Post created by Ariel
Reviewing The Birthful Podcast with Adriana Lozada feat. Lily Nichols
Updates in What You Should Eat during Pregnancy, with Lily Nichols
This podcast talks about the nutrients needed in a woman’s diet while pregnant, nutrients for both mama and baby. They address the foods that most women are told to avoid and whether or not there really is a risk.
“A lot of prenatal nutrition recommendations are 20-30 years behind the research” -Lily Nichols
Information that is recommended to pregnant women comes from fears of the risk of bacteria or pathogens present in the foods. The truth is most of these foods have a pretty low risk of actually causing illness within a pregnant woman. The current recommendations are more about food safety and preparation than the actual effect on mama or baby. When looking at these foods with regard to food safety, actually everyone is at risk; not just pregnant women.
Skipping some of the nutrient dense foods such as eggs and seafood can lead to your body (and baby) lacking the nutrition needed to function and grow. The physiology (function) of a pregnant woman changes because the body now has a primary focus of providing everything necessary for baby to form. When it comes to our bodies we know that it is all about keeping the balance -homeostasis- so making sure our bodies are well fed with the proper nutrients, keeps that balance when a bunch of those nutrients are going to baby!
Risk vs. Benefit
Eggs- fully cooked eggs have no risk to mama and are completely healthy throughout pregnancy! Yay! But what if you only like eggs with a soft or runny yolk? Current recommendations say that this is a high risk of salmonella. An egg’s likelihood that it will consume salmonella is 1 in 30,000. Nichols says chickens that are pasture raised, their eggs risk is seven fold lower. Eggs contain choline, a very important nutrient in fetal development.
Egg yolk is the #1 Food Source for Choline
Choline recommendations didn’t get set until the late 1990’s and Nichols says that data is now out of date, but yet to be updated. Mamas should be getting an optimal amount of 930mg of choline per day, information found through human trials and proven to optimize brain development and function of infants. But how can women get that much choline in their diet...especially if they are avoiding eggs? The truth is they shouldn’t avoid eggs at all! Know the source of where your eggs come from, buy pasture raised eggs, or cook the yolk fully and both mama and baby are safe! The benefits are way better than the risk.
1 egg yolk= 115-120mg of choline
Fish- Food safety recommendations say that women should not be eating raw fish while pregnant. Other countries, besides the US, actually have recommendations to consume raw fish because of the nutrient density. Commercially available or “sushi grade” raw fish is often flash frozen which inactivates any parasites, making it safe to eat. But why do pregnant women crave sushi? Nichols says that cravings can often be a glimpse of dietary imbalances . Fish actually has very high levels of selenium, omega fatty acids, DHA, and iodine and these levels are actually higher when eating raw. Now mercury levels in fish are another common concern for pregnancy. The current guidelines are to limit consumption to less than 12oz per week, due to mercury levels. But selenium (remember one of the nutrients found in fish) will bind with the mercury and prevent it from being absorbed in our bodies. Nichols says the nutritional benefits of fish actually outweigh the concerns or risk.
Important Nutrients in Fish- protein, vitamin D, trace minerals (iodine, zinc, selenium) and iron
Fats-US dietary guidelines for low-fat diets came out in 1980, but we are learning that a low-fat diet does not make for a healthier body. Fats in unprocessed foods are actually good for you, foods that have processed fats that are removed from their original food source is when we run into some problems.
Olive, avocado, and coconut oil are all fantastic for your health during pregnancy!
Proteins and fats should be eaten together at every meal. This helps give mama the most amount of energy and keeps her full longer. When eating carbohydrates by themselves our body digests them quickly, we get a spike in blood sugar, followed by a crash...leaving mama hungry and reaching for more carbs. But when that carb is paired with a protein or fat it helps to dull the blood sugar response because they take longer to digest and keep you fuller longer. Cravings of sugary things come from a response to an imbalance in blood sugar which goes along with our hormonal balance. Super important when it comes to pregnancy!
Listening to your body and what feels good to you and how your body feels when you’re eating those foods is a good indicator of if you should be eating it.
“A lot of stuff is shifting with new data and better understanding of all the complex biological process going on unbeknownst to us inside of our bodies” -Lily Nichols
Thanks for reading my blog post! I found The Birthful Podcast interview with Lily Nichols to be super helpful and interesting. It is great to learn about current data and knowledge that is circulating. With science things change rapidly, so shouldn’t our education on that science change too? -
Resources: https://www.birthful.com/podcastinfo/
Google images: typed in nutrition and pregnancy illustration to find last image
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