Is a low fat diet the best diet for pregnancy? Does blood sugar have a generational impact? Lily Nichols, registered dietician and certified diabetes educator, debunks misconceptions surrounding diet and gestational diabetes throughout pregnancy. Diving into generational impact and the importance of maternal nutrition for the baby’s lifelong health, Lily explains the importance of blood sugar control, pancreas health, and insulin production in pregnancy. Furthermore, she names the outdates guidlines on carbohydrate intake and micronutrient intakes, highlighting natural multivitamin sources. She describes the importance of eggs, organ meats, dairy, and fresh produce as concentrated sources of deficient vitamins and minerals seen in pregnant women. Finally, she speaks into vegetarian and vegan considerations during pregnancy.
3:00 – Why passion for pregnancy and nutrition
8:45 – Gestational diabetes & pancreas health
13:40 – Outdated guidlines on gestational diabetes
19:31 – Why breakfast is important in pregnancy & what to eat
28:11 – Natural multivitamins to eat
32:11 – Can you eat liver during pregnancy?
34:40 – How to make liver palatable
39:57 – Pregnancy Vegetarian
48:27 – What foods to emphasize and avoid for pregnancy
57:50 – Continue to learn with Lily
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 Her work is known for being research-focused, thorough, and critical of outdated dietary guidelines. She is co-founder of the Women’s Health Nutrition Academy and the author of two books, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes. Lily’s bestselling books have helped tens of thousands of mamas (and babies!), are used in university-level maternal nutrition and midwifery courses, and have even influenced prenatal nutrition policy internationally. She writes at https://lilynicholsrdn.com
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of The Optimal Body Podcast. If you haven’t done so already, please take a minute to subscribe and leave a quick rating and review of the show!