YEARS leading up to pregnancy? Yes years. Preparing your body with a bountiful supply of nutrients to build a healthy baby does not start the day you get pregnant, it starts in the years, months and days leading up to pregnancy.
Weston Price (a dentist who studied native tribes eating their traditional unprocessed diets in the early 1900s) found that most tribes had a special diet for their young women, and sometimes even men, who were soon to get married (and start having babies). These tribes focused on foods that were high in omega-3 fats, vitamin A, D, E, and K, calcium-rich, and full of probiotics.
We know today that the wisdom of the ages is true. Children whose mothers had optimal levels of vitamin A when they got pregnant are less likely to need glasses, braces, or have sinus issues because their cranial cavity (skull) had enough nutrients to develop as large as it should be.
Years ago, even before I was married, when I learned that I as a hopefully, one day mother, could positively impact my future children by adopting a traditional diet and healthy way of life, I was fascinated! Below is a list of foods and lifestyle habits that I implement for optimal health so I can be best prepared to have healthy, robust, and happy children!
Nutrient-dense foods for preconception
Liver - I know I know you hate liver...but have you tried it? For anyone who is afraid of liver I just want to clear the waters and say, liver does not store toxins. If it did store toxins you’d be a toxic person hanging onto a bunch of yuck. Your liver makes sure all the toxins get dumped into the gallbladder where they are removed through your GI tract. However, the liver does store nutrients. Lots of healthy fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) that help you make use of all the other vitamins and minerals you eat plus contribute to healthy hair, skin, nails and a good mood! Liver is one of the greatest sources of Vitamin A which is instrumental in fertility, pregnancy, and the development of a baby. You know to take a prenatal vitamin when you get pregnant, well liver is like nature’s prenatal vitamin that, when eaten before pregnancy, can help your body have enough nutrients to get pregnant!
“Animal studies have shown that severe vitamin A deficiency leads to irregular ovulation and impaired hormone production. When female rats are deprived of vitamin A, they are unable to maintain pregnancies (resulting in miscarriages and stillbirths).” - The Fifth Vital Sign
100 grams of liver contains 37,718 IU of vitamin A, 19 IU of vitamin D, 27 mg of vitamin C, 96 mcg of biotin, and 253 mcg of folate. Whereas regular red meat contains trace amounts of vitamin A and D, no vitamin C, only 2.5 mcg of biotin and 10 mcg of folate.
TALK ABOUT A MULTIVITAMIN!
As always pasture-raised, organic, grass-fed, AND grass-finished are all standards to look for when it comes to purchasing meat. When it comes to liver all of this is doubly important. Any meat (liver included) will contain toxins and be less nutrient-dense when sources from a conventional farm.
How we eat it - I make beef liver by combining equal parts tapioca flour and almond flour and dredging thin liver slices in a whisked egg and then the flour. I pan fry these with lots of coconut oil for 4 minutes on each side and serve with homemade ketchup.
A more sneaky way to eat liver (for those who have a high powered blender) is to thaw out a package of beef liver and cut it into small quarter-sized pieces and freeze on a tray. When making a smoothie add one of these pieces to your mix and you will never know the difference.
If you have a meat grinder or if you are purchasing a half or whole beef, you could request that the butcher grind some of the liver into your hamburger. This can then be used just like regular hamburger and no one will know the difference!
Butter - Butter, from grass-fed cows, contains high levels of Vitamin D and K2. Without K2 we can’t put our Vitamin D and A to use. If we can’t use our vitamin A and D we won’t be able to assimilate calcium which can them create harm by getting stashed away in the body instead of used. The nutrients in butter (including cholesterol) are crucial for being healthy and building a healthy baby. Without optimal levels of Vitamin A in the gestational period, a child is more likely to be born with a narrowed skull resulting in a small palate and crowded teeth. I use homemade butter from our dairy cows but if that wasn’t an option for me I would buy Kerrygold brand or Sierra Nevada cultured butter.
