So you’re ready to be a parent. Congratulations! That’s a big decision. To give yourself the best chance for a healthy pregnancy and baby, there are a few things to do before you get pregnant.

1. Go see your doctor before you conceive.

This preconception visit with your OB, family physician, internist or other care provider usually consists of a physical exam and a thorough discussion about your family history, personal medical history and any medications that you may be taking.  Certain medications are contraindicated during pregnancy and can lead to birth defects.  It’s important to switch to an alternative medication with the guidance of your health care provider before conception whenever possible.  Your provider will also make sure to discuss your weight, diet, exercise and whether or not you are up to date on your immunizations.  If you are at risk, you may also be tested for sexually transmitted diseases.

2. Start taking your prenatal vitamins 1-2 months before conception.

Folic acid supplementation during pregnancy is essential.  It is recommended that you get at least 400 mcg of folic acid daily for at least 1 month prior to conception because many young women have a folic acid deficiency.  You should continue to take a vitamin containing folic acid throughout your pregnancy. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), you can reduce the risk of birth defects like neural tube defects and spina bifida by 50-70% with just this small measure.

When shopping for a prenatal vitamin, also make sure that it does not contain more than recommended daily allowance of 770 mcg of vitamin A.  Too much vitamin A can also cause birth defects and toxicity to the developing fetus.

3. Give up smoking, drinking, and/or drugs.

This is an obvious tip, but please seek help if you are having a hard time giving up smoking, alcohol or drugs.  Many scientific studies have demonstrated that these substances can lead to miscarriage, premature birth, and low birth weight.  They can also negatively impact your fertility.

4. See your dentist.

That old wives’ tale of “gain a child, lose a tooth” may be true.  Oral health during pregnancy is crucial because hormone shifts in pregnant moms predispose them to gum disease that can potentially lead to loss of a tooth.  Increased estrogen and progesterone levels during pregnancy can result in swollen, tender gums that may bleed more easily during flossing.  Whatever you do, don’t stop flossing!

It is advisable to see your dentist before pregnancy and again for a cleaning at least once or twice during pregnancy.  Gum disease and oral infections have been linked to preterm birth.

5. Reduce environmental risks to reduce birth defects.

There are so many environmental hazards lurking around us and you cannot eliminate all of them, but you can minimize them.  If your job requires you to be in contact with chemicals, radiation, or consistently loud noises, you may need to make some changes prior to conceiving.  At home, also try to minimize contact with cleaning products, paint, pesticides and solvents. If you live in an older house, it may be worthwhile to check if there are high levels of lead in your paint or in your pipes that could be released into your water supply.  I recommend talking to your doctor about these potential hazards and ways to avoid or minimize your exposure to them.

Best Wishes for a happy, healthy pregnancy.

Do you have any tips for people before they get pregnant? What type of advice did you receive before conceiving?

The holidays happen every year, and every year the thought happens that this will be the year that you and the family stay healthier. And then the holidays happen and the thought morphs to January is the time to focus on our health.  Well let’s compromise – follow these tips and you can stay ahead of the curve, or at least on the road, and then come January refine it further as desired or needed.

1. Support your immune system while still enjoying some holiday treats. Both sugar and alcohol suppress the immune system so the combo of them, colder weather, less sleep, and possible increase in stress can be a recipe for holiday cold or a January virus.
   Tip #1: Support your immune system: eat immune enhancing foods like mushrooms, wild salmon, organic fruits and vegetables; reduce overall intake of sugar by avoiding added sugars in packaged foods like peanut butter, breads, flavored yogurts and sauces; limit alcohol intake and make sure to consume water and coconut water when you do drink.
2. Let’s Move…together! When we are sedentary it doesn’t just make use gain weight, it slows down the body’s ability to remove the toxins that become a cold or even increase risk of disease.
   Tip #2:  Get Movin’ Daily: The family that eats together needs to move together and the First Lady’s Let’s Move campaign has lots of ideas to keep you all moving – follow the blog at letsmove.gov.
3. Recover regularly. All work and no sleep leaves a body tired, irritated, and primed for weight gain, illness, and even injury. The body is designed to go, go, go but it relies on it’s downtime to catch up which includes sleeping enough and getting good quality z’s, catching a nap or stretch midday, and taking moments to breathe in oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide.
   Tip #3: Calendar your recovery for the month of December – book yoga classes, massages, or even calendar five minutes in your day for breathing and stretching; set an alarm that signals a regular bedtime, turn off electronic devices at or before bed and don’t leave them next to your pillow or face when you sleep, and stock up on better quality sleep enablers like AKA favorites – Traditional Medicinal herbals teas, Natural Vitality Natural Calm, H. Gillerman Organics essential oils.

