Pregnant mom’s gut health determines how well her body is able to utilize the nutrients she consumes and in turn, the nutrients her body is sending to her in utero baby. The impact is far-reaching because the health of your gut determines the health of your entire body including energy level, the functioning of your immune system, and digestion. Gut health also determines the health of your brain including your mood as well as the potential for brain fog, depression, and anxiety.
The Gut, the Microbiome, and the Brain
The gut is comprised of the organs that take in food, extract nutrients, and expel waste. It includes the stomach, intestines, and microbiome. The microbiome is the important bacteria, or microbes, that live in the gut. The brain is connected to the gut both physically (through nerves and neurons) and chemically (through neurotransmitters).
There is a special communication highway between the gut and the brain with information flowing in both directions. I once heard it described this way – there was a point in time when you were an itsy-bitsy single cell, a fertilized egg called a zygote (how cute you were!), cell division began and there was one particular cell that divided and sent half of itself upward to form your brain and the other half downward to form your gut. Whaaat?
Optimize baby’s health and brain health for life
Optimizing gut health directly helps to optimize brain health. Check out this must-see website MothersBabies / Healthier Gut Healthier Baby – their goal is to empower mommas-to-be… love that and love their mission: “To optimize the future health of humanity by empowering mothers-to-be to transform their health pre-pregnancy, during pregnancy and at birth so that their health and the health of their babies is optimized for life.”
Here’s another quote from the website MothersBabies, “We want you to be aware and awake, not only to the importance of the journey you are on, but also to the opportunities for you to create radical change in your life and the lives of your children. Change that will set them up for the best chance they have for excellent physical and mental health throughout their lives.”
Promote the Health of the microbiome
First, be aware of the ways the gut microbiome is harmed. Things that hurt the gut microbiome include antibiotics, processed foods, sugar, artificial sweeteners, and conventionally raised meat and dairy products full of hormones, according to Christiane Northrup, M.D. in her post entitled “How to Improve Your Gut Microbiome in A Day.”
Things that help the gut microbiome according to physician and best-selling author Mark Hyman, M.D. include avoiding sugar and processed foods, eating raw leafy green vegetables, raw asparagus, raw carrots, raw garlic, and raw turmeric. Also, Dr. Hyman recommends eating fermented foods like sauerkraut, kefir, and yogurt (full-fat yogurt with no sugar added) as well as eating foods that are organic, wild-caught, and grass-fed.
Health experts are just beginning to untangle the implications of the constant contact that takes place between the brain and the gut. What is known for sure is this: the health of your gut microbiome has an enormous influence on your overall physical health and your brain health.
Knowledge is power – you are an empowered mother-to-be, use your knowledge to focus on your gut health and pass along both physical health and brain health to your Brainy (in utero) Baby!