You may have heard of a 2016 study linking cognitive enhancement in babies with eating more fruit during pregnancy.
You may have heard of a 2016 study linking cognitive enhancement in babies with eating more fruit during pregnancy. But how strong is that link? That’s the question scientists at the University of Alberta asked as they set out to verify the findings in a new study.
“Our research followed up on results from the original CHILD Cohort Study, which found that fruit consumption in pregnant mothers influences infant measures of cognition up to one year after birth,” said Claire Scavuzzo, co-lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Science’s Department of Psychology, “Although the findings from this study were exciting, they could not establish that fruit consumption, rather than other factors, caused the improvements on infant cognition.”
In order to settle the record and determine if fruit was truly the factor influencing infant cognition, the scientists began a study with the goal to replicate the effects in an experimental mammalian model.
“Our findings replicated what was found in humans and fruit flies. In a controlled, isolated way we were able to confirm a role for prenatal fruit exposure on the cognitive development of newborns,” explained Scavuzzo. “We see this as especially valuable information for pregnant mothers, as this offers a nonpharmacological, dietary intervention to boost infant brain development.”
Read more at University Of Alberta
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