Originally published February 13 2015
Stress during pregnancy changes infants' gut microbiota, causing allergies and digestive issues
by PF Louis
(NaturalNews) It's commonly understood that stress during pregnancy can affect the newborn's health. The causal link for this understanding has been recently pursued by researchers at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. There they tracked the intestinal flora development of 56 vaginally born babies from healthy Dutch women.
The mothers were given questionnaires to determine if they had been experiencing stress during pregnancy. The questionnaires were corroborated by testing their saliva levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone. The babies' fecal matter was tested for microbial content from the seventh day on to the 120th day.
Babies born to mothers with high cortisol levels who had reported stress during pregnancy had a poor microbiota mix of too much Proteobacteria compared to lactic acid bacteria and Actinobacteria. This was also reflected in a higher incidence of intestinal problems and allergic reactions among the babies in this research group.
"We think that our results point towards a possible mechanism for health problems in children of mothers who experience stress during pregnancy. Giving other bacteria would probably benefit these children's development," said Carolina de Weerth, professor of developmental psychology in the Behavioural Science Institute of Radboud University and study author.
But the researchers emphasized that the correlations discovered in their study does not necessarily mean there is a causal link to physical and mental health problems from what microbiota mixes are inherited from their mothers. Maybe that will make future studies necessary?
The proof is in the healing
There is one person who doesn't need more studies to prove how a mother's microbiota can influence her newborn's physical and mental health.
Russian-born and -educated Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride also earned postgraduate degrees in neurology and nutrition to develop nutritional approaches to curing autism spectrum disorders while curing her own son of autism.
She set up a practice in Great Britain to help other children and adults with autism spectrum disorders and various food allergies using aggressive nutritional approaches.
Dr. Campbell-Mcbride wrote a book called Gut and Psychology Syndrome and created the GAPS diet, which has influenced many on both sides of the Atlantic in their treatment of autism spectrum disorders, dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, dyspraxia, depression and even schizophrenia as well as allergies and autoimmune disease.
She has also connected the rise in autoimmune diseases to microbiota dysfunction from mother to baby. From her GAPS article "The Gut Flora":
We inherit or acquire our gut flora from our mother at birth. Through the birth canal a baby swallows its first mouthfuls of bacteria, it then settles in the baby's sterile gut and becomes gut flora. Breast feeding is another way mum passes her gut flora to her baby. So what ever lives in mums [sic] digestive system become the baby's digestive system. Bottle fed babies acquire completely different gut flora than those that are breast fed.
Dr. Campbell-McBride also explains how leaky gut syndrome occurs when bad bacteria break through the gut wall, which lowers the efficiency of the first arm of the microbiota's immunity of producing anti-pathogenic enzymes and signaling other parts of the body's immune system as well as impairs digestion.
This forces an overcompensation of the second arm of immunity, which is concerned with allergies and environmental influences. Chronic hyperactive immune reactions in this area create allergic responses to common everyday environmental elements.
Then yeasts begin to ferment dietary carbohydrates, producing alcohol and its byproduct acetaldehyde, the chemical that gives us the feeling of hangover. Acetaldehyde-altered proteins are responsible for many autoimmune reactions. They can also be the root cause of autoimmune diseases.
Nearly all disease can be traced back to damaged or an abnormal gut flora which are also caused by antibiotics and vaccines in both mothers and their babies. In addition to pregnancy stress, the rise in autoimmune disease is largely dietary and iatrogenic, caused by medical interventions.
Sources:
http://www.ru.nl
http://www.psyneuen-journal.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.purenewyou.com
http://www.gaps.me
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