The consumption of phenylalanine in pregnancy is harmful to the baby and can cause irreversible damage to the central nervous system, which can only happen in the case of women who were born with phenylketonuria.
In women who have developed maternal phenylketonuria, tests should also be carried out to assess the concentration of phenylalanine in the bloodstream weekly during pregnancy, until it completes 12 weeks within the ideal values, and thereafter it can be performed every 15 days.
The consumption of phenylalanine during pregnancy should vary between 10 and 30 mg / kg of weight per day. The values of phenylalanine in the bloodstream must be equal to or less than 4mg / dl.
Foods containing phenylalanine
Some examples of foods that contain phenylalanine are:
- meats, milk and dairy products, eggs, some types of beans, corn, chickpeas, peanuts, lentils, wheat flour, oats, sweeteners and dietary products based on aspartame
As practically all foods have phenylalanine in their composition, phenylketonurics must be guided by a nutritionist to follow the diet correctly and thus be able to meet all nutritional needs.
High levels of phenylalanine in pregnancy can lead to problems such as miscarriage; microcephaly; mental retardation; low IQ; low birth weight and heart disease in the baby.
See how you should feed yourself to control phenylketonuria levels in the Phenylketonuria Diet.
