Transcript

Brain Food · Talking FACS

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Welcome to Talking FACS.
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What you need to know about family food,
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finance and fitness.
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This nationally recognized award winning podcast is hosted by the University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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Our educators share research knowledge with individuals,
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families and communities to improve quality of life.
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Hello and welcome to Talking FACS.
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What you need to know about family in finance and fitness.
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I'm your host,
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Mindy McCulley Extension Specialist for instructional support with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
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Today.
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My guest is Dr. Courtney Luecking,
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assistant professor and extension specialist for Maternal and child Health.
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Welcome,
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Courtney.
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Hello,
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Mindy.
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Nice to see you.
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So we are going to talk about the very beginning of life and what we can do to support babies while they are still in their mother's womb.
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Yes.
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Yes.
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I'm gonna talk about proper nutrition during pregnancy because we may not think about it,
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but there is a lot of brain development happening during that time.
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Exactly.
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So our topic is,
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and I'm glad you said that the brain development.
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Our topic is brain food nutrition for supporting babies,
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brain development,
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pregnancy.
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And I think that we're gonna have lots of fun today.
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So,
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let's just get started.
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I know.
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It's been a long time.
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My children are old but when I was pregnant I was very sick all throughout my pregnancies.
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Oh,
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and so I worried,
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uh,
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I worried that my children were getting what they needed for their development.
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And I do remember my doctor saying,
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trust me,
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they,
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they get the important things first and then you're the one who's really suffering.
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That's so true.
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I know.
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Yes.
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So,
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so even though it seemed like I never kept anything down,
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they were getting the nutrition that they needed because I kept it in long enough for them to get something amazing and true.
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I mean,
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your,
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your concerns are very valid,
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you know,
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because nutrition is so important during that time.
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Yes.
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So let's talk about how does what we as moms eat impact the brain development of our Children who are growing inside of us.
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Yes.
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So brain development is very rapid during pregnancy and to give you some numbers to go with it in the fourth week of pregnancy.
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So oftentimes before many women know they are pregnant,
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a fetus,
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that's what we call a developing baby.
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A fetus,
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a fetus's brain has about 10,000 cells.
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That's still a lot already 20 weeks later.
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So just about halfway over halfway through the pregnancy,
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the brain has about 10 billion.
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That's with ABC.
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Um Yeah,
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so I wish,
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I wish you all could see Mindy's face,
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her eyes and mouth got really large.
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Um Yes,
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that's a lot of activity and growth in a short time.
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And so what a mother eats impacts the number of cells that develop the structures that allow messages to travel from each of those cells and this fatty matter around it that influences the speed at which those messages travel.
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And all of these things impact a child's ability to learn later in life.
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And so certain nutrients are going to play very specific roles in the development of the brain as well as the spinal cord.
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So let's talk about the specific nutrients that are gonna really impact our,
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our brain health of our fetus.
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Yes.
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So the word nutrients in case anyone listening is new to this word,
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I wanna let you know that nutrients refers to specific substances and food that provide nourishment that's essential for growth and health.
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And so there are many that support fetal brain development.
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These include protein,
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iron,
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zinc,
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copper,
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and a variety of fat.
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But three nutrients I want to highlight today include folic acid,
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cline and iodine.
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And probably those are ones that we don't talk about a whole lot.
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Maybe the folic acid people have heard about.
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But I doubt that anybody sits around and talks about cline and iodine.
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You know,
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you,
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you bring up a great point.
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We've known about folic acid for a while.
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And so I think most people have probably heard a message at some point um during pregnancy or of,
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you know,
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women who have are of childbearing potential.
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Um That folic acid is important for forming the neural tubes very early in pregnancy that ultimately become the brain,
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baby's brain and spinal cord.
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And it so it prevents a lot of major birth defects of the brain and spine.
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And it's important long before someone knows that they're pregnant.
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And so it's important to get enough in those early phases.
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But yeah,
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like cle,
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that's actually newer on our radar.
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If you will,
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in regards to its importance during pregnancy,
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cle is a mineral that supports proper development of the baby's brain in spinal cord.
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Um,
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but also lifelong memory function because I'm like,
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hm,
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maybe my mom,
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right.
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She's a little more cle in her life.
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Right.
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Yeah.
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And then iodine,
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we might know more about that in regards to thyroid hormones.
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Um I,
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I iodine deficiencies can lead to problems with thyroid hormones and the thyroid controls a lot of functions in our body body,
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including a baby's brain development in those early stages of pregnancy.
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So that's why we'll talk about those three today.
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People might have heard about iodine through their salt,
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but we of course,
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want to limit salt intake.
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So we're gonna talk about other sources of iodine.
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I'm guessing we sure it will.
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All right.
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Ok.
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How important are prenatal supplements?
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Because I know that that's something that,
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that we're often given as pregnant mothers.
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And so how important are those supplements?
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Yes,
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we always want to start with a variety of healthy foods.
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Food is our baseline for getting what we need to support growth and development at any point in life.
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But during pregnancy,
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because those needs are increased and to your point,
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you know,
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sometimes you can only consume so much um or only keep so much down.
