Article: Your Ideal Pregnancy Guide Author: Melody Mackeown Dip.ION (Distinction)

Eating your way to a healthy pregnancy.

By Melody Mackeown Dip.ION (Distinction)

Foresight Practitioner (Pre-conceptual care specialist)

BSc Psychology (Hons)

www.naturalnutrition.uk.com

T: 020 8871 9483

E: melody@naturalnutrition.uk.com

Feeling Supercharged, Eating For Energy

What pregnancy health conditions can Natural Nutrition help with?

Opimising your diet throughout your pregnancy may help with the following conditions:

§ Anaemia

§ Constipation

§ Cravings (abnormal cravings)

§ Faintness

§ Fluid retention

§ Gestational Diabetes

§ Headaches (including migraines)

§ Infections (e.g. cystitis, thrush)

§ Leg cramps

§ Low birth weight or premature babies

§ Migraines

§ Morning sickness

§ Nose bleeds, bleeding gums

§ Oedema (swelling of hands, ankles, feet

§ Pre-eclampsia (high blood pressure)

§ Stretchmarks

§ Thrush

§ Varicose veins

§ Weight gain (excessive)

Remember, it is never too late to optimise your diet during your pregnancy.

OPTIMUM NUTRITION FOR A HEALTHY PREGNANCY: WHAT’S IMPORTANT AND WHY AND WHAT TO AVOID AND WHY

As your health impacts directly on your baby’s development, boosting your immune system before and during pregnancy is especially important. Boosting your immune system will help reduce any illnesses or problems you may have during pregnancy and can help prevent allergies developing in your baby.

1. Protein: the body’s building blocks

During pregnancy, your need for protein increases as you are not just replenishing your own body, but also providing the raw materials from which your baby is made.

Why protein is important for your baby:

• It is vital for growth and repair of body tissues
• Protein is used to make hormones, enzymes, antibodies and neurotransmitters
• Protein is also used to carry substances around the body (e.g. haemoglobin which transports most oxygen and some carbon dioxide in the blood

Quality is also of paramount importance. As well as fish, meat and dairy sources, there are many excellent plant sources of protein including: whole grains (quinoa and millet are especially good sources as they contain all the essential amino acids which make protein), vegetables, legumes (lentils, beans, pulses, peas) and nuts and seeds. Plant protein also contains less undesirable saturated fats and more of the desirable essential fats and is generally lower in calories.

3a. Carbohydrates: Eat Unprocessed/Unrefined carbohydrates

While your body uses protein and fat for energy as well as many other functions, your body is designed to run on carbohydrates. When you eat unprocessed and unrefined carbohydrates the body does exactly what it’s designed to do. It digests these foods and gradually releases their potential energy. What’s more, all the nutrients the body needs for digestion and metabolism are present in those who foods. They also contain good sources of fibre which keeps your digestive tract healthy.

A lack of certain nutrients such as Chromium and Vitamin C can play havoc with blood sugar control, making you more susceptible to gestational diabetes. Magnesium and potassium play a critical role in blood pressure, and therefore may help prevent pre-eclampsia.

The best foods for the above nutrients include: lean meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, legumes (lentils, beans, pulses, peas), whole grains, nuts and seeds. Refined foods such as white bread and pasta have most of the ‘goodness’ taken out from them.

Why nutrients in unrefined carbohydrates are important for your baby:

• Folic Acid for the development of the nervous system.
• Vitamin C for formation of collagen in skin, for bone, skin and joint health and for protection against disease.
• Calcium for teeth, bones, a healthy nervous system and heart.
• Chromium for energy, protection of DNA and RNA and heart function.
• Iodine for thyroid gland to avoid mental retardation of baby.
• Iron for oxygen transport around the body.
• Magnesium for bones, teeth, muscles, energy and nervous system.
• Manganese for bones, cartilage, nerves, tissues, insulin production, brain function and reduces cell, DNA and RNA damage.
• Selenium helps protect cells from being damaged by toxins, reduces inflammation, promotes healthy heart.
• Zinc for hormone balance, nervous system, brain, teeth, bones and birth weight.