How we eat it - We use butter liberally except for high heat cooking where the milk solids can easily burn and have a negative effect on your body. If you are new to using butter try melting it on your veggies or inside a baked sweet potato. Another fun favorite is making these after-dinner mints using butter!
Lots of vegetables - Eating a lot of large salads for (man salads as my husband calls them) helps us steer clear of eating a lot of other things that we might be tempted to fill up on, such as pizza, bread-y sandwiches, corn dogs, eating out, etc. We don’t focus on just certain nutrients of vegetables such as, “eat carrots because they contain beta carotene” we focus on the fact that including lots of raw and cooked vegetables will supply us with an array of healthy vitamins, minerals, and fiber and are an overall staple in a nutritious diet. (although the Carnivore diet folks might get mad at me for that last sentence).
How we eat it - Vegetables are not limited to salads. We make a lot of stir fry dishes or simply cooked broccoli, mashed cauliflower, fried carrots, and caramelized onion to go beside the main dish!
Kombucha and Sauerkraut - These two have been our most frequently eaten probiotic-rich foods as of late. Kombucha is an easy to make fermented drink that tastes great! RAW sauerkraut can be found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store (unlike the canned option). It supplies you with probiotics and it delicious. As an added benefit the raw brine from sauerkraut contains vitamin U which got its name from aiding in the healing of ulcers.
For proper function of the body, we depend on trillions of microbes. Disruption of the microbes in the gut can lead to, poor immune system function, obesity, allergies, food sensitivities, asthma, depression, anxiety, and autism..
Traditionally every culture had its own types of fermented food whether it be a drink like beet kvass, kombucha, water kefir, milk kefir, meads, or traditionally fermented wine. Or a food item like sauerkraut, kimchi, tofu, ketchup (which used to be fermented fish sauce), and other fermented condiments.
When fermented each food creates it own strains of good bacteria. Ideally, everyone should be eating multiple different fermented foods a day to populate their gut with a robust variety of bacteria. If you are new to fermented foods pick one and just start with a small portion for a few days while your gut adjusts to the new beneficial bacteria.
Raw pickles (found in the refrigerator aisle), sauerkraut, kombucha, water kefir, and milk kefir can all be bought at a grocery store and all are friendly tastes that are easy to become accustomed to!
How we eat it - Kombucha is usually a supper drink for us. It helps digest food because of its acidity which makes it a great companion for any meal. We usually eat raw sauerkraut on salads as it needs to be kept unheated.
Gluten-free bread and sprouted beans - Weston Price talks about the nutrient density and Vitamin E richness of fresh ground wheat but unfortunately, a lot of people (us) don’t do well with the gluten content of modern-day grains and most people who do tolerate gluten don’t go to the effort to freshly grind it which is the only way to maintain the vitamin E content until you use it. Because of this, I focus on making a gluten-free sourdough bread substitute and sprouting beans for healthy carbohydrate options.
“Bean contain magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, iron and molybdenum, as well as B vitamins such as folate and thiamine. All legumes contain both omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, with kidney and pinto beans particularly high in omega-3.”- The Weston Price Foundation
How we eat it - We use our gluten-free bread sparingly for an occasional sandwich and morning toast. We also make gluten-free sourdough pancakes and biscuits. I sprout beans for 2-3 days (so they get a long tail on them) before cooking and use in chili or soups as well as cold on salads. Sprouting the beans this way makes them more digestible and easier to get the nutrients from them!
Lifestyle tweaks for preconception
Ditching the sugar- This is a big one! Not eating refined sugar has made a world of difference in how I and my husband feel. We do have occasional treats of paleo cookies, stevia-sweetened peanut butter cups, maple syrup on our pancakes, or honey on our oatmeal BUT we certainly don’t find ourselves craving sweets as much as we did in years back when both of us consumed sugar freely. Refined sugar (and flour-based products like bread, pastries, pizza, bread, toaster waffles, etc…) will spike your blood sugar AND rob your body of nutrients. This is the opposite of what we want to happen when we are building nutrient stores for pregnancy (even if pregnancy is two years away). Processing just 1 gram of sugar takes 56 grams of magnesium out of your nutrient stores.
