According to a recently published study implies that the women in the study who followed the Mediterranean diet, which included extra virgin olive oil and walnuts, during pregnancy had improved cognitive and social abilities in their two-year-old children.
Study co-author Dr. Francesca Crovetto, a postdoctoral researcher at the BCNatal Fetal Medicine Research Center at the Universitat de Barcelona in Spain: “Despite previous evidence suggesting (an) association between adverse lifestyle (patterns) and poorer child neurodevelopment, no previous studies had evaluated whether lifestyle interventions improved neurodevelopment.”
“At year two, the children’s brains are harvesting some of the benefits that they received in their adequate nutrition during their intrauterine life,” said Dr. Miguel Martínez-González, a professor of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Navarra in Pamplona.
The Mediterranean diet, which features simple, plant-based cooking, has been shown in studies to reduce the risk for diabetes, high cholesterol, dementia, memory loss, depression, stronger bones, a healthier heart and longer life.