Excited to hear what modifications not deprivations you and your family implement this year. Tweet us at @ashleykoff @drgreene to share your new traditions to make 2012 your healthiest holidays yet.

Any cooking at home is a step in the right direction as it allows you to control ingredient quality, quantity, and nutrient balance. That said, there are better quality cooking methods, such as vapor cooking, which should be on your radar to get optimal health and taste results at home.

Vapor cooking is a cooking method that uses a small amount of water in appropriate cookware (designed so vapor creates a complete seal between the lid and the pan base) to deliver optimal taste and texture results for different foods like fish, chicken, vegetables, and legumes.  Because of the unique way it works, vapor cooking offers several health advantages over other cooking forms. First, rather than coating the pan with a fat to prevent sticking or to achieve desired moisture, vapor cooking relies on water so you eliminate the calories from the added fat (this can be as much as 200 calories per serving).  Second, the vapor does the cooking to so you don’t need to add salt or a sodium-based broth to achieve moisture thus reducing salt intake. And finally, while vapor cooking uses water it actually only works with minimal water – a few teaspoons – so the nutrients stay in the food you are cooking not in water that gets drained off prior to consuming.

When it comes to our health, we know that we can’t separate our health from the health of the environment, and as such, our cooking methods should support both. In addition to reducing water amounts, vapor cooking can reduce energy use in two ways – cooking at lower temperatures and cooking for less time (recipes call for removing the sealed lid and pan from the heat to allow the vapor to finish the cooking). Vapor cooking also reduces the potential for harmful carcinogen production when compared to other methods such as grilling or broiling of animal proteins.

Have more questions about vapor cooking or interested in checking out some cooking demos and recipes? Check out 360Cookware.com – if interested in purchasing you can save 15% with the code “AKA”.

I hate to say it, but maybe like millions of Americans, yes, there may be an internal glitch keeping you from optimal results…oh, and stressing about it, yeah, that’s only making it worse. So take this quick quiz and see, note 1 point for each Yes answer:

1. Do you feel tired despite having eaten regular meals made of better quality foods?
2. Do you have regular bloating, gas (and add an extra point if it smells “foul”) after eating?
3. Do you feel hungry shortly after a meal (30-60 minutes)?
4. Have you looked at your bowel movements and seen whole foods or pieces of undigested food?

If you scored any points, suboptimal digestion may be the reason. For numerous reasons (being raised on antibiotics, taking other medications, hurried or multi-tasking eating, consuming chemistry lab projects versus real food), your digestive system likely isn’t breaking all your food down into usable nutrients and getting those nutrients where they need to be – to your cells for energy and function.

What to do? Here’s the Rx:

1. The simplest, yet toughest: improve your eating behavior. Slow down, chew more, breathe more, take smaller bites, and for goodness sake stop eating while driving or being on a conference call or doing both! The body doesn’t take well to distraction, in fact it perceives it as stress. So no matter how “great” that kale salad is for you, it’s not getting where it needs to be. When the body smells stress, it abandons digestion and your food goes undigested either for elimination or fat storage.
2. Skip chemistry lab, head to cooking school (or at least ‘some assembly required’ prep class) instead. When we give the body what it recognizes, it uses it – efficiently and effectively. When we give it what it doesn’t, it gets confused and irritated.  In the beginning, it may slow down and try to figure out how to get what it needs, but the longer term prognosis is frustration and rebellion (ie gas, bloating, acid reflux, constipation etc). So instead of buying ready-made meals, buy better quality ingredients and assemble them yourself.
3. Get your digestive system a personal assistant. Because just chewing more and eating better quality may not do the trick, your system could use some extra help. Digestive enzymes (ie digestion’s “personal assistant”) naturally exist in our body with the sole task of breaking apart carbs, fats, proteins, and fibers into usable pieces for your parts. Thus, increasing enzymes in your digestive tract will help breakdown your food more thoroughly. You can increase your intake of foods which contain digestive enzymes (like papaya, grapefruit, and pineapple to break down proteins) or begin taking a quality digestive enzyme supplement (AKA rec: Enzymedica) with meals, especially ones that include heavier foods or ones you don’t eat regularly or ones that tend to give you issues.

