What to Eat When You Want to Get Pregnant Author Q&A

Thanks for sending in your questions about Dr. Nicole Avena’s new book, What to Eat When You Want to Get Pregnant.   

Q&A with Dr. Nicole Avena

Making a healthy baby begins with healthy ingredients. In Dr. Nicole Avena’s new book, she uses new revolutionary research on how nutrition impacts the ability to conceive and offers a four-week plan to get readers on the path to parenthood. 

Does your book cover essential vitamins to take (besides a prenatal). 

The book covers all of the major vitamins necessary for women and men before and during pregnancy. Prenatal specific vitamins like folate are discussed, but the book also covers many vitamins that are important for the health of all people.

Does this book also apply to women who have PCOS, who aren’t overweight? 

This book discusses PCOS in general and the effects that it may have on fertility treatments and successful birth. There is also mention of the relationship between obesity and PCOS.

Does the diet plan put into consideration other factors like diabetes? 

The diet plan discusses how certain foods and chemicals (like parabens) can put women at higher risk for developing gestational diabetes. The book also discusses how parental obesity can lead to increased likelihood of offspring being obese and developing diabetes themselves. 

Does this book have any information on improving sperm count/mobility? Or is it more egg quality focused?

Several of the vitamins that the book covers are beneficial for both men and women. Folate, for example, has been found to be important for the division of sperm cells.

Is there anything in the book that relates to the health/strength of the uterus as a whole? (not just the lining)

The book mostly focuses on vitamins that ensure the uterus is functioning optimally

Are there issues that discuss food allergies? 

The book offers many different options including vegetarian and dairy free and can be adapted to different lifestyles. There are also tips throughout the book for increasing nutrient consumption for vegetarians and vegans. 

Is the four week diet plan designed for both partners to follow? 

The four-week diet plan focuses on changing eating habits to improve overall health while boosting fertility as well. This means that the four-week diet plan can be followed by both partners to improve health even if one partner is not necessarily trying to get pregnant.

Does this four week plan structure set us up for success beyond the four weeks? 

Beyond giving meal suggestions, the four-week diet plan focuses on breaking unhealthy eating habits and getting over food addiction, which will have long-term benefits.

Is this adaptable for a vegetarian diet? 

This diet includes many examples of foods like legumes, tofu, and nuts which are all part of a healthy, plant-based diet. There is also a large emphasis on fruits and vegetables.

Is this information relevant for women with an irregular period? 

This book contains information on how to improve diet and get all of the nutrients you need to help regulate periods if your irregular period is caused by nutrient deficiency.

Will these recommendations work for a vegetarian? And are meat substitutes like impossible meat and seitan okay while TTC?

This book emphasizes eating a whole-foods-based diet. Many meat substitutes can be highly processed, and for that reason, they are not the best thing to eat when pregnant or TTC. Instead, focus on chickpeas, lentils, and tofu for vegetarian sources of protein. 

Does this nutrition plan encourage weight loss as well as help with TTC?

If you are overweight before TTC, this book will encourage healthy weight-loss (which can be achieved using the diet plan), citing studies that have shown obesity leads to decreased fertility and birth complications. 

How strict do you have to be with diet? I have been working on diet for a while now but I don’t want to become obsessed and it take over my life .

It is important to minimize stress while trying to conceive and while pregnant, so if sticking to a very strict diet causes you stress, feel free to adapt the suggestions and recipes to fit your own lifestyle. Having the support of friends, family, and partners during this time is also a way to make following the diet plan less stressful. 

Is this book mostly geared towards improving egg quality? Or can it be used leading up to a frozen embryo transfer? 

This book discusses much about how to encourage embryo implantation and growth by eating properly. This advice can be followed by women who have already conceived, or who are trying to improve the chances of implantation (nutrition is very important for making the uterus hospitable to embryo implantation. 

Dr. Nicole Avena is a research neuroscientist and an expert in diet during pregnancy and baby, toddler and childhood nutrition. Dr. Avena received a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Psychology from Princeton University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology at The Rockefeller University in New York City. Check out her book, What to Eat When You Want To Get Pregnant.