The Importance of Preconception Nutrition

First, let's define what preconception nutrition is. Simply put it is your health and nutrition before you become pregnant and I believe that it is way more complex than just taking a prenatal vitamin a few months before trying to conceive. Preconception nutrition can affect your health and your baby’s health during pregnancy by influencing nutrient deficiencies and by turning on or off certain gene expressions. Preconception nutrition is important for this reason because you can influence your health and your child’s with the foods you consume and there are so many foods that you can enjoy that will help you and your baby to be healthy.

Maternal Nutrition is Linked to Fetal Development

So, did you know that you pass on your nutrient stores to your baby? Let me explain…studies are starting to show that maternal nutrition is linked to fetal development and that maternal nutrition can even change gene expression for your baby. In a 2014 study by Nature Communications, variations in diet were shown to have an impact on how the baby's genes were expressed. For example, if your family has a history of diabetes, what you eat and how your body is nutritionally prepared for pregnancy can have an impact on whether your child will grow up to have diabetes. When you really think about it, I believe that it is easy to recognize that what you consume as a mother may have an impact on your child but often nutrition is never brought up at a doctor’s office. We are only told to start taking a prenatal a few months before conception but replenishing nutrients for optimal stores and health can require more effort than that. Prenatal vitamins may not contain nutrients that are easily absorbed or used in the best way in your body to create life and provide nourishment. That is why they should never be a substitute for a healthy diet, only an addition to a real food diet.

Real Food for Preconception Nutrition

Nutrients from real food, before and during pregnancy, are vital for everyone’s health. Real foods like beef liver, raw dairy and pasture raised eggs, offer nutrients that are easy to absorb so they help to give you all the vitamins and minerals you need. This is important because you want to replenish all of your nutrient stores before pregnancy so that you aren’t deficient. Deficiencies can be linked to complications and health issues for mom and baby. Take vitamin A for example, a deficiency is linked to night blindness, dry eyes, severe vision loss and infections in children, but if a mother consumes beef liver she is less likely herself to have a vitamin A deficiency and then so is her little one.

Starting to eat nutrient-dense foods before pregnancy can give your child the best start possible. We may not be able to prevent every sickness and disease but we do have some control. By taking care of ourselves and nourishing our bodies, with real food and lifestyle, we can be prepared physically for all that pregnancy and motherhood have to offer and give our children health.

I find this so amazing! I was able to influence my child’s health by the foods I ate before and during pregnancy and I can even still impact it now by giving him clean, whole foods regularly. I hope this information isn’t stressful to you but empowers you to learn more and choose real food options.

Foods to Focus on for Preconception Health

• Protein

  Protein is the building block of life and it is important to consume enough during pregnancy but also before. Consuming a high quality protein at every meal, like grass-fed beef, pasture raised chicken and eggs, raw dairy and wild-caught seafood, will help to keep your hormones functioning properly.

• Healthy Fats

  Fats found in coconut oil, grass-fed butter, ghee, tallow, extra virgin olive oil, avocados and wild-caught salmon are essential for healthy hormones and brain development. These fats also include essential vitamins that are needed for growth and development.

• Eggs

  Pasture-raised eggs are an amazing nutrient dense food. They contain lots of protein and lots of vitamins and minerals, so they make a great preconception breakfast, snack or dinner option. Eggs are especially high in choline and the requirements for this nutrient are increased during pregnancy.

• Grass-Fed Beef Liver

  Grass-fed beef liver is called nature’s multivitamin because it is so nutrient dense. It has an amazing anti-fatigue factor, can help to replenish depleted nutrients and is a fertility superfood because of it’s high levels of vitamin A, folate and choline. These nutrients aid in egg health and development.

How to Get Started

If you are looking for more information or help I have a few resources that can help you to add more nutrients to your diet so that you can prepare your body for pregnancy and motherhood. My Nourished Living Course will give you a framework for how to eat and what to eat for optimal health for yourself and baby. It will also help you to implement lifestyle changes that will increase your health. Lifestyle can be a huge part of preconception nutrition, especially if you are wanting a holistic approach. Learn more and enroll at the link here. Another great place to start is to remove toxins from your diet, by eating clean. Making simple swaps like organic produce instead of conventional or making cookies at home instead of buying a box can make a huge difference. I share all about how to eat clean, what to buy at the grocery store and what ingredients to avoid in my Clean Eating E-Book. It’s a quick download and will give you all the info you need to know. Lastly, if you are already pregnant I have a Pregnancy Meal Plan that gives you calorie specific meals for every meal of the day. It includes whole food recipes that will make eating and cooking lots easier.

*This is not medical advice, please use your own judgement and always talk to your health care provider.