3b. Carbohydrates: refined products

Refined foods such as white bread and pasta have most of the ‘goodness’ taken out from them.

Too much sugar or refined foods can cause a blood sugar imbalance (which could lead to gestational diabetes or poor glucose tolerance) in the mother that can disrupt her hormones and can cause irritability, depression, loss of concentration and anxiety. A blood sugar imbalance may also suppress the immune system in the long-term, thereby making you more vulnerable to infections.

• A mother suffering from gestational diabetes or poor glucose tolerance can pass this onto her unborn child. It is believed that the child may be more susceptible to diabetes later on in life.

3c. Carbohydrates: Avoid sugar

Sugar can suppress white blood cell production, thus impairing your immune system.

2a. Essential Fats (the ‘Good Guys’)

Essential fats are important as they ensure that the cell walls function effectively allowing nutrients in and toxins out.

They are found in oily fish (e.g. salmon, mackerel), nuts and seeds, linseed/flaxseed and green leafy vegetables.

Why essential fats are important for your baby:

• Essential fats are important for the development of the nervous system and brain, heart and blood vessels. Both omega 6 and omega 3 play an important role.
• The omega 6 oils produce hormone type chemicals that help decrease inflammation, lower blood pressure, improve nerve and immune function and help insulin work.
• The omega 3 oils produce hormone type chemicals that are needed for vision, brain function, coordination, immune system and mood. Omega 3 fats are also key in brain development so a deficiency can cause learning disabilities. They may help prevent a premature birth and may prevent post natal depression.

2b. Reduce saturated and avoid trans fats (the ‘Bad Guys)

It is important to avoid saturated and hydrogenated fats as not only do they block the pathways of essential fats, but they raise cholesterol levels too. Thus, they may also impair your immune system. These are found in processed foods such as biscuits, cakes, chocolate.

Why it is important to avoid trans fats for your baby:

• Hydrogenated fats are incorporated into the cell membranes as the body cannot identify them as being different to essential fats, but they do not function correctly, disrupting pregnancy hormones, reducing a baby’s birth weight and lowering the quality of the mother’s milk. Steer clear of hydrogenated fats!

4. Fruit and Vegetables: Ensure good levels in your diet

Your immune system is completely dependant on an optimal intake of vitamins and minerals. A lack of antioxidants (e.g. Vitamins A, E and C) can suppress the immune system as does a deficiency of iron, zinc, magnesium and selenium. The B vitamins (e.g. B1, B2, B6, B12, Folic acid) are also extremely important in boosting the immune system. For example, the production of antibodies, critical for any infection, is dependant on B6.

Fruit and vegetables are also great sources of fibre

Why these nutrients are important for your baby:

• Vitamin A for hearing and visual development, heart and immune function. Vitamin A must not be consumed in more than total doses of 10 000 iu per day. Liver (and fish liver oils such as cod liver oil) contains high levels of vitamin A, so only eat small amounts.
• B Vitamins for new blood cells, brain development, energy and cell division.
• Vitamin D for teeth, bones and growth.
• Vitamin K for blood clotting.
• Vitamin E protects DNA and RNA against damage and assists wound healing.

5. Maintain healthy gut flora

It is important to maintain a good level of beneficial bacteria in your gut as this is the first line of defence against bacteria entering the body. The beneficial bacteria both consume the nutrients that would other wise feed the bad bacteria and also block receptor sites that harmful bacteria have to latch on to causing an infection.

Good gut flora also helps to digest food, therefore ensuring you obtain the key nutrients to boost your immune system.

Bio Live yoghurt also contains strains of these bacteria. These bacteria make B vitamins and Vitamin K too, so extra reason for maintaining a well balanced gut flora.

Fruit, vegetables and legumes also provide the beneficial bacteria with the food sources they require.

6. Eliminate toxins and stimulants- caffeine and alcohol and avoid smoky areas.

All the above stimulants can impair or put an extra load on your liver. As the liver is responsible for eliminating toxins from the body, if the liver isn’t functioning efficiently this may impair the immune system.

