Hey, guys, Dr. Axe. Today, I want to talk about the top five foods for fertility and pregnancy. And this is really important for all women. Whether you’re pregnant or not pregnant or trying to get fertile, these foods are great for all women, but especially for nourishing yourself and nourishing the other life that you’re raising. Also in this video, I want to talk about a super smoothie for pregnancy that really has my top five superfoods for pregnancy in there as well.
To start us off, I want to talk about how important it is to be eating properly during your pregnancy. There are five clinical studies that I’ve been reading up on recently that have talked about how important it is to be healthy during pregnancy. Here’s why: if you are not healthy during pregnancy, not eating the right foods, or are malnourished, it increases your child’s risk of cancer according to medical research, obesity, diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and heart disease. So what you are eating during your pregnancy, and before, and after, is so, so important for your child’s health. In fact, a recent medical journal, actually the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, they did a study and actually found that your intestinal health, so your gut flora, the probiotics in your system, if you have a good amount of probiotics in your system during pregnancy, your risk, or your child’s risk of developing obesity drops dramatically. Or, if you’ve got way too much bad bacteria and not enough good, your child’s chance of obesity goes way up. So just to say this: what you eat is passed onto your child, so it is vitally important that you are eating properly.
So I want to go through my top five superfoods for fertility right now. The number one food for fertility is eating more vegetables. Okay, vegetables are important because they are nutrient-dense, high in fiber, lower in carbohydrates and calories overall. So really doing green, leafy vegetables are great because they’re packed with iron, calcium, vitamin K. Green, leafy vegetables are some of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. Also, broccoli is packed with vitamin C, fiber, manganese, magnesium, and some other great nutrients. So, again, make sure you’re getting what I suggest, a minimum of three, but ideally five or more servings of vegetables a day. You can do that by lunch, doing a big, massive salad. So again, get more vegetables. That’s number one, best are green leafies and cruciferous.
Number two food you want to be getting is eggs. Actually, egg yolks are packed with choline. A recent medical study found that 86% of women who are pregnant are deficient in choline. Choline is important for reducing the risks of neural tube defects. It’s very, very important. So, again, eggs, egg yolks, very, very important. But the egg yolk, that’s really where all the nutrients and vitamins are, the healthy fats, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and the choline.
Doing eggs are great. Make sure you go organic when you buy your eggs. Number three superfood for fertility is eating wild-caught salmon or other wild-caught fish high in omega-3 fatty acids. You know, in order for proper brain development, and really, the child’s body, it really is amazing how fast and how rapidly the body develops over that nine-month period. But with that rapid development starting off with the brain and the neurological system, it is so important we’re supporting the brain and neurology. And recent medical studies have shown that omega-3 fatty acid DHA is so important, it is vital, for proper brain development. Now, EPA is important too. To get DHA and EPA, you can’t find that in most nuts and seeds, you’ve got to get it in marine oils like cod liver oil, fish oil, or doing something like wild-caught salmon. Now, stay away from farm-raised fish. If it doesn’t say “wild-caught,” it’s not good so make sure you’re doing wild-caught fish. Again, salmon, mackerel, sardines, grouper, those are awesome, great fish high in omega-3 fatty acids. Consuming those on a daily basis is great.
And if you can’t do fish, what you may do is buy a high-quality omega-3 fish oil or cod liver oil. Now, let me tell you, 90% of the fish oils out there aren’t good. The best is to find one with astaxanthin. That’s why I recommend either doing Garden of Life Prenatal Oceans 3 or doing one of their regular fish oils, which contains the high-quality fish oil plus an antioxidant so it stays fresh and doesn’t have any additives. So check out the Oceans 3 fish oil. Next thing here, are nuts and seeds, specifically flax seeds, chia seeds and almonds. Now, chia seeds and flax seeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids, not the kind that you’re going to find in fish, a different kind, but also still very beneficial for having healthy hair, skin, and nails while you’re going through your pregnancy.
Also, the fiber found in nuts and seeds can be helpful and really good for your colon. So, superfood number four for fertility is doing the healthy nuts and seeds like chia and flax seeds. And the last one here, which is very, very important, is doing pastured dairy, or what I call cultured or fermented dairy. And, really, dairy, sometimes it’s known as a superfood, sometimes it’s not. I really think it’s one of the best foods for pregnancy. And the reason being, it’s high in fat-soluble vitamins like vitamin E, vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin K. These fat-soluble vitamins are so important for supporting the brain and the nervous system. So if you can be doing any type of cultured dairy, that’s great. Now, stay away from dairy that is ultra-pasteurized, so conventional milk and things like that. Your best bet, though, of all the things, we talked about this earlier with the study from the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, is eating cultured dairy that is low-temperature processed. And cultured dairy, specifically, is something like kefir, amasi, or yogurt that has probiotics.
Probiotics have been shown to naturally help with weight loss, help with fertility, help with the health of your child. So probiotics, getting that good bacteria, is essential for your digestive health. Remember this: you aren’t what you eat, you are what you digest, and same thing with your child. So you want to make sure you’re getting some good probiotics, good bacteria in your system. So doing something like Greek yogurt, goat’s milk, kefir, amasi from the A2 cattle from the Beyond Organic Company. Those are all great options, but make sure you’re getting some good probiotics in your system. Now, I want to share with you a smoothie where you can really get all five of those nutrients at the same time. So here’s what I recommend. This is my Super Fertility Smoothie.
For breakfast, what you’re going to do is you’re going to add in about 4 to 8 ounces of kefir, Greek yogurt, or amasi. Okay. This is all going to be a smoothie so you’re going to add in some of the kefir, also you can add in some coconut milk, but that’s going to get you the probiotics and that healthy dairy we talked about, that’s number one. Number two, add in a handful of spinach. You’re not really going to taste it, but you’re adding some more nutrients there. That’s number two. Number three, you’re going to add in a tablespoon or two of flax meal and chia seeds. You’re going to get that good fiber and some good omega-3s. Next thing you can do, if you have something like cod or fish oil, you can just take the capsule during that time, or you can add a little bit of it into the smoothie there. And last thing, adding some of the organic eggs. Just adding one or two eggs, you’re getting protein, you’re getting the choline from the egg yolks, and all those vitamins. But, if you do that smoothie every single day, again, you’re getting a lot of those nutrients all in just one shake during the day.
And the last thing here, I get this question pretty often from women, “How do I not gain a lot of extra weight during and after pregnancy yet totally nourishing my child?” Well, I would say this, again, make sure you’re getting plenty of nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, like we talked about, plenty of healthy fats, good protein. If you’re doing that, you should have plenty of nutrients. But let me say this as well: you don’t want to be “carb-ing up.” That’s what we tend to do. Most of us tend to crave carbohydrates, which can feed Candida and bad bacteria as well. So during pregnancy and after, you don’t want to go low-carb, but by eating these nutrients, you’re not going to be eating a lot of breads, cereals, pastas, all the white flours. Lay off that stuff. You’re going to be getting your high carbohydrates from vegetables, nuts and seeds, fruits are fine, like berries are the best sort of fruit you can be consuming, beans, but really laying off a lot of the extra grains and things like that.
They aren’t the best. If you want a great resource for this, you can check out our new shopping list, it’s called Healing Food Shopping List. You can find that on the link below and you’ll find the smoothie below here as well, so check that out. Hey, thanks so much for watching. I pray that you have a blessed fertility and pregnancy. Hey, this is Dr. Axe..
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