Our strategy - If you are new to the idea of weaning off sugar starting with baby steps is the best way to go! Don’t go cold turkey because you are far more likely to slip up and overdose on sugar when things get rough. Start by eating fruit at a time when you’re normally grabbing for a candy bar or cookie. When you are ready to go more hardcore try something like the Whole30 diet to completely reset your sugar cravings.
Using caffeine alternatives - Wouldn’t it feel nice to be awake in the morning without any extra stimulants? I personally love the taste of coffee so right now I brew up a small amount of delicious organically grown decaf coffee from my family’s coffee shop but we frequently like to enjoy other things sush as Four Sigmatic’s superfood 10 mushroom blend that is somewhat nutty and bitter tasting. It satisfies the coffee taste plus gives you loads of antioxidants and other nutrients that are adaptogenic and help with energy and sleep!...does your coffee do that? Another thing we enjoy is Dandy blend which is a coffee substitute made from dandelion and chicory root. It’s tasty and great for detoxifying.
If your adrenals are burnt out when you are pregnant, in the third trimester of pregnancy your body can tap into and start using the adrenals that you just created in your baby. The body does this as a way to survive but it obviously is a negative thing for your unborn baby. Coffee and other caffeine-based items stress your adrenals because of the surge in stress hormones related to caffeine intake. Unfortunately, the repeated use of caffeine can damage your adrenals glands. Caffeine also masks how tired you really may be. The sooner you start weaning yourself off caffeine the healthier adrenals glands you’ll have in pregnancy (read that as energy).
Lots of fresh air and outdoor activity- When we get into the groove of doing our inside work, like sitting and accomplishing things on the computer it’s hard to remember just how important it is to get outside and just sit in the sunlight. Exercise, sunlight, and the quiet meditation you do while on walks, all boost your mood and play into your health more than you even realize. Lots of activity, strong muscles and a healthy store of vitamin D go a long way for your health when you conceive and begin to pour energy into another little human. If you are already in the habit of being outside before you have a baby the better off you will be when recovering from labor and trying to avoid postpartum depression.
Non-toxic cleaning and beauty products - This is a big one because your skin is your biggest organ! Whatever you put on your skin is absorbed into your body within 26 seconds. Having fewer toxins in your body is huge for your overall health but will also help once you get pregnant. Just as we don’t accumulate a bunch of toxins overnight we won’t be able to get rid of a bunch of toxins overnight so the sooner you start reducing the amount of toxins your body has to process the better off you will be when you conceive. I focus on homemade or natural cleaning products, dish soap that does not contain sodium lauryl sulfate, homemade/natural body soap, homemade or organic body lotion, organic makeup, and non-aluminum deodorant.
One last preconception idea for those who are struggling with health issues
Stool test and blood tests for optimal health- Last year I worked with a Restorative Wellness Practitioner who took make through a protocol that involved a stool test that checked for bad bacteria and pathogens as well as a food sensitivity test and later a hormone test. The result of this was that I had H. pylori an ugly little bacteria that hides in the lining of the stomach as well as some other bad bacteria and a few markers for potential autoimmune disease. I avoided the foods that showed up on the food sensitivity test for 3 months to allow my body to get rid of inflammation so the herbs that I was taking to kill the bacteria would be effective. In the end, I was able to reintroduce the foods and had decreased symptoms of H. pylori overgrowth.
The importance of doing this protocol was for my overall health as I was struggling with many symptoms but the added benefit is that when I have children I will be less likely to pass infections like h-pylori on to them. It’s probable that I had H. pylori infection since birth and it led to the slow decline of my digestive system and hormones. I’m excited that I was able to discover this and treat it before getting pregnant and potentially having to deal with this bacteria in me AND my children.
In summary…
This is a long list but remember you don’t have to accomplish all these things in one day! I’ve been renovating my diet, lifestyle, and household products for years, and I still learn new things all the time!
If you are hoping to conceive within the next two years work your way through this list and slowly begin to introduce these foods and lifestyle tweaks, one by one.
The process and the journey is where the growth takes place!
