Piloting a Dietary Vitamin E Intervention During Pregnancy

In the last forty years the prevalence of asthma has increased in westernised countries. We have hypothesised that this increase may be a consequence of changing diet. Several birth cohort studies have now reported an association between reduced maternal vitamin E intake during pregnancy and childhood asthma.

However, it remains to be seen whether increasing maternal vitamin E intake during pregnancy reduces the risk of childhood asthma. We are planning a large placebo controlled trial in pregnant women, to investigate whether optimisation of dietary vitamin E intake to the recommended 15mg/day reduces the likelihood of childhood asthma. We believe that a dietary intervention using vitamin E in its natural form of food is more likely to be successful and acceptable than a vitamin E supplement. We have previously demonstrated than pregnant women can optimise their vitamin E intake using a personalised dietary plan with the help of a dietitian however this intervention was complex and could not be translated into everyday use. With commercial support we have developed a range of soups containing foods naturally rich in vitamin E designed to optimise maternal vitamin E intake to 15mg/day. A range of similar tasting and looking placebo soups has also been developed. In this study we will pilot a randomised controlled trial of the active and placebo soups to ascertain whether pregnant women are willing and able to optimise their vitamin E intake during pregnancy using the soups in order to reduce the risk of their child developing asthma. optimising maternal vitamin E intake during pregnancy.