You know while your are pregnant, and I really am focusing this statement with first time pregnancy, many friends and family members will say ” enjoy your sleep now because many sleepless nights lie ahead!” Dr.Sears says that we can impact sleep through nutrition, yes that is right, again we are what we eat!
First on the list Water, we need to consume half of our body weight in ounces or grams every day. Why? Dehydration affects sleep, because it affects our body’s amino acids, and these amino acids are needed to create melatonin. When melatonin is disrupted, we have difficulty with sleep. We know newborns do not drink water, so when mom is hydrated her breastmilk is hydrating her baby and that helps with baby sleeping.
Next on the list is the bedtime snack, recent surveys show that new mothers like to have ice cream, wine or other sugary snacks and drinks after baby goes to bed in the evening, not a good thing because sugar will affect your sleep in that the blood sugar will rise and then crash ( the well known sugar rush and crash) so please help yourself by eating high protein snacks and complex carbs, like hummus and veggies or nut/seed/soybutter and manna bread.
A brainy breakfast or healthy breakfast affects your entire day, make sure it is a nutrient dense breakfast will start your day on a positive note and will give you the energy and the brain power to keep your mood balanced too. Again those protein based foods. skip those prepared toaster waffles.
Smoothies and salads will help reduce stress, think of stress as a poison pellet moving through your body causing damage, fruits and vegetables are the cure to remove those stress toxins and all the other toxins in our environment. Smoothies and salads every day will do wonders to help with all those toxins
Dr William Sears recommends that new birthing parents eat 2 servings of wild salmon each week for those all important omegas, the omegas in fish aid in healing the body stabilizing hormones and building brain of your new baby as well. It is a real superfood! You can incorporate flax into your diet and find an omega supplement if salmon is not something you eat.
The results go way beyond better nights, you are creating habits that your child and children will observe and will become second nature to them to eat well and look after their inner selves. There will be way more energy for everyone throughout the day and really all your life,
