What’s good for mum is good for baby

Maternal nutrition and lifestyle choices before, during and after pregnancy can influence the health of both mother and baby ⁹⁵Marangoni, F., Cetin, I., Verduci, E., Canzone, G., Giovannini, M., Scollo, P., Corsello, G., & Poli, A. (2016). Maternal diet and nutrient requirements in pregnancy and breastfeeding. An Italian consensus document. In Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8100629 ¹⁰²Miles, E. A., & Calder, P. C. (2017). Can early omega-3 fatty acid exposure reduce risk of childhood allergic disease? In Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9070784. Mothers need adequate quantities of minerals like iodine, iron and calcium, as well as vitamin D, DHA and folic acid during pregnancy and breastfeeding ⁹⁵Marangoni, F., Cetin, I., Verduci, E., Canzone, G., Giovannini, M., Scollo, P., Corsello, G., & Poli, A. (2016). Maternal diet and nutrient requirements in pregnancy and breastfeeding. An Italian consensus document. In Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu8100629. Having a child is not only an incredibly exciting experience, but also sometimes a stressful one—especially as the world deals with the consequences of a global health crisis. Some of the most common challenges reported by mothers during pregnancy include nutrient deficiency, digestive discomfort and higher levels of anxiety ⁴¹Innova Market Insights & RFC, Early Life Nutrition survey, 2020. We offer our customers solutions to support mothers with these challenges, including ingredients like non-digestible galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) and DHA (omega-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid; LCPUFA).

The potential of GOS
At FrieslandCampina Ingredients, we’re passionate about the potential benefits GOS can provide at any age. Over the past few decades, we have been developing highest-quality GOS ingredients for infant and young child formula, as well as for adult solutions. A study of iron-depleted young women found that consuming GOS enabled them to absorb greater amounts of iron from an iron supplement ⁷³Jeroense, F., Michel, L., Zeder, C., & Herter-aeberli, I. (2019). Consumption of Galacto Oligosaccharides Increases Iron Absorption from Ferrous Fumarate : A Stable Iron Isotope Study in Iron-Depleted Young Women. J Nutr, 149, 738–746. . GOS have also been found to significantly increase calcium absorption in post-menopausal women ¹⁴⁸Van den Heuvel, E. G. H. M., Schoterman, M. H. C., & Muijs, T. (2000). Transgalactooligosaccharides Stimulate Calcium Absorption in Postmenopausal Women. The Journal of Nutrition, 130, 2938–2942.. Further studies have shown that GOS combat constipation in adults above 60 years ¹³⁹Surakka, A., Kajander, K., Rajilić-Stojanović, M., Karjalainen, H., Hatakka, K., Vapaatalo, H., Zoetendal, E. G., De Vos, W. M., Korpela, R., & Tynkkynen, S. (2009). Yoghurt containing galactooligosaccharides facilitates defecation among elderly subjects and selectively increases the number of Bifidobacteria. International Journal of Probiotics and Prebiotics, 4(1), 65–74. http://www.embase.com/search/results?subaction=viewrecord&from=export&id=L354327185%5Cnhtt p://sfx.library.uu.nl/utrecht?sid=EMBASE&issn=15551431&id=doi:&atitle=Yoghurt+containing+galacto oligosaccharides+facilitates+defecation+among+elderly+subjects+and+se ¹⁴¹Teuri, U., & Korpela, R. (1998). Galacto-oligosaccharides relieve constipation in elderly people. Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism, 42(6), 319–327. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9895419, and offer a stronger prebiotic effect than fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), linked to better intestinal barrier function in vitro and a reduced stress response in adults ³Akbari, P., Fink-Gremmels, J., Willems, R. H. A. M., Difilippo, E., Schols, H. A., Schoterman, M. H. C., Garssen, J., & Braber, S. (2016). Characterizing microbiota-independent effects of oligosaccharides on intestinal epithelial cells: insight into the role of structure and size: Structure–activity relationships of non-digestible oligosaccharides. European Journal of Nutrition, 56(5), 1919–1930. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1234-9 ¹³²Schmidt, K., Cowen, P. J., Harmer, C. J., Tzortzis, G., Errington, S., & Burnet, P. W. J. (2015). Prebiotic intake reduces the waking cortisol response and alters emotional bias in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology, 232(10), 1793–1801. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3810-0.

