Why Are Prenatal Nutrition Guidelines So Out of Date? (Lily Nichols, RDN)

#198 — Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietician and Nutritionist, a Certified Diabetes Educator, and the author of two best-selling books on pregnancy nutrition. Her first bestseller, Real Food for Gestational Diabetes, has helped tens of thousands of women manage the condition, and went on to influence nutrition policies internationally. Lily’s next book, Real Food for Pregnancy, became #1 in the Pregnancy and Childbirth category on Amazon.

The problem with conventional policy and food guidelines for pregnant women can be summed up like this: the current recommendations for prenatal nutrition were estimates based on men’s bodies, not women’s. Early nutrition recommendations were adjusted mathematically for a smaller frame—and then modified again to account for fetal growth.

This is… not great.

In this interview (originally aired in 2018), Lily shares how she put these books together: she reviewed 934 studies on food and health, as well as her successful pilot programs that helped people cut gestational diabetes by half.

Plus, we talk about the entrepreneurial path Lily took in her own life, how she figured out a “pieced together” childcare plan while writing her books, and why she decided to become an entrepreneur.

This interview originally aired in April 2018.

FULL SHOW NOTES: https://startupparent.com/043

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THE WISE WOMEN'S COUNCIL: https://startupparent.com/wwc

DAD'S GROUP: https://startupparent.com/dads