Whey Protein use by Mothers to be may Decrease Children’s Diabetes Risk

Recent research from Children’s Hospital in Boston links high vitamin D containing foods such as whey protein consumption in mothers to better insulin sensitivity in children at age 3. For young children the risk of developing obesity and also diabetes is increased substantially if they have poor insulin sensitivity at a young age. The idea that vitamin D may help protect against obesity and diabetes has been accumulating a lot of evidence in the past ten years; and now the link between mothers consuming high vitamin D containing foods such as whey protein, and better insulin sensitivity adds more evidence.



In the research study almost 1,000 pregnant women had their blood vitamin D levels tested. Additionally the levels of vitamin D were tested in the blood supply to the newborn immediately after birth to ensure that the levels were indeed higher.



The researchers followed the children and their mothers for three years and measured different factors including body mass index, weight, obesity risk, and diabetes risk, and a hormone called adiponectin. Adiponectin is produced by fat cells in the body. The more adiponectin an individual has the lower weight they usually are. What the researchers at Boston found were that the newborns that had higher vitamin D levels upon birth also had higher levels of adiponectin, meaning that the newborns had a lower risk of obesity and diabetes.



Increasing evidence is being released from scientists and doctors across the country that the diet and lifestyle habits of the parents are intimately tied to the health of their children. The researchers use the term "epigentics" to describe these findings, which according to researchers means everything passed down that is not from changes in DNA, but instead how the DNA is turned on and off.



This recent work on obesity and diabetes risk by looking at adiponectin levels in the offspring as it relates to vitamin D intake adds more evidence that epigenetic factors are present and play a role in our overall health as an individual and as a family.



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