Removing Pregnancy and Birthing Problems
Posted: Sunday, June 18, 2006
by DrJan
Oral Medicine Today
Now that a study has shown that taking a specific nutrient formulation prevents pre-eclampsia, your patients should be given this same protective and advantageous benefit. Previous studies from other prestigious research institutions around the world (UCLA, NIH, Kings College in London, Vanderbilt University, University of Sydney in Australia, Brigham-Young University, Houston Medical Center and many others) have proven that Juice Plus is extraordinarily safe and extremely effective in many additional areas of health (lowers homocysteine, decreases DNA damage, enhances by 200-400% every blood marker used to determine immune strength, keeps blood vessels open – and on and on). It is already recommended by thousands of practitioners including Pediatricians and numerous members of the OBGYN specialty.
Enclosed is the pre-eclampsia article. You can easily access more peer-reviewed literature about Juice Plus.
Our organization is ready to supply your practice and hospital with sufficient quantities of Juice Plus to make sure your patients all receive the outstanding, safe and protective attributes inherent in this, the world’s most studied and documented nutrition formulation. With an eye toward evidence-based therapy, Juice Plus is, undeniably and by far, the treatment of choice.
This retrospective descriptive analytic study focuses on pregnancy outcome variables from 178 women (Group I), who reported taking a specific daily fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrate nutritional supplement commonly available in the Jackson, Mississippi area compared to 178 women not reporting use of any additional supplements (Group II). All the mothers received standard care, including prenatal vitamins, from the same practice group of obstetricians. However, when pregnancy outcome was compared, Group I had significantly fewer complications than Group II: Cesarean delivery (47% vs. 66%) delivery before 37 weeks (0 vs. 20%) and, diagnosis of preeclampsia (0 vs. 21%). These findings suggest that consuming nutrients from fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrates during pregnancy, in conjunction with standard prenatal vitamins, may reduce the incidence of some obstetric complications.
Current nutritional recommendations for pregnant women are based on the USDA Food Guide Pyramid and include four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit, daily.1 However, only 21.2% of women surveyed in Mississippi (MS) reported consuming five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day in 2002.2 These foods, particularly the deeply pigmented varieties, provide a wide array of phytonutrients with antioxidant activity, including carotenoids, and vitamins such as folate and vitamin C while being low in calories and fat.3 As recently reviewed by Roberts et al, nutritional interventions anticipated to reduce complications during pregnancy have focused mainly on macronutrients such as protein or specific lipids, minerals such as calcium, zinc or iron, and relatively high doses of isolated vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin E.4 Although oxidative stress is one of several etiologies theorized to be involved in development of preeclampsia, currently there are no studies available focusing on increased fruit and vegetable consumption in pregnant women throughout gestation on the incidence of this complication in the final trimester and at delivery.
Common and undesirable obstetrical complications include preterm labor, preterm birth, preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM), low birth weight, preeclampsia, and intrauterine growth restriction. This retrospective descriptive study is from one practice (four obstetricians) averaging 471 deliveries per year in Jackson, MS. This practice includes many women at high risk for obstetric complications. The study was initiated after the nurses noticed mothers who reported use of a specific fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrate anecdotally seemed to experience undesirable obstetrical complications less frequently than other mothers served by the same practice. This nutritional product has been reported to both increase the concentration of blood antioxidants5-7 and reduce homocysteine,8, 9 an amino acid that is elevated in women who have developed preeclampsia.4 These studies in healthy adults provided a biological rationale for the observations of the nursing staff. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the hospital records of mothers from this practice who either chose (Group I) to use a specific nutritional supplement or not (Group II) for documented complications at delivery.
Materials and Methods The study was approved by the Human Use Committee of Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, Jackson, MS for retrospective chart review. This hospital is one of four in the Jackson, MS area accepting obstetric patients. We identified 178 women within the practice who reported taking the fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrates between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2002 as Group I. The 178 comparison women making up Group II were selected as the next consecutive delivery within the practice group who did not report taking the nutritional product and that matched the Group I woman by age (within 3 years), parity (plus or minus 1), ethnicity, prior preterm birth history (plus or minus 1) and private insurance coverage (yes or no). The groups were not matched for marital status or previous obstetric or medical history other than preterm birth. A total of 356 singleton pregnancies were included in this retrospective chart review.
The hospital records were reviewed by a technician and obstetric complications were tabulated. A physician verified the accuracy of the data entered. For the purpose of this analysis: preterm labor was defined as labor before 37 weeks requiring medication to control preeclampsia was documented by the attending physician preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM) was defined as spontaneous ruptured membranes prior to 37 weeks gestation and, fetal distress was defined by late decelerations or non-reassuring non stress test as assessed by the attending physician.
