The Better Baby Book (19 page)

A sufficient amount of omega-3 will also optimize vision in infants and prevent premature delivery. This makes fish oil or krill oil one of the most important supplements a woman can take during pregnancy, especially for having a smarter baby. Fish oil is also an important supplement for aspiring fathers, because DHA is required to make healthy sperm.

Breast milk, which is naturally high in DHA, is even higher in it if the mother consumes extra omega-3. Breast-fed babies have been shown to be more intelligent than formula-fed babies. A 2002 study suggests that these intelligence levels may stay with the babies into adulthood—so adults who were breast-fed as infants are smarter than their formula-fed peers. The difference is attributed to the high DHA content of breast milk boosting early brain development. Until very recently, formulas in the United States did not contain any DHA, and now only some do. Unfortunately, most pregnant women probably aren't eating enough omega-3 to support their baby's brain development properly.

Another omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), is found in plant oils like flax and hemp. We prefer fish or krill oil for good reason: the DHA and the eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in fish and krill oil are more biologically potent than the ALA is, and even though our bodies can make DHA and EPA from ALA, it's not done very efficiently. It is estimated that only 1 to 4 percent of consumed ALA will typically be converted to DHA. The rest creates an overload of ALA.

We recommend supplementing with fish or krill oil but not cod liver oil. It's our opinion that most cod liver oil, or liver oil in general, will contain too much fully formed vitamin A to be consumed during pregnancy. Too much vitamin A is harmful because it blocks vitamin D from working, as we noted earlier.

Krill oil is more expensive than fish oil, but if you have room in your budget, it's the better choice of the two; that's because the omega-3 in krill oil is more easily used by the body and is less susceptible to oxidation. The DHA and EPA in krill oil are in the form of phospholipids, whereas the DHA and EPA in fish oil are usually triglycerides. Since phospholipids are the building blocks of our cell membranes, krill omega-3 packaged in phospholipids is more easily absorbed into the cells for use.

Also, since DHA and EPA are very polyunsaturated, they're fragile and oxidize easily—so easily, in fact, that many fish oil supplements are oxidized during the manufacturing process or from exposure to sunlight. Oxidized supplements are not only less helpful, they're harmful, because they burden the body. The phospholipids in krill oil aren't as susceptible to oxidation, so the chances you're getting high-quality, beneficial DHA and EPA are much higher if you choose krill.

Brain Nutrients

There are a handful of nutrients that promote brain development and function in adults and babies. We'll go through each one separately, but many supplement manufacturers bundle them together in a single brain formula. Check our website,
www.betterbabybook.com/brain
, for details on the best formulas we've found.

Vitamins B5 and B12, which we've already discussed, are the most important vitamins for brain energy. They're central to brain development from the moment of conception,

Alpha GPC

Alpha GPC (the GPC stands for “glycerylphosphorylcholine”) is a choline compound found naturally in the brain. It helps choline cross the blood-brain barrier, so it's an important component in supplying the brain (both yours and your baby's) with choline, which is critical for brain function and for fetal brain development. Alpha GPC is also a precursor to a critical brain neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. Choline is critical for brain function and for fetal brain development.

Alpha GPC works with growth-hormone releasing hormone to naturally stimulate the production of human growth hormone. And by boosting choline availability in the brain and throughout the body, alpha GPC promotes liver health by reducing fatty liver conditions, which are associated with liver failure.

Most alpha GPC is made from highly purified soy lecithin. It's taken as a dietary supplement to enhance memory and brain power. A 1994 Italian study found that alpha GPC assisted the cognitive recovery of patients who had suffered a recent stroke.

Do not supplement with alpha GPC if you have excessive muscle or jaw tension; it could make it worse.

Glutamine

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the human body and is a key component in muscle structure and nerve function. Amino acids make up proteins, which are the primary construction elements in your body. The body can make glutamine on its own, so technically it's a nonessential amino acid. Practically speaking, though, the body could not go on without glutamine. In times of high physical activity like pregnancy, the body often doesn't make enough glutamine to keep up with demand, so the answer is to take extra. More than 60 percent of muscle mass is glutamine. The body can convert glutamine to glucose and use it as an energy source.

