The Healthy Brain by Aileen Burford-Mason

Author:Aileen Burford-Mason
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2017-10-30T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

Prenatal Planning: A Checklist

Calvin: Dad, how do people make babies?

Dad: Most people just go to Sears, buy the kit, and follow the assembly instructions.

Calvin: I came from Sears??

Dad: No, you were a blue light special at K-Mart. Almost as good and a lot cheaper.

BILL WATTERSON,

Calvin and Hobbes

We have seen the evidence that nutrition in pregnancy can change the way genes work—changes that in turn affect the intellectual development and physical health of a baby for its entire life. Moreover, these changes can be inherited. This fact essentially makes future parents the de facto guardians of our gene pool and the health of future generations. A daunting prospect, and one that seems like a huge responsibility.

At the same time, the wealth of knowledge we have gained in the past few decades is exciting, and empowers tomorrow’s mothers and fathers to take charge. They have opportunities to shape the future in ways their own parents could never have imagined. We can make better babies! Or more correctly, we can make it possible for the next generation of children to achieve their full physical and mental potential. Although Mother Nature undoubtedly has more secrets to reveal about what constitutes the perfect pregnancy diet, we know enough now to suggest multiple nutritional ways to promote brain development.

And it’s never too early to start. Studies show that a woman’s pre-pregnancy diet may be just as important as how she eats while pregnant. Supplements undoubtedly have a role to play too, especially since inadequate intakes of many micronutrients are widespread even in wealthy countries like Canada.1 And even if you are not planning a pregnancy any time soon, improving your diet can only have a positive impact on your health, by increasing your energy levels, speed of mental processing, mood, focus and concentration.

A growing body of research suggests that the father’s health at the time of conception affects the future physical and mental well-being of the baby.2 So men may also want to up their game, nutritionally speaking, and carefully consider their responsibilities in preparing for parenthood.

Twelve evidence-based steps to a healthy pregnancy

1. Get into shape. Make sure that your body mass index (BMI) is in the normal range. Being underweight makes it more difficult to get pregnant in the first place and increases the risk of early miscarriage and preterm birth.3

Being overweight is not good either, increasing the risk of complications like gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, a serious disorder of late pregnancy characterized by high blood pressure and kidney problems.4 And if either parent is overweight or obese, the child too is more likely to struggle with weight problems—an unintended legacy. Obesity (BMI ≥35) in both parents can influence their offspring’s development too. Compared to children of normal-weight parents, those whose parents are both obese may have delayed development of fine motor and social skills.5

But it is never a good idea to go on a crash diet. Extreme diets are difficult to implement healthily and often severely restrict the amount of essential nutrients and phytochemicals consumed.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.