5 Superfoods for Pregnancy

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What are the best foods for fertility, pregnancy and breastfeeding?

Traditional cultures have learnt and passed on for generations over thousands of years that certain foods can increase fertility and even produce healthier and stronger offspring.

That is why many of these cultures still have sacred fertility foods they feed to mothers-to-be and even fathers-to-be. These include nutrient dense foods like liver, bone marrow, egg yolks and a variety of other animal fats.

For example, the Masai tribe in Africa only allowed couples to marry and become pregnant after spending several months drinking milk in the wet season when the grass is lush and the nutrient content of the milk is especially high.

That being said, here are five nutrient dense superfoods for pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Liver. Pound for pound, liver is one of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet. Loaded with fat soluble vitamins like retinol (pre-formed vitamin A) that are crucial for reproductive health, and difficult to obtain elsewhere in the diet. Liver is also a great source of highly absorbable iron, which helps prevent miscarriage and maternal anemia, along with B12, which is required for proper formation of red blood cells and DNA. Liver is also a good source of bioavailable protein, zinc, and folate.
Egg Yolks. Similar to liver, egg yolks could be considered “nature’s multivitamin”. But they are especially rich in one nutrient in particular that many people have never heard of before – Choline. Choline has been shown to help protect against neural tube defects. It also plays an important role in brain development, helping to form neurons and the connections between these neurons that are critical in the first few years of life.
Cold-water fatty fish. Seafood is basically the exclusive food source of the long-chain omega-3 fats EPA and DHA. DHA is particularly important for fertility and pregnancy. It is preferentially incorporated into the rapidly developing brain during pregnancy and the first two years of infancy, concentrating in the grey matter and eyes.
Cod Liver Oil. Cod liver oil is a sacred fertility and pregnancy food that fell out of favor during the last couple of generations. It’s one of the highest dietary sources of vitamin A and has more vitamin D per unit of weight than any other food. Vitamin D is crucial for fertility and pregnancy. Vitamin D promotes proper development of the bones, especially during the 3rd trimester when the fetal skeleton begins to grow rapidly. Cod liver oil is also a good source of the long-chain omega-3 fats EPA and DHA.
Grass-fed diary (if tolerated). Dairy is rich in saturated fat, which is especially beneficial for fertility. It’s also a good source of the fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, K2 & E) and a healthy, natural trans-fat (not to be confused with artificial trans-fats, which are harmful) Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). Fermented dairy products – like yogurt and kefir – are also great sources of beneficial bacteria. This is important because a baby’s first exposure to bacteria is in his/her mother’s birth canal, and the mother’s gut health has a significant influence on the lifelong health of her baby.

Beef liver: the original superfood

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Beef liver has a long history as a traditionally valued food. Often eaten by traditional cultures as soon as practicable, even in preference over the muscle meat. In fact, some traditional cultures only consumed the organ meats, with the leaner muscle meats being often discarded or given to away to wolves / early dogs.

More recently, especially in Western cultures, organ meats like beef liver have fallen out of the regular rotation in favour of the leaner, more palatable muscle meats.

Most local butchers will stock beef liver, but you will probably need to ask as they keep most of the organ meats away from the public eye in cool rooms / freezers due to the limited sales. By comparison, the selection of muscle cuts from all animals is often more readily available for viewing and purchase. Organ meats like beef liver are actually very cheap when compared to the more popular cuts of muscle meat and pack a real bang for your buck when you consider the nutrient density.

In fact, it’s one of the most nutritious foods on the planet.

Nutrition

A dense source of protein, vitamins and minerals critical to human performance packed into a single food source. Just a quick look at some of the key nutrients in 100 grams of beef liver paints a powerful picture:

Protein: 27 grams
Vitamin A: 26,091 IU | 522% DV
Vitamin B2: 3.4 mg | 201% DV
Vitamin B3: 17.5 mg | 87% DV
Vitamin B6: 1 mg | 51% DV
Vitamin B9 (folate): 260 mcg | 65% DV
Vitamin B12: 83.1 mcg | 1386% DV
Choline: 418 mg
Copper: 14.6 mg | 730% DV
Iron: 6.2 mg | 34% DV
Selenium: 32.8 mcg | 47%
Zinc: 5.2 mg | 35% DV

How to get more liver into the diet

Here are just a few ways to get more of this nutrient dense superfood into the diet:

Pan fried. Liver goes well when fried with onions;
Bolognese sauces. Liver and other organ meats can be chopped or minced and then mixed with regular ground beef and added to pasta or vegetable dishes;
Burger patties. As with Bolognese sauces, chop or mince organ meats and mix it with ground beef to make highly nutritious burgers.
Liverloaf. This is basically a meatloaf that is prepared with a mix of both beef and liver mince.

Why organ meats belong in your diet

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There a few foods that actually deserve the title of “superfood”. Liver, along with many other organ meats like kidneys and hearts are some of the most nutrient dense foods on the planet.

Our bodies evolved to eat these foods and to draw nourishment and energy from them. We didn’t spend millennia gulping down multivitamins and sports supplements.

Once a popular and treasured food source, liver, along with other organ meats, have fallen out of favour as nutritional staples.

The reality is that our palates and routines have evolved far from some of the foods we most need for optimal health. Instead, people are chasing the regular sugar highs that come with more modern, overly processed and hyper palatable “foods”.

Organ meats have an excellent nutrient profile. High in protein and low in calories, some of the key nutrients that are important to optimal human function are found in organ meats such as liver, include:

Retinol. The active form of vitamin A, which is crucial for healthy skin, fertility and pregnancy, vision, and immune health;
Choline. Critical for DNA synthesis, brain function, and a healthy nervous system;
Iron. Another essential nutrient that helps carry oxygen around the body. The iron in liver is heme iron, the kind most easily absorbed by the body;
B12 and folate. These nutrients are crucial for methylation, which affects everything from gene expression to the production of neurotransmitters to detoxification;
Zinc and copper. Zinc and copper work together to influence immune function, metabolism, and the nervous system. A single serving of liver provides enough copper for an entire week.

Sadly, most people today don’t like the taste of liver, and beef kidneys and heart aren’t high on the list either.

How to get more organ meats into your diet
Here are a few ways to get more organ meats onto your plate:

Pan fried. Liver goes well when fried with onions;
Bolognese sauces. Liver and other organ meats can be chopped or minced and then mixed with regular ground beef and added to pasta or vegetable dishes;
Burger patties. As with Bolognese sauces, chop or mince organ meats and mix it with ground beef to make highly nutritious burgers;
Adding lots of spices. By adding lots of herbs and spices, you can use strong flavours to help disguise its taste.
Soaked in lemon juice. Prior to cooking will reduce the strong flavour.

The bottom line is that liver and other organ meats like kidneys and hearts are a greatly underrated food source. Naturally nutrient dense and low in calories, they make a truely valuable addition to any nutritional strategy.