<\/p>\n
Vitamin D is an important nutrient in the body as it plays a major role in bone and muscle health and supporting the immune system. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Now, a new study has been published in a journal. During pregnancy, maternal participants took vitamin D3 supplements at either a high dose of 2,800 international units (IU\/day) or a standard dose (400 IU\/day) per day from week 24 until the first week postpartum. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n At the conclusion of the study, researchers found a positive association between high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation during pregnancy and children’s visual memory, verbal memory, and flexibility up to age 10.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n Today’s medical news<\/em> had the opportunity to talk about this study with Dr. Cheryl Ross, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and women’s health expert at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Ross, who was not involved in the study, said the new research makes him even more excited about vitamin D’s superpowers. Vitamin D has always been more than just a typical vitamin. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Vitamin D has always been a vitamin that goes beyond bone, muscle, and immune support,” Ross elaborated. “The ancillary health benefits of potentially protecting people from chronic disease, cognitive decline, dementia, and depression are interesting, especially if some of the cognitive benefits are passed on to babies.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “More research is needed into how vitamin D helps babies’ cognitive health, but this initial study is an exciting start,” she cautioned. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Vitamin D receptors are found throughout the body, including in the brain’s memory center called the hippocampus. Vitamin D receptors also play a role in neuron development, dopamine and serotonin production, anti-inflammatory protection, and protection from oxidative stress that can negatively impact brain function. Adequate vitamin D levels help support memory, learning, and cognitive function. Adequate vitamin D in your baby’s developing brain. It makes sense that levels support overall cognitive function.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n “This study was the perfect segway to uncover the relationship between adequate vitamin D levels in mothers and improved long-term cognitive function in their developing babies,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Further studies could include introducing diverse patient cohorts, implementing long-term follow-up beyond 10 years, monitoring vitamin D levels before pregnancy, and using advanced brain imaging (MRI) on developing babies to identify areas of the brain that are most responsive to vitamin D,” the gynecologist suggested.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Monique Richard, MS, RDN, LDN, registered dietitian and owner of Nutrition-In-Sight, offered some expert tips on the best ways to increase your vitamin D3 intake during pregnancy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cVitamin D continues to be one of the most common nutritional deficiencies that I think of as an RDN,\u201d Richard said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Food-first recommendations remain an important priority, but depending on dietary patterns and the body’s ability to access, absorb, convert, and use, it can be difficult to get enough vitamin D from food alone,” she noted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She listed some of the best food sources for vitamin D. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Many of these foods are also rich in fatty acids, vitamin C, choline, potassium, magnesium and B vitamins, which further support maternal and child health by supporting brain function, cell regeneration and development, and immune system support,” Richard explained.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n “From a practical nutrition standpoint, consistency is paramount, along with individual testing and recommendations from medical professionals,” she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIf you are suggesting a supplement, please consider the brand, source, product quality, form, delivery method, dosage, frequency, duration, timing – [\u2026] How, when, and with what to take these is equally important to address and implement in collaboration with your RDN and medical team,\u201d Richard advised.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “A balanced approach includes moderate sun exposure when appropriate, vitamin D-rich foods, fortified foods, and supplementation if necessary. Reassessment and overall assessment will follow, especially for high-risk groups or those with proven deficiencies,” she stressed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Meridan Zellner, MS, RDN, CSSD, LD, CHWC, founder of Meridan Zellner Nutrition in Dallas, Texas, who was not involved in the study, offered her final thoughts on the study results: MNT<\/em> Although these results appear promising, the data are nuanced and current guidance is unlikely to change based on a single secondary analysis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThere are some unmeasured contributors and the demographic base does not reflect the broader population,\u201d Zellner continued.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “The dose of [vitamin] D is higher than the 600 IU for prenatal care recommended by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), and prenatal vitamins often contain 400 IU. [vitamin] You can also get D from your diet,\u201d she pointed out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Other guidelines will need to be carefully evaluated.” [on a] for each person [basis] before recommending much higher doses,” Zerner concluded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n #Vitamin #supplementation #support #cognitive #health #birth<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Share on PinterestTaking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy may promote cognitive health in offspring, a new study has found. Image credit: Nikola Stojadinovic\/Getty Images Vitamin D is an important nutrient in the body that supports bone, muscle, and immune system health. Past research has also shown that vitamin D may help protect against certain diseases … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1733,1730,1732,173,1518,1731,1270,579,571],"class_list":["post-731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-birth","tag-brain-health","tag-cognitive","tag-health","tag-nutrition","tag-supplementation","tag-support","tag-vitamin","tag-vitamin-d"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/732"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drouki.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n