scholarly journals Old Question Revisited: Are High-Protein Diets Safe in Pregnancy?

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 440
Author(s):  
Thorhallur I. Halldorsson ◽  
Bryndis E. Birgisdottir ◽  
Anne L. Brantsæter ◽  
Helle Margrete Meltzer ◽  
Margaretha Haugen ◽  
...  

Background: A previous randomized dietary intervention in pregnant women from the 1970s, the Harlem Trial, reported retarded fetal growth and excesses of very early preterm births and neonatal deaths among those receiving high-protein supplementation. Due to ethical challenges, these findings have not been addressed in intervention settings. Exploring these findings in an observational setting requires large statistical power due to the low prevalence of these outcomes. The aim of this study was to investigate if the findings on high protein intake could be replicated in an observational setting by combining data from two large birth cohorts. Methods: Individual participant data on singleton pregnancies from the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) (n = 60,141) and the Norwegian Mother, Father and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) (n = 66,302) were merged after a thorough harmonization process. Diet was recorded in mid-pregnancy and information on birth outcomes was extracted from national birth registries. Results: The prevalence of preterm delivery, low birth weight and fetal and neonatal deaths was 4.77%, 2.93%, 0.28% and 0.17%, respectively. Mean protein intake (standard deviation) was 89 g/day (23). Overall high protein intake (>100 g/day) was neither associated with low birth weight nor fetal or neonatal death. Mean birth weight was essentially unchanged at high protein intakes. A modest increased risk of preterm delivery [odds ratio (OR): 1.10 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.01, 1.19)] was observed for high (>100 g/day) compared to moderate protein intake (80–90 g/day). This estimate was driven by late preterm deliveries (weeks 34 to <37) and greater risk was not observed at more extreme intakes. Very low (<60 g/day) compared to moderate protein intake was associated with higher risk of having low-birth weight infants [OR: 1.59 (95%CI: 1.25, 2.03)]. Conclusions: High protein intake was weakly associated with preterm delivery. Contrary to the results from the Harlem Trial, no indications of deleterious effects on fetal growth or perinatal mortality were observed.

2002 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 261-268 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Bellomo ◽  
H. K. Tan ◽  
S. Bhonagiri ◽  
I. Gopal ◽  
J. Seacombe ◽  
...  

Aims To study the effect of combined continuous veno-venous hemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) and high (2.5 g/kg/day) parenteral amino acid supplementation on nitrogen balance, amino acid losses and azotemic control in a cohort of patients with severe acute renal failure (ARF). Methods We administered 2.5 grams/kg/day of amino acids intravenously to seven critically ill patients with ARF. We obtained paired blood and ultrafiltrate (UF) samples (n=20) and calculated amino acid clearances and losses, nitrogen balance, protein catabolic rate and total nitrogen losses. Results The median total serum amino acid concentration was high at 5.2 mmol/L with particularly high concentrations of ornithine, lysine, and phenylalanine, but a low level of histidine. The median overall amino acid clearance was 18.6 ml/min (range: 12 to 29 ml/min). UF losses as percentage of administered dose were high for tyrosine (53.6 %) but low for methionine (3.0 %) and arginine (2.3 %). A positive nitrogen balance was achieved in 7 (35%) of the 20 study days with an overall median nitrogen balance of -1.8 g/day. Urea levels were maintained at a median of 26.6 mmol/L. Conclusions High protein intake increases the serum concentrations of most amino acids. Such protein supplementation, when coupled with CVVHDF, achieves a slightly negative overall nitrogen balance in extremely catabolic patients while still allowing adequate azotemic control.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Rush ◽  
Zena Stein ◽  
Mervyn Susser

This randomized controlled trial of nutritional supplementation in pregnancy, in a poor black urban population in the United States, aimed to increase the birth weight and influence the postnatal development of the offspring of mothers at high risk of having low birth weight infants. The execution of the research design and adherence to the treatment regimen among the experimental population appeared adequate for a reasonable test of the treatments. At birth, the only significant favorable effect of supplementation observed was the prevention of depressed birth weight among the offspring of mothers who smoked heavily. With balanced protein-calorie supplementation, length of gestation was increased, the proportion of low-birth-weight infants reduced, and mean birth weight raised by 41 gm (not statistically significant). With high protein supplementation, there was an excess of very early premature births and associated neonatal deaths, and there was significant growth retardation up to 37 weeks of gestation. At 1 year of age, significant effects of high protein supplement were found on three psychological measures: visual habituation, visual dishabituation, and mean length of free play episodes. These measures were unrelated to measures of growth at birth and at 1 year of age. There were no detectable residual adverse effects of high protein supplementation at 1 year of age.


