DIET AND CORTISOL REDUCTION, KEYS TO HEALTHY PREGNANCY

Having A Baby Over 40

I'm thoroughly convinced that quitting my pressure cooker corporate job what absolutely critical to my successful conception and pregnancy.

 Healthy diets and staying in control of stress doesn't just help you conceive, it helps create a healthy baby. According to this article, your diet deficiencies and stress hormones can have long-term affects on the health of your child. Read more:

But one of the most important- and to some degree unavoidable- environmental variables is stress. This is commonly studied using sheep, as the lamb normally grows to the same size as a human baby in a relatively long pregnancy, and the development of major organs including the heart and brain is very similar in humans and sheep. To simulate stress in pregnancy, Professor Wintour's team exposed sheep early in their pregnancy to a stress hormone, cortisol, for a short duration. The offspring were later found to develop high blood pressure from four months after birth, which increased in severity

Fertile Turtle Bracelet in two varieties, rose quarz or amethyst

as they aged. Kidney development was also impaired. Dr. Julie Quinlivan, working with researchers at the University of Western Australia, found that injecting sheep with stress hormones later in their pregnancies and on a number of occasions produced different effects, including the later development of insulin resistance and diabetes. This suggests that the timing of stressful insults can have varying outcomes.

The duration of exposure to stress is also crucial. Dr. Quinlivan notes, "Basically, if you have a single exposure to stress hormones, the body is very resilient. But if you have repeated exposure to stress, it affects the number of brain cells in a fetus' brain, the growth of the baby, and the development of the thyroid and the immune system, so it has multiple effects". In addition to physical effects such as hypertension or diabetes, abnormal concentrations of cortisol in-utero can also create psychological syndromes. Studies have found that infants exposed to elevated levels of cortisol in the womb- often because their mother was under stress or depressed herself- are at increased risk of depressive disorders throughout childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Such individuals also commonly exhibit cognitive delays and long-term behavioral dysfunction...

See also:  Stress, Infertility and Miscarriage at getpregnantover40.com

 ...So what does all this mean to the woman who is pregnant or hoping to become so? Put simply, she should eat well not just from the time the pregnancy is confirmed, but ideally also in the months leading up to conception, so as to avoid any potential deficiencies at a time when the fetus is particularly vulnerable. Such a diet should include lots of fruit, vegetables, bread and cereals, moderate amounts of dairy foods and lean meats, and small quantities of foods high in sugar, salt and fat. While adequate Vitamin A is essential for kidney development as noted above, supplements of this vitamin are not recommended without medical supervision, as these may cause birth deformities. Instead, try increasing the consumption of milk, eggs, green leafy vegetables and fruit. Two servings of fish per week are also recommended for their omega-3 acids, while adequate Vitamin D can be obtained from a daily ten minute exposure of the lower arms and legs to sunshine (though avoid the hours between 11am and 3pm). Iron stores can be boosted by eating red meat in conjunction with foods that enhance iron absorption, such as oranges, broccoli or potatoes.
from: 
www.familymagazinegroup.com