The composition of the retrospective study groups is summarized in Table 1. During the 3-year observation period 83% (147 of the 178) of Group I women began the nutritional product before 13 weeks gestation and all women in Group I were using it by 28 weeks gestation. The nutritional product (Juice Plus+®, NSA, Inc., Memphis, TN) contains fruit (apple, orange, pineapple, cranberry, peach, acerola cherry, papaya) and vegetable (carrot, parsley, beet, kale, broccoli, cabbage, spinach, tomato) juice powder concentrates in four capsules daily that combined provide several phytonutrients including: beta-carotene equivalent to 12,500 IU of vitamin A activity 234 mg vitamin C 45 IU vitamin E 420 mcg folate 60 mg calcium along with about 10 Calories.
Statistical Analysis Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to determine if the data followed Gaussian distribution and Student t-test or Mann-Whitney tests were used where applicable (GraphPad InStat version 2, GraphPad Software, Inc., San Diego, CA). Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. If there was a zero in one of the 2x2 contingency cells, then 0.5 was added to each value and approximation of Woolf was used. A p value less than 0.05 was considered significant.
The matching resulted in study groups that were not different, as shown in Table 1, including for unmatched variables, such as marital status. Undesired obstetric outcomes in Group I and Group II mothers are listed in Table 2. Gestational age averaged one week longer in Group I women than Group II women and no Group I woman delivered before 37 weeks gestation, compared to 46 of the Group II women. No Group I woman had preterm delivery while 44 Group II women had preterm delivery (38 secondary to preeclampsia). The frequency of those delivering post-term (greater than 41 weeks) was similar between the two groups. Cesarean deliveries were performed on women in both groups (83 in Group I, 117 in Group II), although analysis shows a protective effect in Group I (OR 2.2). No Group I woman had a Cesarean delivery due to preeclampsia, compared to 12 in Group II. Cephalic pelvic disproportion (CPD), breech, and infection (Herpes simplex virus) were similar in their occurrence between the two groups.
Various neonatal factors differed between the two groups (Table 3). Average birth weight was significantly higher (p equal 0.0003) among Group I (3507 plus/minus 424 g) compared to Group II (3280 plus/minus 709 g). Babies born to Group I mothers a lower frequency of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) admission (0 vs.17) when compared to Group II offspring (OR 38.7 CI 2.3, 648.9). The majority of these NICU admissions (13) in Group II were due to respiratory distress syndrome.
These retrospective observations support the hypothesis that the women who chose to take a fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrate during pregnancy in this practice and during this time frame carried their babies longer than 37 weeks, had fewer babies weighing less than 2500 g, did not have preterm labor requiring intervention, or require elective delivery due to preeclampsia. Although every attempt was made to assure the chart review was through and unbiased, the Group I women may have differed from the Group II women independent of the nutritional supplement, not apparent from the charted information. Pregnant women are advised to consume at least seven servings of fruits and vegetables every day when they are expecting,1 very few women in MS even consume five daily servings.2 A study conducted in second trimester pregnant women in North Carolina found that higher-income, older and better educated women reported consuming 3-5 servings of vegetables per day.10 This retrospective matched for age and insurance coverage, but it is possible that Group I contained more better educated women than Group II.
While it is not appropriate to assume that this nutritional product can replace all the components found in produce, it is possible to consider this product could have complemented the nutritional status of the Group I women. Oxidative stress has been linked during pregnancy to preterm labor as well as low birth weight, PPROM, preeclampsia, IUGR and multiple newborn complications. Endothelial dysfunction has been theorized to contribute to development of preeclampsia. It has been reported that study subjects given Juice Plus+® showed reduction in several indicators of oxidative stress in the body, specifically increased plasma ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP)8 and reduced lipid peroxidation.6, 7 This nutritional product also been shown to maintain normal vasoactivity in humans after a high fat test meal.11 These investigations were not performed on pregnant subjects however, it is reasonable to expect similar functional findings in this population that might explain the reduction in frequency of undesirable obstetric outcomes in Group I mothers.
Findings from several recent studies illuminate the observations from this retrospective. Women in the lowest tenth percentile for preconception vitamin C intake were at greater risk for preterm delivery and PPROM, although this was slightly improved if second trimester intake was higher than intake before pregnancy.12 Another study found both placental tissue and maternal blood had lower carotenoid concentrations from mothers with preeclampsia than from those without.13 Lower levels of tocopherols have been reported in women with preeclampsia compared to mothers without.14 Blood from Italian mothers with a diet poor in fruit and vegetables showed a decrease each sequential trimester in total antioxidant capacity, and umbilical cord blood values were correlated with the maternal values at delivery, leading the authors to conclude “efforts should be made to improve dietary habits in pregnancy."15 These and other nutrients are all present in the nutritional product used by the Group I women.
