Moms, Nutrition, & Serving the Whole Person

Certified nutrition coach Karen Brein, owner of Happy Mama Nutrition, joins for an insightful discussion on nutrition and wellness for women, developing good routines for physical and mental health before and after pregnancy, meal and nutrient planning, the benefits of journaling, gratitude, and meditation, tips on advocating for yourself, building your health care and support team, critical considerations for women with dietary restrictions, food aversions, or food preferences, including women with Celiac disease, vegetarians, and vegans, the difference between cravings and food choices, tips for improving sleep, and treating ourselves with compassion.This conversation is recorded in two sections because earlier in the initial podcast discussion, I talked about research I had reviewed in my journey as part of training for pregnancy throughout the past several years to prepare physically and mentally in case I ever decided to have a child. During this part of the conversation, I mentioned some studies I had reviewed as part of this process over the last few years. Following our first podcast recording, I reviewed this research to include the links for the podcast episode. When doing so, I found the approach I had initially shared needed to be updated, and better science-backed strategies exist. After exploring potential ways to address this while upholding podcast ethics, we decided to keep the original conversation and add an addendum to continue and clarify this particular topic. We hope you stay with us through to the end to hear this vital addition.Links from this episode:Frequency of consuming foods predicts changes in cravings for those foods during weight loss: The POUNDS Lost Study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5529244/ Women’s Experience and Understanding of Food Cravings in Pregnancy: A Qualitative Study in women receiving prenatal care at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7186144/