Photo credit: Teza Harinaivo Ra miandrisoa

A recent study in the European Journal of Public Health found that women who adhered to alternative lifestyles, including making organic food choices, were less likely to be overweight during and after their pregnancy and experienced less pregnancy-related hypertension than mothers who adhered to conventional lifestyles. Over 2,000 women representing alterative and conventional lifestyles were recruited and asked to answer health and lifestyle questions during their pregnancies and four to five years later. Women who identified they lived alternative lifestyles were more likely to be vegetarian, and choose organic and biodynamic products. During pregnancy, the alternative lifestyle group had lower blood pressure, less diarrhea, fewer urinary tract infections and lower body mass index (BMI) than the conventional lifestyle group.