They're Lying About 'Healthy' Foods & Sugar! Shocking New Research That's Harming You

With your diet during pregnancy, you're. programming your baby's DNA. This is. going to have an impact on your baby's. development and on their future risk of. disease. And there's a lot of pregnant. moms who are eating a diet that's not. giving them the nutrients their baby. needs. This is not the mom's fault. This. is the fault of our food system. This is. the fault of society. And nobody's. telling moms about this. And I wanted to. create this guide to help parents. navigate that food system and see easy. things they can do to help their baby's. development. And I know this because as. a biochemist, when I became pregnant, I. just went deep deep deep into the.

research. And there are some main things. that I learned. For example, 90% of moms. are not getting enough choline during. pregnancy. And choline is super. important. It forms your baby's brain in. the womb. So, this is the amount of eggs. that I ate per week during the 9 months. of pregnancy because this is the. simplest way to give enough choline to. our baby. And then, your baby needs no. fructose during pregnancy. So, sugar. from dessert, from chocolate, from. muffins, from cupcakes, your baby needs. none of this. Because if you have very. high glucose levels during [music]. pregnancy, scientists have found that.

your baby's DNA will have epigenetic. switches that are programming them. towards having a higher vulnerability to. develop diabetes, obesity, and. psychiatric disorders. Next, this is. basically the amount of protein that I. needed to eat every single day in the. third trimester of pregnancy. Yeah. Because the studies show low. protein diets lead [music] to smaller. babies. And potentially, this epigenetic. programming of staying smaller. throughout life. And it's findings like. that that led me to create a plan and. simple hacks for pregnant moms. And we.

can talk about them. And then, what does. the research say about breastfeeding, exercise, caffeine? And also, do you. recommend that mothers take certain. supplements? [music] So, this is what. people need to know. >> [music]. >> Jessie Inchauspé, the glucose goddess. For people that don't know who you are, what have you spent the best part of the. last decade committing your life to? And why? My work started in the glucose space,

meaning the blood sugar space. I was. showing people how blood sugar impacts. all of us on a daily basis. The spikes. and dips after we eat, they lead to. inflammation, faster aging, cravings, fatigue. And it's been the. basis of my work because glucose matters. for everybody and it is the core of a. healthy body and mind. And so, that's. where I started because it's so. important. We last spoke almost 2 years. ago now. What have you learned in those last 2. years that has evolved your own thinking.

or has developed your own thinking in. any way? If we reflect on the last. conversations we had around glucose. spikes and sugar and. the health consequences and diets, is. there anything you've learned in those 2. years that is. interesting and new? Oh, absolutely. I think mostly the impact of glucose on. mood and on relationships. For example, there's this fascinating study that took. married couples and they gave the. husband and the wives a little voodoo. doll representing their spouse. And the. researchers told uh the participants to.

put a little pin in the voodoo doll. every time their spouse annoyed them. At. the end of the 2 weeks, the researchers. counted the number of pins in the voodoo. dolls and they also measured the. participants' glucose levels. They found. that the people who had the most glucose. lows had put the most pins in the voodoo. doll representing their spouse. Wow. So, it's just an association, but it's. interesting. And scientists then found. that when you have very unsteady glucose. levels, it impacts this neurotransmitter. in your brain called tyrosine that.

manages your mood. So, it seems that. with unsteady glucose levels, your mood. is less stable, which could then. correlate to you being more annoyed. at your spouse. So, I think studies like. this have really blown my mind. What's. going on when we go through a glucose. crash, per se? So, glucose is your. body's energy. So, your brain is. constantly monitoring how much glucose. do we have in our bloodstream. And. steady glucose is great. When your. glucose levels crash, this indicates.

biologically that you're out of fuel. And this is a powerful signal to your. body and your brain to say, "Alert. Alert. We need food. We need more. glucose." And so, it creates all these. downstream consequences on your mood. You become hangry. All you think about. is food. You're in a bad mood. You're. like, "I need to eat something." You. look for a banana. You look for a. cookie. It can also activate the craving. center in your brain that says, "Steven, go find some chocolate." And science has. shown this. Low glucose levels create a. cascade of consequences on how we feel. and what we seek. Now, what's. interesting is that back in the day when.

we had low glucose levels, I'm talking. like hunter-gatherer times, they. wouldn't arrive so quickly because we. didn't have these big spikes that then. led to these big drastic drops. It was. more we ate in a more balanced way with. less sugar, obviously. So, when our. glucose became low, it was a bit more. gradual. Today, because we have access. to all this sugar, we can spike our. glucose very quickly and as a result, it. then crashes very quickly. So, the. effects are pretty much immediate and. they're very intense. All of a sudden, you go from feeling okay to your brain.

being in alert mode, we need to find. more fuel. So, we've dysregulated our. glucose levels to the point where it's. impacting us in a very unnatural way. Is. that in part because we modify our food. even fruit? When I looked back through. the history of fruit, apples, bananas, etc. looked extremely different before. they were modified to be juicier and. sweeter, etc. >> Completely. It's like dogs. So, all the. the dog breeds today from Chihuahuas to. golden retrievers, they all come from. wolves. Humans have been breeding wolves.

together to create these different. species of dogs. They all have that. ancestor of the gray wolf. So, humans. are very good at breeding natural things. to serve their purposes. And when it. comes to fruit, it's the same thing. So, as you say, if you compare like an. ancestral banana or an ancestral apple. to a modern one, they look completely. different. And you should pull up these. photos, they're fascinating. Ancestral. banana, tiny, full of fiber, full of. seeds, not very sweet. And then, modern. banana, full of sugar, low in fiber, really easy to eat. So, that's the first. thing people need to know about fruit. Fruit is not natural. Fruit is the.

product of human engineering. However, a. piece of whole fruit also contains fiber. and water. So, even though it's been. bred to have a lot of sugar, the fiber. and the water reduce how quickly the. sugar arrives in our bloodstream, making. it more or less okay for us. But the problem comes when we denature. that piece of fruit. Meaning, if we. remove the fiber. For example, if we. take an orange and make an orange juice, what are we actually talking about here? Actually, oranges are not even a natural. fruit. They were invented thousands of.

years ago by breeding by crossing other. species of fruit. To make an orange. juice, you throw away part of the. orange. You throw away the solid part, which is the fiber. So, you're left with. the sugar of a very sugary fruit, water, and no fiber. As a result, you're. getting a very unnatural amount of sugar. in your bloodstream with no fiber to. protect the spike. So, a big big glucose. spike. And people often say, "Oh, well, you. know, fruit has vitamins in it. So, therefore, orange juice must be better. for you than Coca-Cola.".

That's actually a total myth. If you. compare a glass of orange juice to a. glass of Coca-Cola, it's the same amount. of sugar, about 25 g. And the sugar in. the can of Coke and the sugar in the. glass of orange juice, they're exactly the same. They're. glucose and fructose molecules and your. body absorbs them in the exact same way. Your body does not make a difference. between sugar from an orange and sugar. from a sugar beet that's now in a can of. Coca-Cola. I I hope that orange juice. disappears from school lunches, from.

hospital meals. The World Health. Organization recommends 25 g of sugar. per day or less. So, with just one glass. of orange juice in the morning that you. squeeze at home that you think is good. for you, you're already at the maximum. limit of sugar recommendation. And most. people drink this glass of orange juice. thinking it's good for them. Most people. with diabetes drink this glass of orange. juice thinking it's helping them with. their condition. And that's really where. I want to act. I want to help people. understand what they actually need to do. to feel better so they don't fall victim. to marketing. We talked there about. glucose crashes and what that causes in.

terms of behavior. I was wondering if. also causes other compulsive behaviors. Does it make me more likely to want to. doom scroll on the internet if I have. been eating lots of sugar? Well, that's. a great question. Why does sugar feel. good? Because it releases dopamine in. our brain. Dopamine is the pleasure. molecule. It makes us feel good. So, if. I were to drink this glass of orange. juice, which you would have to pay me a. lot of money for me to drink this, but. my brain would let out so many dopamine.

molecules and I would feel this wave of. pleasure. Now, the problem is people. confuse that with energy. It's not. energy, it's dopamine. And dopamine is. the same exact molecule that gets. released when you're scrolling on. Instagram. You look for the next post. You look for the next video. Every time. you get something new and interesting, bam, a dopamine signal as well in your. brain. So, if you're constantly. triggering dopamine in your brain, you're going to constantly crash. You're. going to have dopamine spikes, dopamine. crashes, and become more and more. addicted to it. So, I don't know about.

studies showing glucose spikes and for. example, doom scrolling. But if you look. at just the biology of it, they're. triggering the same center in your. brain. So, for sure I can imagine that. if you are. on a dopamine binging or dopamine. addiction cycle, both an orange juice. and a glucose spike and doom scrolling. can go hand in hand. I was just looking at some research here. and it says yes, you're significantly. more likely to doom scroll during a. glucose crash. And it explains that. that's because of something called the. energy crisis in the prefrontal cortex, where your prefrontal cortex, part of.

the brain responsible for willpower and. decision-making and saying no to things. like doom scrolling, in the case where. glucose drops, this area is first to dim. the lights to save energy for vital. functions. The result is you lose your. executive function, making it nearly. impossible to resist the hit of dopamine. that social media provides. But it also. says the second reason is this dopamine. trap. And the third is generally your. emotional regulation goes out of the. window. I think this in part because I. notice in myself that when I am on a. higher glucose diet, I'm more likely to. get involved in like compulsive.

behaviors that I otherwise don't like. Yeah. Like doom scrolling on the internet. >> You have less willpower, less control. >> less willpower. >> addicted. Yeah. Like I have less control. over my life. And the first. thing that people notice is that when. they are on a glucose roller coaster, they feel addicted to sugar. Like it's. no longer a choice to go after that. cookie. It feels like a compulsive. behavior. Like I need sugar right now. because that glucose crash is triggering. a biological mechanism that is nearly. impossible to override. So when you tell. somebody, "Just eat less sugar." That's. That's BS. You can't just eat less.

