Did you know that eating a poor diet, environmental toxins and antibiotic use during pregnancy could have a greater influence on your babies future health than you realise!
As with most mothers during their first pregnancy, I was motivated to give my baby the best start that I could in life. Many people would say to me "you're pregnant this is the time to eat what you like". How far from the truth this was! In fact it is one of the most crucial times of your life to be caring about what goes into your body.
Why should you care?
Up until recently it was thought that the birthing process was when a baby was first introduced to their mother's microbiota (gut bacteria). However, research is now showing that the mother's gut health plays a much larger role prior to birth than first thought.
The emerging evidence shows that poor gut health caused by such things as exposure to antibiotics, exposure to environmental toxins and an unhealthy diet during pregnancy influences the development of a babies immunity and increases their susceptibility to such diseases as:
colitis, and
the development of autism-like behaviors.
Simple steps can make a big difference
This is exciting information as we are one step closer to understanding how simple steps during pregnancy will help in preventing disease in our future generations.
Ways you can improve your gut health include:
a whole food diet,
minimising exposure to toxins by eating organic, drinking filtered water, using chemical free cleaners and cosmetics,
avoiding unnecessary use of antibiotics, and
taking a probiotic.
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