Why it is important to avoid caffeine, alcohol and cigarette smoke for your baby:

• Stimulants such as coffee, tea, smoking and alcohol have the same effect on the baby as they do on an adult but the effects are more likely to be amplified because the unborn child does not have the same ability to detoxify.
• Caffeine is estimated to stay in a baby’s system for up to 100 hours, increasing heart beat and breathing causing anxiousness, nervousness and irritability if consumed in large amounts. Alcohol and smoking can harm the unborn child as its delicate physiology cannot deal with alcohol as well as humans can even in small doses.
• Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to miscarriage. Alcohol also depletes nutrients from the mother and therefore deprives the child. Too much alcohol can impair liver function in the mother and can hinder hormone regulation and excretion.
• Mothers who smoke during pregnancy are more likely to have premature and low birth weight babies as the oxygen to the baby is impaired.

7. Drink plenty of fluids

Aim to drink around 1.5-2 litres of water a day to flush out toxins (thereby aiding your immune system) and to keep the baby and yourself hydrated to sustain energy and brain function.

8. Exercise lightly throughout pregnancy

It is important to maintain light exercise throughout pregnancy to keep fit, increase circulation and bolster the immune system (swimming and pregnancy yoga are good forms of exercise).

9. Relaxation

As stress can suppress the immune system, it is important to manage your stress levels throughout your pregnancy as stress can impair the immune system and deplete vital nutrients required to bolster the immune system (and are needed for your baby). Goods ways of relaxing include yoga, listening to relaxing music, meditation or having a massage.

FOODS TO AVOID DURING PREGNANCY

¨ Liver and cod liver oil (which can provide too much vitamin A in the animal form, retinol);

¨ Meat pates (which may contain food-born illnesses, and which are often made of liver; see above)

¨ Peanuts (in excess these can cause allergies in your baby);

¨ Unpasteurised soft or blue cheese, such as Camembert, Brie and Stilton (there is a risk of food-born illnesses, such as listeria)

¨ Raw eggs, including mayonnaise (which may contain salmonella);

¨ Raw meet and raw fish (which can contain food-borne illnesses)

¨ Read-to-eat salads in bad (because of the risk of listeria)

¨ Ready-to-eat meals (because of the risk of food poisoning);

¨ Sweets, chocolates and fizzy drinks (which provide unacceptable levels of toxins and/ or caffeine that may harm your baby);

¨ Too much undiluted fruit juice (which can cause blood sugar swings and unnecessary weight gain)

WHICH SUPPLEMENTS SHOULD I TAKE DURING PREGNANCY

Multivitamin and Mineral

As you may have been told by your GP or midwife, it is very important to take 400mcg folic acid every day during your pregnancy to reduce the risk of a child being born with neural tube defects, which give rise to abnormalities of the brain and spine. However, as vitamins and minerals work together and in many cases much better together, it is advisable to take a good quality multivitamin and mineral supplement while you are pregnant, while planning your pregnancy and while breastfeeding.

Essential Fats

Whether or not you have considered DHA before becoming pregnant, it is well worth starting at any time during pregnancy. It is particularly important as your baby is entirely reliant on your supply of DHA. (and you have approximately 6 week's supply).

During the second Trimester your baby's brain is rapidly increasing in size. His or her cells are multiplying at more than 50,000 a minute. It is important to keep your body replenished with the essential fatty acids involved in brain development.

The accelerated development of your baby's brain during the third trimester makes an adequate supply of DHA more important than ever. Your baby's requirements are greatly increased and come entirely from your reserves, so it is essential that you maintain an adequate intake.

A lot of mums experience a phenomenon aptly called ‘Mumnensia’ meaning many mums become very forgetful - something you may know from first hand experience! This I believe may be attributed a deficiency in essential fats which are vital for memory function (ps. Essential fats may also reduce the risk of postnatal depression).

Probiotics

Research has shown that taking probiotics during pregnancy may reduce the risk of your child developing allergic conditions, such as eczema or asthma. Consequently, it is well worth taking probiotics throughout your pregnancy and while breastfeeding, especially if either you or your partner have suffered from allergies.