Higher maternal dietary protein intake in late pregnancy is associated with a lower infant ponderal index at birth

The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between amount and type of dietary protein intake and insulin sensitivity in late pregnancy, in normal weight and overweight women (29.8 ± 0.2 weeks gestation, n = 173). A 100-gram oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) was administered following an overnight fast to estimate the metabolic clearance rate of glucose (MCR, mg · kg-1 · min-1) using four different equations accounting for the availability of blood samples. Total (TP), animal (AP), and plant (PP) protein intakes were assessed using a 3-day food record. Two linear models with MCR as the response variable were fitted to the data to estimate the relationship of protein intake to insulin sensitivity either unadjusted or adjusted for early pregnancy body mass index (BMI) because of the potential of BMI to influence this relationship. There was a positive association between TP (β = 1.37, p = 0.002) and PP (β = 4.44, p < 0.001) intake in the last trimester of pregnancy and insulin sensitivity that weakened when accounting for early pregnancy BMI. However, there was no relationship between AP intake and insulin sensitivity (β = 0.95, p = 0.08). Therefore, early pregnancy BMI may be a better predictor of insulin sensitivity than dietary protein intake in late pregnancy.

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Dietary Protein Intake during Pregnancy Is Not Associated with Offspring Insulin Sensitivity during the First Two Years of Life

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu12051338 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (5) ◽

pp. 1338

Author(s):

Brittany R. Allman ◽

D. Keith Williams ◽

Elisabet Børsheim ◽

Aline Andres

Keyword(s):

Insulin Resistance ◽

Insulin Sensitivity ◽

Dietary Protein ◽

Protein Intake ◽

Late Pregnancy ◽

Model Assessment ◽

Dietary Protein Intake ◽

Fat Percentage ◽

Homeostatic Model Assessment ◽

The Relationship

Literature describing a relationship between dietary protein intake during pregnancy and offspring insulin resistance are equivocal perhaps because of the lapse between maternal and offspring measurements (~9–40 years). Thus, we evaluated protein intake in healthy women [n = 182, mean ± SD; body mass index (BMI): 26.2 ± 4.2 kg/m2] in early pregnancy (8.4 ± 1.6 weeks, EP), late pregnancy (30.1 ± 0.4 weeks, LP), and averaged throughout pregnancy, and determined the relationship between protein intake and offspring homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA2-IR) at 12 (12mo) and 24 (24mo) months. EP protein (g·kg−1·day−1) did not associate with HOMA2-IR at 12mo (β = 0.153, p = 0.429) or 24mo (β = −0.349, p = 0.098). LP protein did not associate with HOMA2-IR at 12mo (β = 0.023, p = 0.916) or 24mo (β = −0.442, p = 0.085). Finally, average protein did not associate with HOMA2-IR at 12mo (β = 0.711, p = 0.05) or 24mo (β = −0.445, p = 0.294). Results remained unchanged after adjusting for plant protein intake quartiles during pregnancy, maternal BMI, and offspring sex and body fat percentage. Additionally, these relationships did not change after quartile analysis of average protein intake, even after considering offspring fasting time and HOMA2-IR outliers, and maternal under-reporters of energy intake. Protein intake during pregnancy is not associated with indirect measurements of insulin sensitivity in offspring during the first two years of life.

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