Friday, November 5, 2010

Pregnancy and Peanuts: Tricky Truths About Food Allergies

By JANE E. ALLEN

Sitting down to a meal can be daunting for an expectant mother weighing conflicting recommendations about which foods are good for her unborn child -- and which might subject that child to long-term ills like allergies to peanuts and other foods.

"We have a tendency to beat pregnant women over the head with 'do this, don't do this,'" said obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Laura Riley, medical director of labor and delivery at the Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital. "We always want people to have a balanced diet that includes protein, fat and carbohydrates. We don't think pregnant women should take any one thing out of their diet."

But just as dietary advice for weight loss changes as new scientific information becomes available, so, too, does dietary advice for moms-to-be about how their eating shapes their future sons' and daughters' health.

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