What could you do while pregnant to protect your child from diabetes?

Did you know that good stomach bacteria, like acidophilus, is passed on from mother to child?

These bacteria help manage weight and can even protect your child from diabetes.

Which is why it's extremely important for mothers to tip the balance of friendly bacteria levels while pregnant.

Now the average person's stomach is home to about 100 trillion bacteria, weighing about 1.5kg. So you might believe that this balancing act would be an impossible task. Thankfully, although crucially important for our overall health, this is not that difficult a task.

Dr Stengler explains below...

The link between diabetes and stomach bacteria revealed
 
Some people can eat whatever they and never gain weight or face the wrath of diabetes.
 
For others, it’s not that simple. No matter how careful they are with want they put in their bodies, they still end up fighting this disease
 
How is this possible?

The answer is this: Diabetes may not always be caused by what you put into your stomach, but by what's there already – the bacteria living inside your intestine.

The balance of this gut flora can have significant effects throughout the body, from digestion to some less obvious ailments like diabetes and cognitive impairment. 

According to a recent study conducted in China, diabetics are far more likely to harbour an excess of bad gut bacteria in the stomach than people who don't suffer from this disease.
And while it’s true that this doesn't prove the bacteria causes diabetes, it shows that there IS a link between the two. Researchers will continue to study this link so as to shed more light on this newly discovered "problem", so will keep you posted.

Until then, take care of your gut because even small changes can affect your overall health. Have a healthy diet, try to avoid antibiotics where ever possible and take a probiotic to tip the balance of good bacteria in your favor.  Make sure it's a strain that's been tested and proven in human beings.

And be extra careful if you are pregnant because what you do to your body, affects your baby’s too.
 

Tags: diabetes, pregnancy and diabetes, gut flora and diabetes, stomach bacteria can lead to diabetes, child protected from diabetes, general health