3 Ways Intuitive Eating Works for Pregnancy
If you’re skeptical about intuitive eating during pregnancy, you’ve come to the right place. And I applaud you for wanting more information! This blog post is going to walk you through some benefits of eating intuitively during your pregnancy, a time where it’s really important to eat adequately, and a time where it may be difficult to do so with so many changes happening in your body.
Better body image and diet quality with intuitive eating
Practicing intuitive eating during pregnancy is associated with better body image and improved diet quality. One study showed that women who had a positive view of weight gain during pregnancy were more likely to practice healthier eating behaviors during late pregnancy. The study found a positive correlation between positive views on weight gain during pregnancy and intuitive eating.
A part of intuitive eating is called body-food choice congruence and this means exploring how your body physically feels after eating a certain food or meal. This part of the 10th principle of intuitive eating, honor your health with gentle nutrition.
Exploring this principle and being in tune with your body may shift what you decide to eat. Listening to your food cravings is extremely important in intuitive eating work, however, it’s also important to examine how our body feels in response to food. One study showed that body-food choice congruence is associated with improved diet quality during the second and third trimesters.
If you read the study linked above, you might notice that unconditional permission to eat is associated with lowered diet quality in the first trimester. However, it’s important to note that this could be greatly impacted by nausea and food aversions. We need to practice some grace here - you are not to blame if you can only tolerate certain foods the first trimester! Furthermore, full permission around all foods is an important step in order to have the mental freedom to make food choices that align with what your body needs.
Intuitive eating is a flexible and dynamic process, and has physical & mental health benefits for all stages of life, including pregnancy.
2. Intuitive eating is associated with better blood glucose outcomes for people with gestational diabetes
If you happen to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes during pregnancy, first off, you’ve done nothing wrong. And secondly, eating intuitively is associated with lower fasting glucose and HbA1c levels during pregnancy and 1-year postpartum for people with gestational diabetes.
This diagnosis often comes with a lot of weight stigma and fatphobia attached, unfortunately. However, we know that by shifting the focus from a number on the scale to actual behaviors that are in our control, we see a healthier relationship with food and better blood glucose outcomes.
Eating consistent meals throughout the day that are balanced with carbs, fat, protein, and fiber, finding joyful movement, and having a toolbox of coping strategies for stress for all parts of intuitive eating that help manage gestational diabetes.
If you’re interested in more information about gestational diabetes, check out this blog post where I share some resources I’ve created that may be helpful for you.
3. Intuitive eating can help you model a healthy relationship with food for your child.
By working on intuitive eating during pregnancy, you’ll be able to hone in on those skills and hopefully carry those over to when your child is able to eat solids. Children are so observant of their caregivers and take in more than you may realize!
When you’re able to eat intuitively, you’ll be able to model to your child that all food is nourishing and that our body often tells us what it needs if we just listen. Passing on these skills to your children will provide them with the tools to challenge diet culture throughout adolescents and adulthood.
You might be thinking, “Ok great, but how do I eat intuitively for pregnancy?"
My new program Fully Nourished Pregnancy walks through how to apply intuitive eating in your pregnancy, plus tons of evidence-based nutrition info on topics ranging from prenatal vitamins, to food safety, to what foods to add in, all with a community component as well including an exclusive Facebook group and live Zoom sessions with yours truly!
I am so pumped to have you join. Click here for more info!