Pregnant women may not need to eat extra throughout most of their pregnancy, researchers say today.
The findings suggest that during pregnancy the body can adapt to absorb extra energy from the same amount of food.
Experts say this may not apply in the last three months of pregnancy – when advice remains to take on extra calories.
Scientists at Imperial College London, UK, investigated why the intestines of many mammals grow during pregnancy. Dr Irene Miguel-Aliaga and colleagues found that a hormone released after fertilisation in fruit flies, which are metabolically similar to humans, causes the intestine to grow dramatically and stimulate the mother’s body to store more fat. Details appeared yesterday (Tuesday 28) in the journal eLife.
The UK’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published new advice yesterday to pregnant women on healthy eating, including the standard advice to eat at least five portions of different fruit and vegetables every day.
It recommends avoiding drinks that are high in added sugars, and other high-sugar foods such as sweets, cakes and biscuits.
In accordance with the current scientific evidence, the advice recommends limiting caffeine intake to 200 milligrams per day, approximately two mugs of instant coffee. Other drinks such as tea and energy drinks also contain caffeine, it adds.
Dr Richmond said: "It is in fact a myth that you need extra calories for the first two-thirds of pregnancy.
"It is only in the last 12 weeks that women need an extra 200 calories a day. A healthy diet, vitamin supplementation and physical activity will benefit both you and your baby during pregnancy, it will also help you to maintain a healthy weight after you have had your baby.
"Trying to lose weight by dieting during pregnancy is not recommended even if you are obese, as it may harm the health of your unborn baby. However, by making healthy changes women who are very overweight or obese may not gain any weight during pregnancy and may even lose a small amount – this is not harmful."
Reiff, T. et al. Endocrine remodelling of the adult intestine sustains reproduction in Drosophila. eLife 28 July 2015 doi: 10.7554/eLife.06930
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