Real Food Revolution for Fertility: Insights with Lily Nichols

fertility high protein infertility pregnancy nutrition real food supplements Jan 21, 2025

Show Notes:

[1:28] Lily Nichols is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based nutrition. She is the founder of the Institute for Prenatal NutritionⓇ, co-founder of the Women’s Health Nutrition Academy, and the author of three books: Real Food for Fertility, Real Food for Pregnancy, and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes.

[4:19] "The health of the baby is the health of the placenta. So it really is kind of like a full spectrum view at reproduction. We also need to think about, you know, the partner's health too. Sperm quality plays a role in the health of a pregnancy."

[8:05] When should you start paying attention to your nutrition before conception? "The most sensitive period for the effects of nutrients and toxin exposure and things like that and egg quality is in the last three or so months right before ovulation. There's a little less than three months, 70 something days for sperm development. So those three months prior are really the most crucial. Whether you need to be really on top of it for a longer period of time, like giving yourself a longer runway, so to speak, to conception depends on what's going on with your health."

[11:20] "My focus is on what are we trying to eat more of to achieve blood sugar balance. And so I really try to help people consume an adequate amount of protein, high quality protein. That means primarily coming from animal foods. When we achieve blood sugar balance, it's just like almost an automatic side effect of consuming an adequate amount of protein. You do not have the hunger or appetite for a ton of carbohydrates, and your blood sugar stays so much more stable between meals that you don't experience a rapid drop in your blood sugar that triggers a physiological response."

[18:14] Lily discusses protein requirements and what she believes is a healthy, safe guideline for women.

[20:33] What should you eat first on the dinner plate? " Consume your protein or vegetables first, and consume the carbohydrate starchy portion last!"

[23:41] Since dates seem to spike blood sugar levels, should pregnant moms eat them during their 3rd trimester?

[29:15] "Meat and animal protein are really the most nutrient dense foods on the planet, but there are certain nutrients, there are a selection of nutrients that are more concentrated in plants than there are in animals."

[44:35] "You simply have to spend a little more time in the kitchen, but the rewards you reap, I believe, are worth it."

[47:24] Is nutrition for men different from women? "There are some like individual differences with certain supplements, for example, where we have like quite a bit of research on zinc supplementation or selenium supplementation for improving sperm quality. Quite a few of the recommended supplements actually overlap for egg quality as well. I mean, we are all human biologically, and there are differences of course between the sexes, but nutritionally our needs are fairly similar. A lot of it has to do with the amount consumed."

[49:12] Should we include supplements in our food? " I think supplementation has a place, particularly because a lot of our foods are less nutrient dense than they once were."

57:07 - Where to find Lily

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Real Food Revolution for Fertility: Insights with Lily Nichols

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