Foods for Pregnancy
November 10, 2019
Listen in as we share foods you should eat and foods you should avoid during pregnancy to help both mom and baby be the healthiest they can be. We’ll be giving you tips and ideas for what to eat and talking about the importance of eating real food. We’ll also discuss some of the symptoms many moms experience during pregnancy, like morning sickness, heartburn, constipation, high blood pressure and gestational diabetes, along with tricks to overcome them naturally.
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Transcript
KARA: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. The show is brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. Today our topic is food for pregnancy. I think we really should have called this show “real food for pregnancy”. You know, as Britni and I were researching for the show, it became clear that there's just so much information to share about the food and the nutrition that's needed to build a healthy baby, and also the foods that keep us from or prevent us from having a healthy baby. We think it's important that all moms know about both aspects; what they should be eating and what they should avoid. My name is Kara Carper. I'm a Licensed Nutritionist. I also have a master's degree in holistic health and I'm also a mom. And Olivia just turned eight. She's in third grade. And I'm really excited to be here with Britni Vincent, my co-host today. And Britni, I don't know if you're, if the listeners or if your clients probably know this. Britni is going to be a mom in a few months.
BRITNI: I am.
KARA: So we're super excited for her. Britni is a Registered Dietitian. She's going to share with us how she manages everything that she does. She works full time. She's able to shop and cook healthy meals and eat real food. Of course Britni wants to develop a healthy baby and be a healthy mom for her baby. So spending that extra time and preparing real food; it's worth it, right?
BRITNI: Absolutely. Yes, it's a huge motivator.
KARA: I would say so. Yeah.
BRITNI: And I think in addition to talking about the fact that expecting moms need to eat real food, which will build healthy babies and what foods expecting moms need to avoid, we also need to talk about symptoms that seem to occur for many women when they're pregnant. So some of the common ones: morning sickness with that icky nausea, heartburn, constipation, high blood pressure, and gestational diabetes. And really the more I think about it, we need a two hour show to cover all of this. But we're going to start on a positive note and we're going to talk about what expecting moms should be eating.
KARA: All right. Yeah, let's talk about that. We'll get to the stuff to avoid a little bit later. When I was pregnant I was actually happy to learn, and I think most moms are when they find out that they're pregnant, you need to have more calories. You need to eat more food. During the first three months most women need an additional 100 to 200 calories per day, and then as the pregnancy goes on, you know, they're going to need 400 to 500 more calories per day. And you know, not all calories are the same. We know that. We're not talking about just fast food or chip calories. The calories really are best if they're coming from protein. We're going to talk a lot more about that; meat, eggs, organic, full-fat dairy products. Additionally, the carbohydrates are best if they come from vegetables and fruit. And of course we don't want to forget those natural, healthy fats. A couple of examples would be avocados, butter, olive oil, coconut oil, olives. Things like that; some nuts and seeds.
BRITNI: So some of you listeners I know have taken our Weight & Wellness series and we've, we talk about the work of Dr. Weston A. Price. He was a dentist and nutrition researcher and he studied the diet of traditional cultures. So historically, mothers from these traditional cultures have had healthy babies and as long as these women and men have followed the traditional diet, they produced healthy children. But as soon as modern day foods were added, health problems started to emerge. Children started having poor immune function, neurological defects, tooth decay and psychological problems. So Dr. Price was a pioneer in discovering that food really matters when it comes to having a healthy baby. And as a mother to be I'm really grateful for that research that he did do.
KARA: Yeah. And that it's such an interesting story about Dr. Price. I really enjoy reading about all of that. And to all of you expectant moms, we understand a lot of things during pregnancy might be out of your control; things like genetics, your age, family history, but you do have control over your food choices and your lifestyle: things like exercise, how much you're sleeping, your exposure to toxins. So those are all important things. You have to, you know, focus on the things you can control.
