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There’s been lots of talk lately of what babies should — and shouldn’t — consume early in life.
Now, here’s another suggestion. A new study proposes that infants weaned off breastfeeding should eat a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet to protect themselves from psychological and developmental conditions that may arise from stress in the womb.
“We discovered that feeding young rats a ketogenic diet — a high‑fat, very low‑carbohydrate regimen — right after weaning almost completely protected them from the lasting effects of stress they’d experienced before birth,” lead researcher Alessia Marchesin of the University of Milan in Italy said in a statement.
“The diet seems to have acted like a shield for their developing brains, so preventing social and motivational problems from ever taking root.”
To come to this conclusion, the researchers stressed pregnant rats just before they delivered.
Their offspring were weaned 21 days after birth and given a keto diet — staples include meat, fish, low-carb vegetables, eggs, healthy fats like avocado and olive oil — or a control diet.
At 42 days, the young rats were tested for stress-induced issues such as poor sociability and depression.
The keto rats had longer grooming times and greater sociability.
Only 22% of the male rats and 12% of the female rats fed a keto diet developed stress-related problems later in life, compared to 50% of the rats on the normal diet.
“We found that males and females benefited via different biological routes — males by reducing inflammation, females by boosting antioxidant defenses — hinting that we could personalize and refine such dietary interventions,” Marchesin said.
The research — presented Saturday at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology conference in Amsterdam — still needs to be confirmed in humans.
If the findings are verified, Marchesin and colleagues hope to eventually treat prenatal trauma through food.
“Rather than waiting until symptoms appear and then treating them with medications — many of which carry side effects — we might one day take advantage of the therapeutic properties of dietary interventions early in life to prevent the manifestation of full-blown pathologic condition,” Marchesin said.
Marchesin suggested that one reason for the improved health of the keto rats may be that they took in fewer calories than their peers. Studies show a strong link between obesity and poor mental health.
Aniko Korosi, an associate professor at the University of Amsterdam, said more research is needed to determine exactly which nutrients benefit mental health.
“The presented study interestingly shows that prenatal stress-induced risk to altered behavior can be modulated with a ketogenic diet fed after weaning,” Korosi, who was not involved in the study, said in a statement.
“It will be intriguing to further explore what are the biological processes involved in these beneficial effects and if such effects are sex-specific.”
Some tiny carnivore influencers are already jumping on the keto bandwagon by gumming steak and butter.
While the keto diet has been shown to help kids with epilepsy, medical experts suggest talking with your doctor before starting a baby on any diet. Carbs are essential for growth, development and energy.