sugar. You have to go fix the underlying. cause, which is usually the glucose. crash. You can't override that feeling. of craving that comes from deep inside. your brain when you have a glucose. crash. You need to fix the spike, reduce. the spike, and then naturally the spike. also reduces and you feel fewer. cravings. There's this theory called the. protein leverage hypothesis, and this. this theory says that your body will. keep you hungry and keep you seeking. food until you've given it enough. protein. So if in the morning you have I. don't know some oats and toast and jam,

very little protein, your body's [snorts] going to be like, "Okay, we didn't get any protein. We. need to get more protein." So you stay. more and more hungry. At 10:00 a.m. you're hungry again. If you have a. cookie, again no protein, your body will. keep you hungry. If all of a sudden you. have 40 g of protein, then that craving. dissipates and that feeling of seeking. out food sort of calms down because your. body got what he actually needed, which. was protein. People send you lots of messages. You. have a enormous online following. If I was to peer into those DMs you get,

what would be the essence of what people. are saying to you? They're asking me. about specific foods. They're saying, "Are lentils okay? Can I. eat three eggs a day? What kind of. vinegar should I use?" And often it's. people trying to navigate the marketing. messages they're seeing on the packaging. of things. They'll be like, "This can of. tea that says 0 g of sugar is it good. for me?". They're trying to decode. what these food products actually. contain and whether they're actually. good for them. And is there any real. standout marketing messages that are.

deceptive? >> Yeah. >> [sighs]. >> No added sugars. That is. so deceptive because this glass of. orange juice has no added sugars in it. Because the sugar was there at the. beginning. It came from the orange, from. the original ingredient. So on account. of orange juice you can say no added. sugar even though it contains 25 g of. sugar, which is the maximum limit that. WHO recommends for your daily sugar. intake. So that's a really, really bad. one. Another one would be something that.

says gluten-free or vegan. It's not. because it's gluten-free or vegan that. it's good for you, but we're being. tricked. You know, food manufacturers do. everything they can to make you buy. their products. I think I'm in this season of life where. I'm thinking a lot about fertility, both. my fertility, my fiance's fertility, and. how my diet, the things I eat, has an. impact on that. What What What What is it we need to. know about you know, if we're trying to. conceive, if we want to have we want to. have a family, um is it really the case. that I need to start thinking about my. own fertility in the lead-up to putting.

that sperm into that egg? Yes. Both the. males and the females need to be. thinking about fertility. And nutrition. plays a big role and health plays a big. role in the quality of your sperm, for. example. So a good idea would be to. reduce before you want to have a kid, if. you're the man, you know, reduce. alcohol, exercise more, eat better so. that your sperm are high quality. So the. sperm turnover is about 3 months. So if. you do like a 3-month sort of intense. my sperm are getting in shape kind of.

situation, it's a good idea. For women. it's different. So our eggs are present. from before we're born, but the quality. of our diets, of our nutrient reserves. is going to impact our ability to have. kids also and is going to impact what. our baby gets in the first trimester of. pregnancy. You've just given birth. 8 months ago, yeah. Feels like just last. week, but yeah, 8 months ago. And. I guess that's somewhat linked to why. you've written this new book, which is. titled Nine Months That Count Forever, How Your Pregnancy Diet Shapes Your. Baby's Future. You could have written. about anything,

Jessie, and people would have bought the. book. um because people are so fascinated by. you and the work that you do. Why of all. the subjects you could have written. about, was this the subject that meant. the most to you to commit. a long period of your life to? Because it is a subject where there's. such a big gap, Steven, between what. science knows and what parents are told. It felt like there was a just canyon. between information in the studies. that's been there for decades and what I. as a pregnant woman went through and.

what advice I was given, what's. available out there to pregnant moms. So. even though I was pregnant and I was. tired, I felt I need to write this book. because people need to know the power. that they have. So today science knows that you're not. just an oven when you're pregnant. Have. you heard this thing of being a bun in. the oven? It's an American expression. Uh I think I've heard it once or twice, yeah. Okay, so often if you're pregnant, people will say, "Oh, you have a bun in. the oven." That's so cute. It's like an. expression. And I feel like this is. where all of our problems started.

because it implies so many misleading. things. It implies that when you're. pregnant, you are an oven, meaning. you're just there to provide heat and. time. And people often say, "Just relax, you know, let nature do its thing." So. it implies that you're passive, that you. have no agency, no power, you're just a. vessel of heat and time. That's the. first problem. The second problem is. that it implies that just like a. chocolate cake that you put in the oven, it implies that your baby, the moment.

the sperm meets the egg, your baby is. set in stone. Like if you're making a. cake, when you make the brownie and you put it. in the oven, the oven is not going to. change the brownie into a banana bread. The oven is just cooking the brownie. Well, actually it's very different with. pregnancy. Your baby is not set in stone. at conception. What happens during the 9. months of pregnancy is co-creating your. baby's plan. And depending on what you. eat, a different baby will come out. So we've been lying to pregnant moms,

telling them they have no agency, they. have no power, they should just relax. and let nature do its thing. So that's. why I wrote this book because the. science is fascinating. So where Where are all pregnant women. being let down in this regard? Is it. that there's just not enough information. out there? Is there's there's not been. enough research out there? Is it bad. advice currently on the internet? This. is the fault of our food system. This is. the fault of society. This is the fault. of the food industry that we were just. talking about, the marketing messages. For everybody today in developed. countries, we are being fed processed,

unhealthy foods that are hurting us. Whether we get diabetes or heart. disease, there's a link to food. And. today even pregnant moms are being let. down by the food system and are eating a. diet without knowing it that's not. giving them the nutrients their baby. needs. So the moment I became pregnant. the first time, I started researching. I. went to Google Scholar and I just opened. about a thousand tabs on my computer, which is usually what I do when I'm. researching a new topic, and I looked at. the big review studies, the. meta-analyses of how nutrition during.

pregnancy impacts our baby's. development. I read probably 2,000. scientific papers. And I just went deep, deep, deep into. the research. And out of it, I saw these. four big themes coming out of these four. nutrients that most moms are not getting. enough of in their diet or too much of. in their diet. And I wanted to create this guide to. help parents navigate that food system. and see easy things they can do. in the mom's diet to help their baby's. development. So. while your baby's DNA is set the moment.

the sperm meets the egg, with your diet. during pregnancy, you're programming. that DNA. Have you heard of epigenetics? >> Yes. Okay. So epigenetics are like these. little dimmer switches that sit on your. DNA and that say activate this gene or. silence this gene. And so during. pregnancy, you're putting these little. switches on your baby's DNA. And this is. going to have an impact on your baby's. development and on his future risk of. disease. I'll give you a very simple example.

If you have very high glucose levels. during pregnancy, scientists have found. that your baby's DNA will have. epigenetic switches that are programming. him towards having a higher. vulnerability to develop diabetes. himself in his lifetime. So if you have high glucose levels, your. baby will be programmed to be more. likely to then have high glucose levels. himself throughout his life as a kid, a. teenager, and an adult. That's. epigenetic programming. And depending on. your diet as the mom, you can program.

your kids differently. But nobody tells. moms about this, and that's what I'm. trying to change. What do I need to know as someone that. knows very little about pregnancy to. really understand the like basics of. what's going on? Mhm. What time frame. matters? What happens when? So. females have a uterus, which is an. organ, and the uterus is where the baby. develops. And the uterus grows as. pregnancy progresses. And then when you. give birth, the baby comes out of the. uterus and the uterus stays in the mom. So that's important. When conception happens, so you have the.

sperm meets the egg, that little packet of cells will implant. in one of the walls of the uterus and. start growing. And pregnancy is divided. into three trimesters. It's about 9. months. So months 1 to 3 is the first. trimester, 4 5 6 is the second. trimester, 7 8 9 is the third trimester. And what we're going to talk about today. is about nutrition and how your baby's. getting the building blocks that he. needs to develop in your womb as the. female. Because your baby needs to grow from a.

single cell to 40 trillion cells by the. time he's born, right? He grows from. like nothing to 3 or 4 kilos. And that. has to come from somewhere. It doesn't. just come out of thin air. All those. building blocks, all that matter is. coming from you, from what you're. eating. What you eat becomes your baby. So your. baby is what you eat. Mhm. In the first. trimester, your baby's getting food from. the sort of milk that your uterus. creates. So, it's uterine secretions. And then, from the second trimester. onwards, something incredible happens.

When's the second trimester? That's. >> It starts at 4 months. Okay. And so, for. the second and third trimesters, there's another organ that you create. inside your uterus. It's called the. placenta. And the placenta's job is to. bring your baby's bloodstream and your. bloodstream as the mom in really close. contact. And all of a sudden, symbiosis. is established. And your bloodstream and. your baby's bloodstream are then going. to exchange nutrients and waste. So, your baby is going to get all his.

nutrition directly from your. bloodstream. And Stephen, here's a main. myth that people believe. They believe. that your baby will just get what he. needs from you during pregnancy. That's. something moms are told. Don't worry, your baby will get what he needs from. you. This is a lie. Depending on what you. eat, your baby will have different. access to important nutrients. So, your. baby doesn't get what he needs, he gets. what's there and what you give him. So, let's take a simple example. One of the nutrients that is really. important is called choline. Have you. heard about [clears throat] choline.

before? Is that in eggs? >> Yes, exactly. It's in the egg yolk. So, choline is super important. It forms. your baby's brain in the womb. So, your. baby your baby's brain has these cells. that are forming called neurons, which. are the ones that process information. And choline is important to creating. those neurons. And choline creates the. parts of your baby's brain that have to. do with memory, learning, and attention. Mhm. So, that egg that you're holding. contains about 125 mg of choline. And. it's an incredible, incredible.

substance. The thing is, if you don't eat enough. choline, your baby's brain is not going. to get enough choline. And this can have. an impact on the development of your. child. So much so that the American. Association of Pediatrics says failure. to provide choline during this time can. result in lifelong brain deficits in the. baby. To date, 90% of moms are not getting. enough choline during pregnancy. 90% of. moms are not getting enough choline. during pregnancy. Why? Because nobody is.

telling them about it. And because today. we don't eat very nutritious nutritious. foods anymore that contain a lot of. choline. They're present in eggs. So, four eggs a day gives you all the. choline that you need. But choline is. also present in organ meats, like liver. Nobody eats liver anymore. Most [snorts]. of the foods that we eat today, cupcakes, dried fruits, burgers, chips, they don't contain a lot of choline. We. need to be eating eggs. This is the. simplest way to give enough choline to. our baby. And scientists do these animal.

studies where they deprive moms from. choline and they look at the impact on. the brain. And they see that brain. development in the baby stops earlier. than it should. And those babies are. born with fewer neurons. The amount of choline in your diet. during pregnancy is going to be. impacting your child's brain. development. And nobody's telling moms. about this. It's really messed up. So, how many eggs a day do I need to eat. while I'm pregnant to get enough. choline? Four is the golden number. So, here I think we have 28 eggs. So, every.

day during pregnancy, I ate four eggs. So, this is the amount of eggs that I. ate per week during the 9 months of. pregnancy. That's a lot of eggs. But as I was doing this, I knew I was. giving my baby all the choline that he. needed, which is about 450 mg per day. And this is not very expensive. 28 eggs. is about $7. So, for $1 a day, you're. getting all the choline that your baby. needs to form his brain. Mothers are often told to avoid liver.