BRITNI: Absolutely, yes. And when we look at the macronutrients, I believe protein is without a doubt one of the most important ones, especially during pregnancy. So we generally need about a hundred grams of protein daily. A good rule to follow is two to four ounces of protein at breakfast, one to two ounces for a morning snack, three to four ounces of protein for lunch, one to two ounces for an afternoon snack and three to four ounces at dinner. So that adds up to about 12 to 14 ounces or almost a hundred grams of protein for a day. So we recommend those animal sources of protein are the most usable for our body, so eggs, steak, chicken, turkey, liver, ground, beef, whey protein powder, beef protein powder, full-fat, cottage cheese. And then we really recommend you prioritize these animal products and getting organic, grass-fed, free-range: all of that. And for me, I had a lot of food aversions at the beginning of my pregnancy, and I think that’s also very common.
KARA: I think that's also very common. I did as well.
BRITNI: Especially to meat, which is so hard because you know, I knew the importance of it. So I really did my best to find ways of getting protein even amongst those food aversions because I think that is so critical.
KARA: I'm glad that you brought that up because somebody might be listening and thinking, “Oh, there's no way that I could sit down and have like steak right now.”
BRITNI: Yeah.
KARA: That might be an aversion.
BRITNI: Yup.
KARA: We'll continue to talk about other ways to get protein like shakes; protein shakes; things like that.
BRITNI: Absolutely.
KARA: Protein is just so important during pregnancy, and the reason is because it's broken down in our intestinal tract in our small intestines. That's where amino acids are made and used to make new tissue for the baby, including things like muscle tissue, nerve tissue. So animal protein: it's just a great source of a variety of minerals as well. You know, we think about magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron. So here are just a couple of specific examples: steak tends to be very high in iron. Liver; if you are a liver fan, which some people are, that's very high in vitamin B12 and zinc. And that's important to fight off viruses. When I was pregnant, you're just talking about your situation right now. But it was difficult for me as well to get in enough protein from just things like meat and eggs. You kind of get a little bit more burned out on those things more quickly when you're pregnant. So my saving grace was the protein shakes that I mentioned. And I used to make several at a time and you can, you know, you could even put those in the freezer and you may need to thaw them out like overnight. But it's nice to just have it already made and then it's on hand. I might even have one or even two every day, especially on those days if I wasn't feeling great; I might just kind of rely on protein shakes for my protein source. And another thing: I don't know if you are a cottage cheese fan, Britni, but that was really my go-to protein was organic, full-fat cottage cheese. I could always tolerate that no matter the state of my stomach. And I used to even add that to scrambled eggs.
BRITNI: Yeah, yum.
KARA: That's kind of a good tip to increase that protein. So give it a try if you haven't tried cottage cheese in your scrambled eggs.
BRITNI: Yeah, I think that dairy protein tends to be a little easier for women to tolerate during that time. And the making in advance: I think that is such good advice because sometimes the idea of making a smoothie when you're not feeling well is pretty daunting.
KARA: Yeah.
BRITNI: So having them on hand is really convenient. And if you want to add protein and other nutrients to your diet, particularly on those days when eating an egg just doesn't agree with you, let's talk about what we're going to put in those protein shakes. So I have not found a good quality pre-made protein shake out there. So making my own is just,you know what I do. So how do you make a protein shake that will support you and your fetus? So start with a can of organic coconut milk. I like the brand Native Forest: simple and it doesn't use BPA in the lining so you're avoiding that toxin. And you add that to the blender. Add a can of filtered water; really important you're drinking filtered water to eliminate those contaminants. After that add two scoops of grass-fed whey protein or beef protein if you don't tolerate whey. Make sure it's free of artificial sweeteners and sugar. Our grass-fed Wellness Whey Protein powder blends well and it tastes really, really good. Pea protein, soy protein: they're really just not good options. So add about 10 ounces of frozen organic fruit. I often add vegetables like spinach or frozen riced cauliflower. That's something I always have in my freezer so dumping that in.
KARA: That's a great idea: more veggies.
BRITNI: Sometimes a scoop of the Key Greens and Fruit powder for additional antioxidant support. Those come in a variety of flavors. Just one scoop gives you 20 servings of vegetables and fruit. And it tastes really good. If you're not dairy sensitive, you could add yogurt, full-fat of course. Or if you are dairy sensitive, there's some great coconut milk yogurt out there. So this will make two shakes and each shake will be about 20 to 25 grams of protein or three to three and a half ounces of protein. So you're getting a ton of great stuff in just a small smoothie. And then you can store them in your refrigerator or freeze them.
