Why It is Essential to Prepare Your Bodies Before You Conceive a Baby

Mar 22, 2024

Discover the vital role of preconception health for both men and women. Learn how lifestyle choices and epigenetics can significantly affect reproductive wellness. Explore essential steps to improve diet and nutrition before conception for optimal sperm and egg quality. The discussion dives into practical lab tests and tools to support hormonal health. Plus, find out how proactive health measures may help safeguard against developmental conditions like autism and ADHD, making this information crucial for aspiring parents.

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INSIGHT

Preconception Importance

The preconception window is crucial for a baby's health, impacting neurodevelopment and metabolism.
Issues like autism, ADHD, and obesity are rising, emphasizing the need for preconception planning.

INSIGHT

Epigenetics

Epigenetics, influenced by lifestyle and environment, programs a baby's health in the womb.
Factors like diet, stress, toxins, and inflammation shape fetal development and future health.

INSIGHT

Epigenetic Imprinting

Parents' lifestyles directly imprint their children's epigenome, impacting their health.
Traits programmed through the epigenome can be passed down through multiple generations.

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Are you, or someone you know, thinking about starting a family now or in the near future? Typically, the focus on reproductive health falls on the woman, and it begins after conception has already occurred, with minimal emphasis on diet and nutrition beyond prenatal vitamins.

However, the pre-conception window is a foundational time for both partners to take charge of their hormonal, metabolic, and overall health to ensure the healthiest sperm and egg possible for a healthy pregnancy and, most importantly, a healthy baby.

In today's episode, we're discussing the essential steps both men and women can take to foster a nurturing environment for conception. We'll delve into lab tests and tools to support hormone and reproductive wellness, the challenges and insults of our modern-day lifestyles, and how we can use Functional Medicine to take a proactive approach by embracing diet, supplements, and exercise to prime couples for a successful pregnancy while safeguarding against developmental conditions like autism and ADHD that are doubling, or even tripling from one generation to the next.

Whether you're just starting to think about having kids or already on your pregnancy path, this conversation is for you.

In this episode I discuss:

The importance of the preconception window (3:15)(5:05)
How epigenetics impact the preconception window (3:58)(6:01)
How parent’s diet and lifestyle imprint their children’s epigenome (5:03)(6:59)
Limitations of Conventional Medicine during the preconception window (9:30)(11:26)
The Functional Medicine approach to preparing to conceive (12:12)
Breakdown of essential nutrients and biomarkers to ensure a healthy pregnancy (15:27)
Sex hormone and bonus lab tests (21:00)
Optimizing blood sugar and cardiometabolic health before and during pregnancy (22:40)
Foods to eat and foods to avoid while gearing up for pregnancy (23:44)
Eat your foods in the correct order (protein and fat first, then carbs (36:28)
Tips for reducing exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (38:14)
The power of exercise, stress, and sleep for a healthy pregnancy (47:24)
Supplement recommendations for men and women for the preconception window (51:35)

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