We all know that being overweight or obese is very bad for your health. It puts you at a huge risk of heart disease, cancer and many other problematic conditions. But one of the most common and serious problems it can cause is diabetes. Gestational diabetes is estimated to affect around ten percent of women during pregnancy.
While gestational diabetes can be a difficult symptom for the mother to manage, the real problem can be the fact that it can also make their baby overweight. This can lead to a complicated and difficult pregnancy which is never good for either the mother or her baby.
But now a new study has suggested that a nutritional supplement may be able to protect women who are at risk of this form of diabetes. The study, published in the medical journal Diabetes Care, found that women who took the myo-inositol supplement were less likely to develop gestational diabetes than women who didn’t take the supplement.
The team of researchers looked at 220 pregnant women with a family history of type 2 diabetes. Half of the participants were given the myo-inositol supplement along with the recommended level of folic acid, while the other half were just given the folic acid.
Of the women who took the supplement, only 6 percent developed gestational diabetes, while for women who didn’t the number rose to 15 percent. None of the babies in the supplement group were overweight, while a small number in the non-supplement group were. While the researchers were very pleased with the positive results, they were quick to point out that further studies and research will have to be undertaken to establish exactly why the supplement works.
Around 50 percent of women who develop gestational diabetes go on to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the following ten years. This supplement could drastically reduce the number of women with diabetes.
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