Follow
Brain by _DJ_ via Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/flamephoenix1991/8376271918/
Have you ever left your keys in the refrigerator or left the cheese in the kitchen cabinet?
Even after you had your little one, did you feel like your there was part of your brain must have been extracted by aliens?
Well, you aren’t alone and it doesn’t have to be you anymore.
Most American mammas don’t realize how very important it is to eat a nourishing diet during pregnancy. And, many American mommies don’t really know what kind of nourishing diet to eat during pregnancy. The body is designed in such an amazing way that even if mom is not getting all her needed nutrients, the body will pull the nutrients it needs from mom’s body to nourish that sweet little one growing in her belly.
So, if a pregnant mama isn’t getting calcium, the body will pull from moms bones and give directly to baby. That is why it is fairly common for many moms to experience tooth decay while pregnant.
And, likewise if mama isn’t getting enough proper fats to nourishing her brain the body will draw that fat from mom’s fatty tissue in the brain and supply baby with the brain tissue that it needs.
Not only does this happen during pregnancy, but during breastfeeding as well. If mom continues to be lacking in the fats that she needs past pregnancy and right on into nursing ,then her brain power will only continue to decrease. Ruh Ro! That sweet little baby needs fat to nourish his/her growing brain and the body is designed to give it to him/her. And, a mother’s milk for a new-born baby needs to be fat-ty!
So you can see how important it is to get proper fats in you diet while pregnant and nursing! Heck, you can see how important it is to have a super food nourishing diet during pregnancy so both you and baby are getting exactly what you need to flourish.
As stated in Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Dr. Shanahan, there are studies that actually show that a mother’s brain can actually shrink in both the hippocampal and temporal lobes while pregnant. These portions of the brain are responsible for short-term memory and emotion. Now you can see why many mommies can’t remember where they put stuff and why other moms may have no emotional attachment towards their new infant.
Scary!
Your baby doesn’t only need fat to nourish his brain, protect his organs, and insulate each one of his cells, but he also needs fat to help build his central nervous system that is responsible for receiving and sending all the information that the body needs to operate properly. It kind of makes you wonder that if all pregnant mother’s got plenty of the very best quality fats in their diet if there would be a decrease of disorders such as sensory processing disorders and others that seemed to be linked to problems with the central nervous system.
Ok, so that settles it. Your body needs fat! Lots and lots of fantastically good fats! You need fats to keep your brain and not lose it. And, you need fats to grow that baby who is going to one day get a scholarship to college, go to med school or be an attorney.
So, what kind of fats do you eat and how much?
Good question. I think this varies a little bit for everyone, but I would say that you should shoot to include 35-45% (or maybe more even) of your caloric intake being really good high quality fats during your pregnancy. If you continue to have cravings for greasy or fatty foods eat more high quality fats until your cravings stop. These cravings are telling you that you body needs more. For those of us who were into the non-fat craze once upon a time we may have some ground to make up if we weren’t eating a high fat diet before pregnancy. You also may need some extra support if you have had gall bladder problems or do seem to digest your fats well.
Quality fats like avocado, nice fatty raw milk, pastured butter, ghee, full fat coconut milk, cold pressed unrefined nut and seed oils are all fats that I would recommend you adding to your diet. Other fantastic super food fats include coconut oil, fermented cod liver oil, lard or other well sourced animal fats. Make sure fats such as these are abundant in your pregnancy diet.
Yummy! A diet like this will keep you in sound mind and your baby ready to pack up and leave for college shortly after leaving the womb, well maybe not but close!
Don’t believe the fat that any of these fats will make you fat. It is totally not true. You need them and so does your baby!
Need further support to make sure your baby is getting all the nutrients that it needs? My passion is for mother’s to have everything that they need during pregnancy an postpartum. If you suspect you aren’t digesting your fats like, you are getting plenty of fats or have had gall bladder issues it is important to seek personal assistance. Contact me for one-on-one nutritional therapy consultations.
I will share this one with our community members! I am not a mother and know all about “mommy brain!”
Thank you so much Sandrine!
Great info! I knew this had to be related to nutrition, because I was able to solve it with fish oil and B vitamins.
LOVED THIS! I know that I learned about fat when healing my infertility and have tried to eat loads of fats over the years. But as I’ve been nursing AND pregnant for 9 years straight right now, hearing this is SO ENCOURAGING. I eat insane amounts of fat, and food as a rule, when nursing 2 girls I calculated and was eating 3500 calories a day minimum and still losing weight. I don’t like to measure, but try to eat loads of pastured butter, egg yolks, coconut oil, and farm lard I render myself.
I did get a cavity after my first 2 births, but NOT ANYMORE. Liver, heart, fats and bone stocks do make a difference. I am expecting my 6th, have 5 kids at home all day, 2 in home/un-school, one doing Little League this spring, AND I’m counseling 2 clients and cooking traditional foods. I am tired and spacey, but realize I’m doing all that I can and it’s WAY more than I could do if I wasn’t eating so well and especially so much fat!