Yeah. >> while they're pregnant. >> Yeah. Why why is that? You're saying. that that's not the correct advice. >> So, liver contains a lot of vitamin A, quite high levels of vitamin A. And. there are some older studies that show. that liver in high vitamin A can cause. issues to the baby. That's why liver is. not usually recommended during. pregnancy. I would [snorts] say check. with your doctor. Different countries. have different thresholds of how much. liver is allowed. And honestly, I don't. like liver. So, I. I prefer to have eggs. But liver is. super, super high in choline. It's quite.

impressive. You can also take choline. supplements. But eggs are the cheapest, easiest source. And for example, in the. supplement world, so scientists have. done this study at Cornell. They gave. one group of moms the bare minimum. amount of choline that is recommended, so 450 mg in supplements. And then they. wondered, well, if a baby's brain needs. choline, what happens if he has a lot of. choline available? Does his brain form. even better? So, they gave the other. group of mom double the bare minimum.

recommended amount. And then they. brought the kids in during their first. year of age for some tests. And the main. test that was used is you basically plop. the baby on his mom's lap in front of a. computer screen and you flash images on. that screen and you measure how quickly. the baby reacts to the new images. So, how quickly he moves his eyes. And the. reason they do this is because this test. is correlated to adult IQ. Meaning, the faster a baby reacts to. images in the first year of age, the. higher his adult IQ. That's the.

association. And so, they were wondering, could we. see a difference in the baby's reaction. time depending on the mom's choline. level in the womb? And they found that the babies who were. born to the high choline moms had 10%. faster reaction time to this test. People talk a lot about breastfeeding as. well, whether it's good, bad, indifferent, um whether you can. breastfeed too much, etc. And obviously. there's. there's lots of practicalities that make. breastfeeding quite difficult for a lot. of mothers, which we probably should. acknowledge, but. otherwise, what is what does the.

research say about breastfeeding? So, the difference main difference. between breast milk and formula is that. breast milk is alive. It's alive with. information. It's alive with little. molecules that are going to continue. that DNA programming. Formula is inert. It is not alive. It's not doing that. programming. So, yes, breastfeeding has advantages. for the mom and for the baby. But formula is nutritionally complete. And it's very useful for many moms who.

are not able or don't want to. breastfeed. And if you're using formula, you actually have to check because today. not all formulas have choline in them. So, check in the ingredients for. choline. Also check in the ingredients. for omega-3s, which is something that. we'll cover in a bit. Look for that. Choline, omega-3s in your. formula to make sure that your baby is. getting what he needs in those respects. I was reading about a study in the. Pediatric Research Journal that says a. 2013 Dutch study of 120 children found. that less breastfeeding was linked to a.

silencing of the gene for leptin, Mhm. the hormone that signals fullness. So, that's a good example of epigenetic. programming. So, we have this gene that. codes for leptin, which is a protein. And leptin is the. one of the molecules that makes you feel. full. So, you and I both have this. leptin gene, but depending on our. epigenetic programming on that gene, you. might be producing more of it and I. might be producing less of it. So, for. the same meal, you might feel more full. and I might feel less full after that. same exact meal. And so, in this study.

they saw that if you're not breastfed. very long, your leptin gene is. deactivated. So, you feel less full. after eating. Now, these are small. associations, but they show you that. there's a difference here and that. potentially breastfeeding could help. your baby be more satiated after eating. What about sugar Yeah. >> So, sugar is fascinating. When you eat sugar, your baby is also receiving that sugar. Because that placenta lets the sugar. through. And your baby doesn't need any sugar. during pregnancy. He needs a little bit.

of glucose, which is different. But. sugar, as in the very sweet molecule of. fructose that is in chocolate, that is. in these cupcakes, that is in dried. fruit, your baby needs none of it. And. the most interesting study on sugar in. pregnancy actually came from the UK. So, from 1940 to 1953, I don't know if. you know this, but in the UK, there was. a government-mandated. sugar ration. Meaning, for 13 years, the. government controlled how much sugar. people had access to. It was during the.

war and they were trying to manage. resources. So, everybody in the UK got. 10 sugar cubes per day. That's it. And this is down from what people. usually ate before the sugar ration, which was about 20 sugar cubes per day. So, everybody, including pregnant moms, for 13 years had a capped amount of. sugar. At the end of the sugar ration after 13. years, bam, everybody went back up to. eating more sugar. And so, scientists in the early 2000s. thought, well, that's really. interesting. This means we have two.

groups of pregnant moms during the sugar. ration and right after the sugar ration. who had babies develop in their womb. either with 40 g of sugar per day or. around 80 g of sugar per day. And the. scientists wondered, can this small. difference be making an impact on the. baby's long-term health? So, they called. up 60,000 people who were born either. just before the ration ended or just. after. And they asked them about their. health. They were like, do you have. diabetes? Do you have heart disease? How.

are you feeling? What's your weight? And. they saw that the babies who were born. and who were in the mother's womb during. the sugar ration had 15%. lower likelihood of having developed. type 2 diabetes. in their lifetime. So, what does this mean? It means that. the amount of sugar during pregnancy can. be slightly increasing or decreasing. your baby's vulnerability to getting. type 2 diabetes later in life. And. today, scientists look at the. epigenetics of babies who are born to. moms with very high glucose levels and.

they see that the genes that are related. to diabetes are activated. So, we have a. full picture now of data. We have. epigenetics, we have this long-term. interesting study. And we now see that the amount of sugar. that we eat during pregnancy is subtly. programming our baby. So, Stephen, I. don't know if you know this, but when I. was 25, I was on the cusp of. prediabetes. I almost had prediabetes. when I was 25. I had very high glucose. levels. So, I had a vulnerability to diabetes. And as I was reading the studies, I was.

like, "Oh my god, maybe this has. something to do with what my mother was. eating when she was pregnant with me. because pregnancy is this window of. outsized influence in somebody's. health." So, I called up my mom. I was like, "Mom, what did you eat when. you were pregnant?" She was like, "Oh, it was the '90s, you know, I ate a very. little protein, very low fat, and in the. morning, every morning, I had a big. glass of orange juice, and I had Special. K cereal with about a half a cup of. table sugar on top." I was like, "Huh, that's pretty interesting." So, I.

wonder, I will never know, I wonder if. maybe my vulnerability to diabetes had. some roots in the womb. And the science. suggests that it does have a. correlation. Absolutely. So, the science. suggests that the amount of sugar that. you're eating during pregnancy is having. an impact on your baby's epigenetics. And today, so as I was mentioning, the. WHO recommends 25 g of sugar per day. But most moms are eating 80 g of sugar. per day. 80 g, which is usually more than what.

they eat when they're not pregnant. because of this collective myth that you. should eat for two, that pregnancy, you're going to gain weight anyway, so. eat as much sugar as you want. Really, we're failing moms cuz we're not telling. them about the incredible opportunity. they have by just being a bit mindful of. how much sugar they eat, of being able. to help their baby be less vulnerable to. diabetes. It's not just diabetes, though, is it? >> No. I was just looking at some of the. studies. Um there's a study here in the. JAMA Network. It says a Danish study.

found that children born to mothers with. diabetes had a 15% higher risk of. psychiatric disorders. with schizophrenia risk being 55%. higher, intellectual disability 29%. higher, and um a connection to autism and ADHD. A 2025. review of 200 studies, which is 56 million mother-baby pairs, found a 25% higher risk of autism when. um. mothers had diabetes during pregnancy.

Yeah. From the Lancet Diabetes and. Endocrinology report. And it's important. to note that these studies show. correlation, not causation. And a 25%. increase in absolute terms only raises. the prevalence from one in 100 to around. 1.25 in 100 children. So, there's some. nuance to be had on that. There's some. nuance, but that association holds very. strongly. And as you said, 56 million. mom-baby pairs. So, across the world, we see that when a mom. has diabetes during pregnancy, her baby. has a higher risk of psychiatric.

disorders. And the main theory that. could explain this association has to do. with the baby's brain. So, your baby. is forming his brain in the womb. And. today, Stephen, you have about 100. billion neurons in your brain, and they. are the exact same neurons that you had. the day you were born. Neurons never get replaced. So, what. does this mean? It means that your. neurons that you have for life are. formed during pregnancy in your mother's. uterus. Now, you have these neurons in the.

baby's brain being formed 250,000 per. minute. Pew, pew, pew, pew, pew, neurons. everywhere. And next to the neurons, you. have another type of cell. This cell is called the microglia, and. it kind of looks like a starfish, and. it's patrolling the baby's brain, and. its job is to make sure that the neurons. are forming properly. So, what microglia. do, they're cells in the immune system, is they are on the lookout for any. neurons that are being damaged or not. formed properly. And as soon as they. find a neuron that is not ideal, they go. over to it, and they eat it, and they.

destroy it. So, they're pruning the. brain, and they're looking out for. damage and making sure everything. develops normally. Now, if the mother has high inflammation. levels during pregnancy, and this can be. caused by a number of things. It can be. caused by high glucose levels. It can be. caused by infection. It can be caused by. chemicals. High inflammation seems to be. making these microglia overactive. Now, all of a sudden, they become a bit. deregulated, and they start eating and.

destroying neurons that don't need to be. destroyed. They start destroying healthy. neurons. And as a result, the brain is. forming in a slightly suboptimal. fashion. And scientists believe this to. be the leading theory behind why we see. the association between gestational. diabetes, so diabetes of pregnancy, and. the higher risk of psychiatric. disorders. They believe it has to do. with the inflammation levels going on in. the baby's brain during pregnancy. And. so, what does this tell us? This tells. us that when we're pregnant, we're.

influencing the amount of inflammation. in our baby's body. And this should be. something that we tell women about. because if they can have power over. their inflammation levels, for example, by reducing their glucose spikes, they. could also give their baby a benefit to. its brain formation. Do you think it's. useful for women during pregnancy to. wear those continuous glucose monitors? I did. I did the whole time. Is it useful? Depends on what you want to do. I think. it's really interesting. It helped me a.

lot. Maybe just for 2 weeks could be cool, so. you can kind of see what's going on and. learn about your glucose spikes. And I. think one of the issues we see during. pregnancy is that your glucose levels. are usually tested in the third. trimester with the [clears throat]. diabetes test. But by that time, like. you've already been going going along. for 6 months with your glucose levels. I. think we should be testing glucose. levels much, much earlier, like in the. first trimester because your glucose. levels in the first trimester actually. can predict very well whether you're. going to get gestational diabetes or.

not. So, I think we should maybe put a. glucose monitor on all pregnant moms in. the first trimester, or even. pre-pregnancy, to help them understand. their glucose spikes and. show them about these easy tools and. habits and hacks that you can put in. place to reduce your glucose spikes. I. was reading about a study from Diabetes. Care that stated they put um these. continuous glucose monitors on 700 women. and found that if they did it in the. first trimester, they could accurately. predict who would develop gestational. diabetes at 24 to 28 weeks.

