Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Optimal Prenatal Nutrition

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Dairy foods such as milk, cheese, fromage frais and yoghurt are important in pregnancy because they contain calcium and other nutrients that you and your baby need.

Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Optimal Prenatal Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Optimal

Misconceptions of conventional prenatal nutrition: optimal macronutrient intake vs. current recommendations (why the current high-carb, low-fat recommendations are doing more harm than good), why salt is an essential nutrient (and how a low-salt diet can be detrimental), etc. Alas, we wait upon those like Lily, to whom God has given voice to speak on our behalf, and to educate us in the meantime. And yes, the book is extensively researched with a massive reference list at the end, but not all studies are necessarily high quality. Another reviewer mentioned that the author “also has a responsibility to her readers to identify real versus perceived risk, and the statistical likelihood of the negative outcomes she warns against” - which I 100% agree with!You do not need to achieve this balance with every meal, but try to get the balance right over a week. Fruit and vegetables in pregnancy

Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Opti… Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Opti…

There is a lot in this book that is not about food. I'm a Type A person, so I already knew plenty about toxin avoidance, unhealthy foods, supplements, exercise, stress, etc. If you are NOT a type A person who has already learned all they can about those topics, it would be very helpful for learning those essential elements of preparing your body for conception. I ended up skimming a lot of that. The recommendations in this book, then, become nearly impossible to follow with any degree of practicality. These are recommendations that presuppose that readers have the knowledge, time, and financial means to make sweeping changes to their dietary habits. While I do not disagree with the recommendations on principle, as Nichols certainly supports her claims with evidence-based research, I do vehemently disagree with their presentation. The author frequently points to the frightening negative effects of less-than-optimal diet, including miscarriage, stillbirth, and various other health deficits for mother and baby, but she does not break down the prevalence of these negative effects, or give any caveat as to the scale or scope of dietary changes that a pregnant person would need to make to avoid these adverse outcomes. It's best to get vitamins and minerals from the foods you eat, but when you're pregnant you need to take a folic acid supplement as well, to make sure you get everything you need.Fact sheet for health professionals: Iron. National Institutes of Health. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/. Accessed Jan. 19, 2022. What she's up against: Consider the general effects of environmental toxins on daily health and those of stress on the body. Discovered and pioneered in the 1960-70's or earlier. First embraced in the 1980-90's by the rare, renegade physicians and by environmentalists, and still, in 2019, there are a world of physicians (mostly the elders) who still insist that these things are only mildly involved in your health outcomes. And so it is also with diet and exercise in the world of physicians. Slow change. Most shellfish dwell at or near the bottom of the water bodies they live in, just like lobster, crab, grouper, flounder, etc. Gravity draws particulates down: dead matter, feces, human waste and trash. So, it's long been established that the lower strata of any water body has the highest concentration of environmental pollutants, even in the absence of a city to contaminate it. In a nutshell, the meat and other tissues of the species that dwell closer to the bottom have the highest density of toxins. Further, almost all of these species dwell in coastal areas, and thus have much greater exposure to urban pollutants such as automobile pollution and industrial runoff, sewage treatment facilities, etc. This is what we're consuming when we eat shellfish.

a healthy diet in pregnancy - NHS Have a healthy diet in pregnancy - NHS

Real Food for Pregnancy provides nutritional management of nausea, food aversions, heartburn, constipation, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes (and discusses pros/cons of all testing methods), and much more regarding pregnancy-associated medical conditions and symptoms. (Note that Lily’s other book, Real Food for Gestational Diabetes, focuses exclusively on the nutritional management of gestational diabetes.) This all-encompassing prenatal nutrition book based on scientific research teaches how to adopt a real-food approach when it comes to eating, ultimately setting up for a healthier pregnancy, a smoother recovery from birth, and an easier transition into motherhood. Choose low-fat varieties wherever possible, such as semi-skimmed, 1 percent fat or skimmed milk, low-fat and lower-sugar yoghurt and reduced-fat hard cheese. This all-or-nothing approach is terrifying and, frankly, offensively classist. Such fear-mongering has no place in medical or nutritional practice. Nichols would have been better served to point to what many pregnant people are already doing well, and how they can make simple, practical reforms for improved outcomes. She also has a responsibility to her readers to identify real versus perceived risk, and the statistical likelihood of the negative outcomes she warns against.

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Landon MB, et al., eds. Nutrition during pregnancy. In: Gabbe's Obstetrics: Normal and Problem Pregnancies. 8th ed. Elsevier; 2021. https://www.clinicalkey.com. Accessed Jan. 19, 2022. Staying healthy and safe. Office on Women's Health. https://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/youre-pregnant-now-what/staying-healthy-and-safe. Accessed Jan. 19, 2022. Finally, a healthcare professional with a voice to stare deep into the mysteries and complexities of the human wonder, and she does so with reverence rather than ego. Good sources: Lean red meat, poultry and fish are good sources of iron. Other options include iron-fortified breakfast cereals, beans and vegetables. Food

Pregnancy diet: Focus on these essential nutrients - Mayo Clinic Pregnancy diet: Focus on these essential nutrients - Mayo Clinic

On the other hand, while this book draws from a wide spectrum of research, I think it struggles to consistently discern the quality of all that data and as such draw reasonable and relevant conclusions for its audience. I get the impression that whenever Nichols comes across studies that associate a particular food ingredient or toxin with the term, “elevated risk” she opts towards recommending avoidance instead of digging deeper to consider the validity of that association, data quality, and the degree of risk. The chapters on foods that don’t build a healthy baby, nutrients, and toxins culminate in a punishing list of restrictions and scared the hell out of me at a time when I was already struggling with elevated fears. Suddenly, drinking tap water, eating out, using moisturizer, toothpaste, and so on felt like risks. I’m skeptical that the stress was worth it. Fact sheet for health professionals: Vitamin D. National Institutes of Health. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/. Accessed Jan. 19, 2022. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables because these provide vitamins and minerals, as well as fibre, which helps digestion and can help prevent constipation. Overall, this book was incredibly helpful. I loved the refreshing perspective that food is our best medicine and the best way to nourish our bodies, whether pregnant or not. Are you a dietitian who specializes in prenatal nutrition? Or are you looking for continuing education on prenatal nutrition? Look no further.

Prenatal Nutrition Continuing Education Credits for Dietitians

FoodData Central. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov. Accessed Jan. 27, 2022 Readers will also be able to identify what specific lab tests, supplements, and proactive steps they can take to support a healthy pregnancy, such as learning the crucial role of mindfulness and stress management, why moving the body is so important, which prenatal exercises are safe and which are not, and will also be given practical steps to reduce exposure to common toxins.