Dietary supplement intake during pregnancy; better safe than sorry?

Alie de Boer*, Aalt Bast, Roger Godschalk

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

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Abstract

Consumption of dietary supplements and specifically niche products such as supplements targeting pregnant women is increasing. The advantages of dietary supplementation during pregnancy with folic acid have been established, but health effects of many other supplements have not been confirmed. EU and US legislation on dietary supplements requires the product to be safe for the direct consumer, the mother. Long-term health effects for the fetus due to fetal programming (in utero adaptation of the fetal epigenome due to environmental stimuli such as supplementation) are not taken into account. Such epigenetic alterations can, however, influence the response to health challenges in adulthood. We therefore call for both conducting research in birth cohorts and animal studies to identify potential health effects in progeny of supplement consuming mothers as well as the establishment of a nutrivigilance scheme to identify favorable and adverse effects post-marketing. The acquired knowledge can be used to create more effective legislation on dietary supplement intake during pregnancy for safety of the child. Increasing knowledge on the effects of consuming supplements will create a safer environment for future mothers and their offspring to optimize their health before, during and after pregnancy.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)442-447
Number of pages6
JournalRegulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology
Volume95
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2018

Keywords

  • Fetal programming
  • Nutrivigilance
  • Dietary supplements
  • Novel food
  • European food law
  • Food safety
  • NEURAL-TUBE DEFECTS
  • BREAST-CANCER RISK
  • FOLIC-ACID
  • DEVELOPMENTAL ORIGINS
  • EPIGENETIC REGULATION
  • PRENATAL EXPOSURE
  • MATERNAL DIET
  • DUTCH FAMINE
  • EARLY-LIFE
  • US ADULTS

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