In conclusion, daily consumption of antioxidant nutrients in the form of fruit and vegetable juice powder concentrate significantly decreased the rate of complications such as preterm labor, birth before 37 weeks, preeclampsia, NICU admission, and infant respiratory distress syndrome. If these findings are confirmed in a randomized, prospective clinical trial, a simple inexpensive nutritional solution may be available to effectively address common and costly obstetric complications.
For information and to order on-line: www.JuicePlus.com/OralMedicineToday Juice Plus Pregnancy Study Phytonutrients from fruit and vegetable juice concentrates may decrease obstetric complications: A retrospective study C. Doug Odom, M.D.1 Suneet P. Chauhan, M.D.2 Everett F. Magann, M.D.3 Rick W. Martin, M.D.3 Carl H. Rose, M.D.3 John C. Morrison, M.D.3 Address for correspondence and reprint requests: John C. Morrison, M.D., Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, Mississippi 39216-4505
E-mail: jmorrison@ob-gyn.umsmed.edu Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi,1 Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, Spartanburg, South Carolina,2 University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi3
This Article has been viewed 3,392 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
More commentsI must have struck quite a nerve in you for you to follow every article I wrote and repeat the same thing.
Thank you for this article. Women and birth professionals need to know more about nutrition as a source of preventing pregnancy problems.
Thousands of babies have benefited by this safe concentrate of ripe, raw vegetables and fruit. Agree with 'Anonymous' that women and birth professionals can gain a lot by learning more about nutrition. No premature births (before 37 weeks) is a benefit all in itself. Postgraduate Student from Canada
It doesn't bother you that this guy made wild lies about the research on the immune system (i.e. it does not "enhance by 200-400% every blood marker used to determine immune strength”)? What evidence is there that thousands of babies have beneifted from this overpriced garbage MLM vitamin supplement? There is none!I have met the Dr. and seen the research. It is third party peer reviewed. placebo controled and double blinded. I have personaly seen lives changed by this nutritional supplement so I am not sure where you are getting your information. I have read many of the research studies and they are all top notch.
I find it curious that traditional health professionals in the US continue to get so tweaked by the idea that improving nutrition can make a difference in health outcomes. Angel from Miami provides no citations for his claims either. The author never claimed that women should use this "in place of" prenatal vitamins. I truly wish that the US health system would begin to see the limits of what it can do and be open to incorporating alternatives.
I find it curious that anyone would criticize the US healthcare system and espouse the value of good nutrition merely to defend a lying, greedy idiot.
Juice Plus is a low grade supplement sold though a pyramid scheme with very deceptive marketing and high pressure sales tactics. The only people recommending this junk are the people selling it.
All i know is i've taken Juice plus for over 3 years, i'm just a normal young female not selling the product or trying to push it, but while all my coworkers and friends get sick left and right, i haven't gotten a tiny cold for 3 YEARS and i have an unlimited supply of energy. i also had skin cancer and mono in college 8 years ago, so i have a reason to believe staying on it is worth a benefit to me. and i will definitely take it alongside prenatal vitamin when i do become pregnant.
It's truly unfortunate that medical professionals, under the guise of trying to assist people in making better health decisions, would use a "so called study" like the one highlighted here, to advance the usage of a particular product. In the description of this 'study" the author (Dr. Jan) admits there are shortcomings in this "study" and she must know how poorly this "study" was designed because of her education and experience as a healthcare professional, yet at the end of this article states that consumption of Juice Plus significantly reduced the rate of complications in the study participants. How anyone as intelligent as this doctor must be could make such a claim when there are so many problems in the way this "study" was designed and conducted is really beyond belief. This same doctor would never ever accept this type of "study" and its results if it was done to show the effectiveness of a pharmacuetical or a medical treatment modality, let alone advocate usage. A much higher degree of independence and honesty by this doctor was warranted and much less obvious advocacy for Juice Plus, regardless of her own personal experiences or anecdotal/testimonial evidence from people she knows that consume Juice Plus. Bottom line, this doctor is an advocate for Juice Plus, and writes like one, even at the expense of her own credibility.
i agree with Asilana, its funny that anytime you talk about eliminating complications in L&D the OB/GYN's shoot it down right away. maybe that is why the USA has the 2nd worst death rate for mothers in birth out of all the industrialized countries. we are the worst if you look at 70 countries who had at least 400k births.I wish i would have taken this when i was pregnant, i ended up in the hospital form 30-35 weeks for preeclampsia, IUGR, HELLP, and oligohydramnios, maybe i could have made it to term, and not been hospitalized. im on it now, and its helped me a ton.
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