KARA: That is really great advice. We have to take our first break. We'll talk, we're going to talk more about shakes when we come back. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. According to the American Diabetes Association, about 18% of pregnant women will develop gestational diabetes. Here's some risk factors about having gestational diabetes that are important for you to know. Gestational diabetes increases the risk of the following: having a miscarriage, birth defects in the heart and the brain, low blood sugar in the baby at birth, the tendency for the baby to develop more fat cells and have an increased risk of type two diabetes and obesity later as an adult. So there's no other time in your life when eating real food in balance is more important than during pregnancy. So if, you know, we encourage you to sign up for an individual nutrition counseling session even before you become pregnant and just kind of get a grip on what it looks like to eat these real foods. And we'll be right back after break.
BREAK
BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. As a dietitian, I'm often asked about what is the best prenatal to be taking. I recommend Prenatal Complete with DHA from Ortho Molecular. It's easy to digest. It absorbs really well and it tends to not cause that constipation and nausea like a lot of other prenatal vitamins out there; and really important to take a prenatal or multivitamin with food either at breakfast or lunch. And this prenatal includes all the B vitamins, including the most absorbable form of folate. And that is so critical at preventing neurological defects like spina bifida. It also contains an absorbable form of iron because iron deficiency is very common during pregnancy. And like I mentioned, it contains a fatty acid DHA that's critical for brain development. So this is the one I take: highly recommend it. I'd also recommend beginning to take it, you know, maybe three months before you even want to start trying to conceive.
KARA: That is such a high quality product.
BRITNI: It is.
KARA: It really is. I don't know if a lot of people understand that there's such a variation in quality of all vitamins, but especially when you're, you know, when you're growing a baby.
BRITNI: Yeah.
KARA: Or if you're planning to in the future you want to get a really high quality absorbable prenatal. And like you were saying that one doesn't cause constipation. One reason is because the iron is in its absorbable form. Other cheaper forms of iron will cause constipation and actually like stomach upset. So, when I, one thing I wanted to just add on about taking prenatals and supplements in general during pregnancy: I had a really tough time, especially at the beginning. My first trimester I just could not tolerate… like I felt like I was going to throw up every time I took it: my prenatal. So I figured out that kind of, I call it sandwiching it in the middle of a meal. So I would eat a little bit of food, then I would take my prenatals and my omegas and my DHA. And then I would finish my meal. And that seemed to work instead of taking it before or after or between meals.
BRITNI: I'm glad you mentioned that because I do hear that from clients now. During that time, I mean anything can really just trigger…
KARA: Yeah, we’re really just sensitive in that stomach. So, well before break Britni shared a fantastic protein shake recipe and suggested, you know, making those up ahead of time; even putting those in the freezer. What I really liked about having protein shakes ahead of time was just the convenience; having something to grab and go. And Britni had mentioned like, especially if you're having morning sickness, you can't fathom the idea of like cooking anything or even preparing something. And it also seems that a lot of women have fluctuating blood sugars more so during pregnancy. So it's, you know, it's common that someone's going to need to eat every two to three hours. And sometimes if you're not feeling well, maybe that's all you can have is a protein shake. But if it's put together correctly with protein, maybe some fruit and of course we need that healthy fat, that's going to be like a complete meal. And it's that type of a protein shake that will work to stabilize blood sugars. And for me, if I were to get low blood sugar and go too long without eating or maybe not eat enough protein or healthy fat, that's when I would start to get more morning sickness. So I was really, really diligent about making those shakes up. And you know, another, you could add different kinds of fruit. It doesn't have to be exactly the recipe that you said. I used to put banana in mine; half a banana.
BRITNI: Well I'm glad you mentioned the morning sickness part and you noticing improvement in that. I did too. And I, I don't think a lot of women are aware of that during that time cause you're just feeling so poorly and you're just trying to eat when you can. But I too, if I was eating every two to three hours diligently and eating right away when I got up in the morning…
KARA: That's another really important one.
BRITNI: Yup, that was the first thing I did. I was much better off. You know, if I went too long, I felt way worse; more likely to have nausea and more nausea and vomiting. So, and I know at times, you know, maybe a piece of toast is all you can stomach, but be sure to put, you know, maybe some nut butter on there to at least get some healthy fats so that's not really spiking your blood sugar.
