Mum’s diet prevents infant allergies

MOTHERS can protect their unborn baby from allergies by eating the right food, research suggests.

A diet containing fatty acids such as those found in fish, walnuts and flaxseed influences development of the baby’s gut, scientists believe.

This, in turn, is thought to affect gut immune cells, making an infant less allergy-prone.

Study leader Dr Gaelle Boudry, from the INRA research institute in Rennes, France, said: “There is intense research interest in maternal diet during pregnancy.

“In the western diet, the group of polyunsaturated fatty acids that we have shown to help gut function are actually disappearing. Our dietary intake of fish and nut oils is being replaced by corn oils which contain a different kind of fatty acid.

“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.”

Working with piglets, the team found that supplementing a mother’s diet with n-3 PUFAs caused a newborn’s gut to become more permeable. Bacteria and foreign substances were able to pass through the lining of the gut into the bloodstream, where they stimulated the baby’s immune system and triggered the production of antibodies.

The research is published in the Journal of Physiology.