Dynamic Duo (Power Eating For Two)

Something very powerful occurs during pregnancy. Suddenly every breath, action, thought and habit you experience takes on new significance. This internal review is a wake up call to how well you take care of yourself. The need to revise previously acceptable behaviors can be an opportunity for new growth that can last well beyond the nine-month gestation period. You now have a reason bigger than yourself to quit smoking, drink less caffeine and alcohol, and to ingest fewer potato chips. This urge from inside to start paying attention is nature’s way of beginning the lessons of motherhood and a manifestation of our natural instinct to protect our young. There’s someone inside your belly whom you need to protect.

After your baby is born you will dedicate the rest of your life to providing the best clothes, home and education you can afford for him or her. Yet, the most profound impact can be made right now, before your baby is born. There is no other single ingredient that you can contribute to the future of your baby than to eat healthy before, during and after your pregnancy. The food you are presently eating is literally constructing your baby--it’s as simple as that! The protein sources you choose supply the amino acids that are the building blocks of your baby’s muscles. Calcium eaten is converted into your baby’s bones. Your baby’s brain and hormonal system will be composed from the essential fatty acids you ingest.

What happens if adequate nutrition to support the growth of a healthy baby is not consumed? Nature always prioritizes the health of the fetus above all else. If you don’t receive enough calcium, magnesium, and other minerals from your diet, those minerals get hijacked from your bones and utilized for developing your baby--resulting in soft teeth, graying hair, and osteoporosis risk for you. Inadequate intake or large amounts poor quality protein means protein will be transferred from your muscles to baby’s--creating weakness and muscle pain for you. Vitamin deficiencies will also be supplied from your body structure, resulting in a weakened immune system and frayed nerves. Receiving sufficient nutrition is imperative to maintain strength and health for yourself, in order to supply the best physiological blueprint, ensuring the development of a “whole” person inside of you.

Here are three steps to maximize your dietary approach during pregnancy:

• Begin with high nutritional profile foods.
• Consume these foods in an absorbable form.
• Protect against losing nutrients after ingestion.

High Nutritional Profile
Now is not the time to diet! Eat the 300 extra calories a day recommended in the latest edition of Williams Obstetrics –you and your baby need it! Complex carbohydrates such as fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains are the powerhouses of vitamins and minerals and organic produce has higher nutritional content than conventionally farmed foods. Choose foods that are whole foods over processed artificial foods. Whole natural foods contain all of the micro nutrients required for their complete metabolism. The more processed a food is, the more nutrition has been stripped out of it to make it last longer on the shelf. Also your child is less likely to have an appetite for junk food in the future if fed whole foods in the womb. Choose brown rice over white rice, whole-grain bread over white bread. Whole grain foods also have more fiber, which helps reduce constipation, a common complaint in pregnancy.

Absorbable Foods
Doctors usually require new mothers take a prenatal vitamin. This is helpful but it is a supplement, an addition to your daily diet, not a replacement for it. Your body cannot absorb nutrition from vitamins very well, so you may not be getting all the benefits listed on the side of the bottle anyway. The source of nutrition that your body responds to best is fresh food!

Some moms have trouble eating high-fiber, whole foods because of morning sickness or other digestive problems that sometimes accompany the joys of pregnancy. This discomfort can be decreased by eating well-cooked and well-chewed food. Vitamins and minerals are more absorbable from cooked foods than from raw--so this may be a good time to forget about the salad and just eat the soups! Soups provide very absorbable nutrition that is easy on the tummy. Also, try chewing your food more--just 10 bites more per mouthful can make a difference.

Protecting Your Nutritional Warehouse
Certain foods can interfere with your absorption of vitamins and minerals and can even remove them from your body. Studies in the Journal of Women’s Health and the Harvard Nurse’s Study show that people who consume a lot of animal protein (meat, poultry, eggs, dairy) have a higher rate of osteoporosis and lose calcium and magnesium when they urinate. Meanwhile vegetarians and people who consume less animal protein lose fewer minerals and have lower rates of osteoporosis. If you are pregnant, your bones are at a higher risk if you eat a lot of animal foods--calcium is going from your bones to your baby and also from your bones to the toilet. Leafy green vegetables like broccoli, kale and collards pack high calcium contents that are easily absorbable, which can help. Just as important is eating more vegetarian sources of protein like beans, nuts, and tofu in order to retain the minerals already in your body.

Other foods that interfere with our absorption of calcium, magnesium, and other minerals include the coloring agent and the phosphorus found in colas and root beers, caffeine, and sugar, as noted by Dr. Christiane Northrup in Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom. Also, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine explains that women who suffer from stress and depression also excrete more minerals in their urine and have soft bones. Their elevated levels of epinephrine and cortisol interfere with mineral absorption. In your daily diet, be sure to include high doses of joy and relaxation!

What to Eat and Where to Get It
Here are some key ingredients for building your baby and staying strong!

Folic Acid: One of the B vitamins, folic acid reduces the risk of birth defects. Doctors recommend about half a milligram a day. Leafy green vegetables like kale, collards, broccoli, bok choy, and mustard greens contain lots of highly absorbable B-vitamins including folic acid.

Iron: To support healthy blood plasma you need to double your iron intake during pregnancy, according to Williams Obstetrics. Doctors generally prescribe supplements but you can also get iron from leafy green vegetables, sea vegetables, beans, and organic grass fed red meat.

Protein: The amino acids are essential for cell growth and development. If you are protecting your bones by reducing animal protein, you can still get the full range of amino acids from vegetarian meals that include beans and whole grains.

Water: You and your baby are mostly made up of water. Water facilitates all the metabolic processes in your body. You can’t build a baby without it! So drink up!

Omega-3 Fatty Acids: These healthy essential fats are necessary for fetal brain development. Obtain them from leafy green vegetables, flax seed oil, and cold water fish like salmon or sardines.

Calcium: Dairy is not your only source! 1 cup of collard greens = 300mg, 1 cup of canned salmon = 431mg, 1 cup of chickpeas = 130mg, 1 cup of almonds = 300 mg.

Magnesium: You can’t process your calcium without it! Try beans and bananas.

B12: Another B vitamin, it helps process folic acid. It is found only in animal foods, so don’t cut out the chicken or fish altogether. If you are vegan, you may need a B12 supplement.

Vitamin C: Very important for processing your iron. Eat citrus fruits, and a variety of veggies like peppers, tomatoes, carrots, etc. According to Prescription for Nutritional Healing, a lot of vitamin C taken at the beginning of labor may ease labor pains.

Vitamin L: The L stands for love! Remember, the baby can feel your hormone, energy, mood, blood sugar, and stress level fluctuations because it is living inside of you. Create a happy, healthy environment for baby by creating a happy, healthy environment for yourself. Surround yourself with people who love you. Spend time in nature with green things. Sleep a lot. Get massage whenever you can. Laugh, do some yoga, and laugh some more. Love yourself.

Good for Baby, Good for You
Provision of good healthy food is one of the prime signs of caring. There is no better way to show your care and concern for yourself and your baby then to feed both of you the highest quality food you can afford. Don’t let this new pattern end after your child is born. Use this precious time to start a relationship with food that allows you to model a healthy life style for your child for the rest of his or her life.

Rose Payne is the founder and Director of High Level Wellness a holistic health and nutrition center in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. She is an AADP certified Holistic Nutrition Counselor and National Educator with a private practice that offers assistance countrywide. She is also the Director of the Immersion Graduate Program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC. Her passion is helping clients transform their lives through the power of nutrition. You can contact Rose at info@high-level-wellness-online.com

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