Pregnancy Cravings vs. Blood Sugar: The Science No One Talks About with Jessie Inchauspé

Summary

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Podcast Episode Summary

Change Your Brain Every Day

Episode: Pregnancy Cravings vs. Blood Sugar: The Science No One Talks About
Hosts: Dr. Daniel & Tana Amen
Guest: Jessie Inchauspé ("Glucose Goddess", Biochemist, Author)
Date: March 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode delves into the profound impact of maternal blood sugar, diet, and nutrient intake during pregnancy on a child's life-long brain and body health. Dr. Daniel and Tana Amen are joined by French biochemist and bestselling author Jessie Inchauspé, known for translating complex nutrition science into practical advice. Drawing from her new book, Nine Months that Count Forever, Jessie shares research and actionable strategies for expectant mothers regarding blood sugar management, critical nutrients, and debunking myths about eating for two.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Blood Sugar, Pregnancy, and the Baby’s Brain

• Glucose Levels Directly Affect the Developing Baby

  • High maternal blood glucose during pregnancy leads to increased inflammation and overactive microglia in the fetal brain, potentially pruning too many neurons ([00:00]).
  • Correlation between high maternal glucose and increased risk of psychiatric disorders and conditions like autism in children ([00:00], [12:11]).
  • Study: Oslo University found a direct correlation between mother's blood glucose levels before C-section and newborn’s umbilical cord glucose ([08:07]).

  “The leading theory is that that is the reason why we see higher rates of psychiatric disorders in babies of moms who had very high glucose levels during pregnancy.”
  — Jessie Inchauspé ([00:00])

2. Dispelling Myths Around Pregnancy Nutrition

• Many women are not taught about the science of prenatal nutrition; most are told to “eat for two,” wait for ultrasounds, and take general prenatal vitamins ([03:50], [04:20], [07:03]).

• The placenta does not filter excess glucose or toxins; what’s in the mother’s bloodstream directly affects the fetus ([08:05]).

  “There’s this myth about you’re just an oven, a bun in the oven when you’re pregnant. So you have no control. … That’s completely wrong. Your diet when you’re pregnant, co-creates your baby’s genetic plan.”
  — Jessie Inchauspé ([04:20])

3. Dopamine, Cravings, and “Permission” to Eat Sugar

• Biological drive for more sugar during pregnancy may be real; pregnant rats receive more dopamine from sugar, possibly explaining heightened cravings in pregnant humans ([10:40]).
• Social “permission” to indulge or “eat for two” can compound increased sugar intake ([10:29]).

4. The Multi-Generational Impact of Preconception and Pregnancy Diet

• Nutrition prior to conception matters: A woman's lifetime nutrient status affects not just her children, but possibly grandchildren ([04:04]).

• Personal stories from Tana and Jessie highlighted how lack of nutritional guidance led to challenges with PCOS and pre-diabetes ([06:11], [22:02]).

  “When a little girl is born, she’s born with all of the eggs she’ll ever have. And so her nutrition throughout her life matters, not just for her, but for her babies and grandbabies.” — Dr. Daniel Amen ([04:04])

5. Science-Based Nutrition Recommendations for Pregnancy

Four Key Nutritional Priorities ([23:10]):

• 1. Blood Sugar:

  • Target less than 25 grams of added sugar/day (WHO recommendation; average intake is 80g) ([23:10]).

• 2. Choline:

  • 450mg/day needed for brain development (found in egg yolk; ~4 eggs/day meets this need) ([16:03], [23:10]).

• 3. Protein:

  • High need for fetal growth; 70% of pregnant women don’t get enough ([23:10]).

• 4. Omega-3s:

  • 300mg/day, about two servings of fish/week; supplementation in the third trimester led to measurable intelligence gains in studies ([19:27], [23:10]).

  “Failure to provide choline during pregnancy can lead to irreparable damage. … Most pregnant moms are missing essential nutrients that shape their baby’s brain.”
  — Jessie Inchauspé ([16:03], [23:10])

6. Simple Hacks to Stabilize Blood Sugar & Reduce Cravings

• Have a protein-rich, savory breakfast; avoid sweet breakfasts except for whole fruit ([14:09]).

• “Clothing on carbs”: Eat protein, healthy fats, or fiber with carbs to reduce glucose spikes and manage cravings ([14:09], [15:12]).

