I live in the great Northwest, and as beautiful as it is, it also comes with fairly long, chilly winters meaning less frequent sun exposure to my skin.  Considering the majority of my pregnancy has taken place through these winter months, I have made a conscious effort to get enough Vitamin D.  Also known as the "Sunshine Vitamin,” your body converts sunlight into vitamin D after it hits unprotected skin. 

Why is this important?  Because vitamin D supports normal fetal growth during pregnancy, including bone, neurologic, and immune system development.  Other new, interesting information found in a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics suggests if a woman has low vitamin D levels during pregnancy, her baby may have an increased risk of getting eczema through the first year of life (1). 

Also, low maternal vitamin D levels (<40 ng/mL) during pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk of preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, infection, preterm birth and a baby born...

Listen up all you pregnant and breastfeeding moms who suffer from allergies, eczema, hay fever, or allergy-related asthma…a recent study shows if mom takes specific probiotics while pregnant and breastfeeding, baby’s risk of developing eczema during the first 24 months of life is significantly reduced.  That's great news!  There are literally hundreds of strains of probiotics and each have various functions.  The two strains shown effective in this particular study are Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium longum (1).  The good news is, this is not the first study to show a relationship between mom taking probiotics during pregnancy and baby’s reduced risk of allergy (2, 3).

Here’s how probiotics works:  Your gut is home to billions of bacteria, good and bad.  Probiotics colonize the intestines with good bacteria and ultimately keep the bad bacteria from multiplying.  When harmful bacteria take over, it is associated with a weakened immune response, possibly leading to the develop...

Healthy Fats galore!  35 weeks into this pregnancy and the weight piling on, fat is probably the last word I want to hear right now!  But, what is nice to hear is this…pregnancy is not a time to skimp on eating healthy fats.  I’m sure you’ve heard some fats are better than others, so which fats do you need during pregnancy?  Omega-3’s!  Omega-3’s are considered essential fatty acids because you have to acquire them from food or supplements.  Your body won’t make them or anything fancy like that.  One omega-3 you may have heard of is DHA (known in the science world as docosahexaenoic acid).  DHA is especially important during pregnancy because it is absolutely vital for that unborn baby’s brain and eye development, nervous system, and immune system (1, 2, 3).  Along with benefits to baby, a pregnant mom consuming omega-3’s reduces her risk of pre-term labor, pre-eclampsia, and possibly post-partum depression (2, 3). 

Food Sources:  Fish is the most likely source of omega-3's; however, is...

What's up with my strong cravings for all things dairy right now??  Well, I did some investigating and check this out:

Did you know, the amount of calcium your intestines absorb during pregnancy doubles?!   

Another fun fact…about 80% of the calcium present in the baby’s skeleton at the end of pregnancy crossed the placenta during the third trimester  and is mostly derived from the calcium in mom’s diet during pregnancy.  The calcium mom eats seems to be the main way our bodies adapt to meet those high calcium demands during pregnancy (1).  Amazing!  Maybe that explains the cravings and my baby needs the calcium with only 6 weeks left to grow.

How much do I need?  When pregnant, you need 1,000 mg calcium per day  and pregnant teenagers need 1,300 mg calcium per day  (4).  A prenatal supplement isn’t going to provide a lot of calcium, and if needed, additional calcium can be supplemented alongside the prenatal supplement, especially in the third trimester of pregnancy.  Calcium can be obta...

I’m pregnant with baby #2, due in March!  For the past 8 months, I’ve been devoted to giving this baby the best start to life.

Let’s talk Prenatal Supplements:  It all starts with a quality prenatal supplement.  Even with the most solid diet, there are a handful of nutrients especially important during pregnancy.  All pregnant women need more iron and folic acid.  There are so many prenatal vitamins on the market, how do you go about choosing a quality prenatal supplement?  Choose a prenatal vitamin that includes only the most active or absorbable forms of nutrients.  For example, folic acid as 5-Methyltetrahydrofolate or folinic acid, vitamin B6 as Pyridoxal 5’-Phosphate, and vitamin B12 as Methylcobalamin. 

Folic Acid Side Note:  Did you know all women of child-bearing age are strongly encouraged to take 400 mcg of folic acid every day, even if not planning or trying to conceive?  This is because folic acid is critical for preventing neural tube defects and folic acid works only if tak...

Hi friends, I’m Kelly Harrington!  Welcome to the Healthy Goods blog.  I hope you find lots of useful and interesting nutrition and supplement information here.  My aim is to provide you with no-nonsense nutrition information that’s easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, and easy to put into practice.

On the Healthy Goods blog you'll read cool information about:

• utilizing food and specific nutrients to support health concerns
• how to get the most out of your supplements
• hot nutrition topics

Over the next few months, you may notice a trend in the blog topics as my life is about to become very crazy with baby boy #2 due in March, alongside my 17 month old son!  Yikes!  With that said, the past two years of my life have been consumed by pregnancy, breastfeeding, caring for an infant, and now back to more life as a pregnant person and mom.  When I found out I was pregnant with my first born, it’s as if something in my brain clicked and suddenly I became more conscious about things I never treated as ...