How to Optimize Prenatal Nutrition with Real Food

11/20/2020

How to Optimize Prenatal Nutrition with Real Food
Lily Nichols

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We are a 501 3c Non-Profit. Our aim is to prevent and heal birth trauma through education. Women need to understand their options and rights in childbirth so that they can have a safe and healthy birth.

Today, we talk with Lily Nichols, a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based prenatal nutrition (https://lilynicholsrdn.com). She is the author of two bestselling books, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes (https://lilynicholsrdn.com/books/).

We begin by defining gestational diabetes as elevated blood pressure during pregnancy, either first recognized or first developed during pregnancy. We explain why high blood sugar is so dangerous, particularly for the development of the child. As we discuss the risks of high blood sugar, we point out that most can be prevented by screening early, awareness, and caution.

We then talk about the best approaches to prenatal nutrition. We discuss how the recommended guidelines and diets for pregnant women are often too high in carbohydrates, which is what led Lily to write her book and develop her program. We talk about ketones, and the common misconceptions that surround them in nutritional recommendations and guidelines. Lily urges everyone to consider the physiological reality in the development of babies instead of making assumptions based on data on diabetic ketoacidosis.

Lily talks about the importance of consuming whole foods and getting all of the nutrients they provide in their most natural, unprocessed forms. She focuses on choosing foods based on which nutrient deficiencies are most common during pregnancy, as paying close attention to blood sugar levels. She explains how grains, which are less nutrient rich, would be closer to the top of her “food pyramid” for pregnant women. We talk about the importance of taking ancestral, traditionally based diets into consideration when selecting your foods. We then discuss how nutrition can affect postpartum recovery.

• 2:55 What is Gestational Diabetes?
• 9:05 The Best Approach to Prenatal Nutrition
• 30:47 Specific Recommendations for Prenatal Nutrition
• 38:45 How Nutrition Affects Postpartum Recovery

https://lilynicholsrdn.com/
Check Out Her Book Here

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Podcasts are sponsored in part by Empowering Fearless Birth
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Gestational Diabetes is a condition that affects between 2% and 10% of pregnancies that causes the blood sugar of a fetus to be dangerously high. If not properly treated it can cause birth defects, early birth, or an elevated risk of diabetes later in life. In the worst cases, it can threaten the life of both mother and baby. Unfortunately, standard dietary guidelines for pregnancy are ill equipped to manage GD and, given the high carbohydrate recommendations, can sometimes make it worse.

Lily and Sarah talk about widespread misconceptions about prenatal nutrition that tend to cause big problems in cases of Gestational Diabetes. They discuss the ways that the standardization of misinformation affects low income mothers using Wic, as well as how it can cause unnecessary stress for mothers in regards to post-birth weight loss and potentially avoidable health issues.

Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based  prenatal nutrition. Her work is known for being research-focused, thorough, and unapologetically critical of outdated dietary guidelines. She is the author of two bestselling books, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes.

This episode was sponsored by:

Please donate HERE

We are a 501 3c Non-Profit. Our aim is to prevent and heal birth trauma through education. Women need to understand their options and rights in childbirth so that they can have a safe and healthy birth.