Prenatal Lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle doesn't just help you:  it helps those around you.  Some of you guys are starting a family or about to and there is mounting evidence that a healthy lifestyle, especially of the mother during pregnancy, is critical to the future health of the child.  This means that you, if you are a model of a healthy lifestyle and model the same for the woman in your life, can likely influence the future health and well-being of your child in many surprising ways. 

As you'll see below, it all comes down to this:  the same principles that keep you healthy will also help keep your child healthy both upon irth and after.  Dropping those extra pounds, avoiding chemicals and toxins, managing your glycemic load and other similar natural things will help keep that little guy healthy and happy.

CAUTION:  My advice:  do not mention any of this directly to your partner or wife.  Just model it and hope that she subconsciously takes it to heart.

Do you know the foods and drinks that increase erection-boosting Nitric Oxide? Check out the Peak Erectile Strength Diet where I show you how to dramatically and naturally improve your erectile strength.

Below are just a few examples from the research.  Please read my How to Increase Your Child's IQ for additional examples as well.

1.  Blood Sugar. Women who have high blood sugar levels during pregnancy, levels even below those to be classified with gestational diabetes, more frequently have children with decreased insulin sensitivity post-puberty. [1] Of course, this likely leads to an increased incidence of Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes.  Also, it is worth noting that scientists recently found a strong link between seratonin and gestational diabetes and seratonin is, in turn, strongly controlled by dietary protein. [3]  This should possibly be discussed with your doctor as well.

2.  Weight. Both weight before pregnancy and the amount of weight gained during pregnancy were correlated with greater weight gain and heart disease risk factors for the child. [2]

3.  Smoking.  Maternal smoking has been linked to so many later-in-life ills that it is difficult to list here.  This includes asthma, lung disease, ADHD, drug use and depression just for starters.  All the evidence points to the fact that cigarettes interfere with both physical and mental fetal development.  One of the most recent surprises:  maternal smoking during pregnancy has been linked to lower - about 13% on average - HDL levels in their children (at age 8).  This is a very significant effect and likely will lead to increased heart disease risk, as HDL is the good cholesterol. [9]

4. High Fat Diet.  A high fat diet (in an animal study) during nursing lead to signs of early diabetes and greater weight later in life for the pups. [4]  One study found that one of the reasons for this is that fat in the diet can turn off and on certain genes in the developing child, leading to future surprising health outcomes, including a greatly increased risk of cleft palate and a certain heart defect in some individuals. [5]

5. Beef.  One study found that "sperm concentration was inversely related to mothers' beef meals per week." [6] Men with the highest beef eatin' mamas were were three times as likely to have subpar sperm counts when compared with guys that had mamas with the least beef consumption. Researchers don't know yet exactly why but suspect "xenobiotics", a fancy way of saying something that ends up in beef such as hormones, antibiotics, etc.

6. Like of Fruits and Vegetables. Recent research has shown that infants in the womb actually taste what mom is eating through the amniotic fluid and that changes their willingness to eat fruits and vegetables. For example, scientists found that newborns were much more likely to eat carrots if their mother ate carrots regularly while they were in the womb. [7]

7. Bisphenol-A (BPA).  Consumption of BPA, the nasty tokin found in almost all canned goods, has now been linked to low birth weights.  It also has been linked to a host of other nasty health issues, which I cover in my link on The Dangers of Bisphenol-A.

NEWS FLASH: Researchers recently found that almost all available plastics tested have estrogens, including those certified to be BPA Free. [10] Furthermore, the authors pointed out that even dosages in the nano or picomole range have been shown to cause developmental issues and many of these had estrogenic activity greater than the typical BPA plastic. Bottom line:  consider not using plastics altogether during pregnancy and infancy.

8. Low Carb Diet.  If Mom eats a low carb diet during pregnancy, she unknowingly alters her child's epigenome (methylation) and significantly increases that child's chance for obesity. [8] (For more dangers of a low carb diet, see my link on Atkins' Diet Side Effects.

Of course, this list could go on and on and include many toxins and endocrine disruptors such as Bisphenol-A.  The bottom line is that living a healthy, natural lifestyle is the best way to go for your whole family, even the ones not yet born...

REFERENCES:

1) Maternal gestational glucose concentration is associated with offspring insulin sensitivity and beta-cell function in children aged 5-10 years" ENDO 2010

2) Circulation, Published Online on June 1, 2010, "Association of Maternal Weight Gain in Pregnancy With Offspring Obesity3) Nature Medicine 16, 804-808, 2010, "Serotonin regulates pancreatic beta cell mass during pregnancy"

4) Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (2010, July 19). Greater obesity in offspring of nursing mothers consuming a high-fat diet. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 7, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com / releases/2010/07/100713011047.htm

5) Human Molecular Genetics, 2010, 19(17):3394-340, "Maternal high-fat diet interacts with embryonic Cited2 genotype to reduce Pitx2c expression and enhance penetrance of left–right patterning defects"

6) Hum Reprod, 2007 Jun, 22(6):1497-502, "Semen quality of fertile US males in relation to their mothers' beef consumption during pregnancy"

7) http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-mom-garlic.html

8) Diabetes, April 6, 2011,"Epigenetic Gene Promoter Methylation at Birth Is Associated With Child’s Later Adiposity"

9) http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/Dyslipidemia/27227

10) Environ Health Perspect, 2011, 119:989-996, "Most Plastic Products Release Estrogenic Chemicals: A Potential Health Problem That Can Be Solved"