According to research results published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, consuming a primarily plant-based diet is associated with a lower risk of developing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
The prospective cohort study followed 11,459 women older than 18 years and evaluated their diet from the beginning using a validated questionnaire about the frequency and quality of plant-based foods. The participants had taken part in the in the Nurses’ Health Study II (1991–2009). From responses on the questionnaire, the investigators calculated the plant-based diet index (PDI) even among participants with an omnivorous diet. A higher score indicated greater adherence to the PDI.
"We wanted to know how one's diet leading up to pregnancy influences the pregnancy, so we monitored women for virtually their entire reproductive life — almost 20 years — and gained an awareness of their typical diet before pregnancy," study author Jorge E. Chavarro, MD, ScD, told Medscape Spanish Edition. Chavarro is a professor of nutrition, epidemiology, and medicine at Harvard University's Medical School and School of Public Health in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He researches how nutrition and lifestyle influence reproductive health and overall lifelong health in women.
Analysis of the data from the Nurses' Health Study II revealed that as the proportion of animal products in diets decreased and the proportion of plant-based products increased, the risk of women experiencing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy decreased as well.
