Too many corn tortillas may cause birth defect

“Researchers have a new dietary warning for pregnant women: Don’t eat too many corn tortillas.

A study led by a Harvard researcher published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found a link between neural-tube defects, which are often debilitating and sometimes fatal for babies, and the diets of pregnant women who ate large amounts of corn tortillas in the Rio Grande Valley, a mostly Latino area of southern Texas.

The study pointed to a fungal toxin called fumonsin, often found in corn, as a possible culprit for a series of babies born with incompletely formed brains in the early 1990s. The results affirm research that indicates fumonsin can inhibit the absorption of folic acid, known to prevent neural-tube defects.”

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