Author: Julia Dixon Dietitian
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Reducing Baby’s Risk of Food Allergies
Spoiler alert, it all traces back to preconception health. My Masters research looked at ~17,000 women’s preconception diets and assessed if they were meeting dietary guideline recommendations (spoiler alert, most were not). We then stratified the data to understand if of those women, those who were actively planning pregnancy better adhered to the guidelines than…
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Food For Fertility
A landmark study in 2007 followed over 17,544 women’s fertility journey (as they tried to, or became pregnant) and lifestyle, including diet, for 8 years. The authors scored diet quality based on its resemblance to a fertility diet characterised as: High in: monounsaturated fats plant-based protein fruits vegetables low GI whole grain carbohydrates moderate full-fat…
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Supplements for Fertility
When it comes supplements, there is a plethora on the market – how do you know which is the right one for you? Well, step one is to speak to your healthcare provider or qualified dietitian. Especially if you are looking at using supplements for fertility. Research suggests 20-30% of women will encounter fertility challenges.…
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Optimising Egg Quality
It may take only a few minutes to cook an egg, but a human egg (an oocyte) takes a lot longer to prepare. Women are born with all of the eggs they will have (about 1-2 million eggs). This number declines (rather rapidly) over-time, with approximately only 25% remaining by puberty. Oocytes begin maturing about…
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Oestrogen & Your Gut
Gut bugs, the gut bacteria populating your intestines have the science community bustling. There is so much emerging research about them – but so much more we don’t know. From probiotics, to prebiotics to bacteria strains, to their functions, to the health implications of different strains and the quantity of various strains – and more,…
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Perinatal Constipation
WHAT IS CONSTIPATION? If you are not opening your bowels regularly (regularly for you), are straining on the toilet, passing hard, lumpy or pebble-like bowel motions, or feel like you haven’t fully passed everything (complete bowel evacuation), then you may be constipated. WHY DOES IT OCCUR IN PREGNANCY? Early in pregnancy, hormonal shifts such as…