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Two Smart Pregnancy Tips For Healthy Moms & Babies

What do probiotics and omega 3 essential fatty acids have in common? They are two of the smartest pregnancy tips for mom AND baby. These two simple steps are an easy way to contribute to your baby’s long-term health.

If you are pregnant or planning to someday be pregnant, you have surely received advice from just about everyone. Doubtless, all that information can be very confusing.

At Body Ecology, it has long been our mission to contribute to the health of moms and children through education about the importance of healthy diet and lifestyleAfter all, fetal nutrition (what mom eats during pregnancy) is the number one determinant of longevity and future health of your children.

At the same time, we recognize that changing your diet can be challenging. This is why Body Ecology founder, Donna Gates, created the 7 healthy eating principles – including the first one to master, step-by-step.

The principle of step-by-step means that you can start changing your diet and lifestyle at your own pace. Chose one of our many “wellness tools” (the one you feel most excited to do first) and when you feel pretty comfortable with that tool, pick up another…step by step.

And certainly when you are pregnancy (or during the time period when you are planning to become pregnant) you must heed this principle. Reducing stress during this critical time is just as important as excellent nutrition.

So we decided to create a keep-it-simple plan – starting with just two steps – for pregnant moms or anyone planning pregnancy.

With our two-step plan, instead of changing your whole diet at once, we’ve selected two of the most powerful steps you can take to positively impact the health, intelligence and happiness of your baby.

Better yet, these two simple steps also contribute to you feeling your best as well!

Two Smart Pregnancy Tips for Healthy Moms & Babies

Our criteria for choosing these first two steps were simple:

  • Provide an energy boost
  • Contribute to digestive health
  • Conquer infection and inflammation
  • Boost immunity
  • Help brain development

Babies get their nutrition from mom in the womb. So what mom eats during pregnancy, baby eats too. Here are two important (and simple) nutritional steps that moms (or women planning to be moms) can take:

  1. Consume fermented foods and drinks. Fermented foods and drinks  have been a part of just about every culture in the world. They were much more prevalent as a means of preserving food prior to refrigeration, so with modern times, many cultures have forgotten them. Unfortunately, this also means we’ve lost the benefits that fermented foods and drinks provide.

    Fermented foods and drinks, like cultured vegetables and probiotic liquids , help create digestive health, boost immunity, build energy and conquer infection. They do this because they are full of beneficial probiotics, which contribute to a healthy inner ecosystem teeming with good bacteria and yeast that promote immunity.

    Just 2 ounces of your favorite probiotic liquid or ½ cup of cultured vegetables with each meal can go a long way in promoting health for mom and baby.

    To learn more, read: How Deborah Wieder’s Body – and Her Baby – Thrived with Body Ecology.

    A Smart Pregnancy Tip: Get plenty of omega-3 essential fatty acids as part of your prenatal regimen. Pernax is tops as a source of omega-3.  Sourced from green-lipped mussels, which have a unique lipid profile, Pernax goes beyond other fish oils to fight inflammation. Pernax is also rich in DHA, which studies show is beneficial for baby’s brain development, vision and immunity against allergies, eczema and asthma. Whether you are pregnant now or someday plan to be,learn more about Pernax and make it part of your healthy pregnancy routine today!

  2. Consume plenty of omega-3 essential fatty acids. We all need essential fatty acids for healthy bodies and healthy brains. They’re called essential because they are essential for good health, but are not manufactured by your body. Therefore, you must get them from the food you eat.

    The health of every cell in your body and your brain, nervous system, digestive system, heart, blood pressure, circulatory system, endocrine system and vision all depend on you eating a wide variety of essential fatty acids throughout the week.

    Omega-3 and omega-6 are two of the main types of unsaturated essential fatty acids. Unfortunately, most people are eating an overabundance of omega-6 and not nearly enough omega-3’s, which health experts say can lead to inflammation and disease.

    You can boost your omega-3s with foods like wild-caught salmon ,hemp seed oil , chia seeds and walnuts.

    But when it comes to the health and brain development of your baby, the type of omega-3 fatty acid is key. Omega-3’ fatty acids are comprised of three main forms:  EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid), DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) and ALA (Alpha-Linolenic Acid).

    It’s the DHA that plays an important role in baby’s brain development and immunity:

  • DHA affects brain development and vision. A study in the Journal of Child Development reported: “Babies born to mothers who had higher blood levels of DHA scored better on the attention tests until 6 months of age, and they scored better on different tests designed to measure visual learning in older babies at 1 year and 18 months.”1
  • DHA may help with immunity. A study conducted by Dr. Eileen Birch found that DHA may help prevent eczema, allergies and asthma in young children.2
  • Prenatal DHA is key. A study published in the Journal of Pediatrics found “that mothers’ third-trimester DHA intake is more important than babies’ consumption of breast-feeding because of the ‘critical third trimester brain growth spurt.’”3  The researchers therefore, recommended that pregnant woman get 300 mg of DHA daily during pregnancy.

    Of course because a baby’s brain is developing rapidly after birth as well…especially in the first two years…we feel this study could be misconstrued. At Body Ecology we encourage breast feeding moms to make sure they had plenty of DHA in their breast milk as well. Yes, breastfeeding is important for baby’s emotional well-being, but the nutritional quality of the breast milk can be influenced by what the mother eats. This study seems to overlook this important fact. In other words it would be wise to supplement with DHA during pregnancy and while you are breastfeeding.

    Fish oil supplements are an excellent way to get omega-3 essential fatty acids, but not all fish oil capsules are created equally. Our favorite supplement for omega-3 essential fatty acids, like DHA is Pernaxi. Pernax goes WAY beyond fish oil as the best source of omega-3 essential fatty acids because of the unique lipid profile of green-lipped mussels!

    In fact, studies have found that the green-lipped mussels found in Pernax have significant anti-inflammatory activity and can benefit patients with asthma, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and other inflammatory conditions.

    You can learn more about the health benefits of green-lipped mussel oil in Pernax by reading: The New Zealand Breakthrough in Anti-Aging,Disease-Fighting and Digestive Health .

You deserve to feel your best and have a healthy pregnancy. And what’s even better is that as you nourish yourself with these two easy steps, you are contributing the most important gift of all to your baby: the gift of good health.

Sources:

  1. Boyles, Salynn. Pregnant? Omega-3 Essential for Baby’s Brain. WebMD Health News, July 16, 2004.

    http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20040716/pregnant-omega-3-essential-for-babys-brain

  2. Green, Alan, MD, FAAP. DHA and Allergies, Asthma, or Eczema. May 28, 2008.
    http://blogs.drgreene.com/blog/2008/05/28/dha-and-allergies-asthma-or-eczema/
  3. Norton, Amy. Prenatal omega-3 may aid babies’ brain development. Reuters Health. March 27, 2008.
    http://www.babycenter.com/204_prenatal-omega-3-may-aid-babies-brain-development_5230315.bc?intcmp=mostpopular_emailed
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