- Preeclampsia is a serious complication of
pregnancy with long-term effects onheart health . - New evidence suggests a Mediterranean style diet may reduce the risks, particularly in Black people.
Eating a Mediterranean-style diet — rich in veggies, whole grains, and healthy fats — may help prevent a major complication of pregnancy, particularly for people most at risk of the condition, new research suggests.
The diet may lower the risk of preeclampsia, which is characterized by severe high blood pressure and organ damage during pregnancy, according to research published April 20 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University looked at data from 8,623 pregnant women recruited from Boston Medical Center, which serves primarily low-income and under-represented populations. The researchers wanted to see if preeclampsia risk might be mitigated by eating a Mediterranean diet with lots of veggies, beans, fish, olive oil, nuts, and whole grains.
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The difference is significant, particularly since few lifestyle interventions have been found to help with preeclampsia, according to Dr. Anum S. Minhas, lead author of the study and chief cardiology fellow at Johns Hopkins University.
"It was remarkable. It's actually higher than many medications that we prescribe in terms of the benefit you can see, so we were definitely surprised," Minhas told Insider. "We were especially surprised, in a good way, to find that Black women seemed to benefit even more."
Previous research shows the Mediterranean diet helps improve blood pressure and overall heart health in other populations, which could explain why it helps in the context of pregnancy and preeclampsia, Minhas said.
"There have been some very interesting studies showing a Mediterranean diet results in less oxidative stress and better vascular function — function of blood vessels." she said. "Preeclampsia is inherently a disorder of blood vessels so it makes sense how it might help."
Preeclampsia can cause lasting damage to heart health for mothers and children
Preeclampsia affects a huge swath of the population — about 5% of pregnancies — and preventing it is important not just during pregnancy but for long-term health. Women who develop preeclampsia continue to have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart disease, even decades later, according to Minhas.
Similarly, their children can experience ongoing health disparities, like higher risk of high blood pressure, obesity, and poor measures of heart health that persist as they grow up.
"We're talking about not just moms but kids and the more awareness we can raise, the more we can help them," Minhas said.
Lifestyle changes may improve pregnancy outcomes — but structural changes are needed, too
Implementing a Mediterranean diet for healthier pregnancies isn't just matter of individual food choices, however, but systemic access to healthy food, according to Minhas.
"Of course we should be encouraging our patients to live a healthier lifestyle, including in pregnancy, not just for preeclampsia but cardiovascular health benefits in general," she said. "But there's only so much the individual patient and provider can do."
"A large part of the change needs to come from the state, federal, or community level to make foods more accessible to help women have healthier lifestyles when they're pregnant," she said.
Socioeconomic context is key to addressing the root causes of higher risk of pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia.
"Perhaps they have not had access to healthier foods or have not been able to afford healthier foods and maybe that's the missing link. We should be working to make healthier foods available to everyone," Minhas said.