NUTRITION BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER PREGNANCY

Why should you eat differently especially in your fertile years, before, during & after pregnancies? For your child’s:

• Organ development, for which you need plenty of cholesterol & vitamin D.
• Brain development, for which you need more protein, omega 3 fatty-acids and cholesterol.
• Birth weight, for which you shouldn’t restrict your calories.
• Mental health, for which you should avoid processed foods and foods that spike your insulin PMID: 24074470
• Eating habits, because everything you eat affects the content of the amniotic fluid PMCID: PMC2531152
• Long-term health, for which you need a solid high-nutrient past diet as your child’s health is decided once the placenta and its cell differentiation and division start. You can affect your child by passing higher chances for them to have a stroke, diabetes, etc. PMCID: PMC1876595

1. Eggs: choline is for brain development and prevention of neural tube defects and even positively affect the genetic expression of the baby. Just 2 eggs meets 50% DRI for a pregnant woman’s choline intake. Egg’s content of DHA is linked to higher IQ in infants. Always from pasture-raised chickens!
2. Liver: aside choline, is the best source of highly-absorbed iron to boost cognitive development, avoid preeclampsia and filled with folate and vitamin B12 for healthy red blood cells and brain development. Folate instead folic acid ‼️ Vitamin B12 lowers the risk of neural tube defects and miscarriage. Liver is also rich in vitamin A, D, E and K.
3. Meat on the bone or bone broth: readily absorbed forms of iron and zinc, fat-soluble vitamins. Bone broth especially provides glycine which is needed for the synthesis of feta DNA and collagen (especially when bones start forming) but also for the mother’s uterus. Glycine also protects against oxidative stress!
4. Seafood & salmon: fatty fish linked to higher IQ and communication skills in childhood, such as salmon, herring and sardines, roe are best sources of DHA and low in mercury, high in vitamin D and trace minerals (especially iodine that must be increased by 50% in pregnancy, yet women are widely deficient).
5. Full fat dairy: calcium, protein, vitamin A, D, E and K.

Especially K2 which is only found in dairy, works together with A and D to support adequate mineral metabolism in the body, affecting where calcium deposits (in bones and teeth not soft tissue).

The worry about ‘’too much vitamin A’’ is linked to synthetic vitamin A from supplementation, however natural vitamin A does not posses this threat especially when consumed with vitamin D and K2. The threat is a synthetic pre-natal with synthetic substances. One third of pregnant women were found deficient in Vitamin A, yet still not told to eat rich sources. Deficiency can affect the normal development of key organs in the growing baby such as kidneys, lungs, eyes and their heart.

Vitamin A intake needs to be higher during pregnancy so it supports both mother’s metabolism and fetal growth.