>> Yeah, and so that's really interesting. because. a lot of people used to think that. gestational diabetes, meaning diabetes. during pregnancy, is kind of random. It. was like, "Oh, you get it, but we don't. know why. It's random. Your body's just. doing this." And now we have evidence. that suggests that actually it's. correlated to your glucose levels in the. first trimester. Now, in the first. trimester, your glucose levels are. pretty much the same as when you're not. pregnant. As pregnancy progresses, hormones come into play, and things. start shifting. Glucose spikes get. bigger and longer. Fasting glucose.

levels becomes lower. But that first. trimester, your glucose spikes and your. glucose levels are similar to. pre-pregnancy. This means that. essentially your non-pregnant glucose. levels can predict whether or not you're. going to get gestational diabetes, which. means that gestational diabetes is not. random. It actually has roots in what. was happening before pregnancy. Meaning. that if you had high glucose levels. before pregnancy, you're more likely to. get gestational diabetes. Gestational. diabetes could actually just be a. symptom of having high glucose levels.

before pregnancy, but just not knowing. about it. You know, when we say high. glucose levels, is that a very. individual thing? No. It's not an. individual thing. No, we have very clear. cutoffs. So, for example, if you're not. pregnant, like you and I, 100 mg per. deciliter is the cutoff between healthy. and prediabetes. So, that's fasting glucose level, your. glucose level first thing in the. morning. If you're pregnant, that changes. Anything above 92 mg per deciliter is. considered diabetes of pregnancy. So,

high glucose levels, it's it's very well. segmented. We have these very specific. ranges that say normal to high, much too. high. But if me and you both have this. um teaspoon of this honey that I have. here on the desk, our responses to this honey are going to. be completely different, right? Yeah. The glucose spike we experience is going. to be different. for a bunch of reasons. Our microbiome, our genetics, how much muscle mass we. have, how hydrated, how stressed, how. tired we we are. So, maybe you're going.

to get a spike of like, I don't know, 30 30 mg, and maybe I'll. get a 35 mg spike because I'm tired. Now, what does that mean? It doesn't. mean that honey is necessarily better. for you than it is for me. It just means. that my body today is more or less good. at managing this influx of glucose. Today? Today, yeah. Today. And it also. means something very important, which is. that if you and I both used a glucose. hack, so for example, if you and I both. had a chicken breast before the honey,

both you and I would have a smaller. glucose spike from that same honey. So, glucose hacks and ways to reduce your. glucose spikes work in everyone. The. exact absolute values after eating. something, these can vary. But one thing. that. is true for everybody is that your. fasting glucose, so glucose before you. eat anything, that is something we can compare. So, if. you and I both at 7:00 a.m. before we. eat anything, we had our fasting glucose. levels checked, we could compare. We.

could say, "Oh, Jessie is very close to. prediabetes, and Stephen is not very. close to prediabetes." Those are very. easy numbers to compare. The spikes. after eating, these can vary. So, if I. put on a little bit more muscle, that. means that I'll tolerate glucose better. Yeah, because your muscles are an. amazing sink where your body is soaking. up glucose from your bloodstream. And. that's why we see that even during. pregnancy, having high muscle mass is. protective against diabetes. So, women. with higher muscle mass in pregnancy are. less likely to have gestational.

diabetes. Let me give you an example. So, we we. eat this honey. What happens? The honey. goes from our mouth to our stomach to. our intestine, and then it goes through. our intestinal wall into our. bloodstream. So, all these glucose. molecules are arriving into our. bloodstream. Now, there's two options. Either we stay. here and we don't move. In that case, glucose is going to rise in our. bloodstream, big glucose spike, and then. crash. Or we say, "Okay, let's go. outside and go for a walk right after we. eat this honey." We're walking, our. muscles are contracting, our leg muscles.

are contracting, our arm muscles are. contracting, and these muscles, as. they're contracting, they're looking for. energy. And the first place they look is. in the bloodstream. They look for. glucose in the bloodstream. Which is why. if you move after you eat glucose, you. will get a smaller glucose spike because. some of that glucose is being used by. your muscles for energy. I've heard you. tell people that they should do some. stuff with their calves. >> [laughter]. >> Calf raises, yeah. Okay, so put your. feet on the ground, Steven. And just do. some calf push-ups, calf raises. So, you. go up onto the ends of your feet and.

back down. Okay, so. >> You got it? >> up I'm lifting my heels. >> Exactly. Lift your heels up and down. So, as you do this, there's a muscle in. your calf called the soleus muscle. Can. you feel it contract? It's your calf. muscle. >> Yeah. Okay. So, this muscle is very good. at soaking up glucose from your. bloodstream. So, an easy hack you can do. after you eat something sweet is you. just do some calf raises at your desk. like this. Nobody can notice. 5 minutes, and that's going to help reduce the. glucose spike of what you just ate. I mean, 5 5 minutes?

>> Yeah, I mean, you can do 5 minutes. In. the studies, they do sometimes hours of. this. But even just 1 minute is better. than nothing to reduce your glucose. spike. >> [clears throat]. >> I mean, this is probably why a lot of. cultures go for a walk after dinner, right? >> Completely. And a lot of the glucose. hacks that I've talked about, they. actually mirror a lot of traditions. So, for example, the glucose hack of having. your vegetables at the beginning of your. meal. This is incredibly powerful, pregnancy or not pregnancy, because. vegetables contain fiber. And when you.

have them at the beginning of your meal, they create this protective mesh in your. intestine. that slows down the glucose molecules. from carbs and makes the glucose. molecules arrive more slowly into your. bloodstream, meaning smaller spike. Now, eating veggies at the beginning of a. meal, that's something that we call. crudités in France, which means. raw veggies at the beginning of your. meal. What are the simple exercises you. recommend if I've just eaten something. that's high in glucose that I can do.

quickly to help bring down my glucose. spike, right? That's ultimately what. it's going to do, bring down the spike. The best thing to do is to move your. body. So, get up, find a spot in your. apartment that needs to be tidied, find. a place you got to vacuum, find some. find some laundry to do, and do that. within 90 minutes after eating. Your. muscles are your best ally in reducing. your glucose spikes after you've eaten. >> So, what's going on there? I I start. eating a cake. I finish eating the cake. How long have I got to get that cake.

into my muscles? That's [laughter]. a great way to put it. You have about 90. minutes, so an hour and a half. Okay. That's when the spike is usually going. to be at at its maximum. So, if I start. squatting. >> Yeah, squats are a great great tool. I. want to go for a big muscle, right? >> Yeah, absolutely. So, there's some. studies showing that if you do, I think. it's five squats or 10 squats every 5. minutes, that is a very very powerful. way to get your glucose spike down. Now, you don't always have the space to do. some squats, but if you're alone and at.

home, go for it. That's one of the best. ones. So, what's going on in my body. there? Is my I start squatting, I'm. working my glutes. >> Yeah, so your glutes are looking for. energy, and the first place they look is. in your blood. They're looking for. glucose. >> Okay. >> Because glucose is the energy that your. muscles are using. Okay. Do you use standing desks? I've really. got into it. >> Yeah, I do. I have a desk at home that. moves up and down. Same. Yeah, but. sometimes if I'm tired, I just have more. tired with the standing desk. So, I have. to have a bit of energy left over. Do. you always use a standing desk? >> I mean, I kind of oscillate between. standing and sitting, but I think.

especially in like the morning, I find. it to be really really good. >> You just gave me an idea for a glucose. test. I should do. the same muffin and afterwards standing. desk for 30 minutes or sitting at the. desk for 30 minutes. Can we do that? >> Well, we need to put some steady glucose. monitors on before, but yes, we can do. it. We should do it. So, I will eat a. muffin first thing in the morning, then. stand for 30 minutes. And the next day, I will eat a muffin first thing in the. morning, and then sit for 30 minutes. And I'll send you the spike, and we can. see. We can see how much glucose is.

being burned when we're standing at our. desk. Okay, well, we're going to put that the. results in the episode. >> now. So, what you see on the screen, if. you're watching, is the results of. Jessie standing. after having a muffin. And then these results, which you see on. the screen, are Jessie sitting after. having a muffin. And either we'll see. that the spikes are very similar, Mhm. which means [clears throat] that. standing doesn't use much more muscle.

energy than sitting. Or we will see that. standing is using up some of the glucose. from my bloodstream, and therefore the. spike is smaller after the muffin. On that point of exercise. mothers are given conflicting advice. about what to do when they're pregnant. Um. Some people say exercise is not good, some people say it's great. What's your. position from all the research you've. done as to whether mothers should be. doing exercise during pregnancy? Exercise is incredibly good for your. baby's development. And there's one. study done in animals, cuz we can't do.

many studies in in humans when it comes. to pregnancy for obvious ethical. reasons. But there's this incredible. study, which I think is my favorite. study in the book. So, scientists took. two groups of pregnant rats, and they. gave them the exact same housing. conditions, diet, lighting, everything. The only difference is that one group. also had these tiny little treadmills. that they had to walk on for 30 minutes. a day every day during pregnancy. So,

same exact conditions, the only. difference is one group of pregnant rats. is moving 30 minutes a day on these tiny. treadmills. Then they wait for the babies to be. born, and they put the babies in these. mazes to kind of measure how quickly. they're solving the maze. And they also. measure the babies' anxiety levels. They. found that the babies that were born to. the moms who were exercising solved the. maze. twice as fast and had fewer anxiety. symptoms. So, they found this strong association.

between a mom exercising during. pregnancy and the outcomes of the. babies' brain. Mhm. And [clears throat] the main theory. is that when we exercise, there's this. molecule produced in our brain called. BDNF, and it's got a complicated name, but what it does is that it helps. neuroplasticity. It helps your neurons. create new connections, and we know that. in humans, when we exercise, that's one. of the reasons exercise is good for the. brain cuz it increases BDNF. And in these pregnant rats, they found.

