A mushroom diet reduced the risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and macrosomia: a randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) is a disease characterized by high blood pressure detected after 20 weeks of pregnancy, affecting approximately 10% of pregnant women worldwide. Effective strategies are imperatively needed to prevent and treat PIH. METHODS: Subjects were required to consume 100 g mushroom daily from pre-pregnancy to the 20th week of gestation. The gestational hypertension and related primary and secondary outcomes of the mushroom diet (MD) group and placebo group were investigated to compare the intervention of a MD on the PIH and preeclampsia-associated maternal and child health conditions. RESULTS: A total of 582 and 580 subjects belonging to the MD group and placebo group were included for the analysis, respectively. Compared to the placebo, the MD significantly reduced the incidence of gestational hypertension (P = 0.023), preeclampsia (P = 0.014), gestational weight gain (P = 0.017), excessive gestational weight gain (P = 0.032) and gestational diabetes (P = 0.047). Stratified analysis showed that the MD lowered the risk of PIH for overweighed women (P = 0.036), along with the percentage of macrosomia (P = 0.007). CONCLUSION: An MD could serve as a preventative strategy for lowering the risk of PIH and could control newborn birthweight while reducing comorbidities including gestational weight gain, diabetes etc.