NU FS356 Midterm: NUFS 356 – Metabolism Changes During Pregnancy

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Nutrition and Food Sciences
• Course: NU FS356
• Professor: Mazurak Vera

Document Summary

Duri(cid:374)g early preg(cid:374)a(cid:374)(cid:272)y, the (cid:373)other"s (cid:271)ody (cid:449)ill fa(cid:448)or fat storage. Early i(cid:374) the preg(cid:374)a(cid:374)(cid:272)y hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and insulin favor maternal fat deposition and inhibit the breakdown of lipids also known as lipolysis. This means that there is an increase in the number of triglycerides, fatty acids, cholesterol, lipoproteins and phospholipids. This increase is needed because the placenta uses the cholesterol for steroid synthesis and the fatty acids as well as the other components are used for oxidation and membrane synthesis. Fat recommendations do not differ from non-pregnancy recommendations. However, the quality of the fat is important. The ai of essential fatty acids is slightly increased during pregnancy. We also know that aracadonic acid (aa) and dha are very important to ideal fetal neural and visual development. Unfortunately, the conversion of linolenic acid to dha is very low. This means that we have eat sources of dha in order to meet our needs.