not only were the moms' BDNFs higher, but the babies' BDNF levels inside of. the wombs was also higher. And they believe that is why they saw. this impact on the babies' brain. development after birth. So, what. happens in the womb is really setting up. a strong foundation for your baby's. brain. It's laying out the basic. architecture, which is why it's so. important to do these simple hacks to. give your baby's brain the optimal.

nutrients that it needs to form. properly. What is um there's a little metaphor if. there are those two plant pots. What is the metaphor? Okay. So, both of these plants come from identical. seeds. The only difference is. what they were planted in. So, one of. these plants was planted in basically. little rocks and gravel with a tiny bit. of soil in it. The other seed was planted in rich,

fertilized soil. What is this showing us? We intuitively. understand that when we're planting a. seed, the soil we choose is important, right? We understand that the same seed. is not going to lead to the same tree. depending on where we plant it. And I. think for pregnancy, we've lost this. intuition because your baby is a seed. You, as the mother's body, you are the. soil. And the soil is going to co-create. your baby's plan. So, when you're. pregnant, you have this little baby with.

his DNA plan, but depending on depending. on the nutrients you provide, he's going. to grow into a different tree. He's. either going to grow. in a super optimal tree that has all the. nutrients he needed, or he's going to. have to adapt to what's available and. grow into a slightly different tree. Now, the main difference is that humans. are not plants. So, humans are very. resilient. Your baby will probably be. okay even if, like 90% of us, you don't. have enough choline, even if, like 75%. of us, you don't have enough omega-3s,

even if, like 70% of us, you don't have. enough protein, and even if, like most. of us, you're eating more than the. recommended amount of sugar, your baby. will probably be fine, but he will be. adapting to a slightly suboptimal. nutrient environment. So, that's what. this metaphor is all about. You're. co-creating the plan of your baby with. your diet during pregnancy, and it's. shaping him, and he's adapting and. calibrating to what you're giving him. Hey, what you doing?

Uh just making myself a delicious. coffee. From the freezer? From the. freezer. You know how to make coffee. here? No. Oh my gosh. This is going to. change your life. Couple of months ago, the founder of. this business called Matt sent a big. shipment of this coffee to our office in. London. This is coffee is like nothing. you've ever seen before. What most. people don't know is that the processing. of coffee takes out a lot of the taste. So, what they do is they flash freeze it. at the optimal moment when it's most. tasty. And they send you in the post the. coffee in these little frozen ice cubes.

Now, Matt sent a big shipment to my. office. I moved it to the kitchen. I. said to the team, "Knock yourselves out. Give this a try." And then I saw so many. messages in our Slack channel of people. going, "Oh my god, what the hell is. that? It's so delicious." All I have to. do is pop it out in the morning using. the little button on the back of this. thing. I pour my hot water in and I mix. it. And that is done. You can get $30 off. your first order of Cometeer coffee if. you go to cometeer.com/steven.

And it won't be available for long, so. get that discount while you can. I I'm not going to be a pregnant mother. in my life, but I am going to have a. fiance hopefully at some point who is a. pregnant mother. So, I would really like to know. how I can help as a partner, but also. I'm sure she's going to listen to this. So, what she can do to make sure that. the soil in which my baby grows is. optimal. We've talked about a few of the. things so far like choline. and we've talked also talked about sugar. and glucose levels throughout pregnancy. to avoid gestational diabetes.

We've talked about. exercises as well. What about alcohol? Not a good idea. Because as I explained, your bloodstream and your baby's. bloodstream are basically connected. So, when you drink alcohol during pregnancy, your blood alcohol level rises and then. your baby's. blood alcohol level in your uterus also. rises. There's no filter protecting your. baby from alcohol. So, when you have a. glass of wine, your baby's also having a. glass of wine in the womb. And we know that alcohol is not good for.

our brains. And this also goes for. babies. So, you wouldn't put red wine in. your baby's bottle after birth and give. him red wine to drink, but that's kind. of what's going on when you're drinking. alcohol when you're pregnant. And. there's been a lot of. a lot of stuff online about oh alcohol. during pregnancy is fine in small. quantities. I think when you understand. how alcohol is toxic to the brain. biologically, it makes no sense to tell. pregnant moms that a little bit of. alcohol is okay. It's best if you can to.

avoid alcohol entirely. So, complete. abstinence. >> Yeah. There was actually a study that. came out in February last year, which is. quite recent, from the University of. Melbourne, where they used. high-resolution 3D imaging to reveal. that even low doses of alcohol cause. facial morphing, consistent changes in. the shape of the eyes and nose at 12. months persisting up to age eight, and. weaker connections in the in the right. um anterior cingulate part of the brain, the region critical for emotional. regulation and impulse control, even if.

the mother drank only occasionally. Which is. very um surprising. Because I think for a long time we've. always thought that. heavy consumption of alcohol was a. problem. And we know that, yeah. But. even low doses are suboptimal. It's kind. of it kind of goes for all adults, right? We thought for a long time that. one glass of wine per day was good for. the heart. Now we understand that the. ideal amount of alcohol is zero. Like. there's no benefit to alcohol.

Now, is that to say that one glass of. wine during pregnancy is going to, you. know, indelibly impact your baby's. brain? Probably not. But if you can. avoid it, this is the best time to avoid. it entirely. What about when you're. breastfeeding? Ooh, well, you have much. more leeway then because the amount of. alcohol in your breast milk. mirrors the amount of alcohol in your. bloodstream. So, for example, if you. have a glass of wine, 2 and 1/2 to 3 hours later, you have. pretty much no more alcohol in your. bloodstream, which means your breast.

milk is also pretty much devoid of. alcohol. So, if you time it right, you're going to be able to have a glass. of wine without it actually going into. your breast milk. But it's all about. timing. Caffeine? The recommendation is to stay under two. cups of coffee per day during pregnancy. Um. it's not a neurotoxin like alcohol, right? But caffeine does go to your. baby's bloodstream. And some studies. show that babies are more active in the. womb after the mother drinks caffeine. And it has no benefit. So, listen, you. do what you can. I reduced a little bit.

my caffeine intake. Instead of having. like two flat whites, I had maybe. a half a flat white or a decaf flat. white when I could. But some days I just. really wanted a coffee, so I had a. coffee. Have they ever done any studies. on caffeine and pregnancy? Well, we can't do any studies on. caffeine and pregnancy in humans. It's. unethical to test anything in pregnant. moms. We have associations, and the. associations don't show much difference. Like we don't have studies that show. caffeine intake in moms leads to this. kind of bad outcome in the kids. It.

seems pretty neutral at low doses. If. you have really high doses of caffeine, there is an impact on the babies, well, associative impact on the babies'. temperament. But for one or two cups a. day, there's no impact that we find. And. they've done animal studies? Yeah, they've done animal studies. Low doses. also fine. Very high doses, we start to. see changes in the baby's behavior. You. talk about this in the book in certain. animal studies they show drinking. pregnancy leads to smaller offspring, altered heart development, and delayed. brain growth. Um but you explain that we don't have. direct clinical trial data on the.

long-term impact of caffeine during. human pregnancy. >> And also those studies are very high. doses of caffeine. Okay. Yeah. And the. World Health Organization recommends. that women who consume more than 300 mg. of coffee a day, which is roughly three. cups, reduce their daily intake during. pregnancy. Yeah. So, probably one cup a. day is not harming your baby. Hm. Fermented foods and the gut, what. about that? Yeah. >> I be thinking about that? Well, this is. very early research, but showing that. potentially if a mother has fermented. food during pregnancy, it's also seeding. her baby's gut microbiome. But this is.

very, very early stuff. But if you can. include some kefir or some sauerkraut. during pregnancy, it's helpful. What What about bread? Do you think much. about bread? Do I think much about. bread? I mean, I'm French, so I think. about bread all the time. [laughter]. In terms of um. your recommendations on the type of. bread one should be eating. Well, bread. is interesting because bread is a carb. that contains mostly glucose. And we. know that in the third trimester of. pregnancy, your baby actually needs more. glucose cuz he's developing and he also.

needs energy. Your baby needs about 70 g. of glucose per day at the very end of. pregnancy. So, as a pregnant mom, you. should be eating 70 g of glucose more. than you usually do at the end of. pregnancy. For the first and second. trimesters, you don't need to be eating much more. glucose. So, you could have that via. bread. You could have that via rice, for. example. So, 70 g of glucose is about. three slices of bread or a cup and a. half of rice. In terms of the type of. bread you should be eating, it's always. better for your glucose levels to have.

bread that is full of seeds. But to be. honest, there's not a huge difference. between like sprouted grain bread versus. white bread. It's all just glucose. Cuz. there there is a I guess there's a a. risk that mothers might get a little bit. scared of having sugary foods during. pregnancy. And then you've just said the baby does. need glucose. Yeah. So, there's a. difference. So, glucose is present in. carbs and starches, meaning bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, oats. So,

starches contain glucose. But starches. are different to sugars. So, on this. plate, we only have sugars. These are the sweet. foods that contain glucose, but also. another molecule that makes them sweet. called fructose. Your baby needs no fructose during. pregnancy, ever. So, your baby does not. need any sugar from dessert, from. chocolate, from muffins, from cupcakes. Your baby needs none of this. But your. baby does need glucose, which is. healthier to get from starches like.

bread, pasta, rice, potatoes. What about the ketogenic diet while. you're pregnant? I don't think there's enough evidence to. tell us whether it's okay or not. It's. very early. It's quite rare. Um and it seems that since your baby. does need glucose during pregnancy, it's. just easier to eat glucose and to eat. starches when you're pregnant. And whole fruit is also a good way of. getting the glucose that you need. because thanks to the fiber and the. water, the amount of fructose in the. fruit is not leading to such a big.

fructose spike. There's a study on the G1D Foundation. that basically says for 99% of. pregnancies a strict ketogenic diet is. considered dangerous. Doctors in instead. recommend a low glycemic index diet. And low glycemic diets mean. a diet with smaller glucose spikes. And. this is really helpful for people with. gestational diabetes. It helps them. manage their spikes and reduce the need. for medication. But also for any. pregnant mom, it's important to think. about your glucose spikes because when. you have a glucose spike, your baby has.

a glucose spike. And glucose spikes are. not good news. It's better to give your. baby slow rolling hills of glucose and. not these big spikes that can lead to. more inflammation. And as we talked. about, more inflammation can impact the. baby's brain development. Do you recommend that mothers take. certain supplements? Did you take. supplements throughout your pregnancy? >> Yeah, I took omega-3s. And the reason is. I took omega-3 supplements is because. omega-3s also form the baby's brain, and. they come from algae in the ocean and.

