Supporting Womens' Health Before Conception

Every pregnant woman wants to give her child the gift of great health.  Epigenetics is showing us that our environment and diet help determine which genetic traits we pass on to our offspring. Since it takes about four months for the egg to mature before it is released, changes in the diet and lifestyle is best changed before that time.

Nutrition - Eating right is more than just getting the right amounts of protein, carbohydrate, and fat in the diet. Eating whole foods and as much organic food as possible supplies our bodies with phytonutrients as well as vitamins and minerals.  The standard American diet, full of processed foods, is deficient in all areas.  Even the best diets leave deficiencies in nutrition.  Along with dietary changes, consider a whole food vitamin and mineral supplement to fill in these gaps.

Detoxification - We are exposed to an increasing number of environmental toxins.  Many of the toxins that our bodies cannot get rid of easily get passed down to our offspring.  These have even been shown to be passed along several generation.  Other toxins, called xenobiotics, have hormone like activity in the body and can affect fertility in both men and women. Most people would benefit from learning to avoid toxins and going through a purification program or other cleanse.

Healthy Weight - Both overweight and underweight women have a higher risk of fertility challenges.  Obesity during pregnancy substantially increases the risk of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia (hypertension) and may set the children up for obesity and hypertension in young adulthood.  If you struggle with your weight, this should be top priority.

Hormone Balancing - Preconception hormone balancing is important to prevent fertility problems and sets the stage for a healthy pregnancy. A well rounded program will support the pituitary, hypothalamus, ovaries and work on balancing estrogen, progesterone, thyroid, and adrenals.

If you're interested in talking about an individualized plan, please call the office to set up a consultation or new patient exam.

Nutrition: Fuel for Healing

Nutrition: Fuel for Healing

Given the right conditions, our bodies really are amazing in their ability to adapt and heal. Our diets have a huge impact on our overall health and our ability to overcome health challenges. In my practice, I've seen prescribed diets take care of severe health problems that didn't respond other treatments including medication.

There are a lot of changes that we can all make to bring us closer to health. The standard American diet makes it easy to be over fed but remain under nourished. I am a big proponent of a whole food/ plant based diet and encourage anyone that is interested to read The McDougall Program by Dr. John McDougall and give it a try. For people that aren't ready to make such a drastic change, start by getting as much processed food out of your diet as possible.

Eating more whole foods is our best bet for improving health and preventing disease. Whole foods – like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, and legumes -- retain their fiber as well as the whole portfolio of beneficial phytochemicals and nutrients that are often removed in processed foods. Try to do most of your shopping around the outside edges of the supermarket. When you pick up packaged foods, look at the ingredient list before buying it. You should be able to recognize and pronounce all of the ingredients listed. Try to avoid artificial colors/ flavors, preservatives, and trans-fats.

I also highly recommend purchasing as much organic and non-GMO food as your budget allows. Pesticides, artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives can be disease promoting and put extra stress on the organs of detoxification. Environmental Working Group has a great guide to help you figure out which organic produce you should make a priority.

Whole grains and starches such as brown rice, beans, corn, oats, wheat and other grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes are extremely important and should make up the most significant portion of your diet.  Contrary to popular belief, these are healthy foods and do not make us fat.  The carbs we want to avoid are deep fried, processed, or covered in fats like cheeses and oils.

Protein is important but our bodies do an great job of making healthy levels of protein from the amino acids in our other foods. If you choose to eat meat and dairy, I suggest eating much less.  A serving of meat is about the size of your palm without your fingers.  A serving of dairy is 1 oz.  2-3 servings per day is plenty.  Choose cuts of meat that are not too fatty.  Get organic, grass fed beef and organic, free range chicken.

When it comes to fats, eliminate as much of it as possible.   Fats that occur naturally in our other foods is sufficient. Even without meat in our diets, we don't need to add any oil to our foods and should even limit other fatty foods like avocado, nuts/ seeds, separated oils, coconut, and soy.

Some of our patients are sensitive to specific foods.  Even people with very healthy diets can find that this is a limiting factor in their health. The most common food sensitivities are  to fish, shell fish, nuts, dairy, eggs, gluten, corn, nightshade plants (peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes),  alcohol, processed sugar, MSG, preservatives, and artificial colors. A food elimination diet or purification program is the best way to figure out what foods might be contributing to ill health.  Laboratory testing  can also be done.  

Even those of us with the very best diets miss some nutrients.  Growing seasons affect which nutrients are available at any given time.  Soil has become increasingly depleted of minerals.  And, food is harvested long before it gets to us which further limits how many vitamins and minerals are in it in the first place.  Isolated nutrients common in many vitamin supplements are not adequate replacements.  I recommend whole food supplementation.  Everyone should take a whole food multivitamin and mineral supplement.  Depending on the rest of the diet I'll also recommend a supplement to fill in the gaps for green food and berries.

Food is the best medicine.  But, if you've gotten quite a bit off track with your health, consider Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine.  We'll help your body use its resources to get you feeling better!