Glutamine can easily cross the blood-brain barrier. Inside the brain, glutamine is transformed into glutamic acid and GABA, one of the chief neurotransmitters of the central nervous system. During normal brain function, amino acids change chemically inside the brain. This causes the release of individual ammonia structures. Too much loose ammonia in the brain becomes toxic and impairs brain and nerve function. Glutamic acid binds with these free ammonia structures and carries them out of the brain.

Since glutamine is so important to the nervous system, the body will pull it from the muscles during times of stress to keep the nervous system running, leading to muscle deterioration and loss. Muscle breakdown due to stress is therefore greatly curbed if you supplement with glutamine during a stressful time. Because of its important role in the nervous system, glutamine is a mandatory brain food. Glutamine sufficiency supports long-term optimal mental performance.

We recommend supplementing with glutamine during pregnancy because it contributes so much to body construction and nerve function. Your baby's muscular and neural development depends heavily on the presence of glutamine. Pregnancy is also stressful sometimes, and delivery, of course, is highly stressful. Proper glutamine intake is essential to maintaining muscular integrity and brain function in mother and baby during this time.

Acetyl-L-Carnitine

Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) is a nutrient that carries raw energy sources like carbohydrates and fatty acids from outside the cells into the mitochondria, which are the power plants inside the cells. Mitochondria take the raw resources and turn them into adenosine triphosphate (ATP) through the Krebs cycle (the citric acid cycle). ATP is the primary fuel that cells use to function. Every cell in your body contains mitochondria, and some cells, like heart cells, have far more mitochondria than other cells.

Mitochondria function throughout the body declines with age. This decline can be caused by a diet that is deficient in some of the nutrients required for the Krebs cycle to complete properly. It can also be caused by free radical damage, to which mitochondria are very susceptible. Making sure that your diet contains all of the nutrients for the Krebs cycle will help to maintain optimal mitochondria function. This is where ALC comes in.

ALC plays a key role in keeping cells functioning, because without it they would run out of raw resources, even if there were plenty of these resources located right outside the cell. The cell would then run out of fuel, shut down, and die. This would be similar to running out of gas while driving, having extra gas to put in the car in a separate container, but having no way to get the extra gas into the car's gas tank. If cells run out of raw energy sources on a large scale, the person loses energy, vitality, and eventually his or her life. Long-chain fatty acids, which are one of the most concentrated sources of energy, have a particularly difficult time entering cells without ALC. Finally, the acetyl group that is part of ALC is central to the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain.

Supplementing with ALC improves mitochondria function, which improves energy level, brain function, and memory and is an important ingredient in fetal brain development. ALC is a natural overall performance enhancer. While plain L-carnitine will help with energy production, the brain development and performance benefits are mostly to be had only from ALC. This is true because ALC crosses the blood-brain barrier much more easily than L-carnitine does.

The higher energy production and mental clarity from ALC naturally causes other processes to run more effectively and smoothly throughout the body. Simultaneously, ALC protects us from certain disorders and ailments. Many people who supplement with ALC have said that it makes them feel more mentally focused and alert. Taking it regularly can lead to improved memory, help to restore basic mental function in a senile brain, slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, and help with ADHD in children with fragile X syndrome, an X chromosome–linked inherited disorder. ALC also reduces fatigue and increases male sexual function and sperm motility. All of these benefits come with no observed side effects.

The most important reasons to take ALC during pregnancy are its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and the central role it plays in the production of acetylcholine in the brain, which is crucial for fetal brain development.