fish. Now, omega-3s, and in particular one. omega-3 called DHA, it helps your baby's. neurons connect with each other. And. this is really important. And in animal. studies, when scientists restrict how. much DHA a mother has access to, they. see measurable impact on the baby's. brain. They see brains that are less. efficient. They see babies who find the. exit of mazes with much more time. There's an impact on the brain. development. Now, the easiest way to get. enough DHA is to eat fish or to eat.

sardines that we have here. So, the recommendation is fatty fish. twice a week. I would say fatty fish three times a. week if you can. And this is also it's. amazing because it's very cheap. So, these three cans of sardines are your. three servings of fish per week. This. gives gives you all the omega-3s your. baby needs. And this cost about in total. like $6, so for $6 per week and for. another $7 of eggs per week, you're.

getting all the choline and all the. omega-3s your baby needs. You're opening. it. You're going to eat it. Okay, now you want to know how I have. them? How? Okay, you're going to eat it? Yeah. Go for it. So, I open the can, I. put it in a bowl, [clears throat] I put. mustard in it, I put sea salt, a little. bit of feta, some herbs, and I make this. sort of nice little paste, and then I. toast a piece of bread, and I put it on. top of the bread, and I have like a nice.

little sardine mash on my bread. It is. quite nice. Yeah, and it's really good. for you, lots of omega-3's. And so, for. omega-3's, I also supplemented with. additional omega-3's, because I think. the recommendation of fatty fish two to. three times a day. is lacking. Most moms don't have enough. omega-3's in their body to give their. baby everything that he needs. So, I did. this two times a week, plus two grams of. DHA supplement per day. What else was in your supplement stack? Then, uh in the third trimester, I took.

iron because my iron levels were very. low. This often happens during. pregnancy, even though I was eating a. lot of meat, cuz your baby is pulling a. lot of iron from you. And then I had a. sort of normal prenatal supplement, but. I made sure it had choline in it, and I. made sure it had a type of folic acid. called methylated folate, which is. better absorbed. And folate is very. important to prevent miscarriage. You talked about your first pregnancy, and you said we'll talk about that. later. Mhm. You. went through miscarriage? Yes, correct.

So, I got pregnant the first time, and I thought everything would be. totally fine, but I found out at the. 3-month scan that the embryo had stopped. developing. I had what's called a silent. miscarriage. So, usually when you. miscarry, you start to lose blood, you have. cramps, you know something's wrong. I had a silent miscarriage, which is. more rare, meaning the embryo stopped. developing, the embryo was dead, my body. did not expel it. So, I found out that I.

had lost the pregnancy at the scan in. the doctor's office, and I found out. that I had been walking around for a. month. with an embryo that had stopped. developing, and I had no idea. I thought. I was still pregnant. What what is what is that like. for someone like me that has never. experienced um. such news, what are the range of. emotions and thoughts um. that occur when you get news like that?

>> [snorts]. >> Listen, for me, it was. so devastating. It was so so difficult. I didn't I didn't want to believe it. I. was screaming. I remember like falling. to the floor in my living room and. saying to whatever God or the universe. like that I wanted my baby back. I was I. was not okay. It was very very difficult. Um I felt a. lot of anger, I felt a lot of despair, I. felt a sense of injustice, like why me? I felt like I had done everything right. Like I was eating the choline, I was.

taking the right supplements, you know, I was not like smoking crack, and I still had a miscarriage, and I I. didn't know this happened. I. I didn't have it in my consciousness. that it could happen to me. So, I fell. from very very high. It was It was. probably one of the most difficult. experiences of my life. Is this more. common? One in five pregnancies end in. miscarriage. That's really high. Like way higher than I thought it was. Yeah. And is it usually in the In the first. trimester. >> first trimester.

But it can happen later also. Yeah, and I felt so isolated, and I. didn't feel like people around me knew. how to how to handle it. Cuz it's kind of taboo, and then when I. miscarried, I started talking to people about it, and I found out that so many people. around me had gone through it, but had. never told me about it. When was your first pregnancy? So, I got pregnant in February 2024. So, the miscarriage was in spring 2024,

and then I got pregnant again. in August 2025. No, 2024. And my son was born in May 2025. So, I got pregnant quite quickly. afterwards, um but it was difficult because I was. still carrying the grief of the. miscarriage. So, I had a very anxious. pregnancy. I was very anxious the whole. time that something bad would happen. again, that I would miscarry again and. not know about it. It was very.

difficult. Hm. It's a trial of the heart, man. It's Yeah, the number's way higher than. I expected. Just just much higher than I. expected, and it's pretty scary. Scary to think about. >> Yeah. >> And that's why people usually wait until. the 3-month mark to tell their friends. and family that they're pregnant. And for some reason, I had no conception. of that, so the moment I got that first. pregnancy test, I told everybody. Yeah.

So, it made it. quite complicated to have to announce. the miscarriage to like 50 people. Mhm. Um but at the same time, I felt less. alone than I would have felt if nobody. knew I was pregnant in the first place. Mhm. >> [clears throat]. >> Yeah, it was very very challenging, and. it's more common than we think, and it. happens to more people than. we know about. Is there anything you. wish you knew. earlier in life about I mean, we've. talked about many of the things. specifically around diet, you know, and pregnancy, but is there anything. else you wish someone had said to you as.

a woman earlier. um. that you didn't hear? Yeah, I think I. wish I wish my mom had told me about her. miscarriages. She had not. Oh, really? >> Until I miscarried. Yep. I wish my. grandmother had told me. I had I did not. know. I wish people had told me more. about their experiences because that way. I would have understood that it happens. to a lot of people, and maybe I would. have been more prepared, and maybe it. would have made the experience. a little bit less painful. Mhm. Instead. of feeling so so isolated, or at least I.

would have maybe been a bit more. cautious. Cuz you said one of the feelings and. emotions you had was, why did this. happen to me? Yes, I was like, why me? Why me? And then I realized. it happens to many people, and there's. not necessarily a reason. It's nothing. you've done. It can be just a. chromosomal abnormality, and the embryo. just can't develop anymore. It can be. something we don't understand yet. It's. hard, isn't it, getting pregnant? Yeah. It's hard, I think. I. I don't know what lie I was living. under, but I just assumed that getting.

pregnant was have sex unprotected. >> I know, because your whole life you're. told do all these things to not get. pregnant because it might happen without. you expecting it, and then when you try. to get pregnant, you realize, oh, it's. not at all as easy as I thought it was. It's It's It's a lot. And I was lucky, I. got pregnant after, you know, two, three. cycles both times, so that's very very. quick. But for some of my friends, it's. taken them years to conceive. How has becoming a mother changed you? Um. it's made me happier.

I feel like my baseline happiness is. higher. I don't have I used to have this like. 10% kind of. melancholy or spleen or sort of like, oh, maybe my life could be better if I. did X or Y, or like questioning, you. know, do I need more? How do I How do I. find happiness? And that's gone. Like. with my son, that has. that has been filled, and I didn't. expect it to be filled. So, that's been amazing, and it's made. me very efficient. Cuz now when I have. 42 minutes, I use those 42 minutes. Like.

I cannot imagine how much time I used to. have. Like what did I used to do? And I. thought I was busy. Now I'm really busy. >> [laughter]. >> It's so funny to look back at my life. before and what I used to think, and. realize that I was completely wrong. I. was so wrong. I thought I was busy, and. I thought I was tired. >> [laughter]. >> I wasn't. Now I am. >> [clears throat and laughter]. >> You feel very busy, right? I feel so. busy. >> And you feel tired? I do. I do sometimes. ask myself, you know, cuz again, I'm in. that season of life. I do like, how.

where am I going to get the Where's the. time going to come from? Cuz. You just prioritize. So many things you. just delegate or you don't do anymore. Hm. And you find the time, cuz your baby. is the most important thing. Hm. And I I think I've become better at. my work because I'm more efficient. And. I thought I was pretty efficient before, but now I'm like. superhuman. On that point of parenting and pregnancy. and everything we've been talking about, you said that you spoke to your mother. about the diet she had and her lifestyle.

when she was growing you inside her. Uh. if your parents did have a sub-optimal. lifestyle and diet, this is a bit of a strange question to. ask, but is there something that I can. do now as an adult to reverse that? >> Totally. Well, first of all, my mom was eating a lot of sugar, but it. wasn't her fault. Like culture around. her was telling her that fat is bad, eat. low-fat foods. Like she was just a. product of her time, like we all are. So, our diet today is just a function of.

what food marketing is going on. So, again, it's not our fault. We're just. kind of swimming in this sea of the food. industry and marketing. We do the best. we can. Pregnancy is important. It has an. outsize effect on our vulnerability to. disease, but it's not everything. So, I. told you that at 25, I was on the cusp. of pre-diabetes. Well, I implemented the glucose hacks, I. found all the science, and I never got. pre-diabetes. So, you're probably going to be fine. It's more of the difference between like. So, I have two friends. I have Gabriel.

and Nicholas, and they both work out the same and eat. the same. One of them builds muscle. really easily and has a lot of muscle. mass, the other one doesn't. They're not equal. However, it doesn't mean that they both. can't build muscle. It might just be a. little bit more difficult for one than. for the other. Same thing with diabetes. One person may get diabetes. with the same diet as another person who. doesn't get it. Well, when you apply things, when you change. your diet, you can change the course of. your life. You can change what diseases. you you face, but you might be more or. less vulnerable.

So, we always have agency. We always. have power, no matter our age, no matter. where we are in life, to. take back control. Cravings. Mhm. Cravings are where it all. begins. You [laughter] know, you can know. everything. >> Wait, say more about that. What do you. mean? So, like you can know you can have. all the information. I'm sure there's. people that listen to this podcast, including me, who know a lot about this. stuff. But, it doesn't necessarily mean. that you have the control to take. action. Because when your brain starts. saying, "Go on, eat that thing. Go on,

it'll be so tasty. And you know what? You can do your calf raises after it. It'll be fine." Like that voice in your. head that talks you into things that you. don't really want to do, and then 10. minutes later you feel really guilty. that you did it. I'm just wondering if you think much. about the psychology of being in the. things I can do upstream to either fend. off the cravings or to have better. agency and control over the cravings. >> So, let's talk about that voice, because. that voice comes in two flavors. For some, the voice is, "Mhm, that. cookie looks really, really good.

