Better nutrition for Mother and Baby

Already before.

Women planning to get pregnant should start thinking about improving their diet in advance, making room for nutrient-dense foods that provide more vitamins and minerals with every bite. Eating folate-rich foods like citrus fruits, dark green leafy vegetables, and peanuts can be very helpful in this regard!

Folate and folic acid (in its synthetic form) help reduce the risk of neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. These defects occur when the brain stops growing properly or when the spinal cord doesn't close properly as it forms (NIH, 2007). These important developmental processes occur in the first few weeks of life, before women even know they're pregnant, which is why it's especially important to improve your diet early on.

During and after pregnancy.

It only makes sense that good eating habits start before a baby is born. A mother's diet affects a baby's growth, development, and health throughout their life. For this reason, it's important for women to eat enough protein, good fats, and foods containing the nutrient folic acid, or folate, during pregnancy. As mentioned earlier, peanuts are an excellent source of folate and can help women get enough of this nutrient by including peanuts in a balanced, nutrient-rich diet.

A balanced diet with a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, and nuts can provide the mother with the necessary nutrients before, during, and after pregnancy.

If you are concerned about potential allergens during pregnancy or while breastfeeding, please note that the American Academy of Pediatrics (APA) guidelines (Thygarajan and Burks, 2008) state that there is insufficient evidence that allergen avoidance is an effective strategy for preventing food allergies.

In infancy, breastfeeding is the best nutrition for a baby and, according to APA guidelines, breastfeeding should be continued for at least the first 6 months of a baby's life. Solid foods should be introduced to a baby's diet no later than 6 months of age, with the optimal time frame being between four and six months. The APA guidelines state:
Although solid foods should not be introduced to infants before 4–6 months of age, there is insufficient evidence to suggest that delaying the introduction of solid foods beyond this period significantly protects infants from developing atopic diseases, whether they are fed cow's milk protein formula or human milk. This also applies to foods that are considered allergenic, such as fish, eggs, and peanut protein-containing foods (Thygarajan and Burks, 2008).

In addition to information about food allergies, parents should consult with pediatric specialists, as research in this area continues daily and there is still no clear answer on how best to prevent food allergies. It is important to remember that parents need to be properly educated on how to properly introduce new foods to their baby to avoid choking. Making sure that food is cut into appropriately small pieces and that children are supervised while eating are key considerations in this regard.

As children grow, peanuts and peanut butter provide them with nutritious, non-perishable food, and make meal preparation easier. It is estimated that the average child will have eaten more than 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches by the time they graduate from high school, based on a normal diet.