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A baby's food preferences start before birth
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Still pregnant as I write this... it's Tuesday 6/23 and baby is now over a week late, which feels like the universe giving me a lesson to surrender! Baby will come when baby is ready, and all I can do is let go and trust the timing... so we'll see when this little one decides to make an appearance! Last weekend we celebrated a small Blessingway. In case you've never heard of one, a Blessingway is a sacred ceremony traditionally practiced by the Navajo people to honor and support a woman as she steps into motherhood. Unlike a baby shower (which tends to center the baby and all the STUFF), a Blessingway centers the mother and her journey, including rituals that call in love, strength and community support. We made our own version. It's traditionally a gathering of the most important women in the mom-to-be's life, but ours was just my mom, my mother-in-law, and my husband... They painted my belly, they shared their blessings, I shared my fears out loud, and together we celebrate my crossing from Maiden to Mother. A beautiful tradition to remember for you or anyone in your life who is on this journey! Mom's diet influences baby's taste budsAnd since I'm fully engulfed in pregnancy conversations and baby mode these days, I wanted to share something I’ve thought a lot about during these last 9 months: how Mom's diet influences baby's taste buds! A 2024 review showed that a mom's diet shapes her baby's future food preferences. We tend to assume a baby's food preferences begin after birth, but the research shows it starts much earlier - right in the womb. The 2024 review pulled together five decades of research and showed that the foods a mother eats during pregnancy actually shape her baby's future tastes. By the end of pregnancy the fetus can detect AND remember flavors from mom's diet, picked up through the chemosensory cues floating in the amniotic fluid. So the flavors a baby meets before birth set the stage for a greater acceptance of those same foods after they arrive. Isn’t that amazing?! The idea that all of us had our tiny palates shaped before even entering this world? It also puts what we eat while pregnant in a whole new light. Not from a place of fear or restriction, but from a place of variety and intentional eating. The more whole, real foods we expose baby to in utero, the more familiar and welcome those flavors become down the road. (Food for thought... moms living on super restrictive diets might be passing those very tendencies right on down to baby!) In case you know someone who's hoping to grow their family someday, or someone who's pregnant right now, pass this along! In health, -Daina Forward this email to anyone who would benefit 💌 Forwarded this email? Sign up HERE to get future emails directly to your inbox. |
Holistic Nutrition & Gut Health
Learn something that will make you healthier every Thursday. Join 700+ health-minded women & get practical tips to improve your diet, detoxify your home, find healthier products, get better skin, and more.
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