Prepregnancy dietary protein intake, major dietary protein sources, and the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus: a prospective cohort study.

Year Published: 2013

Diabetes Care.

Bao W, Bowers K, Tobias DK, Hu FB, Zhang C.

This study examined 21,457 pregnancies from the Nurses' Health Study. Its aim was to examine the association between dietary protein intake and risk of gestational diabetes (GDM). Vegetable sources of protein included peanuts, peanut butter, and other nuts, along with legumes.

Key Findings: Higher animal protein intake was associated with a greater risk of GDM. In contrast, substituting 5% of energy from vegetable protein for animal protein resulted in a 51% reduced risk of GDM.