pre-conception nutrition for baby’s brain development - 6 key micronutrients
Baby’s brain starts to develop in the first few weeks of gestation! Often it happens even before the woman discovers that she’s pregnant.
Study shows that proper nutrition supports the rapid cell division, development of supporting structures such as the placenta, implantation, and neural tube closure that occur in those first few weeks.
In fact, baby’s proper development is dependant on mother’s nutritional profile months before pregnancy even occurs. If you’re trying to conceive - it’s very important that you nourish your body with proper nutrients.
Here’re some of the most important key nutrients to support optimal baby brain development:
Folate
One of the most well studied vitamins for defect prevention. Supplementation with a multivitamin containing folic acid starting 28 days before conception proved to lower the incidence of NTD (neural tube defects) relative to the unsupplemented control group. Only those with inadequate nutritional intake gave birth to babies with NTD.
Dietary sources of folate include: broccoli, Brussel sprouts, leafy green vegetables, chickpeas, kidney beans, peas, sunflower seeds, whole grains.
2. DHA
DHA (omega-3 fatty acid) is another vital nutrient for proper fetal brain development. Since it’s an essential nutrient it can be obtained from dietary intake only!
Research shows that DHA is critical for fetal neurodevelopment. DHA is also a major structural fat in the human brain and eyes, representing 97% of all omega-3 fatty acids in the brain and 93% in the retina! DHA intake is also associated with reduced risk of language disorder, autism spectrum disorder and developmental delays.
Dietary sources: salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, algae, Omega-3 supplementation.
3. Vitamin D
I call it the vitamin hero since it’s involved in so many functions in our body and its’ deficiency is associated with great amount of health complications. When the mother is vitamin D deficient - the fetus is deficient too. Vitamin D has a role in brain size, ventricle size, cell proliferation, and growth factor signalling. Maternal vitamin D status has been related to risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with lower maternal vitamin D predicting higher risk of the child developing ADHD.
Since it takes time to elevate your vitamin D levels - this is definitely something to put attention on during the preconception period.
Sources: Vitamin D primary sources is sunlight, but this is not something you can get all year round. Salmon, sardines, mackerel, anchovy, red meat, egg yolks also contain vitamin D. But since the deficiency is very common - additional supplementation is something to consider.
4. Iron
Some research suggest that iron deficiency is number one nutrition issue in the world. In pregnant women iron deficiency rates reach as high as 50% and it can lead to irreversible neural issues. In an analysis of over half a million of children in Sweden, it was shown that children of mothers who were diagnosed with anemia in the first 30 weeks of pregnancy had a higher incidence of autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and intellectual disability relative to children of mothers who were diagnosed later in pregnancy or not diagnosed. The earlier timing and longer duration of the insufficiency led to more severe and diagnosable issues. In the third trimester, the system pulls on maternal iron reserves that are acquired before conception. That’s why consuming appropriate amounts of bioavailable iron prior conception is absolutely necessary.
Dietary sources: Heme iron is the most readily absorbed form of iron and found in organ meat, red meat, poultry and fish. Plant based sources include spinach, legumes, pumpkin seeds, broccoli, beet roots, parsley.
To increase iron absorption consume it with vitamin C-rich foods (citrus fruits, bell peppers, strawberries, Brussel sprouts) and apart from dairy products.
5. Choline
Choline’s metabolites are used in the development of all tissues, the methylation of genes (epigenetic), neurotransmitter synthesis and more.
Phosphatidylcholine is a phospholipid that is used in the development of the brain and other tissues and as such is in high demand during pregnancy. In studies, women in the lowest quartile for dietary choline intake had four times the risk (compared with women in the highest quartile) of having a baby with a neural tube defect.
Dietary sources: Chicken, salmon, eggs, beef, shrimp, navy beans, broccoli, green peas, lentils.
6. Iodine
This mineral is critical for proper thyroid functioning, which is known to have an impact on fetal brain development. A major cause of childhood cognitive issues worldwide is maternal iodine deficiency.
During pregnancy, iodine requirements are higher because there is an increased need for thyroid hormones, for transfer of maternal iodine to the fetus throughout gestation, and for renal clearance of iodine. If a woman is severely deficient in the first few days or weeks of gestation, it may result in cretinism in the child, which is characterized by mental deficiencies, deaf mutism, and motor spasms of the arms and legs.
The cretinism is thought to appear due to mother’s inability to produce sufficient level of thyroid hormone in crucial first weeks (when the fetal thyroid is not functioning yet.
It is thought that cretinism is due to the inability of the mother to produce enough thyroid hormone in those crucial first few weeks when the fetal thyroid is not yet functioning.
Dietary sources: cod, seaweed, shrimp, oysters, dairy, iodized salt, eggs, prunes.
There’s one certain thing about nutrition and it’s that all the nutrients are important for optimal wellbeing. The nutrients in this post have been studied extensively and show a positive impact on baby’s brain development during pregnancy. With that being said, it’s important to remember that nutrients don’t appear in nature in isolation and do not work in isolation. They work in synergy and often act as co-factor for each other.
