Real Food for Mother and Baby: The Fertility Diet, Eating For Two, and Baby’s First Foods by Nina Planck

Review by Lisa Imerman, J.D.

I received an advanced reading copy of this book through HTN and boy was it timely.  As I am currently very close to delivering my fourth child, I devoured this book.  I loved it!! Nina Planck is a wonderful author who also wrote the book Real Food and who writes for the NY Times.  Ms. Planck is a big supporter of eating nutrient-dense food and this book stresses her philosophy.  This book is a guide as well as the story of Ms. Planck’s own pregnancy and motherhood experience.  She is like a best friend who explains each bit of advice but tenders it with practical information, the science behind the advice, and she admits no one is perfect and you need to make your own decision about what is right for you and your family. 

The book is full of charts and information on the importance of various nutrients, minerals, etc. and also which foods are good sources of these necessary components.  Ms. Plank also gives you options for healthy supplements if you can’t eat the necessary food for each nutrient.  She delves pretty deep into how the entire process works from being healthy pre-conception through breastfeeding and what you need to prepare for you and your child to be as healthy as possible (although she does stress that it doesn’t always prevent unexpected health issues, such as she had to have a c-section unexpectedly).  In the fertility section she also explains the things that will help the father to be healthy in order to help with conception. 

The book begins with an entire section on what real food is.  This is great for beginners and has some good information for everyone in every stage of a “real food” journey.  As she says in the book, “This primer works for anyone who eats”.  I like how she outlines what her definition of real food is and talks a good deal about the difference between real food and industrialized foods.  She also talks about the standard dietary myths that science does not support, such as the lipid hypothesis.  She also stresses not only to avoid industrial food but to buy as much real food as you can afford.  She also does explain what she considers to be most important foods to buy that are best quality.  She does give options based on various budgets and sourcing restrictions. 

I learned so much in this book about the physical, scientific and emotional issues surrounding conception, pregnancy and birth as well as nursing and feeding a baby.  I knew many of these things from having children, but the information provided in this book is so detailed yet approachable that it really taught me a lot and showed me that eating this way is the best possible choice.  I am so happy that with this child we are pretty well into the Weston A. Price Foundation’s dietary principles, much more so than with any of my previous children. 

I loved Ms. Plank’s advice for a peaceful, gentle birth experience.  Some things might not be avoidable but she explains several tips.  Some of  these ideas I had never thought about, like not to bathe the baby right away as the white covering they have (vernix) has great immune building properties and if you wash it off right away the baby loses these important things, so wash gently without wiping off the vernix!! 

The information presented about breast-feeding and feeding your baby is priceless.  It is well known that breastfeeding is better than formula feeding (especially commercial formulas which are garbage!!) but this book really delves into the science and biology of why.  I enjoyed learning about how a human newborn’s brain is only 25% of its full-grown size at birth and that proper fats in the mother’s diet translate into the breast milk and are essential for the infant’s brain development.  Ms. Planck specifically mentions the importance of Cod Liver Oil during pregnancy as well as when breast feeding. 

One of the most important foods that Ms. Planck repeatedly discusses is fish.  She does talk about the importance of eating “clean” fish and avoiding methyl mercury and other toxins, but fish is essential to a healthy mom and baby through all stages of pregnancy and after the baby is born.  Fish provides many important nutrients, but most importantly it is an important source of DHA (an Omega-3 Fat) as well as a great balance of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fats.

I am not a big fish eater (never have been) but since reading this book, I am diligently taking my Cod Liver Oil daily and also trying to incorporate more fish in my diet.  I bought some cans of sardines since they are easy and portable to eat and taste good, the unintended benefit is that my 10 year-old daughter and 7-year old son tried them and love them!!  They even took them in their lunch box to school and said the other kids would probably say they were gross, but they didn’t care what everyone else thought.  That experience alone was worth reading this book!

I am recommending this book to everyone I know who is having a baby, wants to have a baby or who eats!!  The book is being released on March 31, 2009.