Preconception Wellness

Whether or not you are actively planning on conceiving, it is important for your hormones that you focus on nutrient dense foods! This lays the foundation for healthy, balanced hormones and a healthy future pregnancy!

Ideally, we recommend giving yourself at least 12 months to focus on your overall health, hormones, mineral and nutrition stores before trying to conceive. This can set you up for a more energetic pregnancy because you won’t find yourself depleted as soon! 

If you do not want to wait that long, it is recommended that you give yourself 3 months to prepare. It takes the body 90 days to have a fully mature egg and your health during those 3 months is vitally important for your pregnancy and baby. 

If you find yourself already pregnant it is NEVER too late to start focusing on your nutrition!

While it is important for momma to prepare, it’s important for dad to prepare too! Sperm takes 70-90 days to mature so during that time it’s important to reduce stress, smoking and alcohol intake, as well as caffeine. Things to focus on for healthy sperm are antioxidants, zinc and foods that support healthy DNA! An interesting fact is that placental health comes primarily from dad’s genetics. How crazy is that?

Caffeine is another thing that can impact the health of your eggs! Caffeine can impact our blood sugar and cause spikes in cortisol which add stress to the body. During this preconception season, we want you and your body to have minimal stress since stress can begin to deplete the mineral stores you are working hard to build up!

Key nutrients to focus on during the preconception phase are:

Healthy fats – EPA/DHA 

Vitamin A in the form of retinol – liver, egg yolk, cod liver oil, grass fed butter, and raw full fat dairy

Vitamin D – egg yolks, liver, salmon, mackerel, sardines, mushrooms that have been exposed to the sun for 15 minutes (note: insufficient vitamin d is linked to miscarriage so having your levels checked is important)

Iodine – nori, kelp, kombu, scallops, cod, shrimp, sardines, salmon, strawberries and broccoli

CoQ10 – spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, strawberries, mackerel, herring and sardines

For vegetarians and vegans, you can get vitamin A in the form of carotenoids. We recommend having your primary care physician check and see how your body converts carotenoids to retinol to make sure that you are getting enough. 

We also highly recommend seeing a brain based, nervous system focused chiropractor. Getting adjusted regularly during your preconception season can help support your nervous system, hormones, stress levels to support optimal health and an amazing pregnancy.

Contact Anna Lincoln @artichokenutrition if you would like to start preparing to conceive!