  “If you want a cookie, a piece of toast, try to add a bit of protein, fat, or fiber to them to reduce the glucose spike…”
  — Jessie Inchauspé ([14:09])

7. Insights About Bread, Sugar, and Fruit

• Bread and other starches increase blood glucose but do not contain damaging fructose, unlike table sugar or sweetened foods ([25:23]).

• Fruit juice is as detrimental as soda regarding glucose spikes; eat whole fruit, not juice ([29:58], [30:44]).

  “Sugar that comes from fruit is no different than sugar in a can of Coca Cola. … It’s not about the source, it’s about the delivery vehicle. In water [like juice]? Bad for you.”
  — Jessie Inchauspé ([29:58]–[30:15])

8. Social Factors, Guilt, and Navigating Information

• Information deficit is a systemic issue, not the mother’s fault ([04:20], [33:09]).

• Social media is a double-edged sword; access to good info is better, but sorting fact from fiction is crucial ([34:23]).

• Guilt and stress during pregnancy are common; the aim is to empower, not blame ([12:44], [33:09], [35:31]).

• Small, science-backed dietary shifts can measurably improve outcomes and can reduce anxiety about health decisions ([23:14]).

  “This information is not meant to guilt trip. It’s meant to help people navigate, educate, help people navigate the pressure.”
  — Jessie Inchauspé ([12:47])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

The Science Behind Mother-Baby Nutrient Transfer

“The placenta trusts that what is in your bloodstream belongs in your baby’s bloodstream.”
— Jessie Inchauspé ([08:05])

On Nutritional Gaps in Pregnancy Education

"Most pregnant moms are told, ‘eat for two, don’t stress, eat whatever you want.’ ... Most eat more sugar during pregnancy than when they’re not pregnant."
— Jessie Inchauspé ([10:27])

About Juice and Modern Fruit

“When people say fruit are natural, like, absolutely not. Did you know that oranges are made up fruit? They did not exist in nature.”
— Jessie Inchauspé ([29:59])

Generational Impact

“I think teenage girls should read it. Before you even think about getting pregnant, you should read this book.”
— Dr. Daniel Amen ([19:05])

The Food Pyramid Critique

“Well, and they just upended the food pyramid, and it should have been upside down a long time ago.”
— Dr. Daniel Amen ([07:39])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–04:20 — Introduction of Jessie Inchauspé; maternal glucose and fetal brain inflammation
• 06:11–08:07 — Tana’s experience with PCOS, gestational diabetes; the reality of nutrition gaps
• 08:05–12:11 — The science of blood sugar transfer, placenta, and psychiatric risk
• 14:09–16:03 — Practical “glucose hacks” for pregnancy & key nutrients (choline, protein)
• 19:27–21:23 — Surprising research on omega-3s, choline, and fetal adaptation to malnutrition
• 23:10–24:37 — Four actionable dietary recommendations for pregnancy
• 25:23–27:15 — Bread vs. sugar, carbohydrate types explained
• 29:58–31:18 — Fruit, juice, fiber, and modern misconceptions explained
• 33:09–36:24 — Stress, guilt, and responsibility in maternal health information
• 36:24–37:22 — Closing discussion on stress, inflammation, and practical mindset

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Practical Takeaways

• Track and manage added sugar—aim <25g/day
• Prioritize whole food sources of choline, protein, and omega-3s
• Juice is not a health food; opt for whole fruits with fiber
• Be wary of conventional wisdom about “eating for two” and the old food pyramid
• Apply “clothing on carbs”—combine carbs with protein, fat, or fiber
• Understand that maternal diet shapes not just the child’s body, but brain metabolism and psychiatric risk

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Summary

Jessie Inchauspé delivers science-backed but accessible advice for mothers and mothers-to-be. The conversation not only debunks persistent myths (like “the baby will take what it needs”) but stresses the lifelong and even generational impact of maternal nutrition. The hosts and guest emphasize realistic steps—simplifying what can feel overwhelming and encouraging a guilt-free, empowered approach to pregnancy nutrition.

This episode is essential listening for expectant parents, healthcare providers, and anyone interested in the links between diet, metabolic health, and neurodevelopment.

