If mom drinks more soy milk, will the baby’s skin become whiter? Debunking 3 common myths

As the saying goes, "One person feeds two people", but for many new parents, there is still the misconception that "diet determines the skin color of the baby". The internet has been gossiping recently about the wrong myth that diet determines baby's skin color, including: If you consume more soy milk, coix seeds, almond tea, pearl powder, and milk during pregnancy, you can give birth to a baby with fair skin? Doctors point out that there is currently no literature proving that a pregnant woman’s diet can affect the skin color of her unborn baby. These are unfounded claims and not correct concepts.

Wang Xinhua, attending physician of the Department of Pediatrics at Chi Mei Medical Center, pointed out that the internet has been flooded with false myths in recent days about diet determining baby's skin color, including: If you consume more soy milk, coix seed, almond tea, pearl powder, and milk during pregnancy, will your baby have fair skin? If you eat chocolate, soy sauce, and coffee, will your baby's skin become darker? If you eat mangoes too often, will your baby have yellow skin?

Eat white food to become whiter, eat black food to become blacker? No scientific basis

During consultations, we often find that there are many folk remedies that believe that a "white baby" or a "black baby" is determined by the pregnant mother's diet. Therefore, many pregnant women resolutely resist "black" foods and choose to eat more "white foods" such as yam and water chestnuts.

In fact, the saying "eat white to become white, eat black to become black" is totally unfounded. Many nutrition experts recommend that pregnant women eat more lotus seeds, yam, tofu, milk, etc., not because these foods are white, but because they are rich in nutrients and are beneficial to the health of pregnant women and fetuses.

Your baby's skin color is determined by genes

Doctor Wang Xinhua emphasized that the color tone of the fetus's skin depends on the content of melanin in the skin. At the moment of gene matching between the parents, the content of melanin in the baby's future skin has been determined. If the content is higher, the skin color will be darker, and if the content is lower, the skin color will be whiter.

In other words, under normal circumstances, the depth of a child's skin color is determined by congenital genetic inheritance. Generally, the skin color of newborns is easily changed due to various physiological, environmental, pathological and other factors. Children only have a clearer skin color when they reach school age. Therefore, pregnant mothers should not worry about the color of food.

10 tips for giving birth to a healthy baby

If you want to give birth to a healthy baby, pregnant mothers must not forget 10 secrets, which are:

• 1. Try to eat foods that are fresh, visible in their original form, rich in nutrients such as vitamins and minerals, and without additives.

• 2. Avoid diets that are high in salt, sugar, or nutrients but high in calories.

• 3. The drinking habit should be stopped before preparing for pregnancy, during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

• 4. Pregnant women who have the habit of drinking coffee or tea should pay attention to the amount of caffeine they consume and its effect on the digestive system.

• 5. Antacids commonly found in stomach medicines and tannic acid contained in teas will hinder the absorption of iron, so you should pay attention to supplementing iron.

• 6. Vegetarians are more likely to lack vitamin B12, which is found in animal sources, and iron, which is found in lower concentrations in plants. If necessary, they can take vitamin or iron supplements as recommended by their doctor.

• 7. Pregnant women who cannot consume dairy products should supplement with foods high in calcium and vitamin D, such as nuts and green vegetables, to maintain the baby's bone growth and development and avoid osteoporosis.

• 8. Protein is an essential amino acid that is required for the development of the baby in the womb, the increase of the mother's blood volume, and the growth of other baby-nurturing tissues such as the breasts and uterus. Vegetarians or those who cannot consume dairy products can supplement it with soy products or eggs.

• 9. Do not believe in folk remedies or take supplements of unknown origin.

• 10. Pregnancy is not the time to diet. If calorie intake is strictly restricted, the mother may be at risk of ketoacidosis.