2011 ◽  
Vol 81 (23) ◽  
pp. 134-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Philippe Bonjour

Adequate nutrition plays an important role in the development and maintenance of bone structures resistant to usual mechanical stresses. In addition to calcium in the presence of an adequate supply of vitamin D, dietary proteins represent key nutrients for bone health and thereby function in the prevention of osteoporosis. Several studies point to a positive effect of high protein intake on bone mineral density or content. This fact is associated with a significant reduction in hip fracture incidence, as recorded in a large prospective study carried out in a homogeneous cohort of postmenopausal women. Low protein intake (< 0.8 g/kg body weight/day) is often observed in patients with hip fractures and an intervention study indicates that following orthopedic management, protein supplementation attenuates post-fracture bone loss, tends to increase muscle strength, and reduces medical complications and rehabilitation hospital stay. There is no evidence that high protein intake per se would be detrimental for bone mass and strength. Nevertheless, it appears reasonable to avoid very high protein diets (i. e. more than 2.0 g/kg body weight/day) when associated with low calcium intake (i. e. less than 600 mg/day). In the elderly, taking into account the attenuated anabolic response to dietary protein with ageing, there is concern that the current dietary protein recommended allowance (RDA), as set at 0.8 g/kg body weight/day, might be too low for the primary and secondary prevention of fragility fractures.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Duah Dwomoh

Abstract Background Ghana did not meet the Millennium Development Goal 4 of reducing child mortality by two-thirds and may not meet SDG (2030). There is a need to direct scarce resources to mitigate the impact of the most important risk factors influencing high neonatal deaths. This study applied both spatial and non-spatial regression models to explore the differential impact of environmental, maternal, and child associated risk factors on neonatal deaths in Ghana. Methods The study relied on data from the Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys (GDHS) and the Ghana Maternal Health Survey (GMHS) conducted between 1998 and 2017 among 49,908 women of reproductive age and 31,367 children under five (GDHS-1998 = 3298, GDHS-2003 = 3844, GDHS-2008 = 2992, GDHS-2014 = 5884, GMHS-2017 = 15,349). Spatial Autoregressive Models that account for spatial autocorrelation in the data at the cluster-level and non-spatial statistical models with appropriate sampling weight adjustment were used to study factors associated with neonatal deaths, and a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Population density, multiple births, smaller household sizes, high parity, and low birth weight significantly increased the risk of neonatal deaths over the years. Among mothers who had multiple births, the risk of having neonatal deaths was approximately four times as high as the risk of neonatal deaths among mothers who had only single birth [aRR = 3.42, 95% CI: 1.63–7.17, p < 0.05]. Neonates who were perceived by their mothers to be small were at a higher risk of neonatal death compared to very large neonates [aRR = 2.08, 95% CI: 1.19–3.63, p < 0.05]. A unit increase in the number of children born to a woman of reproductive age was associated with a 49% increased risk in neonatal deaths [aRR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.30–1.69, p < 0.05]. Conclusion Neonatal mortality in Ghana remains relatively high, and the factors that predisposed children to neonatal death were birth size that were perceived to be small, low birth weight, higher parity, and multiple births. Improving pregnant women’s nutritional patterns and providing special support to women who have multiple deliveries will reduce neonatal mortality in Ghana.


Critical Care ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olav Rooyackers ◽  
Martin Sundström Rehal ◽  
Felix Liebau ◽  
Åke Norberg ◽  
Jan Wernerman

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 2742-2745
Author(s):  
Andleeb Arshad ◽  
Misbah Kausar Javaid ◽  
Abida Rehman

Objectives: To compare the perinatal outcome (low birth weight, preterm delivery) in women with <6 month versus 12-17 months of interpregnancy birth interval. Material and methods: This Cohort study was conducted at Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Lahore General Hospital Lahore from March 2020 to September 2020. Total 420 patients with age range 18-40 years, singleton pregnancy, women with previous live birth, parity 1-4 and Gestational age > 28 weeks assessed on LMP were selected for this study. Patients were divided into two groups (A & B) according to their inter-pregnancy interval i.e. <6 months group labelled as A group and 12-17 months group labelled as B group. All patients in both groups will be followed till delivery and the perinatal outcome i.e. preterm delivery (birth occurred before completion of 37 weeks of gestation) and low birth weight (those babies whose weight less than 2.5 Kg at the time of birth) were noted. Results: The mean age of women in group A was 26.73 ± 6.56 years and in group B was 26.73 ± 6.56 years. The perinatal outcome was preterm delivery in 189 (90.0%) and low birth weight babies in 143 (68.10%) women of <6 months while in 12-17 months interpregnancy interval, it was noted in 111 (52.86%) and 102 (48.57%) women respectively Conclusion: Our study concluded that appropriate inter pregnancy interval could reduce the rate of preterm delivery and low birth weight babies and optimal interval associated with the lowest risk of adverse perinatal outcome was 12-17 months. Keywords: Birth spacing, short interval, preterm delivery, low birth weight.


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