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Transcript

[Jessie Inchauspé]

When a baby is exposed to high glucose levels in the womb, inflammation in the brain goes up and these cells, the microglia, which are in charge of pruning neurons as they take shape during pregnancy. Scientists believe that they can become overactive when there's too much inflammation in the womb and they start pruning neurons that don't actually need to be pruned. And the leading theory is that that is the reason why we see higher rates of psychiatric disorders in babies of moms who had very high glucose levels during pregnancy. Jessie in Chaucebe, widely known as the Glucose Goddess, is a biochemist and best selling author with on Nutrition and Glucose Management.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

She provides simple science backed tips to help improve your health.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Sugar that comes from fruit is no different than sugar in a can of Coca Cola. Different source, same molecules. The sugar in the coke also comes from fruit.

[Tana Amen]

I didn't eat a ton of sugar, but I ate a lot of bread. And in my mind now bread is

[Jessie Inchauspé]

sugar, not exactly the same glucose. Your blood sugar levels are impacted by two types of food, starches and sugars. Anything sweet. In starches you only have glucose, which is your body's energy. And it's great in sugars. Here's the thing.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Every day you are making your brain better or you are making it worse. Stay with us to learn how you can change your brain for the better every day. There are days when I need to be at my best. Whether it's back to back clinic sessions, long writing days I or just keeping up with life. That's when I take peak energy from brain md. It gives me clean, steady energy without jitters or crashes. And I'm not the only one who loves it. It just won a 2025 Nextie Award, beating over 500 other supplements. If you want real energy that lasts, check it [e-mail] and use the code podcast20 for 20% off. So welcome change youe Brain Every Day. And today is very special because we're actually going to be talking about generations of people. We have Jessie in Chowsby, who's a French biochemist, she's founder, she's a New York Times and international bestselling author. She's devoted her career to translating cutting edge science into easy tips to help people improve their physical and mental health. I have been on her podcast. We're a huge fan of her. Through her books Glucose Revolution and the Glucose Goddess Method, which sold over 3 million copies in 43 languages, she's reshaped the global conversation around blood sugar. Nine months that count forever. Her Latest book breaks down the complex topic of pregnancy nutrition. Jesse's the founder of the wildly popular social community Glucose Goddess, where she reaches over 7 million people across all platforms. She holds a degree in mathematics from King's College London and biochemistry from Georgetown University. Jesse's new book, Nine Months that Count Forever, How Pregnancy Diet shapes your Baby's Future is out soon. So I love the title.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Thank you.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Of your new book.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Thanks.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

That women don't know.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

It's not their fault, they're not told. Women are not told.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

The educational system. Yeah, but it's not just what you eat when you're pregnant, it's what you eat before you're pregnant.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

When a little girl is born, she's born with all of the eggs she'll ever have. And so her nutrition throughout her life matters, not just for her, but for her babies and grandbabies.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

It's a lot of pressure.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So tell me why you wrote this book.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Well, I wrote this book because I had my baby boy last year, so he's now seven months old. And when I became pregnant, because scientific research is my job, I decided to research everything I could on the topic of pregnancy nutrition. And at first, this started as a personal endeavor. I made a little checklist for myself. Okay, eat this every day. It's going to help the baby, et cetera. And then I started sharing what I had learned with my pregnant friends. The emotions ranged from disbelief to shock to empowerment. And I thought, hey, we need to make this more widely available. It is insane that the essential scientific information on how to eat when you're pregnant is not widely distributed to pregnant moms. I feel like this book should be almost prescribed the moment you get a positive pregnancy test, because there's easy things you can do that literally shape your baby's health for life. But when you're pregnant, you're kind of told, just wait around, don't stress, just come back for the next ultrasound. There's this myth about you're just an oven, a bun in the oven when you're pregnant. So you have no control. Just passively, you know, make sure you stay at the right temperature and just wait. That's completely wrong. Your diet when you're pregnant, co creates your baby's genetic plan. Just like when you plant a seed to make a beautiful apple tree. If you have the choice of planting that seed in a gravelly driveway or in a nice fertilized plot of land in the back of your garden, you choose the plot of land in the back of your garden. Right. So as A pregnant mother, you have quite a big responsibility to give your baby everything that he needs. And today, 90% of moms are missing essential nutrients that shape their baby's brain in the room. So that's why I wrote this book, because it's very important that everybody knows about it.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I love that so much.

