Taking kola nuts can damage unborn baby’s brain, study warns

Kola nut is popular in Nigeria and West Africa and is commonly consumed by pregnant women early in pregnancy to alleviate morning sickness and dizziness. There is, however, a practice that experts warn against, particularly when taken in larger amounts, because of its bad effect on the developing brain.

Many studies suggest that the intake of too many kola nuts in early pregnancy can induce abnormal changes in the baby’s developing brain because of the caffeine content in kola nuts. It also delays the maturation of the baby’s developing brain.

The developing brain, especially the cerebellum, is one of the earliest structures of the brain. It attains maturity months after a child is born. For this reason, the cerebellum is highly susceptible to developmental abnormalities and deviations from normalcy due to the effects of many chemicals and environmental pollutants.

A cross-sectional study involving 478 consenting pregnant women in all three trimesters in Ibadan metropolis, for instance, said in the 2022 report on Research Square preprint that 33.9% had consumed kola nuts in a previous pregnancy and 29.3% reported use in the current pregnancy. The majority (93.7%) used kola nuts to suppress symptoms of morning sickness like spitting, nausea, and vomiting.

In 2021, researchers in the laboratory demonstrated that kola nuts, when administered repeatedly at certain doses to pregnant dams, disrupt normal brain development in their pups, suggesting potential deleterious effects of excessive kola nut consumption on the human brain.

The pregnant animals were kept under close observation before, during pregnancy and after delivery.

By Sade Oguntola

https://tribuneonlineng.com/taking-kola-nuts-to-alleviate-morning-sickness-can-damage-unborn-babys-brain-study-warns/