The definitive guide to having a healthy pregnancy

Optimum Nutrition Before, During and After Pregnancy is the ideal nutritional plan for a healthy pregnancy. Drawing on the latest research, top nutritionists Patrick Holford and Susannah Lawson show you how good nutrition can optimise your ability to get pregnant, enable you to have a healthy pregnancy and give your baby a great start in life. They also guide you through carefully- devised food and supplement plans for feeding your baby — from the perfect breast feeding diet for you and your baby, to weaning, and establishing healthy eating habits in your toddler.

Discover the best ways to:

Achieve maximum fertility for you and your partner

Eat right for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby

Avoid sickness, excess weight gain and other pregnancy problems

Enjoy delicious, easy-to-prepare food that boosts your health and energy

Prevent allergies, sleeping problems and hyperactivity in your baby

Patrick Holford is one of the world's leading authorities on new approaches to health and nutrition. He is founder of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION) and author of many best-selling books including The Optimum Nutrition Bible.

Susannah Lawson, Lic ION, is a health journalist and practising nutritional therapist. She is also a Foresight practitioner, helping couples overcome fertility problems naturally.

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Part One:

Your Pre-Pregnancy MOT

Maximising Your Fertility

A Man's Guide to Making Super Sperm

Turning Your Womb into a Greenhouse

Drinking, Smoking and Passive Smoking: How Much is Safe?

How to Virtually Eradicate the Risk of Birth Defects

Your 'H' Score — the Hallmark of a Healthy Pregnancy

Banish Allergies and Boost Immunity

Essential Fats to Give Your Baby a Head Start

Part Two:

The Perfect Pregnancy Plan

Optimum Nutrition for a Healthy Pregnancy

The A—Z of Essential Nutrients

The Better Pregnancy Diet

Why Supplements are Essential

Preventing Problems: from Anaemia to Weight Gain

Vital Energy Boosters

Getting Fit Not Fat

Part Three:

Your Guide To Being A Super Mum

After Birth Revitalisers

Breast is Definitely Best

Preventing Problems in Mother and Baby: from Sore Nipples to Nappy Rash

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Vaccinations

Part Four:

Optimum Nutrition For Babies And Young Children

Weaning — When and What

Optimum Nutrition for a Healthy Baby

Supplements for Super Kids

Food Fads and Fussiness

Crying, Sleeping and Hyperactivity

Keeping Your Baby Chemical Free

Boosting Your Child's Immune System

Healthy Food Your Child will Love

References

Resources: Useful Contacts, Further Reading

Index

• About the authors Patrick Holford is a leading light in new approaches to health and nutrition. He began his academic career in the field of psychology . While completing his bachelor degree in Experimental Psychology at the University of York, he researched the role of nutrition in mental health and illness, and later tested the effects of improved nutrition on children's IQ — an experiment that was the subject of a Horizon documentary in 1987. He became a student of twice Nobel prize winner Dr Linus Pauling, who believed that the future of medicine was 'optimum nutrition'.

  In 1984, with the support of Dr Pauling, Patrick Holford founded the Institute for Optimum Nutrition (ION). A charitable and independent educational trust for furthering education and research in nutrition, ION is now one of the most respected training colleges for clinical nutritionists. At ION he pioneered many radical ideas in nutrition, from the importance of antioxidants to the dangers of HRT.

  He has written twenty popular books, now translated into seventeen languages. The first, The Optimum Nutrition Bible, has sold over a million copies worldwide. Backed by more than twenty years of research and clinical experience, Patrick Holford is convinced that good health starts in the womb and even before conception.

  Susannah Lawson, Lic ION, is a health journalist and practising nutritional therapist. She trained at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition and also with the pre-conception care charity Foresight, for whom she is one of their accredited practitioners, helping couples overcome fertility problems naturally She combines writing and research in the field of nutrition with seeing clients at her busy practices in north London and Hampshire.