[Tana Amen]

Yeah, it's so interesting. I actually remember feeling very much like that. And it was so interesting because I had a hard time being pregnant. I had PCOS when I didn't know I had pcos. Took me four years to get pregnant, got pregnant. No one really talked about nutrition with me. And I was a nurse, and I was very into fitness, but didn't realize that fitness doesn't always equal health. Right. Um, and I thought I was doing fine. Cause I wasn't overweight, and nothing was wrong per se. And all of a sudden I was told, oh, you need to come into, like, your blood sugar's high. We want to make sure you don't have gestational diabetes. I'm like, what are you talking about? So it's very interesting that you say that, because it. Even for people who have more knowledge than average, it's not. It's just not that accessible. I feel like it's more accessible now with social media, but it really wasn't something that was widely talked about.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

What was your gestational diabetes test? Did you have it?

[Tana Amen]

I did. They did the glucose tolerance test.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

And did you have diabetes?

[Tana Amen]

I did not, but I was. I was. My glucose was high. My. My blood sugar was high. And so that's. That should have been my first clue that I had pcos.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Right.

[Tana Amen]

I mean, that there was something wrong. But the point is, it just wasn't it. No one really said, hey, this is what you should do. You know, I was super active during my pregnancy, so I thought I could, you know, just as long as I eat healthy, you know?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yep.

[Tana Amen]

But what does that mean?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Which means the food pyramid.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Exactly. So nine servings of carbs per day. Right, Right. No, don't do that.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Well, and they just upended the food pyramid, and it should have been upside

[Tana Amen]

down a long time ago.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Absolutely, absolutely. And that's a great outcome. On the topic of glucose in pregnancy, I think one thing that we don't realize is that our blood sugar levels as the pregnant mother is mirrored in our baby's blood sugar level. So there's this other myth. So many myths around pregnancy, by the way. There's this other myth that your baby will get what he needs from you.

[Tana Amen]

Yep.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

And there's a myth.

[Tana Amen]

They're just selectively gonna.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Exactly. It's like, don't worry, your baby will take what he needs and leave what he doesn't need. That's totally not true. So when you're pregnant, you're building a baby, and you're also building the placenta, right? This temporary organ that brings in close contact your bloodstream and your baby's bloodstream to exchange nutrients and waste. Now, the thing is, the placenta is not a strict filter. The placenta is kind of like if it's in high concentration in the mom's blood, it probably should be in high concentration in the baby's blood. The placenta trusts that what is in your bloodstream belongs in your baby's bloodstream. Which is why, you know, if you do drugs, are exposed to cigarette smoke, et cetera, during pregnancy, it's also going to go through to your baby's bloodstream. But for glucose, it's the same. The higher mom's glucose level during pregnancy, the higher her baby's glucose levels. And they do these incredible studies. One in Oslo University, they took 200 moms who were going to have a C section. Right before the C section, they measured the mom's circulating glucose level. And right after the C section, they took a sample of the umbilical cord blood of the baby. And the umbilical cord blood basically mirrors the baby's internal blood composition. And they saw a perfect correlation. Low and healthy glucose levels in the mom. Baby has low glucose levels. Very high glucose levels in the mom. The baby has very high glucose levels and has had them all throughout pregnancy and at birth. And high glucose levels, as you guys know very well in an adult are bad. And also in a baby, they're not optimal. A baby, when he is exposed to high glucose levels in the womb, experiences inflammation, has to turn that glucose into fat to protect himself. And things don't stop at birth. If a baby has been exposed to high glucose levels in the womb, he is more likely to also have diabetes as a kid, a teenager and adult, and to have obesity as a kid, a teenager and an adult. The level of glucose in your blood as a mom during pregnancy shapes your baby's metabolism for life, which is wild, because if you look at the surveys, most pregnant moms are told, eat for two. Don't stress, eat whatever you want. You know, make sure you eat enough. And so today, most pregnant moms eat more sugar during pregnancy than when they're not pregnant.

[Tana Amen]

That's crazy.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Do you think it's because they give themselves the permission. Because I'm pregnant and I'm eating for two and I'm stressed and that's part of it.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

But also the brain changes when you're pregnant. There's a study on rats that shows that when a rat is pregnant, she gets more dopamine from sugar than when she's not pregnant. Yeah. And so we don't have that data in adults, but it's possible that. So it's more enjoyable. So it's more enjoyable. So that cookie, when you're pregnant, it tastes potentially much better than when you're not pregnant. So it's that. But biologically it makes sense. Right. When you're pregnant, you want to eat

[Tana Amen]

more sugar because back in the day

[Jessie Inchauspé]

it was good to eat. Yeah.

