And, no, eating “three daily servings of dairy for calcium” needn’t be part of the picture.
How does one stay fit, lean and healthy during this incredible time of life while ensuring that baby’s getting what he or she needs for optimal development?
When I first got the great news, I immediately began to wonder if I would need to change anything in my eating regime.
I felt completely confident that the way I eat is what allowed my own leaky gut to heal almost twenty years ago. But in all honesty, when another human came into the picture (and I’m not referring to my hubby,) it did give me pause to question whether or not there were any extras I’d need to add into the mix now that I have a little baby to nurture, growing inside my very belly!
Since my naturopath whose been my go-to doc for years is not an OB/GYN, I continued with my physician, whom I’ve been seeing for years, for my regular women’s health exams. She had been completely fine for the annual routine.
But once I began her office’s prenatal care and regime of office visits, I soon learned that the advice I was given was exactly of the nature I’d expected it would be:
One hundred percent western, conservative, and quite frankly, outdated. Kind of like reading the Weight Watchers Pamphlet my mom shared with me - the one which she used to lose her baby weight after I was born!
Some of the general recommendations included:
- You can exercise; you can do light walking
- Definitely get a flu shot
- Take a baby aspirin daily - I later researched this out of curiosity, only to find that this can increase chance of pregnancy loss, congenital defects, and premature closure of a vessel in the fetus’s heart (1). Thank goodness I don’t ever take that stuff!
However, my favorite pearls focused on those having to do with food:
- Be sure to drink 2-3 cups of low fat or skim milk each day as great calcium sources to help with baby’s bone development
- Definitely don’t eat wild tuna, but (this was fair enough; obviously eating anything with a high Mercury content is a bad idea, but it was followed up with) canned tuna is fine
- Stay away from saturated fat, organ meats, skin, dark meat, and stick with lighter options such as chicken breast
I knew enough to know that these recommendations made no sense and that my back to basic, nutrient dense, approach that I’ve followed for years - which has kept me in tip top health and shape - would be at the very least, a solid foundation.
But was there anything extra I’d need to add?
I looked for a book, some research, a study but came up empty. There just didn’t seem to be any more reasonable sources of information.
When in doubt… go right to the source!
I reached out to Dr Loren Cordain (2), my mentor of the past 15 years and asked him if we could hop on a quick call to cover some of the basics.
Read on for what he had to say regarding the topic of eating properly for a healthy pregnancy, for mom and baby alike!