Eating bacon and eggs while pregnant could boost babies IQ, study reveals

If you’re suffering from morning sickness a fry-up might be the last thing you fancy, but research has revealed that eating a full English breakfast during pregnancy could increase babies’ IQ.

A new study, published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, found that mums-to-be who ate bacon and eggs during the last three months of pregnancy performed better in tests.

Why? Because both food are rich in choline, a nutrient that, despite being important during pregnancy, many women don’t get enough of.

The link between increased levels of choline and higher IQ has previously been explored in mice, but has now also been proven in humans.

Researchers from Cornell University in New York divided 26 participants into two groups, half the women received 480mg/day of choline, slightly more than the adequate intake level of 450mg/day, and the other 930mg.

Study participants were then tested on their information processing speed and visuo-spatial memory at four, seven, 10 and 13 months of age, reports the Mirror.

They recorded how long each baby took to look towards an image on the periphery of a computer screen, a measure of the time it takes for a cue to produce a motor response.

The results revealed that the higher the levels of choline ingested by the mum, the higher the IQ level of the baby.

But it isn’t just pregnant women who can benefit from upping their choline levels, as a result of the findings Professor Marie Caudill, of Cornell University believes recommended daily guidelines on how much choline humans should consume should be updated claiming the nutrient has “lifelong benefits”.

Not big on bacon and eggs? You can also get your choline fix from consuming fish, chicken, milk, legumes, nuts and broccoli.

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