Get Ready to Get Pregnant Quotes

“You should avoid eating refrigerated smoked seafood, such as salmon, trout, whitefish, cod, tuna, or mackerel (often labeled as “nova-style,” “lox,” “kippered,” “smoked,” or “jerky”)—so no more lox and bagel for breakfast when you are pregnant, or actively trying to get pregnant.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“I recommend eating one organic orange, red bell pepper, or tomato, at least once a day.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“Indeed, sweet red bell pepper ranks second among all foods in its cryptoxanthin content; one medium-size red bell pepper delivers 2,817 micrograms of beta-cryptoxanthin cooked, and 730 micrograms raw. Cryptoxanthin is a powerful antioxidant in the carotenoids family and has been shown to prevent cancers of the female genital tract.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“I recommend one serving of prunes, raisins, or blueberries once a day. That would be about 1 cup of prunes, a small box (43 grams) of raisins, or ½ cup of blueberries every day.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“I recommend 1 to 2 cups of cooked or raw spinach, kale, collards, or broccoli at least once a day. Be sure to buy organic and wash them well if you are going to eat them raw.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“For lutein and zeaxanthin, kale, spinach, and collards again top the list. There are over 23,000 micrograms of lutein and zeaxanthin in one cup of cooked kale, over 20,000 in one cup of cooked spinach, and nearly 15,000 in one cup of cooked collards.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“Kale and collards. Kale and collards rank number one and two in vitamin K content; one cup of cooked kale contains 1,147 micrograms of vitamin K; one cup of cooked collard greens, 559 micrograms. They are also an excellent source of vitamins A and C and manganese. One cup of cooked collards has 118 micrograms of folate.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“Yogurt is also rich in many vitamins and minerals, including vitamins B2, B12, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and zinc. On average, one 6-oz container of low-fat yogurt of fruity variety provides more than 25 percent of recommended daily intake of calcium and phosphorous and more than 10 percent of daily value for zinc. I recommend 6–8 oz of yogurt or kefir once or twice a day.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“For probiotics from dietary supplements, try VSL#3, which contain eight active cultures, including Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species, or Culturelle, which contains Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“farm-raised salmon contains lower levels of omega–3 fatty acids and astaxanthin, and higher levels of PCBs, dioxins, methylmercury, and organochlorine pesticides. As a rule of thumb, the vast majority (greater than 99 percent) of “Atlantic salmon” available in the world’s market is farmed, whereas the majority (greater than 80 percent) of “Pacific salmon” is wild-caught. I recommend Alaskan wild salmon because it is the least contaminated; it is more expensive but may be well worth the price. Canned Alaskan wild salmon may be more affordable, and has a lot less contaminants than most other canned fish. One FDA study found that the average methylmercury level of canned albacore tuna (so-called “solid white tuna”) was 35 times higher than that found in canned wild salmon. I recommend eating a 4- to 6-oz fillet of wild Alaskan salmon twice a week. This can get expensive so look for them in freeze packs or in a can for the same health benefits.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“peanut butter has higher content of saturated fat and is more likely to contain traces of aflatoxin, a toxic metabolite produced by a mold.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“I recommend eating one DHA-fortified egg, from drug- and hormone-free, uncaged chickens, at least every other day.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“I recommend eating ½ to 1 cup of legumes a day before and during pregnancy.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“Beans contain flavonoids and flavonals, which are potent antioxidants. They soak up oxygen radicals and protect your body against oxidative stress and chronic inflammation. Their antioxidant activities are 50 times greater than vitamin E. They are also among the richest food sources of saponins, chemicals that help prevent undesirable genetic mutations.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“This is why an Institute of Medicine expert panel recommended in 2003 that girls and young women drink low-fat or skim milk instead of whole milk and eat foods lower in animal fat years before they become pregnant in order to avoid accumulation of dioxins in their body. If you wait until pregnancy, it’s too late.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“The more animal fat we eat, the more dioxins we accumulate. And the prevailing practice of feeding animal fat to animals to fatten them up further raises the dioxin content of the meat and dairy we consume.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“I called them “toxic foods” because they are unhealthful and can cause harm to your future baby. They include swordfish, shark, king mackerel, and tilefish, soft cheeses and unpasteurized milk, hot dogs, luncheon meats, deli meats, raw or smoked seafood, raw or undercooked meat, unwashed vegetables, raw vegetable sprouts, unpasteurized juices, liver, saturated fats, trans fats, partially hydrogenated oils, added sugars including high-fructose corn syrup, refined flour, and herbal preparations.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“To help get you ready for pregnancy, I came up with a list of “brain foods” that are designed to counteract some of the biggest threats to a healthy pregnancy in the typical American diet—too much sugar, too much saturated fats, and too much inflammation. These brain foods include beans, eggs, nuts and seeds, olive oil, Alaskan wild salmon, yogurt and kefir, whole grains, spinach, collards, kale, broccoli, prunes, raisins, blueberries, oranges, red bell peppers, and tomatoes.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“And make sure you share this mission statement with your husband or partner, and that you create a joint mission statement based on your own personal mission statements. If you do this, you will also set an example for your children on how to conduct their lives and stay true to themselves.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications

“2003 that girls and young women drink low-fat or skim milk instead of whole milk and eat foods lower in animal fat years before they become pregnant in order to avoid accumulation of dioxins in their body.”
― Michael C. Lu, Get Ready to Get Pregnant: Your Complete Prepregnancy Guide to Making a Smart and Healthy Baby – A Doctor's Authoritative Plan for Safer Pregnancies and Preventing Complications