To set a strong nutrition foundation to fuel your body, start by prioritizing whole, minimally-processed foods and opt for variety. Balance each meal with:

• Quality Protein: chicken, eggs, beef, pork, turkey, and fish.
• Fats: coconut oil, olives, olive oil, grass-fed butter, nuts and seeds.
• Colorful Veggies
• Quality Starch: sweet potatoes, plantains, yucca, rice, and oats.

There are certainly specific foods that are great to add in preconception, particularly those rich in beneficial nutrients often lacking in our diets. These include:

• Omega-3 Fats: wild and fatty fish, chia and flax seeds, and walnuts.
• Iodine: sea vegetables and grass-fed dairy.
• Glycine: bone broth, organ meats, collagen, and meats with skin and/or bone.
• Cruciferous Veggies: kale, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, and cauliflower.

There may be foods that don’t serve your body well, so avoiding or lessening these is helpful for lessening stress and inflammation. These include:

• Highly Processed Foods, especially refined sugars and grains.
• Vegetable and Seed Oils
• Gluten
• Dairy

For many women, caffeine and alcohol can also pose problems. Consider experimenting with elimination to find what helps you feel your best.

To read more posts about all-things fertility and nutrition, check out our dedicated section to the topic on our blog, Period Matters. Our seed syncing can help you balance your hormones naturally, shop our organic moon seeds or moon bites today.

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This is an excerpt from a post written by Kim Perez, MA, FNTP, a Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and owner of Root and Branch Nutrition. She specializes in helping expectant and new moms thrive postpartum and through motherhood while feeling amazing in their bodies after having babies. Kim is passionate about all things women's health and wellness, particularly filling the major gaps in postpartum care and support as well as helping moms overcome challenges like fatigue, chronic stress, hormonal imbalances, painful periods, digestive symptoms, body image struggles, and more. Check her out on Instagram. Abridged content curated and edited by Nayla Al-Mamlouk.