Phosphatidylserine

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is found in cell walls throughout the body, and it helps nutrients to enter the cells and waste products to leave them. Supplementing with PS can support memory and cognition, reduce exercise-related stress, prevent physiological deterioration in athletes, and enhance mood during mental stress. There isn't any research on taking PS during pregnancy, but because foods are typically low in PS, we did supplement with it during pregnancy by using organic soy lecithin, which contains 10 to 20 milligrams of PS per hundred grams. PS supplements are usually expensive, so using non-GMO soy lecithin is a cheap way to get plenty of extra PS. Sunflower lecithin is an even better way to get PS because of concerns about estrogenic soy compounds escaping into soy lecithin. We used soy lecithin for both our children but would have used sunflower lecithin if it was available then.

Brain Nutrients to Avoid during Pregnancy

We suggest supplementing with the brain nutrients we just mentioned separately or finding a formula that does
not
contain any of the following: ginkgo biloba, vinpocetine, huperzine A, and dimethylethanolamine (DMAE).

Ginkgo biloba is an herb that increases blood flow to the brain. There's evidence that it may help with intermittent claudication (leg weakness and cramping caused by poor circulation), dementia, cerebrovascular insufficiency (inadequate blood flow in the brain), macular degeneration, and tinnitus. It also helps to mitigate altitude sickness, vertigo, premenstrual syndrome, and age-related memory loss.

The main concern with using ginkgo during pregnancy is its antiplatelet activity. Theoretically, this could prolong bleeding during delivery. Considering this, we didn't think ginkgo was a necessary addition to our plan. If you choose to use ginkgo during pregnancy, we recommend discontinuing use in the last trimester. Also, if you take ginkgo, make sure you get it from a good manufacturing practices facility—toxins have been found in poorly produced ginkgo supplements.

Like ginkgo, vinpocetine enhances blood flow to the brain, and it also protects neurons. It's a synthetically altered form of vincamine, an extract from the periwinkle plant. Vinpocetine is used primarily as a vasodilator (to widen the blood vessels) and a memory enhancer.

Huperzine A is a naturally occurring compound found in the firmoss plant. It enhances memory and has been used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease. Since vinpocetine and huperzine A aren't brain-building blocks and their use during pregnancy hasn't been well studied, we chose to avoid them during pregnancy.

DMAE increases the brain's choline level. It's been shown to increase vigilance, alertness, and attention span and promote a positive mood. Research suggests that it may help children with ADHD. DMAE is contraindicated during pregnancy because it's been found to cause growth retardation in developing mouse embryos, including neural tube defects. There are other, safer ways of increasing brain choline concentration during pregnancy, like taking alpha GPC or simply eating choline in raw egg yolks and lecithin.

Antioxidants

An antioxidant inhibits oxidation, the reaction promoted by free radicals that we discussed in chapter 4. When you supply your body with enough of the right antioxidants, you will be able to protect your cells—and your baby—from free radicals that can harm cells. Many antioxidants are also potent detoxifyers.

Coenzyme Q10

Coenzyme Q10 (coQ10) is an antioxidant that helps the body to neutralize free radicals. It's also a key part of mitochondrial respiration and helps the body to produce ATP, the primary fuel of cells. CoQ10 is able to reactivate used vitamins C and E throughout the body.

As an antioxidant, coQ10 increases fertility, especially in men. Taking it helps with pregnancy, because the placenta contains a lot of it. CoQ10 in the placenta protects the baby from oxidation and helps to prevent preeclampsia. This is a big factor in preventing birth defects, because preeclampsia can lead to malnutrition and the subsequent slow growth of the fetus. A low coQ10 level is correlated with spontaneous abortion. It's important to take coQ10 during lactation, too. Breast milk functions as an antioxidant, and coQ10 is largely responsible for that. When a mother supplements with coQ10, her breast milk will contain plenty to protect her baby.

CoQ10 supplements usually come oxidized, which means that the body needs to activate them before they can do their job. If a coQ10 supplement is bright orange in color, it's already oxidized. If you're under age thirty, normal oxidized coQ10 works just fine and is affordable. After age thirty, the body has a hard time activating CoQ10. If you're over thirty, we recommend using a reduced (preactivated) coQ10 supplement called ubiquinol. This is usually more expensive.