Mother’s diet cuts child’s allergy risks--study

According to the new study, researchers believe that by incorporating fatty acids such as Omega -3 into the mother’s diet, chances of the baby contracting various food allergies later in life can be altered.

Fatty acids, those derived from fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds, are believed to impact the development of the baby’s gut responses to certain food items and establishing resistance towards allergies.

The study involved pregnant pigs fed Omega-3
The study led by Dr. Gaelle Boudry and fellow scientists from the SENAH centre for Livestock Systems and Animal and Human Nutrition, France was funded by INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research).

"Our study identifies that a certain group of polyunsaturated fatty acids - known as n-3 PUFAs - causes a change in how a baby's gut develops, which in turn might change how the gut immune system develops. These changes are likely to reduce the risk of developing allergies in later life," Dr. Boudry said.

Conducted on 12 pregnant pigs, the study involved feeding them omega-3 rich diet and then observing their offspring's gut permeability.

The piglets’ intestinal permeability was measured
Upon closely observing the piglets’ intestinal permeability at birth and on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th day after birth, the scientists noticed an increasing trend in the permeability till day 14, then a dip and again rising to a highest on day 28.

In addition, the scientists also studied the role of gut nervous system in controlling the permeability of intestines in the offspring of both omega-3 rich food fed pigs and the regular lard rich food fed pigs.

Analysis showed that when the piglets were administered different set of drugs that influence the gut nervous system, while certain chemicals increased the gut permeability in omega-3 piglets, they decreased the permeability in control piglets and vice versa.

Permeability influences allergy resistance
The similarity between pigs’ intestines and human intestines suggest that omega-3 rich diet may prove beneficial for the baby’s allergy resistance.

"The end result is that the baby's immune system may develop and mature faster, leading to better immune function and less likelihood of suffering allergies," said Dr Boudry.

However, conclusive results await tests on human volunteers.

The study is published in the ‘Journal of Physiology’.