To the cheers of many health practitioners, Canada’s new and much improved Food Guide boldly recommends that Canadians of all ages and stages “replace sugary drinks with water” as their “drink of choice.”
Of course, the health benefits of such a shift are clear for anyone – but now, a new study out of Norway has given pregnant moms yet another reason to choose their beverages wisely: their babies’ hearts.
The study found that, even without a diabetes diagnosis, the children of mothers who consumed more sucrose-sweetened soft drink beverages had increased risk of congenital heart defects (CHD). This association was particularly relevant to septal defects (a hole in the wall that separates the chambers of the heart – known commonly as a “hole in the heart”) – found at amounts even as low as 25-70ml/day of sucrose-sweetened beverages.
As I’ve mentioned in other blog posts like this one, artificially sweetened beverages are not a healthy alternative in pregnancy either, with links to the future development of childhood asthma and obesity. Now we have even more research, and Health Canada to boot, to back up moms’ smart beverage choices during pregnancy.
I hope you have found this helpful, and do let me know if you have any questions!
If you are hungry for more evidence-based information in your pregnancy, sign up for my free webinar: 7 Pregnancy Myths Debunked – and get the information you need to have a healthy pregnancy and a thriving baby.
And if you are a care-provider looking for evidence-based resources for your pregnant patients, please get in touch with us at support@myhealthypregnancyplan.com.
In health,
Dr Jocelyn Land-Murphy, ND
Terra Life
Disclaimer: The information and content provided is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not professional medical advice, nor is it intended to be a substitute therefore. Please consult the Disclaimer and Terms of Use for full details.
References:
Dale, M. et al. (2019). Intake of sucrose-sweetened soft beverages during pregnancy and risk of congenital heart defects (CHD) in offspring: a Norwegian pregnancy cohort study. European Journal of Epidemiology.