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Prenatal supplements are recommended to help meet those increased needs because food alone can be tricky to meet some of those nutrient needs.
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For example,
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folic acid is particularly important.
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And so prenatal supplements can help ensure that people aren't needing at least meeting if not slightly exceeding what will help ensure healthy growth and development.
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But I wanna,
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I do wanna say that supplements,
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not all supplements are equal.
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So for example,
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I mentioned cla is newer on the radar and so not all prenatal supplements yet meet the recommendations for cla.
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So it will be really important to chat if anyone is wanting to get pregnant or,
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or pregnant,
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um to chat with the health care provider to identify the right prenatal supplement for them.
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So just because you see it on the shelf at your local department store doesn't mean that it's necessarily the prenatal vitamin that you need to be taking correct supplements.
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Um,
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unfortunately,
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don't go through the same rigorous testing as prescribed medications do to come in.
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Like I said,
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it's been a long time.
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Since I was pregnant.
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But I,
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I remember getting a prescription from my doctor for my prenatal,
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um,
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supplements.
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So I,
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I,
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I'm sure that they probably still do that.
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I don't know.
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Yes,
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you definitely can still get a prescription,
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um,
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by and large over the counter will meet the needs of most people.
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But again,
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chatting with a healthcare provider can ensure that people are getting the right thing for them.
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Ok.
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So we've talked about the supplements,
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but let's talk more about the foods that we can eat.
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Um,
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especially those that might include more folic acid or choline or Adam.
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Fortunately,
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we can find these nutrients in a variety of food sources and sometimes foods are good sources of multiple nutrients.
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So you're getting a lot of bang for your buck when you eat one thing.
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Um So folic acid you can find in eggs or beans or fruits,
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particularly in citrus fruits like oranges or grape fruits or lemons,
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limes if you're into some of those more tart,
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tart and tangy type of fruits.
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Um,
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eggs are kind of a power brain food if you want to label it that um because they also have cline and iodine.
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So talk about a food that can knocked out a lot in a little package are eggs,
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dairy,
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chicken and fish.
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So more of those protein sources,
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those also have choline and iodine in them.
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Well,
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and let's talk about eggs for a minute because we used to worry about the cholesterol and eggs.
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But now we don't so much.
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Right.
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That's correct.
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Yes.
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There used to eggs do have a higher cholesterol content,
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but we now know that that does not translate into what the body absorbs and,
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and uses.
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So,
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if you think avoiding that egg for the cholesterol,
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that's not a good excuse,
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you need to go back to eating the egg or go ahead and fit them in if you like them and can tolerate them.
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Yes,
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exactly.
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What tips do you have for expectant parents to include these foods in their diets.
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The most solid advice is including a variety of foods and eating frequently throughout the day.
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So eggs don't just have to be for breakfast.
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You can eat them for breakfast,
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but think about,
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uh,
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maybe breakfast for dinner,
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like an omelet or some sort of casserole.
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Um,
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I know sometimes we'll make them for dinner and then you have leftovers for the week or adding beans to any dish that you like.
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So whether it's salads or soups or even like a bean dip,
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right?
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Sometimes beans are a great side dish and then adding fruit to anything,
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whether it's something that you eat on the side or again,
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Sprinkle on top of something like oatmeal or cereal or pancakes or yogurt.
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Um,
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it can be fresh or canned or frozen or dried.
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You're not limited in how you prepare something or in what form it's consumed.
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So that's the good news that we can find what we like fish.
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I know it can be a little bit um hit and miss with some people.
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But fish is one of those brain foods in general.
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It has other nutrients that support brain um development.
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And so it's recommended pregnant women eat 8 to 12 ounces of a fish that's low in mercury.
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And so fortunately for us in Kentucky,
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most of the fish we have access to is going to be low in mercury.
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So like your catfish or Pollock shrimp,
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um,
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salmon,
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not necessarily native Kentucky food,
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but salmon is great and canned tuna,
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easily,
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um,
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accessible and affordable,
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um,
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that you can grill or bake or make a salad like a tuna salad,
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for example,
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dairy Sprinkle it in throughout the day and meals and snacks.
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And I know that the recommendation for eating small meals frequently does help pregnant women maybe tolerate food a little bit better if that's an issue.
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But also,
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I mean,
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for those of us who aren't pregnant.
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If you eat smaller meals more frequently,
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then you're,
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you're probably gonna get some other good health benefits as well.
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Right.
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Right.
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And you know,
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it's really different for everyone.
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So I'm,
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I'm so glad you brought that point up about small kind of meals or snacks pay throughout the day because during pregnancy,
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the body is constantly changing.
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I heard someone describe it as like the fastest furious stress test that a body can go through and so some days or some moments,
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certain foods will sound good or not and that's ok.
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And so we know there are a lot of foods that can provide nutrition and support.
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And so I'm not getting too hung up on only having certain types of foods and honoring,
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you know,
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what feels good or what sounds good or what can I tolerate or keep down um,
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today or in this moment?
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Mhm.
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That sounds,
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sounds great.
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But I know that our best um in the future are gonna appreciate us having this discussion because their brains are gonna be so much more developed and so much better off in the long run.
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They will if you are just tuning in,
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