ArcaMax

You know the phrase, "You are what you eat." Well, for a pregnant woman, her newborn becomes what she eats! A study of pregnant baboons shows that when a mom-to-be eats a high-fat, calorie-loaded diet, her offspring ends up with faulty heart development. The child is also likely to be born insulin-resistant, upping the risk for Type 2 diabetes.

That's why it is so important to adopt a healthy diet, take prenatal multivitamins with DHA (an omega-3) and achieve a healthy weight leading up to and throughout your pregnancy. But in 2022, almost 60% of women who gave birth were overweight or obese. So let us help.

-- If you want to become pregnant and are overweight or obese, ask your doctor for a referral to a nutritionist and get an Rx for physical activity.

-- Then, enlist your posse for support. Get a workout buddy. Join local groups that engage in regular exercise. Check out "Dr. Oz's 9-Step Daily Wellness Routine" at iHerb.com/blog.

-- Find "you time" to meditate so that you can reduce stress that may derail you. Learn more from "Health Benefits of Meditation" at iHerb.com/blog.

-- Make upgrading your nutrition a friends-and-family project. Use Dr. Mike's "What to Eat When Cookbook" to help you ditch red and processed meats, sugar-added foods and beverages and highly processed foods and get seven to nine servings of fruit and veggies a day.

-- And don't forget that you and your partner need to take prenatal vitamins for at least six weeks -- and hopefully for six months -- before conception.

Dr. Mike Roizen is the founder of www.longevityplaybook.com, and Dr. Mehmet Oz is global advisor to www.iHerb.com, the world's leading online health store. Roizen and Oz are chief wellness officer emeritus at Cleveland Clinic and professor emeritus at Columbia University, respectively. Together they have written 11 New York Times bestsellers (four No. 1's).

(c)2024 Michael Roizen, M.D.

Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

(c) 2024 Michael Roizen, M.D. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.