According to the study published in the journal JAMA Network Open, women who conceived while following the anti-inflammatory diet had a considerably lower risk of developing preeclampsia during pregnancy. In the study, the researchers from the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai evaluated the association between the Mediterranean diet and other adverse pregnancy outcomes, including gestational diabetes and hypertension, preterm birth, delivery of a small-for-gestational-age infant, and stillbirth.

The study was a part of the Nulliparous Pregnancy Outcomes Study, in which mothers-to-be were monitored. The study included 10,038 women between 2010 and 2013, out of whom 7,798 were included in the JAMA Network Open study. During the study duration, women who were pregnant with their first child were asked to complete a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions about their intake of common foods and beverages.

Based on the data collected, individuals’ responses were categorized into the nine components of a Mediterranean diet—vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains, legumes, fish, monounsaturated-to-saturated fat ratio, red and processed meats, and alcohol—to calculate a Mediterranean diet score.

The findings of the study showed that 20% of enrollees had obesity at the onset of their participation. The researchers also found that a high Mediterranean diet score was related to 21% lower odds of having any adverse pregnancy outcome, as well as a 28% and 37% lower risk of having preeclampsia or eclampsia and gestational diabetes, respectively. 

(Source: https://theprint.in/health/mediterranean-diet-linked-to-lower-risk-of-preeclampsia-study/1278126/ )