KARA: Right, it's those healthy fats that will prevent the spike and crash in blood sugar levels. So…
BRITNI: Yup. And I think a lot of you probably are wondering, “What does happen when your blood sugar gets low?” Well, you know, for someone who's pregnant we mentioned that may trigger more nausea or vomiting, but for people who aren't pregnant, what often happens as well is you reach for sugar when your blood sugars is swinging too low. So that might be a glass of juice. It might be a candy bar. Maybe your mom dropped off homemade chocolate chip cookies and you have those around. So you're more likely to gravitate towards the sugar and the carbs to bring your blood sugar right back up.
KARA: Right. And what's I guess the downside of grabbing for something like that… because those foods and beverages that you were talking about, yes, they do temporarily bring the blood sugar back up. But what happens is the blood sugar will crash after having something like juice or just toast, like toast with no peanut butter for example. And so, and why does that matter? Well that matters for a lot of reasons, but your blood sugar levels matter to the health of your brain but also to the health of your baby's brain. So we have to always be kind of remembering that. We're going to talk a little bit about gestational diabetes and what happens if there are high blood sugar levels during pregnancy.
BRITNI: And if you start your pregnancy with prediabetes, which really for a lot of people is never even diagnosed. So you might not know that you do have prediabetes, but that means you without a doubt have preexisting insulin resistance. So when I'm working with a client who's pregnant, I let them know if they start their pregnancy journey with insulin resistance, they're going to have more trouble regulating their blood sugar since their cells are just not responding to insulin normally or in a healthy way.
KARA: And even before you become pregnant, it is so important to eat in a way to maintain normal blood sugar levels so that you don't become pre-diabetic and/or insulin resistant. All right, well let's take our second break. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. And I want to remind you of our $10 class special that we're offering up through Friday, November 22. To motivate you to stay with your real food eating plan, we are offering five of our 90-minute classes. And they're only $10. And again that's through November 22 so I encourage you to go to weightandwellness.com, find the class or multiple classes that will help you know more, so you can do better this holiday season. And if you have any questions you can just call our office and we'll be happy to assist you. That number is (651) 699-3438.
BREAK
BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. What other nutrients do I recommend during pregnancy? Well, I mentioned this in regards to the Prenatal Complete, but the DHA, the omega-three DHA is critical. So again, the Prenatal Complete includes that in the package. But if you're not taking that specific prenatal, you want to make sure you're getting DHA separately. It's a fatty acid. It's different than just a fish oil supplement. It's a vegetarian source coming from the algae that the fish eat. So it's easy on the stomach and it is the one of our main fats in our brain; the retina of our eyes. So for pregnant women I recommend getting 600 milligrams of DHA a day. There are, there is DHA in the free-range or pasture raised-eggs as well. So eating eggs will give you a little more too, but it's so critical for the brain health and function for you and your fetus. So we were talking before break about blood sugar and insulin resistance. And I work with a lot of women that have PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. And that is a condition that typically is triggered or exacerbated by insulin resistance. And in fact PCOS is the number one cause of infertility in women.
KARA: Wow.
BRITNI: Yeah, it's a big issue. And a lot of women are undiagnosed or they don't know it until they are trying to conceive. So I had a lot of clients that were able to conceive after following an eating plan designed to reduce their blood sugar and their insulin resistance because then their hormones became better balanced. It's pretty amazing.
KARA: You have a lot. Oh sorry. You have a lot of clients with PCOS, right?
BRITNI: I do.
KARA: I always, you're my go to if I have questions about Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.
BRITNI: Yeah I do. And I have PCOS myself so, and I knew I wanted to have children, and that was a huge motivator for me for the last several years to eat really healthy, maintain my blood sugar. And by doing that and taking proper supplements, I was able to keep my hormones balanced and getting pregnant wasn't an issue for me, which I'm so thankful for. So again, you women listening out there who maybe have PCOS, plan ahead. You know, even years ahead to get your hormones balanced, reduce that insulin resistance, and then you know, getting pregnant won't be that healthy, or I'm sorry, that stressful situation that it could be.
KARA: Right, and I like what you said; it may not be an overnight fix.