Chocolate chip with sea salt? Mhm, that. looks tasty. I'm going to probably buy. it after the end of this meeting." That. is the voice of pleasure and enjoyment. There's another voice that might be in. your brain which is like, "Oh my god, I. need sugar right now. What's in the. kitchen? I'm going to open the. cupboards. Whatever there is. Oh, this. weird old cookie. I need to have it. right now. I need sugar, otherwise I'm. not going to feel good." Those are two. very different voices. That second voice. is a voice of control and of almost. being like a victim to sugar addiction. I want to help people go from the sugar. addiction voice to the enjoyment voice, because I think it's fine to have.

cravings of or to want to eat something. delicious. I just want to make sure. people are not controlled by that voice. Do you see what I mean? I want it to be. something you enjoy, not something you. are victim to. So, how do we separate. these two things out? We need to balance our glucose levels so. that that voice comes from a place of. happiness and not a place of a glucose. crash that is making you feel controlled. by a biological impulse that is stronger. than you. So, protein in the morning, a. savory breakfast, super, super. important. Then, a veggie starter before.

your lunch and your dinner, when you. can. Avoiding sugar on an empty stomach. to not kick off a roller coaster of. blood sugar ups and downs that's going. to make you crave more and more of this. of this sweet stuff. But, the voice that. you just mentioned, which is like, "Oh, that looks really good. I'm going to do. some calf raises afterwards." I think. that's fine. To me, that doesn't sound. like you're being controlled by it. It. sounds like you kind of want to eat. delicious stuff. But, I regret it 10. minutes after and I go, >> Why? Because I think, you know, my especially if it's at like. 10:00 p.m.

Yeah, because then it messes up your. sleep. >> up my next day. Yeah. And I go, "What. the hell did I do that? Why I knew I. shouldn't eat it.". >> Yeah. But, the craving was too strong. >> And listen, sometimes that's the. situation we're in. I do that, too, sometimes. Like sometimes it is 11:00. p.m. I'm exhausted. I know my son's. probably going to wake up at 4:00 a.m. But, I want that cookie. And I just I. just have it. Maybe I have some vinegar. or some anti-spike before it, but it's. okay to give in to these things. I don't. think we have to feel guilty about them. Like that's just life. Sometimes we. can't do the glucose hacks, and. sometimes we're tired and the cookie. looks good. So, eat the cookie. But, it.

annoys me, because I then feel the. next day and I go, "Well, you know, was it worth it? Absolutely not. Objectively, absolutely not.". >> So, maybe if you had had that cookie. after some almonds or if after the. cookie you could do some laundry or move. around a little bit to reduce the spike, maybe you could help with your deep. sleep during that night. But, sometimes you can't. I think as. well, the subject of sleep and glucose. is one we we don't talk about enough, because some people really struggle with. their sleep. Yeah. And um I've just. noticed that when I'm in a heavy travel.

period and I'm flying, I'm waking up. early at 4:00 a.m., fly to LA, fly. Miami, go to Qatar, wherever, my ability. to control. cravings is significantly reduced. And. weirdly, I noticed that when I wake up. at say I I had I don't know, I had. dinner at 9:00 p.m. the night before. If. I'm woken up at like 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., I wake up really hungry. Interesting. Have you worn a glucose. monitor to to see if you're not crashing. in the middle of the night? No. But, I've I've always been so curious as.

to why that is, because I know that if. I'd slept for 4 hours more, I would have. been like today, where the first thing. I've eaten today, and it's what, 2:00. p.m., is that sardine. Because I just wasn't hungry this. morning. But, if I'd woken up early, I mean, I've looked a little bit into. it. >> a question. Do you think it's the time. you wake up that is causing you to be. more or less hungry, or it's the dinner. you had the night before that is causing. a crash that is causing you to wake up? Like what's the chicken wants the egg? Because it sounds to me like maybe at. 3:00 a.m., if you're having a glucose. crash because you had a big carb-heavy.

dinner, then it's your body waking you. up and making you feel very hungry. For. me, it's kind of similar. Like in the. morning, if I feel extremely hungry, it's usually because I went to bed and I. had just had a bunch of carbs before. bed. Well, thanks to the ability to do very quick. research, I now know the answer, or at. least solid hypothesis. And the leading. answer [clears throat] as to why when. you're sleep deprived you end up eating. worse is because of the hormone. imbalance of leptin and ghrelin. Sleep deprivation directly alters the. hunger hormones produced in your gut and. fat cells.

If ghrelin increases, known as hunger. hormone, ghrelin signals the brain that. it's time to eat. Studies from Stanford. University show that sleeping for only 5. hours increases ghrelin by approximately. 15%. Leptin decreases, um the satiety. hormone, tells your brain you are full. The same sleep loss decreases leptin by. approximately 15%. And therefore, the. result is that your brain receives a. loud I am starving signal and a very. weak I'm full signal simultaneously. And. leptin is the hormone we talked about at. the beginning, which when you're. breastfed as a baby, you're.

epigenetically making more leptin. And. this setting can stay with you for life. So, it's possible that also there's some. stuff going on in early life that makes. you more or less hungry. I need to speak to my mom. >> [laughter]. >> You know, every once in a while you come. across a product that has such a huge. impact on your life that you'd probably. describe it as. a game changer. And I would say. for about 35 to 40% of my team, they. would currently describe this product. that I have in front of me, called.

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I will speak to you then. What is the the most important thing we. haven't talked about as it relates to. Nine Months That Count Forever, your new. book, that we should have talked about? I think protein. Protein. Yeah. By the time your baby's born, he is about 50% protein if you exclude. water. So, protein is not just for your. muscles. Protein form forms your immune.

system, your skin, your organs, many, many tissues, many, many signaling. molecules in your body. So, when you're pregnant, you need to eat more protein to give. more protein to your baby. And animal studies show something. fascinating, Steven. They show that when. a mom is slightly protein restricted, meaning she's eating a bit less protein. than she needs to, there's a little epigenetic switch. happening in the baby that says, "Dear. baby, keep your muscles small, because. there's not a lot of protein in the. world you're about to be born into.".

So, what we're eating during pregnancy. is, in essence, sending a little. postcard to our baby in our uterus, telling him what kind of nutrients will. be available in the world that he's. about to be born into. And so, these animal studies suggest. that if you have a low protein diet, your baby will be programmed to stay. smaller and have smaller muscle mass. throughout his life. And the thing is, Steven, you need a lot of protein when you're. pregnant because your baby is very. protein hungry. So, here I have four.

chicken breasts, which is. basically the amount of protein that I. needed to eat every single day Day. >> in the third trimester of pregnancy. Day. Yeah, per day. Per day. It's a lot. So, I would have four eggs in the. morning. That's about 30 g of protein. And then I would have to have three good. servings of proteins represented by. three chicken breasts here. So, I would. have fish at lunch, probably a meat or a. chicken at dinner, and then a high. protein snack. For example, Greek. yogurt, I would add some whey protein.

powder in there to make sure I was. having enough protein. So, you need. about 1.6 g of protein per kilo of body. weight per day in the third trimester of. pregnancy. And this is where most of us fall short. because nobody's telling moms they need. to eat more protein. So, the result is. that moms lose their muscle mass because. the muscles are being broken down to. give protein to the baby. But there's a. limit to it. Like, you can't your muscle. mass cannot compensate for a low protein. diet. And this is why we see across.

all women, all studies, low protein. diets lead to smaller babies and. potentially this epigenetic programming. of staying smaller throughout life. So, protein is key. On the subject of. muscle loss, have you thought much about. the impact of GLP-1s, these sort of fat. loss drugs during pregnancy? Oh, wow. I. don't think they're recommended during. pregnancy. I hope not because they. prevent you from feeling your hunger. hormones. They prevent you from feeling. hungry.

So, pregnancy would be a very dangerous. time to take these because during. pregnancy you need to eat a little bit. more in terms of quantity and calories, but also you need to eat differently. So, you need to learn about the protein, the choline, the omega-3s. And I think. it'd be quite dangerous to take a GLP-1. during pregnancy. Do you Do you know that the vinegar. thing you talked about to me before. where you said you have vinegar before. eating something that's high in glucose? >> Yeah. Do you recommend that for mothers. as well? You can, but if you're going to. do that, you need to make sure the. vinegar is pasteurized cuz you want to.

make sure that during pregnancy people. are like, "Only eat pasteurized foods. cuz you want to prevent any food. contamination." So, make sure you look. on the back of the vinegar bottle and. make sure it's pasteurized. Apple cider. vinegar is usually not pasteurized. So, do I recommend it? I think it's okay to do. Like, vinegar. is fine during pregnancy, especially if. you really want like a cookie or a. muffin. It could be helpful to reduce. the glucose spike. But truly, pregnancy. is kind of the moment where you need to. be eating as little sugar as possible.

because it's impacting your baby's. development. So, ideally. you don't have to use the vinegar hack. You know, I've often seen people talk. about like an obesity gene and stuff and. ask if obesity is genetic. I guess one. of the things I've kind of deduced from. today is that the genetic component. might be. that during pregnancy our mother um had. a certain lifestyle or diet and that. increased our. predisposition.

to. having a different reaction to certain. foods. >> Completely. And the studies show that. So, in animal studies, when a mom has a. lot of sugar during pregnancy, there's. little epigenetic switches in the baby's. DNA that encourage fat storage. Oh, okay. >> So, why is that? Because if you eat. sugar, your baby's getting sugar in his. bloodstream. And how does the baby. protect himself from high sugar levels? By turning the sugar into fat. So, by eating a high sugar diet, you're. sending a little postcard to your baby. being like, "Hey, baby, you're going to.

be born into a world with a lot of. sugar. So, become really good at turning. that sugar into fat to protect. yourself.". And this is why we see across studies on. tens of thousands of moms that the. higher a mom's glucose levels during. pregnancy, the more fat mass a baby is. born with. Mhm. >> [snorts]. >> Higher glucose during pregnancy, baby. had to turn that glucose to fat to. protect himself, so he's born with more. fat mass. And it doesn't just stop after. birth. Studies show that this continues. Babies born to high glucose mothers are.

more likely to have obesity as children, as teenagers, and as adults. So, the. cycle continues. The programming of. storing a lot of fat continues even. though they're no longer connected to. their mom's bloodstream. In the process of producing this book, did did you think much about the. evolutionary sort of backstory of where. we came from and how our ancestors used. to eat? Did you. consider, I don't know, the orangutan. where we share most of our DNA? I think. it's like 98% of our DNA. >> if you look at sort of what we used to. eat, meaning nutrient-rich organ meats,

and not just like a chicken breast, which is just muscle, which is actually. very poor in nutrients. If you think. about how we didn't used to eat. processed foods, we had a diet that was. much more conducive to baby having more. of what he needed in the womb. Today, our food system is failing us. We're all. deprived of proper nutrition with what. we're eating, with all these. ultra-processed foods, and that includes. pregnant moms. So, I tried to write a. book that was going to. help people navigate this very toxic.

food landscape to. see these four simple things they could. do to try to optimize a little bit what. the baby was getting. But it's a lot to. think about. And also, being pregnant. comes with, I think, innate pressure. Like, I felt pressure during pregnancy. I'm like, "Man, I'm making another. human. Like, this is a lot." And then you're. bombarded by messages online and. Instagram, what to do, what not to do, and it feels like whatever you do, you. feel guilty. Mhm. >> [clears throat]. >> So, I'm hoping this book gives clear. science scientific evidence to help. people navigate that pressure. But. listen, I just want babies to be.

healthy. Like, I want my baby to be. healthy. I want everybody's baby to be. healthy. I want moms to feel as little. stress as possible. And that's just the truth. And I'm. hoping that this book brings a little. bit of. reassurance and light. in this complicated world we live in. Stress is something we haven't talked. about, but I guess that also is an. important factor in this story of. raising a healthy child. I was extremely stressed my entire. pregnancy because of my miscarriage.

