The recommendations in this book, then, become nearly impossible to follow with any degree of practicality. These are recommendations that presuppose that readers have the knowledge, time, and financial means to make sweeping changes to their dietary habits. While I do not disagree with the recommendations on principle, as Nichols certainly supports her claims with evidence-based research, I do vehemently disagree with their presentation. The author frequently points to the frightening negative effects of less-than-optimal diet, including miscarriage, stillbirth, and various other health deficits for mother and baby, but she does not break down the prevalence of these negative effects, or give any caveat as to the scale or scope of dietary changes that a pregnant person would need to make to avoid these adverse outcomes. You want to be proactive about your health before, during, and after pregnancy, including understanding how nutrition, exercise, lifestyle, avoidance of toxins, stress management (and more) can help you and your baby thrive Sadly, if you follow conventional prenatal nutrition guidelines, you risk deficiencies in several of these nutrients. You do not need to achieve this balance with every meal, but try to get the balance right over a week. Fruit and vegetables in pregnancy

Real Food for Pregnancy Real Food for Pregnancy

My wife and I are so grateful for your work. And [we] are blessed immensely to learn these things (that many of us already hunched at) a few months out still from trying to get pregnant.FAQs: Nutrition during pregnancy. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/nutrition-during-pregnancy. Accessed Jan. 19, 2022.

Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Opti… Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Opti…

Fact sheet for health professionals: Vitamin D. National Institutes of Health. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/. Accessed Jan. 19, 2022. Most shellfish dwell at or near the bottom of the water bodies they live in, just like lobster, crab, grouper, flounder, etc. Gravity draws particulates down: dead matter, feces, human waste and trash. So, it's long been established that the lower strata of any water body has the highest concentration of environmental pollutants, even in the absence of a city to contaminate it. In a nutshell, the meat and other tissues of the species that dwell closer to the bottom have the highest density of toxins. Further, almost all of these species dwell in coastal areas, and thus have much greater exposure to urban pollutants such as automobile pollution and industrial runoff, sewage treatment facilities, etc. This is what we're consuming when we eat shellfish. Eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables every day – these can include fresh, frozen, canned, dried or juiced. Always wash fresh fruit and vegetables carefully. Unfortunately as our oceans become more and more polluted, especially in coastal areas, we flee from coastal fishes and shellfish and seek the deep ocean creatures like tuna and swordfish only to find they're not clean as they once were. But coastal species and shellfish are horrendous.Also seems much more comprehensive and thorough than the chapters on prenatal diet recommendations in Expecting Better, though that comes with a risk of being overwhelmed by too much information on how to optimize. Probably Expecting Better is a better fit if you need to reduce anxiety about all the no-nos that MDs issue. However, this is not a book that I could in good conscience recommend to the average reader, and certainly not to pregnant friends, colleagues, or clients. The advice in this book is simply impractical for most of the clients I serve, and for most people I know. We live in a large metropolitan area, and while there is certainly access to farm fresh and organic food, because of the high cost of living in this area most of my clients -- and particularly those members of our underserved communities -- are unable to afford this diet on a regular basis. If you don't have enough iron stores or get enough iron during pregnancy, you could develop iron deficiency anemia. You might develop headaches or become fatigued. Severe iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy also increases the risk of premature birth, having a low birth weight baby and postpartum depression. This all-encompassing prenatal nutrition book based on scientific research teaches how to adopt a real-food approach when it comes to eating, ultimately setting up for a healthier pregnancy, a smoother recovery from birth, and an easier transition into motherhood.