BRITNI: Yup, it takes time.
KARA: Especially reversing something like insulin resistance with every cell has to be healed. For some people that can be a little bit of a process. An interesting insight I learned from reading the book, it's called Real Food For Pregnancy and it's written by a Registered Dietitian, Lily Nichols. I learned that women's bodies are designed to try to keep our blood sugar in the low, kind of the lower normal range during pregnancy simply because high blood sugar is a known cause of birth defects and can affect the baby's growth development and metabolic health for the rest of their life. So we had talked about, you know, fat cells and more likely chance of being obese as an adult.
BRITNI: Yep.
KARA: So that's kind of a mechanism that the body has in place.
BRITNI: And what does affect metabolic health even mean? Well, a study conducted in 2009 found that gestational diabetes increases the risk of long-term complications including obesity, impaired glucose metabolism, cardiovascular disease in both the mom and the infant.
KARA: And this is how I would interpret those results. So if my mom had gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with me, I would be at a higher risk of weight gain or obesity. I would be at a higher risk for insulin resistance and also type-two diabetes. I would likely be at a higher risk for heart disease. And then my mother also would be at a higher risk of developing all of those conditions. And that's not new information. This study that we're quoting is from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology from 2009.
BRITNI: So to feel great during pregnancy, what I have needed to do is I actually have to eat more frequently than I did prior to pregnancy. So I'm eating, you know, every two, three hours. And now thankfully it's a lot easier for me to get the meat. I'm not having those food aversions; so some meat, protein, vegetables or fruit and that healthy fat. And I think of pregnancy as a time when it is so important to eat organic fruits and vegetables; 100% grass-fed meat or you know, free-range; and then those natural healthy fats. You know, like Kara said at the very beginning, controlling what you can; really limiting your exposure to toxins. And it's critical for your baby's brain to avoid factory fats.
KARA: We talk about factory fats a lot on Dishing Up Nutrition, don't we? In case you're tuning in for the first time and you don't know what factory fats are, we're, I'm going to explain the fats that should be avoided. So you really want to avoid soybean oil. So what that means sadly, is no fast food. Most restaurants are still using that damaged soybean oil. You want to look at things like your mayonnaise as well. Look at the label. Mayonnaise can be considered a healthy fat, but not if it's one that is made with soybean oil. So there's some really good mayonnaise products out there. I typically recommend the one that's avocado mayonnaise.
BRITNI: Yup.
KARA: That's kind of one of the latest healthy fats that we talk about. Here's another factory fat to avoid: corn oil. So that means no corn chips. Basically all chips are going to have some of these soybean oil, corn oil; the damaged fats. And you definitely want to avoid cottonseed oil. Last week on Dishing Up Nutrition, Mel said, “We don't eat our clothes.” Why would we eat foods with cottonseed oil?” I thought that was kind of funny.
BRITNI: It’s so true.
KARA: But you know, like Dar, our owner always says cottonseed oil really is probably the oil out there. Another one that surprises people is that we should be avoiding canola oil. We may be told that canola oil is heart-healthy by the canola oil industry. But in reality it's actually a very processed, refined, and damaged fat. So you might be wondering, “Well, if I can't have those four oils, what kinds of healthy or what kind of fat should I be eating?”
BRITNI: And I just want to mention with these factory fats, looking at the ingredient list of every single product that you purchase because these fats sneak into so many foods that I don't think people would expect. So you know, a lot of people are getting exposed without knowing it. But again, what should we be eating if we're not eating these? Of course it's important for everybody to eat natural fats, but for pregnant women in particular, this is crucial. The baby's brain is mainly made up of fat and water. So healthy fat is essential to create a healthy brain and the baby's brain needs a variety of good natural fats. So expecting mothers should be eating at least six to eight tablespoons of natural fats daily. So grass-fed butter, coconut oil, bacon fat, avocados, extra-virgin olive oil, olives, raw or dry roasted nuts or seeds. Those are all healthy fats that will help to stabilize your blood sugar too. We mentioned that earlier. So maybe for a snack you have egg salad made with the avocado oil mayonnaise on a Wasa cracker or a gluten-free cracker if you're gluten free. That could be a really easy quick snack. On our website, weightandwellness.com, we have a great dairy-free, gluten-free pumpkin muffin recipe. So pumpkin's a great carb. There's coconut oil in there, which is a healthy fat. We added protein powder, so it's an all in one snack. And I've made these in some version of these and they freeze really well too.
