Pregnancy Nutrition

 What you eat while you're pregnant affects not just your baby but your grandchildren and great-grandchildren!

Wondering what you can do to give your baby pink hair? I have no idea... beets maybe? ;) While I may not be able to help you out on that one I have a few tips that can help your pregnancy produce a baby that doesn't turn into a super crazy teenager!

 To prevent depression start with quercetin, add in some DHA, EPA, and L-Methylfolate, not just to prevent spinal bifida but to increase IQ and prevent other neural tube defects. If you want to go a step further and prevent a child from being born with a brain primed for anxiety and OCD disorders add in some magnesium L-threonate, magnesium glycinate, and magnesium Taurate. 

In people with the gene CACNA1C, their brain cells can't properly control the intake of calcium and it attacks their neurons unless of course, you provide your baby with a nutritional modifier for the intake. Calcium and magnesium compete for absorption, and our bodies use both of these every day. Unlike calcium though our bodies can't store excess magnesium which the body uses to regulate calcium intake. We use calcium to flex and magnesium to relax. Our brains use the previously mentioned magnesiums to relax, calm down and destress, unfortunately, though those are not found in abundance in the modern diet. 

For a good source of natural nutrients to help a baby's development in utero, it's great to eat bone marrow, liver and other pasture-raised grass-fed animal organ meat. However, trying to find these at my local Walmart has been impossible. So I turned to the above supplements. These give a multitude of healthy brain development nutrients. If you decide to go with a different brand that's great but remember your baby needs all the healthy fats it can get, and if it isn't pasture-raised and grass-fed you and your baby are going to be missing out on a ton of benefits. 

How do I know these supplements are working? Well if I don't take my DHA and EPA the pregnancy mood swings definitely kick in. This doesn't just help with mother and baby cognitive abilities but it also prevents postpartum depression. For me the Mega Red works the best but since pregnancy helps calm down the immune system and fish oil DHA EPA is cheaper I have taken some of those but the effects are about half of the Mega Red Algal oil for me. Most though will do better on a mercury-free DHA EPA fish oil supplement. 

Next, pattern recognition from inside the womb. Already learning to mimic where I poke my tummy and in the patterns, I poke it my little one is pretty dang smart. I can also do counts of pokes and the little one will poke back spot one when I say one or the spots for two, three, and four when the baby is awake and in a mood to play which at the moment happens mostly at 3 A.M. 

For more info on pregnancy nutrition and for the first book every pregnant or hoping to be pregnant woman should read or as I did, listen to, Real Food for Pregnancy is a MUST. 

If you want to save some money, quercetin is in apples, and if that morning sickness is keeping you from running to the grocery store, try keeping some of the dried slices below on hand, total life saver! 

Speaking of morning sickness, B6, B6, B6! Did I say that enough? 

As for a quick healthy protein that can be a life save in the third trimester when your stomach is squashed to the size of pin, yeah do the protein shake. Do the meal replacement, whatever you need to do to get those nutrients down!

Wishing you a healthy, happy pregnancy and super smart baby! All the best my dear friend!