If you’ve ever been on an airplane, you’ve heard the emergency preparedness speech that tells adults to place the oxygen mask on themselves before helping children. It may go against all parental instincts, but it’s a vivid example of how important self-care really is. If you haven’t taken care of yourself, you’re not going to be as capable of caring for others.

We need to pamper and revitalize ourselves, especially when our children are very young and very needy. Ironically, it’s one of the hardest things to find the time and energy to do. Moms are often plagued by the internal battle of wanting to take personal time, but feeling a sense of obligation and guilt whenever the opportunity arises. Deep down, though, we all know that we need the time to refresh and that it makes us better, happier parents. The biggest obstacle is usually time, so here are 10 quick ways to regroup and renew in a pinch:

Got 30 minutes? Let your partner or even a neighbor take over while the baby’s napping, so you can take a little breather.

1. Take a walk. Head to a park, beach, or even just go around the block. Grab some fresh air and sunshine, get your exercise, and just let your mind wander.

2. Indulge yourself. Take a warm bath, do some yoga, get a quick pedicure, or sit and meditate.

3. Have a treat. Grab a hot cup of tea or coffee and a special snack, find a quiet place and read, write, draw, or just enjoy your favorite music.

Got 15 minutes? Even when you’re on the go, doing drop-offs or pick-ups, you can fit in a moment of peace.

4. Head outside and soak up 15 minutes of warm sun on your face or stretch and breathe.

5. Call a friend and have an adult conversation about anything other than kids.

6. Brew a hot cup of tea and sit and sip it.

Need a 5 minute fix? Refresh in a flash:

7. Enjoy a bite of the most delicious, organic, fair trade chocolate you can find and savor it.

8. Pull out some essential oils and smell the aroma – try lemon for a quick pick up or lavender for calming.

9. Put on your favorite song and turn the volume up. Sing as loud as you can.

10. Write a gratitude list – jot down 10 things you are grateful for today.

Even the simplest actions can help us renew and come back to parenting with a fresher, calmer perspective!

What are your tips for self care?

Learn more about finding balance and holistic parenting and connect with like-minded parents at the 9th Annual Natural Living Conference on October 13th in Chicago. You can also join in events online and off-line all month long as part of Holistic Moms Network’s celebration of Holistic Living Month. Join us!

Did you always picture your pregnancy to be the time where you could finally have an excuse to stop exercising and eat for two? Unfortunately, you need to erase that picture. Pregnancy may be one of the most important times of your life to exercise. The benefits go to both you and your baby! First off, exercise alleviates or lessens almost every discomfort of pregnancy. Isn’t that reason enough to keep exercising?

What we won’t do for ourselves, we will do for our children. Research has shown that the babies of exercising mothers are born healthier, have less body fat at birth (this is a good thing), are calmer and may have cardiac benefits of a lower fetal heart rate. Basically, when mom exercises, the baby gets similar benefits from the training.

Here are some tips to get started:

1) Look for a prenatal exercise class when possible just so you know your instructors are specially trained. Of course, we would love to see you at one of our Fit4Baby classes!

2) If you weren’t working out, start slowly and build up gradually.

3) Drink enough water. While this is true for the non-pregnant population as well, it’s important for the baby’s health that you stay hydrated.

4) Listen to your body. While exercise is safe, it is important that you don’t overdo it and don’t get overheated.

5) Be consistent. Being inconsistent with your workouts can be harmful to your baby. Your workouts may change but you do want to maintain a level of fitness throughout your pregnancy.