KARA: Oh good to know. Good to know; and all in one snack. So it has, it has all of the macronutrients that we're looking for. It's got the protein, the carbohydrate, and the healthy fat. Since this show, it's only an hour and we would need at least two hours to cover everything. But during the little bit of time that we have left, we want to talk about some common complaints that women often experience during pregnancy. And heartburn and acid reflex are very, very common. So if you experience heartburn, you're not alone. 50 to 80% of women complain about having heartburn. If you're tempted to reach for an antacid, you know, hold off. We have some other tips for you. And we actually need a certain amount of acid in our stomachs to control things like bad bacteria, viruses, even fungus. We're more likely to catch things; catch the cold that's going around if we have low stomach acid. And an antacid only perpetuates that problem. We need sufficient stomach acid to help our body absorb minerals such as iron, magnesium, zinc and calcium. We need stomach acid to digest protein so that our bodies can make vitamin B12. And there's a study that links a popular antacid to an increased risk of cancer. Do you remember when that study came out? I mean that was really kind of shocking. So if you can't take an antacid, what can you do to get rid of this heartburn? I know you were… we were talking about that before the show. You have some tips.
BRITNI: Yes, I do. And I wonder if maybe we should go to break and then after break I'll share those tips.
KARA: Yeah, that sounds perfect.
BRITNI: …about reflux and heartburn.
KARA: You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. I actually have two more supplements that I have found, or I found to be very effective when I was pregnant. The first one: it's a probiotic which is good bacteria and it's called Bifido Balance. And I used to take two Bifido Balance capsules before each meal and that alone was enough to really help prevent heartburn and nausea. The other supplement that I found that was really important for sleep… it's you know, you need to find things that are safe during pregnancy, so that gets a little tricky too. But Magnesium Glycinate was a really big part of my sleep regimen, and I took it every single night, usually 600 milligrams. Magnesium not only helps with sleep, but it can control things like muscle cramps, specifically like leg cramps; some of those other cramps that women get when they're pregnant. And taking more magnesium before delivery can help to keep the muscles relaxed. So magnesium glycinate works kind of as a muscle relaxant. And the one that we carry at Nutritional Weight & Wellness: it's very absorbable. It's easy to take. All of the supplements we're talking about today you can purchase on our website or at any of our seven retail offices in the Twin Cities area. And just a reminder, our website is weightandwellness.com. And if you just click on vitamins it will bring you to all of our supplement list. And we'll be right back to talk a little bit more about heartburn.
BREAK
BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. If you are planning to become pregnant in the near future, I suggest you make an appointment with of our dietitians or nutritionists at Nutrition Weight and Wellness to get your body prepared and ready for pregnancy. If you're pregnant now we would like to work with you as well, and be sure to check with your health insurance company because they might cover nutritional counseling. And next Saturday Carolyn and Joann will share information about how food is connected to headaches and migraines. So if you have a family member or friend who's pregnant or wants to get pregnant, I recommend you have them listen to this podcast. I think it'll really help them. And just direct them to weightandwellness.com, then click on podcast. And in just a few months I will be back with you on Dishing Up Nutrition to discuss how to eat while breastfeeding.
KARA: Good! And you'll be in here with your baby, right?
BRITNI: Well, I don't know how well that will go. We might have to wait a little longer. Kara, before we headed to break, you were talking about magnesium and magnesium glycinate. And when you're pregnant you are actually more deficient in magnesium. So that is, I mean that's an important one to add in. And I know for myself, I've had to take more magnesium since I've been pregnant and I've actually been taking our Mixed Magnesium.
KARA: So can you explain what the mixed is? Why is that different than magnesium glycinate I was talking about?
BRITNI: So the mixed has the magnesium glycinate and then it has magnesium citrate; and the citrate pulls fluid to your, to your stool and your bowels. So it helps with the constipation. And that has unfortunately been an issue for me. But it's a really common pregnancy symptom. So that has helped a ton. And then my leg cramps have come back. So taking that magnesium has really gotten rid of those too.
