Sticking to a strict diet during pregnancy is not something that most women worry about while expecting, but some scary new research may make you think twice about devouring a cheeseburger and fries or a delectable glazed doughnut.
A study conducted by the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center has found a link between how much fat a woman consumes during pregnancy and increased breast cancer risk in her female offspring. Pregnant women who consume a high-fat diet are much more likely to pass on "familial" breast cancers than those who avoid fatty foods.
And if you're breathing a sigh of relief right now because you've been chowing down on all sorts of delicious fattening foods and figure you're in the clear because you're expecting a baby boy -- you shouldn't be.
Because the scariest part of this new research is the fact that the increased cancer risk can be passed on to multiple generations, including granddaughters and great-granddaughters. So if you're over-indulging while carrying a boy, there's a chance that his daughter or her daughter may have a higher chance of developing breast cancer.
Well, isn't that just great?! As if there isn't enough "mom guilt" involved with having kids, now we have to worry about what we eat during pregnancy potentially giving our future generations a fatal disease. (Can moms do anything right?)
For those of us who have already been through pregnancy and did help ourselves to fattier foods from time to time, I guess there's not much we can do to change our kids' (and their kids') breast cancer risk at this point. All we can do is hope we didn't eat quite enough of the bad stuff to make a significant difference.
But now that we know how big a part what we eat during pregnancy can play into the health of our babies, it's probably best to pay attention to your diet and avoid the drive-thru whenever possible, just to be on the safe side.
Does this new research freak you out? Have you been eating fatty foods so far during your pregnancy?
Image via o5com/Flickr
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Comments 8
Its ALWAYS something. Can't do this, can't do that.... I am getting sick of it!
And did this study differentiate between "good" fats and "bad" fats? Because the fat from a fried doughnut cheeseburger does not in any way, shape, or form equal the fat from an olive oil, avocado, or nuts.
The body NEEDS fats and mommies-to-be don't need to sit there worrying about whether they should eat that handful of walnuts because they might give their child - or grandchildren - breast cancer.
Ugh. Ridiculous.
another pointless study to freak expectant mothers out why not spend the money on better treatments for cancer across the board
it is always something ......
I am a breast cancer survivor and I want to know where this story came from. If you have the breast cancer gene then your offspring have a higher chance of developing the disease than those women that don't have the breast cancer gene. You have no idea of how devastating this awful disease is to a woman and the loss of her breast/breasts is devastating. It is so good to know that there are alternatives to this and that you can have reconstructive surgery by wonderful doctors. It makes you feel whole again.