Remember, ACOG recommends that pregnant women exercise at least 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day on most days of the week so long as you are having a healthy pregnancy. This is your first step to being a “healthy role model” for your child!

Exercise is a green approach to health care. Yes, a green pregnancy means making the most of what you take into your body, through what you eat, drink, and breathe, and also absorb through your skin, hair, and nails. But how you move your body is another powerful green way to make a difference. There are many benefits of exercise during pregnancy, including improved physical conditioning, strength, flexibility, and stamina. It builds endurance for labor and delivery and a quicker postnatal recovery. By exercising regularly, you may be able to reduce some of the common discomforts of pregnancy such as backache, swelling, and constipation. Most of all, you feel great about yourself when you exercise.

How Exercise Can Help More Than Medication
Let’s take a look at the effects of exercise versus medications for two of the most important complications of pregnancy.

Gestational Diabetes
As many as one in eight women will develop gestational diabetes sometime during their pregnancies, increasing health risks for themselves and their babies. Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Medicine studied a group of women who had already developed gestational diabetes and who had fasting blood glucose levels high enough to require insulin. Half of the women in the study received the recommended insulin. The other half got personal trainers instead. The trainers supervised the women while they did simple twenty-minute stints on exercise bikes.

The results were startling: moderate aerobic exercise was equally effective to insulin! Blood glucose levels were statistically the same in both groups.

If exercise can be a prescription-strength way to control gestational diabetes that has already developed, how much better to be active throughout pregnancy and perhaps prevent the problem in the first place.

Insulin costs in the United States are staggering. The state Medicaid programs alone pay $500 million a year just for the drug. The indirect costs of diabetes are huge. Exercise is a green approach to health care.

Preeclampsia
A complication of a pregnancy in which blood pressure increases and blood flow to the baby decreases. The only effective treatment for preeclampsia is to deliver the baby, so it contributes to the growing epidemic (and resource cost) of preterm deliveries. Again, regular brisk walking or other moderate physical activity begun during pregnancy significantly lowers the risk of preeclampsia. The benefit is even greater if the exercise is begun before pregnancy. As thankful as I am for neonatal intensive care units, they also represent one of the most intense uses of resources in health care. A walk in the park is a much greener way to deal with preeclampsia, when possible.

Prenatal Yoga
Yoga is one of the oldest physical practices in existence. Yoga balances mind and body, work and relaxation. Through movement, posture, relaxation, meditation, and intentional breathing, yoga aims to bring a healthy, lively, flexible approach to life. With its emphasis on harmony and balance, it is a beautiful metaphor for raising baby green.

Two recent studies compared an hour of prenatal yoga daily to an hour of brisk walking daily. One of the studies looked just at women with uncomplicated pregnancies. In this study, those who were randomly assigned to the yoga group were significantly more likely to have an ideal weight baby, significantly less likely to have preterm labor, and significantly less likely to develop hypertension than the women who exercised an hour a day by walking.

The other similar study looked at women with complicated pregnancies, who had already been diagnosed with abnormal blood flow through the umbilical and uterine arteries. These women were at increased risk of delivering babies that were too small. Again, those randomly assigned to the yoga group were significantly more likely to have a normal weight baby than those who walked for the same amount of time.

If you are interested in a home guide to yoga before and after having a baby, I like Anna Getty’s Guide to Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga, a DVD boxed set that is great for both beginners and for seasoned practitioners. As with any exercise, you can overdo it with yoga. Be careful not to strain yourself, and have your instructor check to be sure you’re doing it the best way for you.

The Green Exercise Standard
I agree with the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology in recommending 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day, or at least on most days. We all know that this is a good idea, but having a baby is a fantastic time to make this resolution stick.

Talk with your pregnancy health care team before embarking on your activity plan. Some exercise is wonderful. Too much, or the wrong kind, is not. And some pregnant women should not exercise or should exercise in an even gentler way.

But for most women, exercise during pregnancy is a wonderful benefit, giving you stronger muscles, denser bones, healthier joints, and less chance of urinary incontinence. And exercise also wards off the baby blues or postpartum depression.