KARA: So you're kind of getting the best of both worlds with the Mixed Magnesium. So you're getting the glycinate; it's really helpful for like sleep and leg cramps and things like that. And then the citrate is good for constipation. So you're getting both of those in the Mixed Magnesium.
BRITNI: Exactly.
KARA: Perfect.
BRITNI: It's such a helpful supplement. And then I also wanted to mention… you talked about bifido as taking a probiotic. So, some of you listeners might not realize this is so important because as your baby goes through the birth canal, they are being coated in your good bacteria. So you want to make sure that you have some good bacteria on board to be able to give to baby because that helps their immune system and their health for their entire life.
KARA: So important because when babies are born, they don't have a lot of bacteria, good or bad. So they're kind of reliant on getting it from mom, getting it from, you know, well nursing. You'll talk about that in a few months.
BRITNI: Yeah, so I was also going to share some tricks for, so for heartburn because that again is a really common symptom during pregnancy. So number one: eating, you know, like I mentioned, every two to three hours; keeping my blood sugar under control so I'm not over-eating. And it's hard to overeat when you're pregnant. Number two: I know sugar and flour contribute and cause heartburn for myself and a lot of people. And I eat gluten free. A lot of people do find that to be helpful for heartburn. Number three: I had reflex earlier in my pregnancy and I was drinking a lot of water with lemon juice. And Kara had mentioned the low stomach acid piece earlier in relation to the reflux. So that lemon juice was helping my body to produce a little more stomach acid.
KARA: In a natural way. That's a great tip.
BRITNI: And it tasted really good. And then number four: acidophilus powder. So we talked about bifido, but acidophilus was really helpful and is helpful for a lot of people because that's a probiotic that lines our stomach. So you can take that. I think powder form is great: like a half a teaspoon before bed. That’s very helpful.
KARA: That was always my go-to for heartburn as well.
BRITNI: Yeah. Number five: I have a lot of clients, you know, who have a lot of cravings during pregnancy, so it might be easy to indulge in ice cream before bed, but then they're going to wake; then you might wake up in the middle of the night and have that reflux or your sleep is disrupted. So the fresh berries and heavy cream: much better choice. And then the last one I wanted to share, so number five would be a handful of raw almonds. So that also helps with reflux. That oil in the almonds helps to neutralize everything and kind of soothe your stomach.
KARA: Sure. And that even just sounds like something that a person could tolerate if they, if their stomach wasn't feeling right. I mean, I feel like I handful of nuts… it, there's no really aversion to that. So we are all really strong believers in avoiding soda and no alcohol during pregnancy. And so what that means is no wine with the dinner; no fancy cocktails. The very well-known psychiatrist and author, Dr. Daniel Amen reports that even one alcoholic drink is risky for women who are pregnant. So if you feel like you can't stop during pregnancy and breastfeeding, if you, if you're unable to stop drinking alcohol, it really might be time to get some help with that because it's, you know, we strongly believe in no alcohol; no soda.
BRITNI: Yep; absolutely. So today we just touched on a few important areas of eating and lifestyle habits for pregnancy. There is just so much to cover. But because pregnancy is such an amazing time in a woman's life, many of our expecting clients make nutrition appointments with one of our Nutritional Weight and Wellness dietitians or nutritionists every couple of weeks or so, just so they have that, that regular support. And sometimes that accountability is helpful. So as their nutritional needs changed during those nine months, they want to know what they need to do to have the best pregnancy experience they can and to do the best for baby. So we work together to make their pregnancy as enjoyable and healthy as an experience for them and their baby.
KARA: And so just to kind of recap, we have just I think one minute left of the show. You know, some things that are just really important during pregnancy: we had discussed protein, right? Just helps to build, it's basically building the tissue of the fetus.
BRITNI: Exactly.
KARA: We need the really important DHA, which is an omega-three fatty acid. Oh, and it looks like we need to wrap this up. So our goal at Nutritional Weight and Wellness is to help each and every person to experience better health through eating real food. And it's a simple message but it's a very powerful message. Eating real food is life changing and thank you all for listening. Have a wonderful day.
BRITNI: Thank you.
