Infants have more positive facial reactions to the smells of foods to which they were exposed in their mother’s belly, suggesting that the memory of flavors begins to form before birth.
- Babies seem to react more favorably to the smell of foods that their mother has consumed in the last months of pregnancy.
- More specifically, the newborns were more crying and laughing more by feeling products to which they were exposed in their mother’s belly.
- Prenatal chemiosensory mechanisms can have the potential to promote healthy eating habits after birth.
“The chemiosensory experience of mammals begins in utero, when the fetuses are exposed to odors and tastes from the mother’s diet. Although the effects of prenatal exposure to aromas have been analyzed on behavior Infants, there are no longitudinal monitoring studies of fetal and neonatal responses “, have indicated researchers from the University of Durham (United Kingdom). In order to remedy this, the latter conducted a study, the results of which were published in the journal Appetite.
A reduced frequency of responses from “crying” to the smell that babies had felt before birth
For the needs of this research, the team recruited 32 mothers who ingested a single dose of 400 mg of carrot or cabbage capsules before 4D ultrasounds at 32 and 36 weeks of pregnancy to study the facial expressions of the fetus. After the ultrasound of the 36th week, pregnant women took the capsules daily for three consecutive weeks. Following deliveries, their children were followed for about three weeks. Scientists have tested the reactions of newborns to kale, carrot and a witness odor. In detail, separate wet cotton swabs, soaked in carrot or kale powder, or in water, were placed under the nose of each infant and their reaction to the different odors was recorded on video .
Subsequently, the authors then analyzed the images to see how the newborns reacted and compared these reactions to those observed before the birth of babies to understand the effects of repeated exposure to flavors during the last quarter of the pregnancy. A decrease in the frequency of tears and an increase in the frequency of laughter in response to the known odorous stimulus were observed during the prenatal period, regardless of the associated taste profile (bitter or not bitter). “Human beings feel the flavor by a combination of taste and smell. In fetuses, this occurs by the inhalation and swallowing of amniotic fluid in the uterus”, recalled the researchers.
Vegetables, fruits: Exposing the fetus to these foods to shape good eating habits
“Our research has shown that the fetus can not only detect and distinguish different flavors in the uterus, but also start learning and memorizing certain flavors if they are exposed to it repeatedly. This shows that the process of preferences of preferences Food begins much earlier than we thought, from the uterus. From the start “, explained Beyza USTUN-ELAYANwho led the work.
