Mediterranean-Style Diet Further Linked to Reduced Risk of Preeclampsia in Pregnant Women of All Races, in Hopkins Study

A new Johns Hopkins Medicine study that surveyed a racially diverse group of more than 8,000 women has added to evidence that following a Mediterranean-style diet could lower the risk of preeclampsia by at least 20%. Preeclampsia is a potentially lethal complication of pregnancy marked by high blood pressure and organ damage that emerges in late pregnancy or shortly after giving birth. Worldwide, it is a significant cause of maternal and fetal death and premature birth. In the United States, preeclampsia occurs in about 2%-6% of women, and twice as often in Black women compared with other racial groups. A report on the new study, published April 20, 2022 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, said that women who self-reported eating a Mediterranean-style diet had a 20% or greater reduced risk of developing preeclampsia overall, even after accounting for a variety of other risk factors. The open-access article is titled “Mediterranean‐Style Diet and Risk of Preeclampsia by Race in the Boston Birth Cohort.”