Pregnancy
You can influence the allergic risk of your child while pregnant.
Gestational weight gain
Gaining weight while pregnant is natural and healthy, but gaining too much weight can increase your child's allergic risk.
Recommendations are different for every person, so consult with your doctor for a personalized plan. General guidelines, based on research, show that less than 20lbs of weight gain is preventative for allergies, while greater than 33lbs of weight gain increases risk.10
Healthy diet
Diet is one way to facilitate healthy gestational weight gain, but it also has other benefits.
Adherence to a Mediterranean diet or diets that include a high intake of fruits and vegetables or a low intake of saturated fats and refined foods is associated with a reduced risk of your child developing allergies.10
Since exposure to food allergens from placental transfer promotes oral tolerance for the child, ingesting a diverse amount of food allergens while pregnant is protective against allergy.20
A healthy diet during pregnancy provides abundant nutrients and fuels a healthy microbiome.
Facilitate healthy microbial exposure
Sufficient bacterial exposure is necessary for fostering a healthy microbiome.
Probiotic foods are an excellent way to obtain healthy bacteria. For example, drinking microbial-rich, unpasteurized milk is a key behavior in pregnant women that grants allergy protection to their offspring.10
Another way to obtain healthy bacteria is through targeted hygiene, which maximizes exposure to healthy microbes and limits exposure to unhealthy microbes.
A healthier microbiome for the parent leads to a healthier microbiome for the child.
No smoking or alcohol
Maternal smoking and alcohol consumption during pregnancy is significantly associated with an increased risk of allergy for their offspring.(10, 22)
Avoiding these activities during pregnancy is essential in preventing allergies for your child.
Avoid antibiotics, antipyretics, or acid suppressant medications
The use of antibiotics during pregnancy disrupts the microbiome of both mother and child, significantly increasing the risk of allergies.10
Using antipyretics during pregnancy significantly increases your child's risk of developing asthma.10
Using acid suppressant medications during pregnancy increases your child's risk of developing allergies.23
Consult your doctor before taking any of these medications, which have been shown to contribute to adverse allergic outcomes in offspring.
Prevent exposure to toxins
The risk of your child developing allergies is significantly increased from environmental chemical exposure during pregnancy, including bisphenols (BPAs), phthalates acid esters, perfluorochemicals (PFCs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and polychlorinated biphenyls.24
Your child can be exposed to these toxins during pregnancy through placental transfer.
Avoid Toxic Supplements:
- Folic acid supplements during pregnancy increase your child's risk for developing allergic diseases, especially that of the respiratory system. Instead, you could opt for the natural version, Folate. Consult your doctor.25
Manage stress
Maternal stress during pregnancy has been linked with an increased risk of the child developing allergies.(26, 27, 28)
Strategies to decrease stress: 29
- High-quality sleep
- Physical activity
- Healthy diet
- Meditation
- Gratitude