- Whole Raw Milk or Cheese – one quart whole raw milk or 4-5 ounces of cheese daily.
- Butter, Lard, and Coconut Oil – About 6 TBL daily {where to find}
- Eggs and Egg Yolks – 2 large eggs each day with extra egg yolks helpful.
- Fresh Seafood – several times per week {where to find}
- Fresh Meat – meat should be eaten daily with the fat or skin.  Lean meats are not desirable.
- Bone Broths – consumed alone or with soups or sauces.
- Properly Prepared Whole Grains – sprouted, soaked and/or sour leavened {where to find}
- LactoFermented Condiments – probiotic loaded foods like sauerkraut each day {where to find}
- Fruits and Vegetables – Fresh and organic is best.
Of course, optimal pre-pregnancy nutritional status involves not only eating the foods that are healthy for your baby but also avoiding those that are damaging.
Damaging foods during the periconceptional period, pregnancy and nursing include trans fats, vegetable oils, refined and artificial sweeteners, processed fried foods, junk foods, soy, white flour, soft drinks, and of course, caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs – even those medically prescribed.
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Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
Do anyone know if there are any research about decreasing birth defects risks related to advanced parent age by nutrition?
So what’s one supposed to do if your husband is not on board is the question!!
Lead by example and prepare as many nutrient-dense, tasty meals as possible. More bacon, eggs and cream for breakfast. And try to get him to take fermented cod liver oil in capsules if not by a spoon or in some juice or warm tea.
I am not as leery of vitamin and mineral supplementation but I have a better idea what I am looking for in terms of supplement quality. I have looked at the labels for some of these prenatal vitamins on the market now, though, and you won’t believe this but some of them contain *no vitamin A.* The beta carotene’s bad enough because the baby can do nothing with it whatsoever, and I think the mother will only convert as much as *she* needs. But nothing? No vitamin A and no beta carotene at all. That is what I’m seeing now. That is terrifying.
They are even telling pregnant women not to eat liver. Ever. So if you go on a real-foods diet, be very careful what you tell your doctor if they ask you a lot of questions about your diet. In my case it was a different person who asked me all the questions and the doctor just poked around and measured, but still, it’ll depend on your individual situation.
Lack of vitamin A (the real vitamin A, not beta carotene and not synthetic retinoids) can lead to vision problems and urinary tract defects in children. Most women going into pregnancy have vitamin A reserves, so you don’t see as much of the eye problems, but urinary tract defects are the most common type in the U.S. (so says the Mayo Clinic–Google it), and there *are* more and more kids in eyeglasses now.
And of course we’re eating less animal fat as a country than ever before–animal fat and cholesterol being important in brain growth.
I made sure to eat really well those months. Better than the rest of pregnancy, unfortunately. Hopefully my baby benefits from it. He’s due in three weeks.
This is pure speculation on my part – but – friends who have kids on the autism spectrum all seem to share some low-fat or vegan food choices when they were having their kids. And I remember hearing years ago that someone was treating autism with cream, eggs and bacon for breakfast for kids.
A friend, who lived in a vegan commune in the late 90s when she had her 2 boys, ate whole grains and produce, but she ate no animal fats. Both her boys have Aspergers. And other women I know ate margarine, coolwhip, fake creamer – on the mainstream side, or canola oil, soybean creations and weird fake health-food concoctions on the hippie side.
As my kids age and approach parenthood, I plan to encourage them to eat raw milk, cream, pastured eggs, butter, etc. That’s what they grew up with.
I think it’s a travesty that studies do not distinguish between real, whole foods and junk.
All fats or beef are lumped together in a study,
This is what I’ve gleaned over the years talking with moms of autism kids.
Thank you for this encouragement! My husband and I are on the GAPS diet now, and hope to be on it at least one year before trying to conceive our first baby. Sometimes it can get so tiring, so these reminders are very nice. 🙂
Now to force myself to take FCLO daily!
Hmm… I was big on pre-conception care and taking supplements but my son has autism and I do feel it is nutritionally related. I’m glad they found the link but I think your suggestions of pre-conception diet are more helpful than the promotion of supplements.
My Son is Autistic, and we are healing him through traditional foods, and various vitamins. It is a hard road, but going very well. I read in the GAPS book that the man’s gut does effect the women and the author goes into detail to explain how. I am not going to go into detail right here because it’s a bit…um… personal in description, but I would highly recommend reading the beginning part of her book for a full understanding. Also, my son’s research during the healing process, has been submitted into studies for the Defeat of Autism. His Doctor did tell me to consume all of the above foods before we have our next baby, but he also recommended 5000 IU of vitamin D3, in addition to the Cod Liver oil. Nice article Sarah!
This is the exact reason why I sought out traditional foods. My fiancee is on the autistic spectrum (Aspergers), so I want to give my future children the best start possible.
How important is the fathers diet to the conception process?
According to Traditional Cultures, the diet of the father was very important. That alone is enough for me, but some folks want scientific validation of historical, anecdotal evidence .. I have not yet seen any studies validating this. If someone knows of any, please link for all of us.
Ultimately, all you can control is youself, so if Mom’s diet is the only one that gets optimized prior to conception, it is what it is.
The risk of Down Syndrome increases with fathers age, not just mothers, so maybe there will eventually be evidence of father’s nutrition also affecting child’s health. There has also been discussion of possible health issues among children whose fathers were exposed to radiation at the Bikini Atoll nuclear test site.
I’d go ahead and say tremendously important. They’re constantly making sperm cells, whereas we make one or two new eggs a month. That’s a lot of chances to make a poor-quality germ cell if you’re not eating right.
Women are born with all the eggs they’ll ever have. They don’t make new eggs each month, they just release them.
Joan is right. Women do not “make” eggs. Our eggs are made before we are born. Our egg health is, in large part, dependent upon our mother’s diet and health. Eat well for your
grandchildren!
Yes women are born with all their eggs, but they are not fully developed. It takes approximately 3 months for an egg to fully develop and become viable before it is released for possible fertilization. Therefore a woman’s preconception diet it very important to the health of her eggs, as it is providing the nutrients needed to develop that egg.
To paraphrase Donielle Baker (naturallyknockedup.com) in her talk from the Real Food Summit, the preconception diet for both parents is so important, starting at least 4 months if not longer beforehand, in order to help the DNA that’s actually in the egg and the sperm and to maximize the genetic material that’s passed down to the baby. And as discussed in Catherine Shanahan’s book Deep Nutrition, the nutrition of the parents (and their parents) plays a key role in speaking to our genes and how our genetic potential plays out.