Higher intake of fruits, vegetables helps prevent pre-eclampsia

Greater consumption of fruits and vegetables appears protective against pre-eclampsia, suggests a study. On the other hand, higher dietary vitamin C and carotenoid intake does not seem to have any effect.

Mothers-to-be who consumed at least 2.5 cups fruits and vegetables per 1,000 kcal were less likely to develop pre-eclampsia than those who consumed <2.5 cups/1,000 kcal (6.4 percent vs 8.6 percent).

After adjusting for confounders, higher fruit and vegetable density correlated with two fewer cases of pre-eclampsia (risk difference, ‒2.0, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], ‒3.9 to ‒0.1) per 100 pregnancies when compared with lower density diets.

For vitamin C and carotenoids, higher dietary intake showed no significant association with pre-eclampsia. Notably, dietary vitamin C and carotenoids did not mediate the protective effect of high fruit and vegetable density on the risk of pre-eclampsia and late-onset pre-eclampsia.

“Evaluating other nutrients and bioactives in fruits and vegetables and their synergy is worthwhile, along with characterizing the effect of individual fruits or vegetables on pre-eclampsia risk,” the authors said.

In this analysis, data were obtained from 7,572 participants of the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study (eight medical centres in the US from 2010 to 2013). A food frequency questionnaire was used to estimate the usual daily periconceptional intake of total fruits and total vegetables.

The authors examined the indirect effect of ≥2.5 cups/1,000 kcal of fruits and vegetables through vitamin C and carotenoid on the risk of pre-eclampsia. They then assessed these effects via targeted maximum likelihood estimation and an ensemble of machine learning algorithms, adjusting for other dietary components, health behaviours, and psychological, neighbourhood, and sociodemographic factors.