Better Baby Book Review

First stop after landing in Anaheim

August was one busy month.  We were gone the first three weekends traveling to Quincy to visit my 93yr old grandma, then to Anaheim to give a presentation at APCO, and then to Chicago so Ryan could hang out with his meatball (Greg, my brother-in-law) at the Midwest Brewers Fest.  While I could write about all the delicious and naughty things I ate during these travels, I'll write instead about the book I read.  

I'm semi-hooked on Dave Asprey's podcast, the bulletproof exec. This past year he and his wife Lana released The Better Baby Book.  No, I'm not planning on getting pregnant anytime soon, but the other NWW nutritionists and myself are seeing an influx of expecting moms with gestational

Breakfast at Early Bird 

diabetes, severe morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum), and other complications.  So I figured it would be good to read a book on pregnancy.  From what I've gathered, this probably isn't like many other pregnancy books that simply tell you to eat healthy, avoid deli meat, and get lots of sleep.  Nope, Dave and Lana tell you WHY.  Their point is to help you create the healthiest, smartest, most bulletproof baby around, so their recommendations can sometimes be more than what a person is willing or able to do. Thankfully, they do say several times to do the best you can, and even if you do  nothing, the chances of having a healthy baby are still pretty high.

First Beer Sample

 Main points:

1. Avoid toxins-particularly micotoxins (mold)

2. Eat lots of healthy fats

3. Eat lots of organic vegetables

4. Get adequate amounts of sleep/rest in a very dark room

5. Be at peace and think happy thoughts.

6. Have the father help with 1-5.

What I didn't like:

1. Information overload!

2. Several times he refers you to the webpage for products and more info, but it seems like there is a lot of missing info on the web page.

3. No references to the over 1000 sources he 'cites' in his book.  Dude, it's called a bibliography.

4. There are parts of the book written in 3rd person when it should be in 1st person. I know the book was a joint venture, but when they all of a sudden say "Lana ate 3 egg yolks every day" the transition is a little weird.  I thought Lana wrote the book.

5. He references 2 smart drugs that have not been approved for use in pregnant women...so why mention them at all then?

Several chapters are dedicated to nutrients/supplements needed by women, and again, they say they have a link on their webpage to all these great brands of supplements, but I found the information and links there, lacking.  Also, it really bothers me when multiple supplements are suggested, but unlike Julia Ross in her books 'The Mood Cure' and 'The Diet Cure,' the Asprey's did not feel it necessary to give concise supplementation protocol. So I did it for you!  I made sure the multi meets the requirements for Folic Acid and other B-vitamins, unfortunately most supplements do not use folate or folinic acid, instead they use folic acid, the less desirable form.  Depending upon the mulit, someone may want to take extra calcium.

Multi Vitamin
NutriKey Twice A Day (Folic Acid not Folinic, high in other B-vitamins, selenium, zinc, iodine)
Vitamin Code Prenatal (Folinic Acid-but lower in other B-vitamins, selenium, zinc, iron, iodine)
Metagenics Fem-Prenatal (Folic Acid, higher in Iron, Iodine, and zinc, and selenium)

Vitamin D
NutriKey 5000IU  (1 per day)

Calcium
Metagenics Cal Apatite  (1 per day)
Ortho Molecular Reacted Calcium  (2-4 per day)

Magnesium
Glycinate (4-8 per day)
Citrate-good for treating constipation (3-4tsp)

DHA (I disagree with his whole Krill oil being better than Fish oil, instead I typically recommend straight DHA during pregnancy)
NutriKey 200mg (3 per day)
Nordic Naturals DHA (3-4 per day)

Cod Liver oil
3 Care Therapeutics-unfermented (1-2 tsp per day)
Green Pasture-Fermented (1-2 tsp or 2-4 capsules per day)

Probiotic
NutriKey Bifido Balance (3-6 capsules per day)

Glutathione
Bulletproof Upgraded (1 pump per day)
Metagenics GlutaClear (2 per day)

Glutamine
Nutrikey Powder (1-1.5 tsp per day)
Nutrikey Capsules (3-6 capsules per day)

Sunflower Lecithin
Love Raw Foods (1-2 Tbs per day)

What I've taken away and am doing, it's never to early to prepare for pregnancy:

1. Eating more raw egg yolks.

2. Clearing out some of my toxic beauty products including hair-spray and leave-in conditioner.

3. Continuing to work on stress management.

4. Detoxing my body using Dynamic Greens, maybe someday I'll buy some activated charcoal. 

5. Attempting to reduce my exposure to EMFs

I'll probably do another post on this book discussing the bulletproof baby diet.