Like, I Probably the 9 months of my. pregnancy with my son were the 9 most. anxious months of my life. And that's probably not very good for my. baby. But hey, you do what you can, you know? I I tried everything to reduce my stress. levels. I just couldn't. I was so. nervous about losing the pregnancy. You. tried everything? Yeah, I mean, everything. I didn't take. anxiety medication, but I was, you know, doing yoga and breathwork and working. out and talking to my therapist and. blah, blah, blah, but I was still. anxious cuz I really didn't want to lose. the pregnancy and I was scared I would.

Why are you smiling? But you didn't. No, I didn't. Yeah. And you have a happy, healthy Yeah. little baby. Yeah. You want to have more babies? I would love to. But man, now it's like logistics. Like, okay, so I'm doing this project and that. project and this work thing. So, where. can I find 9 months plus 6 months where. I can't really work. >> [laughter]. >> in in this crazy schedule that I create. for myself, by the way. I'm I'm I just. love my work, so I'm always planning new. things. When you look at products in the.

supermarket, I think we all have a. different thing we go straight to on the. label. You know, sometimes people go to. calories, sometimes they look at. protein, sometimes they're looking at is. it gluten-free. Sometimes they look at. the carbohydrates or the sugars. What do you look for? Ingredients. I go. straight to the ingredients list. Yeah. Because in the ingredients list, things. are ordered by weight. So, the first. ingredient is going to be. what there is the most of in that food. Oh, I had no idea. Yeah. So, they're. ordered by weight. So, if there's sugar.

or any other type of sweet thing in the. first five ingredients, like. dates, like fruit juice, like molasses, like uh. orange syrup, whatever, I know that's a. dessert. And so, I put it in my mind, okay, this. is a food for enjoyment, for dessert. So, if you look at the sardines, ingredients, sardine, olive oil, salt, natural flavor. So, I would try to look. for one that doesn't have natural flavor. cuz I don't know what that means. I. don't think it's necessary. But as you can see, there's no sugar in.

here. So, this is not dessert. This. sardine can is not dessert. >> [laughter]. >> Isn't that helpful? Cuz I often just look at the back of. labels and I just go straight for the. carbs and sugar level. Really? Yeah, I. don't know why. I always look at the the. sugar level. I think it's cuz I've done. keto for a little while, so It kind of. depends though because if you're looking. at like carbon sugars for a pack of. table sugar versus. I don't know, like a protein shake. Yeah, protein shake. I mean, it's it's a helpful place to. look. That's also where I look. Because. carbs carbs and sugars will tell you a.

lot about what the food is going to do. to you. But also, it depends on the. ratio, right? If there's a lot of. protein also, then having carbs in there. is not going to create that big of a. glucose spike. If it's a product that. has just carbs, then yes. A lot of. people look at the calories. Yeah. Calories are a very bad way of assessing. a food. Cuz two foods can have the exact same. number of calories and be completely. different in terms of what they do to. your body. So, an avocado and a donut, both 200 calories, vastly different impact. It's like.

saying two books are the same because. they have the same number of pages. Mhm. Calories and pages tell you nothing. about what's inside the food or inside. the book. We have to learn about molecules, which. is why your reflex of going to carbs and. sugars is much smarter because you're. seeing what's actually going to happen. when you eat the food. For example, avocado and donut, the avocado, mostly fat, fiber, going to keep your. glucose levels nice and steady, going to. give your food healthy fat your body. healthy fats. Donut, mostly sugars,

is going to create a big glucose spike, inflammation, aging, crash, cravings, fatigue. It's going to have vastly. different impact on your body. So, only looking at your diet through. the lens of calories is very bad idea. Because two diets can have the exact. same number of calories and you can have. a completely different experience of. life depending on what you're actually. eating. Hm. And what's your. diet generally? Like what time do you. eat in the morning? Do you do fasting or. anything like that? So, no, I don't do. fasting.

So, I'll have breakfast in the morning, always eggs. Right now my my current. kick is a bacon and egg quesadilla. Super good. Um with coffee, always with whole milk. that I love. Then for lunch, I'll have a. veggie starter if I'm having some. carb-heavy lunch, or I'll have like a. collard green chicken wrap with avocado. and peppers. Mhm. After lunch, I always usually have. something sweet because I love sugar. I. love sugar. So, I have like some. chocolate or a nice cookie that I had, and then I'll try to move my body if I.

can. This is the main thing I can get a. bit difficult. And then the evening is. when I have most carbs. I love. having rice or pasta at night. It just. makes me feel cozy. What time? As early as I can. I'm very un-French in. that way. If I could have dinner at 5:00. p.m., I would. Um but I would have no more social life. >> [laughter]. >> So, maybe after my baby's in bed, so like. 7:30 8:00. And are you having vinegar. with all that meal? Um it depends. If I. don't have a veggie starter, yeah. If I. have a veggie starter, I'll put some. vinegar on the veggie starter.

What else are you working on? What's. next for you, Jessie? One is mental. health cuz I. have a deep passion for mental health. It's the reason I got into glucose in. the first place. So, I want to see if I. can. start putting together some mental. health hacks based on studies. It's. something that's been in the back of my. mind for a long time, and I'm trying to. find the time to go there. And I'm working on new types of content. I'm I'm just endlessly inspired by what. I'm able to to do and how lucky I am to.

like dream up something and be able to. to put it together. So, lots of surprises coming. As you know, we have a. closing [snorts] tradition on this. podcast where the last guest leaves a. question for the next. I do know. And. the question left for you is, if you. could make the world a better place in. one way, what would you change? How. could you make the most impact? I would. maybe outlaw food marketing, or maybe. outlaw. sugary breakfast foods. Something about. making very bad foods that are that look.

healthy, making those illegal. It would. be. illegal to put any health claims on a. product. For example, no added sugars or. vegan or gluten-free. I would outlaw all. of those to help people navigate a bit. better. Or if I could have like one. magic wand to do one thing, maybe I. would say no more fruit juice in. schools. Even that would be really cool. Nine Months That Count Forever, How Your. Pregnancy Diet Shapes Your Baby's. Future. What is the What is the closing. message, Jessie, for.

for pregnant couples and um. anybody who was. who was once conceived themselves? >> [laughter]. >> The closing message is pregnancy is. complicated. The food system we live in. is complicated and toxic. And this is a. very simple four-step trimester by. trimester plan that doesn't require a. lot of money. that is going to help you give your baby. the best foundation during development. Do you think there's things from a. legislation perspective that could be. done? Yeah. The most important is for.

the system, the support system around. the moms. to. help make it really easy for them to eat. eggs and sardines and vegetables and. healthy fats. We have to all support. moms cuz they're creating the next. generation. And they they can't change. the food industry. Things have to shift. around them to make it easier. I think. it's also about education. So, for. example, choline, you know, I said 90%. of moms are not getting enough. And when. people run surveys to see. whether doctors are talking to moms. about choline, only 6% of doctors are.

talking to moms about choline during. pregnancy. So, there's also just a big. information gap somewhere. Things are. broken in lots of different areas. And. maybe it's like, oh, moms can't handle. it, or maybe it's just that doctors are. focused on very short-term like. emergency things to manage. Maybe they. don't have time to talk about nutrition. I don't know, but there's a real gap, and I'm hoping this book will. fill it. I'm hoping, like this is pie in. the sky. Like why don't we prescribe. Nine Months That Count Forever to every.

parent that gets pregnant? This will be. a very good nutrition guide for them, and very simple. I have many people in my life that are. currently pregnant, people that are very. very close to me. And it's funny cuz you. hear the conversations they're having, and it does kind of sometimes feel like. horoscopes and guessing. And no offense [laughter] to people that. love horoscopes, but it does feel a. little bit. sort of pie in the sky thing, yeah. >> I don't know. You don't know. your sign? >> I think. >> Okay, okay, okay. People be like, I knew. he was a Virgo. >> [laughter].

>> I'm not really. I'm Sagittarius. But it is it's it's. it's confusing cuz there's so much. information out there. So, it's. wonderful to have a manual like this. that demystifies an area where there's. just so much information coming at you, and there's so much conflicting. information. And your book is so. importantly based on scientific. consensus and and facts and studies. versus just experience alone. And I. think that's why it's so important. And. whenever the time comes that. me and my fiance are fortunate enough,

hopefully, to. have our own baby, um we're both going to reread this book. because it's hard to find books on this. subject that are so succinct, that break. it down stage by stage. And you as an. author of you'll have a wonderful way of. making things accessible. Even in this conversation, you you're I. don't need to ask you to define. complicated words, and that's reflected. in all the work that you do, and all. everything that you write. So, highly. recommend. Great book to buy for someone. as a gift if you've just found out that. someone in your life is pregnant, but. also great book to buy for you and your. partner if you're going through your own.

pregnancy journey or thinking about. getting pregnant soon. It's also a good. book to buy for your kids, for all the. grandparents-to-be out there. It's a. good book to buy for your kids if. they're going to have a baby soon. Amen. Jessie, thank you. Thank you so much for. having me, Steven. It's always a. pleasure. YouTube have this new crazy algorithm. where they know exactly what video you. would like to watch next based on AI and. all of your viewing behavior. And the. algorithm says that this video is the. perfect video for you. It's different. for everybody looking right now. Check.

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