New research from The FASEB Journal suggests that improved nutrition may help offset the negative effects of early-life stress. This ailment, which has been shown to impair learning and memory, can have serious and lasting effects in later life.
In a study on mice, scientists found that early-life stress can reduce the levels of essential micronutrients—including methionine, vitamins B6 and B12, and folic acid—in the body. However, they found that supplementation helped to prevent some of the lasting negative effects of early-life stress.
“Today’s children are tomorrow’s future,” says Aniko Korosi, Ph.D., one of the researchers involved with the study. “We hope that this study can contribute to novel nutritional strategies that help prevent lasting consequences of a stressful childhood on later mental health.”
“The field of postnatal nutrition has sometimes taken a back seat to research on the maternal-fetal axis, but of course we cannot ever ignore either,” adds Thoru Pederson, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. “Here we see strikingly beneficial cognitive effects of a sound postnatal diet. The nutrients tested were familiar ones, but the results speak for themselves.”
As such, it is important to remind your patients to ensure that their little ones are receiving proper nutrition. Whether this is through diet or supplementation, it can certainly aid in their development—and have lasting effects into their adulthood.