[Tana Amen]

We needed it for survival.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Survival, exactly.

[Tana Amen]

But we don't today.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yeah, it's totally backfiring. So it's possibly that the sort of permission. Oh, you know, some of my friends have said, oh, I'm gonna get fat anyway, so I might as well eat lots of pancakes, you know, because there's all these problems about body image and weight, etc. I think dopamine has something to do with it also. So we're in a situation today where many moms are eating an amount of sugar during pregnancy that correlates to higher rates of diabetes in their baby. And since you both are, you know, experts in the brain, there's something else that's really interesting. So when a baby is exposed to high glucose levels in the womb, inflammation in the brain goes up. Right. And these cells, the microglia, which are in charge of pruning neurons as they take shape during pregnancy. Scientists believe that they can become overactive when there's too much inflammation in the womb and they start pruning neurons that don't actually need to be pruned. Oh, no. And the leading theory is that that is the reason why we see higher rates of psychiatric disorders in babies of moms who had very high glucose levels during pregn.

[Tana Amen]

Oh, interesting.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yeah, I mean, it's. The science is just mind blowing. So the stat is if you had gestational diabetes, your baby is 25% more likely to be diagnosed with autism. Isn't that insane? So the rates are still small. Right. 3 in 100 kids with autism versus 4 in 100 kids if you've had gestational diabetes. What happens in the womb shapes the brain. There's so much stuff going on. I'm not saying it's causal, I'm not saying that gestational diabetes causes autism, but There's a link there with inflammation and high glucose levels and how the brain.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So many different associations.

[Tana Amen]

Guilt tricked every mom on the planet. So we have to give that.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yeah, that's really important. So. So guilt is a big thing, right? I think when you're pregnant, there is a sense of responsibility because you're building another human. And this information is not meant to guilt trip. It's sort of meant to help people navigate, educate, help people navigate the pressure, the innate pressure. So, for example, if you just focus a little bit on reducing your added sugar intake, you can get that to a level that's lower than it might have been. Not saying that you're going to cause or not cause autism, but there's a link there. The amount of sugar you eat seems to impact your baby's brain, and people have to know this.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

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[Tana Amen]

So what is. So what are the things we do that. I think what I was getting at is what, what can we do that make it better? Like, let's, let's talk about what do we do that makes it better.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

So one thing about pregnancy is that you have bigger blood sugar swings than when you're not pregnant because of the change in hormones. So if you eat something that's high in carbs, your blood sugar will go higher than when you're not pregnant and then will crash lower. And this lower crash can increase your desire for more sugar. So I have these, what I call these glucose hacks, which are really simple nutrition tips you can put in place to keep your glucose levels more steady and not trigger more cravings. For example, have a protein rich, savory breakfast, so you start the day with a nice big dose of protein. You avoid anything sweet in the morning, except whole fruit for taste. For example, if in the first trimester, like me, you're incredibly nauseous, which you know is a very difficult experience, you can try to do what I call put clothing on your carbs. So if you want a cookie, a piece of toast, if you want those carbs, try to add a bit of protein, fat or fiber to them to reduce the glucose spike they create. And this can help you regulate your glucose levels a little bit to not exacerbate even more cravings for sugar.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So give us an example of a couple of of the close on carbs.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Oh, breakfast people. Well, my favorite breakfast is always around eggs. So nice. Omelette with feta and tomatoes, some sunnicide up eggs, scrambled eggs with leftover meat and vegetables from dinner. If you're not a big egg fan, what about a nice full fat Greek yogurt with some berries, unsweetened nut butter for example. I'm also a big fan of dinner leftovers for breakfast. Just put it in the pan, crack some eggs in there.

[Tana Amen]

Who has time for all that? I'm just like make, make 4 servings out of it.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Totally. Oh, it's the best. It's really good. And eggs are also awesome because they contain choline, which is a very important molecule for a baby's brain. Yeah. So choline is in the egg yolk. So if you can't eat a lot of eggs because you don't like them, focus on the yolk. That's where the most brain building nutrition is for your baby.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So I wonder if that can help prevent pregnancy dementia.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

What's pregnancy dementia?

