Vitamin D is an essential nutrient with many important functions in the body. It is passed on to the baby in the womb and helps regulate various processes, including brain development. A study published in The Journal of Nutrition found that mothers’ vitamin D levels during pregnancy are associated with their children’s IQ. This finding suggests that higher levels of vitamin D during pregnancy may lead to higher IQs in infants.
Melissa Melow, study lead author and researcher at the Children’s Research Institute of the Seattle Children’s Research Institute, says vitamin D deficiency is common in both the general population and pregnant women. Interestingly, black women have more imperfections. “The pigment melanin protects the skin from the sun’s rays, but by blocking UV rays, melanin also reduces the production of vitamin D in the skin. For this reason, we were not surprised to see a high rate of vitamin D deficiency among pregnant black women in our study. According to Melow, even though many pregnant women take the vitamin prenatally, it cannot adequately make up for the deficiency. “I hope our work will raise awareness of this issue, show the long-term effects of vitamin D deficiency in children, and highlight that there are certain groups that we need to pay more attention to. Vitamin D supplementation is generally not recommended, but in light of these studies, healthcare providers should be alert to people at increased risk of deficiency, especially black women.”
Black women are most at risk of deficiency
Melougha up to 80% of pregnant black women in the US may have vitamin D deficiency. Of the women in the study, about 46% of mothers experienced vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, and vitamin D levels were lower in black women compared to white women. Melu and her colleagues used data from a study from Tennessee: Conditions Affecting Neurocognitive Development and Early Childhood Learning (CANDLE). CANDLE researchers recruited pregnant women for the study, which began in 2006, and collected information about the health and development of their children.
After adjusting for several other IQ-related factors, higher vitamin D levels during pregnancy have been associated with higher IQs in children ages 4 to 6. Although observational studies like this cannot prove causation, Melow believes that her findings are important and require further research.
“Vitamin D deficiency is pretty common,” Melow says. «Getting the right amount of vitamin D in your diet can be tricky, and not everyone can fill the gap with sunlight, so supplementing is a good option.» The recommended daily intake of vitamin D is 600 international units (IU). On average, Americans consume less than 200 IU in their diet, so if they don’t fill that gap with sun exposure or supplements, they’re likely to be deficient. Foods containing higher levels of vitamin D include oily fish, eggs, and fortified sources such as cow’s milk and breakfast cereals. More research is needed to determine optimal vitamin D levels during pregnancy. Melu believes this study will help develop dietary recommendations for pregnant women, especially pregnant black women and those at high risk of vitamin D deficiency. Nutritional supplementation and screening can have a key impact on strategies to reduce health gaps. The dose of vitamin D should be determined with the pediatrician as it will be different for a child who is breastfed only and for a child who is fed modified milk, which often contains vitamin D.
Other studies, on the other hand, state that taking vitamin D without magnesium provides little benefit. Magnesium is found in foods such as bananas, beans, spinach, broccoli, cashews, egg yolks, milk, mushrooms, oatmeal, corn, and tofu. However, you should be careful because vitamin D can also be overdosed, and then vomiting, nausea, weakness, lack of appetite and heart problems can occur. Therefore, it is worth taking care of the correct addition of supplements, of course, under the supervision of a doctor, especially during pregnancy and lactation. The supplement should be started no later than the start of the second trimester of pregnancy. It is recommended to control the level of vitamin D in the blood, which should be 30-50 ng / ml.