Women who are expecting babies can reduce their child's risk of developing multiple sclerosis when they are older - by simply drinking milk.
That's the finding from a study carried out by the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, USA.
Researchers looked at 35,794 female nurses whose mothers gave information about their diet during pregnancy.
Over a 16-year period, 199 of the nurses developed multiple sclerosis (MS).
The researchers discovered that the risk of MS was lower in the women whose mothers had drunk a lot of milk when they were pregnant.
Vitamin D was also found to have a similar effect in reducing the risk of MS.
Dr Fariba Mirzaei, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, US, who led the study, told the Press Association: "The risk of MS among daughters whose mothers consumed four glasses of milk per day was 56 of vitamin D intake during pregnancy was 45 for vitamin D intake during pregnancy."
She added: "There is growing evidence that vitamin D has an effect on MS. The results of this study suggest that this effect may begin in the womb."
Good sources of vitamin D are exposure to sunlight, oily fish including salmon and mackerel, and fortified milk.
The research was presented at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting in Toronto, Canada.
At least this study is telling us about things we CAN eat during pregnancy, rather than banning us from more foods...
Source: Press Association