I feel like this book doesn’t even need a review… it’s just that awesome! Whether you are trying to conceive or are in the middle of your pregnancy, ‘Real Food For Pregnancy’ is a must-have.
I could spend hundreds, maybe even thousands, of dollars on books. I love reading people’s perspectives on pregnancy, I think it’s super helpful to read the tips and tricks that other momma’s have already figured out.
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A few months before my husband and I started TTC, I purchased Lily Nichols RDN, CDE, book ‘Real Food for Pregnancy’. My doctor had mentioned that I should be eating as if I was already pregnant, so this book seemed perfect. I honestly couldn’t have lived without it.. it’s taught me so much about nutrition. I can tell that my relationship with food is way healthier than it used to be.
If you’re looking for a a book that will take you all the way from TTC to postpartum, then you need to head over to Amazon and purchase this book, right now. But if you need a little more convincing… keep reading 🙂
About The Book and Author
‘Real Food for Pregnancy’ is a comprehensive health guide for the entire pregnancy journey. It’s a bit mis-titled in my opinion as it addresses body health, exercise and mental aspects of health that extend far beyond just food. However, it does address healthy food and eating to get pregnant, as well as throughout your pregnancy to build a healthy baby. It covers such a wide array of nutrition and pregnancy information.
‘Real Food for Pregnancy’ is even used as a textbook in higher education courses. It walks you through up-to-date studies and research, and pits that information against traditional prenatal nutrition claims. It is chock-full of small lifestyle tweaks that you can make to have a better pregnancy experience and really clears up all the confusion surrounding conventional wisdom. ‘Real Food for Pregnancy’ really helps you decide what’s best for the health of both you and your growing baby, and this is all done with over 900 citations to back the advice on specific foods and why some are essential, and why others are harmful.
The author Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Educator. Throughout her career she has worked in prenatal nutrition public policy, consulting, research, writing, and clinical practice. This background has given her an in-depth understanding of prenatal nutrition that few others possess. In her books, she is not only a fan of citing her claims with research and studies, but she is also a fan of making scientific findings applicable to real life and understandable for everyday people.
Lily Nichols has also written ‘Real Food for Gestational Diabetes‘ which focuses on using real foods to manage diabetes during pregnancy, usually without the need of medications.
Why I LOVE This Book!
- Well-Researched Content
As I’ve mentioned already, this book is so well-researched and statistics driven. Every recommendation, every tip, every piece of advice, is well-back by studies and statistics so that every pregnant mom can have the knowledge to make the best health decisions for herself and her growing baby. - In-Depth for overall Pregnancy Health
The wealth of information contained within this book extends far beyond just food guidance. The chapters go through everything from prenatal exercise, posture, reducing exposure to toxins, how to fight nausea, how to fight heartburn, food aversions, the importance of mindfulness and stress management. So this is way more like a guide on how to be healthy in general while you’re pregnant. - Moves from Conception, into the Pregnancy Journey, and Beyond
This book covers everything from trying to conceive, all the way through gestation, then through delivery, navigation of the ‘4th trimester’, aka postpartum, and then on how to recover after the birth of your baby. - The Food
Presents information on foods that build a healthy baby and foods that do not build a healthy baby. It’s complete with food guides that help you plan out meals and what to eat every day, and includes really good recipes that are not only healthy, but really delicious! - Myth-Busting
The author also busts pregnancy myths about food and food restrictions that help clear up misinformation, how it started, and to what extent they are actually true and backed by studies.
Who is this For?
So, in my opinion, ‘Real Food for Pregnancy’ is for just about everyone! It has sections on pre-pregnancy and conception, pregnancy and postpartum. But even if you’re just a health nut, you’ll still get something out of this book because it has a lot to teach all of us.
Why is Prenatal Nutrition Important?
Good nutrition is always an important factor in our lives, but it is especially important while you’re building a baby. Nutrition is so vital to our babies while they are growing because their entire bodies and systems are developing and we can control a lot of how they develop by choosing what we eat.
- Those little baby bodies are mostly made up of proteins, so an intake of high quality, complete proteins is essential.
- Your baby’s developing nervous system relies on high quality, healthy fats, and additionally, healthy oils like olive oil, which contains omega-3 fatty acids, has been linked to higher IQs in our babies.
- Healthy carbohydrates are our body’s source of energy while we’re building our babies.
- Deficiencies in choline, vitamin B12, folate, iron, and iodine, can all impair baby’s brain development.
This is why proper prenatal nutrition for both mama and baby is so vital and important! It directly contributes to the health of our babies at birth.
In Conclusion…
So why is this book a must-buy and must-have on my list?
Because it is so all-encompassing when it comes to health strategies and tips regarding pregnancy and building a healthy little one! It helps in making you more aware of what exactly is good for you and what exactly is not so good for you.
So if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or just generally interested in health and food-related books and content, then I HIGHLY recommend this book to you! I enjoyed it so much and it is just one of the best pregnancy food and health books. It has truly been so useful and helpful for me throughout my own pregnancy, and I attribute a lot of my success to ‘Real Food for Pregnancy’.
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