Push to net zero depletes vital nutrients needed by pregnant women

One way to push towards a ‘net zero world’ – meaning zero global warming emissions (on balance) into the atmosphere – is to convert to a vegan diet. In eating a vegan diet, one doesn’t eat meat or dairy products which means less cows which means less methane in the atmosphere and it also means less deforestation in Brazil for example. Deforestation damages the environment because there are less trees and trees absorb carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis.

Pregnant women need their vitamins and a vegan diet can leave them short

Researchers have found that 90% of expectant mothers in high income countries including Great Britain were lacking key vitamins for healthy pregnancies because, ostensibly, of a trend towards vegan diets in order to achieve a net zero world.

There is no doubt that there is an acute awareness nowadays of global warming as it’s been in the news media from a long time and millions of people are seeing the effects of climate change. And this form of climate change is very detrimental to hundreds of millions of people.

Global warming is happening right now despite the fact that the world’s leaders cannot get their act together and take genuine steps towards curbing it because as I understand it carbon dioxide emissions have increased over the past year compared to the previous year. We are going in the wrong direction. The leaders are failing us and the situation is becoming more dire and pressing as the days and months go by.

But this study indicates a negative spin-off which is very serious. The study found that the vitamins lacking in the diets of pregnant women included vitamins B12, B6 and D as well as folic acid and riboflavin.

These vitamins are found in abundance in meats and dairy products.

The lead author and professor of epidemiology from the University of Southampton, Keith Godfrey, said: “The push to net zero is likely to further deplete expectant mothers of vital nutrients.”

A co-author of the study, Shiao-Yng Chan, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore, said: “If we continue to move towards diets with less meat and dairy products vitamin deficiencies will continue.”

The study is published in Plos Medicine. There were 1,729 participating women aged between 18-38 when they conceived. At the time they were recruited for the study more than 9 in 10 had “low or marginal” levels of at least one of the vitamins mentioned.

Source: The Times of 6th December 2023.

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