Babies born to mothers who were anxious or stressed during their pregnancy are more at risk of developing asthma research from Bristol University has shown. Close to 6000 families were monitored for eight years and anxiety levels assessed with questionnaires completed at 18 and 32 weeks of pregnancy. The children were assessed for asthma at around age seven. Overall the risk of developing asthma was a staggering 65 per cent higher in women who were stressed compared to those who were not. It is thought that the immune system of developing babies could be influenced by maternal stress, probably through the stress hormone, cortisol.

And according to a study released from Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan perhaps the best way for mothers to distress and relax is to listen to classical music and the sounds of nature. The study showed that listening to music provided a simple, cost effective and non invasive way of reducing stress, anxiety and depression in pregnancy.

A new study from Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has found that women can dramatically reduce their chances of dying earlier by adopting simple diet lifestyle rules.

 

The key to a healthier and longer life is to eat healthily, exercise regularly, stop smoking and manage your weight.  The study shows that the more of these habits a woman adopts the lower her risk of diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Breaking each of these rules can increase the risk of cancer three fold; the risk of heart disease eight fold and the risk of dying young from any cause four fold. The research also indicated that more than half of women who die young could have lived longer if they took better care of their health.

 

Lifestyle studies in the past were often based on men but this one, published in the British Medical Journal, looked at the diet and lifestyle of 80,000 women aged between 34 and 59, who were healthy at the start of the research. Over the next 25 years around 9,000 women died – about 4,500 from cancer and 1,790 from heart disease. The study showed that being overweight increased the risk of death by 18 percent and being obese by 67 percent. Smoking up to 14 cigarettes a day increased the risk of death by 94 percent and smoking more than this had more than a two fold increase. Having one alcohol drink a day decreased the risk but more than this saw it increase.

 

Eating five portions of fruit and vegetable a day, one serving of nuts and cereal a day – and red meat less than twice a month – cut the risk of early death by 35 per cent. Women who exercised for up to two hours a week reduced the risk of death by 16 percent but this increased to 23 per cent if they exercised up to 3.5 hours a week.

 

This research proves without a doubt that simple diet and lifestyle changes can have a massive impact on reducing the risk of dying early.

Eggs have been in the news quite a lot recently with the nine egg a day diet – something I certainly would not recommend, by the way, as the key to a healthy diet is always balance and moderation. I would, however, recommend including eggs, preferably free range and organic in your diet on a regular, if not daily basis, especially as new research has suggested that eating two eggs a day may help you lose weight and cut cholesterol.

 

Previously, there was thought to be a direct link between cholesterol rich foods such as eggs and an increase in blood cholesterol levels which raises the risk of heart disease. But recent research from Surrey University published in the European Journal of Nutrition has found that those who ate two eggs a day while on a calorie restricted diet recommended by the British Heart Foundation not only lost weight but saw a reduction in their cholesterol levels. Experts believe eating eggs for breakfast contributes to weight loss by making people feel fuller for longer.

 

The research shows that there is no convincing evidence to suggest that there is a link between eggs and high cholesterol. In fact eggs make a nutritional contribution to a heart healthy diet. It is saturated fat found in pastry, processed meats, biscuits and cakes that is more responsible for raising blood cholesterol than cholesterol rich foods such as eggs, which are low in saturated fat.

 

Other recent research from Pennsylvania State University and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that snacking on pistachio nuts twice a day can also lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. Nuts, like pistachios, are thought to reduce the risk of a range of illness because they are high in immune boosting antioxidants.