Mums-to-be may struggle with a range of stress factors which may have an impact on their health and well-being and that of their baby. Stress, in turn, can contribute to other related disorders like anxiety, a sustained mental health disorder ¹³⁷Smoller, J. W. (2016). The Genetics of Stress-Related Disorders: PTSD, Depression, and Anxiety Disorders. In Neuropsychopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2015.266. To explore how diet could support women, FrieslandCampina Ingredients undertook a collaborative research programme with the University of Surrey. It aimed to examine the effects of GOS supplementation on anxiety and emotional well-being, as well as the role of the gut-brain axis. Initial results show that the consumption of Vivinal® GOS may be effective in lowering anxiety and improving emotional well-being in highly anxious women ⁷⁵Johnstone, N., Milesi, C., Burn, O., van den Bogert, B., Nauta, A., Hart, K., Sowden, P., Burnet, P. W. J., & Cohen Kadosh, K. (2021). Anxiolytic effects of a galacto-oligosaccharides prebiotic in healthy females (18–25 years) with corresponding changes in gut bacterial composition. Scientific Reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-87865-w. Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids for health

The importance of maternal supplementation of omega-3 LCPUFAs, including DHA, has been shown in several clinical trials. Beneficial effects on visual acuity and long-term neurodevelopment have been found studying infants and children of supplemented mothers ²⁰Campoy, C., Escolano-Margarit, V., Anjos, T., Szajewska, H., & Uauy, R. (2012). Omega 3 fatty acids on child growth, visual acuity and neurodevelopment. In British Journal of Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007114512001493 ⁷¹Jensen, C. L., Voigt, R. G., Prager, T. C., Zou, Y. L., Fraley, J. K., Rozelle, J. C., Turcich, M. R., Llorente, A. M., Anderson, R. E., & Heird, W. C. (2005). Effects of maternal docosahexaenoic acid intake on visual function and neurodevelopment in breastfed term infants. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn.82.1.125 ⁷²Jensen, C. L., Voigt, R. G., Llorente, A. M., Peters, S. U., Prager, T. C., Zou, Y. L., Rozelle, J. C., Turcich, M. R., Fraley, J. K., Anderson, R. E., & Heird, W. C. (2010). Effects of early maternal docosahexaenoic acid intake on neuropsychological status and visual acuity at five years of age of breast-fed term infants. Journal of Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2010.06.006 ⁸¹Koletzko, B., Boey, C. C. M., Campoy, C., Carlson, S. E., Chang, N., Guillermo-Tuazon, M. A., Joshi, S., Prell, C., Quak, S. H., Sjarif, D. R., Su, Y., Supapannachart, S., Yamashiro, Y., & Osendarp, S. J. M. (2014). Current information and asian perspectives on long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy: Systematic review and practice recommendations from an early nutrition academy workshop. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1159/000365767. DHA supplementation may decrease the risk of early premature birth ⁷⁷Kar, S., Wong, M., Rogozinska, E., & Thangaratinam, S. (2016). Effects of omega-3 fatty acids in prevention of early preterm delivery: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized studies. European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejogrb.2015.11.033 ⁸¹Koletzko, B., Boey, C. C. M., Campoy, C., Carlson, S. E., Chang, N., Guillermo-Tuazon, M. A., Joshi, S., Prell, C., Quak, S. H., Sjarif, D. R., Su, Y., Supapannachart, S., Yamashiro, Y., & Osendarp, S. J. M. (2014). Current information and asian perspectives on long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy: Systematic review and practice recommendations from an early nutrition academy workshop. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1159/000365767 ¹⁰¹Middleton, P., Gomersall, J. C., Gould, J. F., Shepherd, E., Olsen, S. F., & Makrides, M. (2018). Omega-3 fatty acid addition during pregnancy. In Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD003402.pub3 ¹⁶⁵Wilson, N. A., Mantzioris, E., Middleton, P. T., & Muhlhausler, B. S. (2019). Gestational age and maternal status of DHA and other polyunsaturated fatty acids in pregnancy: A systematic review. Prostaglandins Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plefa.2019.04.006 and may reduce the risk of allergy development in early life ¹³Bisgaard, H., Stokholm, J., Chawes, B. L., Vissing, N. H., Bjarnadóttir, E., Schoos, A.-M. M., Wolsk, H. M., Pedersen, T. M., Vinding, R. K., Thorsteinsdóttir, S., Følsgaard, N. V, Fink, N. R., Thorsen, J., Pedersen, A. G., Waage, J., Rasmussen, M. A., Stark, K. D., Olsen, S. F., & Bønnelykke, K. (2016). Fish Oil–Derived Fatty Acids in Pregnancy and Wheeze and Asthma in Offspring. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(26), 2530–2539. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1503734 ⁸¹Koletzko, B., Boey, C. C. M., Campoy, C., Carlson, S. E., Chang, N., Guillermo-Tuazon, M. A., Joshi, S., Prell, C., Quak, S. H., Sjarif, D. R., Su, Y., Supapannachart, S., Yamashiro, Y., & Osendarp, S. J. M. (2014). Current information and asian perspectives on long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in pregnancy, lactation, and infancy: Systematic review and practice recommendations from an early nutrition academy workshop. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism. https://doi.org/10.1159/000365767 ¹⁰²Miles, E. A., & Calder, P. C. (2017). Can early omega-3 fatty acid exposure reduce risk of childhood allergic disease? In Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9070784 ¹⁶³Willemsen, L. E. M. (2016). Dietary n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids in allergy prevention and asthma treatment. European Journal of Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejphar.2016.03.062.