[Tana Amen]

I say that I got pregnancy dementia and it never went away when I wasn't pregnant anymore.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

So you mean you.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So so many women complain of cognitive impairment after they have the baby. Now, part of it is their progesterone levels drop like a rock. Part of it is tired, part of it is their sleep dramatically. But of, well, probably diets related because

[Tana Amen]

virtually everything doesn't make that healthy.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Well, for choline, for example. So your baby needs a lot of choline to build his brain. And so your choline needs during pregnancy go up. And if you don't eat enough choline, your body's going to take from your reserves. And there's a limit to that. Your body will always prioritize your own choline levels versus your babies, and so your choline levels are gonna get depleted. The problem is your baby needs choline for his brain, but the mama also needs choline for her brain. So if your baby is taking all the choline that he needs and you're not eating any to balance it out, it's possible it impacts your brain. I mean, if you look at low choline levels in adults, they're linked to all sorts of mental health issues. So yes, choline's super important. You want 450 milligrams per day. One egg has 125 milligrams. That's why I just had four eggs every day. And I was like, then it's a good one.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Actually start every day with three poached eggs.

[Tana Amen]

Yeah.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Nice.

[Tana Amen]

It's interesting because a lot of what you're talking about is how I managed my PCOS and my tendency towards insulin resistance is I stopped eating carbs at all for breakfast. And I remember people criticizing me and going, oh, that's disordered eating. I'm like, why is it disordered eating that I'm paying attention to my blood sugar? I'm not doing this because I don't love carbs. I love carbs. They don't love me. So whenever I eat a lot of carbs or a carb rich breakfast, I, I just genetically am prone to get insulin resistance and pcos and have all of those side effects. But it's just so funny when you start doing something like that. People are like, that's disordered eating.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

You ask your mom what she ate when she was pregnant with you.

[Tana Amen]

My mom, that's a whole discussion my. I was a latchkey kid. We were very poor. My mom smoked cigarettes like there was no diet. I captured crunch, lucky charms and frosted flakes my entire childhood, so.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

And her grandmother had diabetes. Yeah. What was the most surprising thing, you know, as, as an author and I decided to tackle a new topic like pain. I have a new book out on pain and it just shocked me that 80% of my of people my age have abnormal back MRIs who have no pain at all. And I was like, shocking. Like I think about that all, it's like, it's not the abnormal mri, it's how my body sort of works around things. When you wrote this book, which I think is just so important and I think teenage girls should read it. Before you even think about getting pregnant, you should read this book and you

[Tana Amen]

should be working on this for like you said, a year before you get pregnant.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

I think what was some of the most surprising things for you?

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Some studies really blew my mind. I was, I think overall shocked at the amount of evidence that existed on this topic that I had never come across and that nobody had ever told me about.

[Tana Amen]

And you're a biochemist.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

I know.

[Tana Amen]

And I'm a nurse.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Exactly, exactly. I think one of the most shocking things is, for example, the studies on supplementing with omega threes during pregnancy and how when you supplement with a gram and a half of omega 3s per day in the third trimester, scientists are able to measure a 4 point increase in IQ in the kids at 4 years old. Isn't that crazy? What this is? This is wild. So these kinds of studies really blew my mind. And kudos to the very patient scientists who are really looking at how small shifts in what you eat when you're pregnant can be measured years later in the children. For example, on choline. So choline supplementation during pregnancy is linked to a measurable increase in this very specific test, which is how quickly a baby reacts to images on a screen in the first year of age. And this test is used, you probably know about this, this test is used because it correlates to adult IQ levels.

[Tana Amen]

Right?

[Jessie Inchauspé]

And so they see with just one supplement a day during pregnancy, a measurable difference between groups in the babies. I mean, it's shocking. And then I understood something else that I found really interesting. So all the myths sort of cracked open for me and I thought, okay, my child in my room, my son, he is adapting to the nutrition I'm giving him. And he's also using this nutrition and the food that comes to him through the placenta as a way to understand what kind of world he's going to be born into. Especially the studies on protein. The studies on protein really took me by surprise. So in the case of protein, it seems that a child uses the amount of protein that you eat as a message or as a way to understand how much protein will be available in the world to him.

[Tana Amen]

So it's almost like a survival. Am I being born into a world of famine or deprivation?

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Exactly. And actually there are historical famines that have taken place, and from them we learn a lot and we see that babies who were in the room during famines have adaptations in their body that makes them more vulnerable to things like diabetes or heart disease, etc, so that's probably what it is. It's fascinating me.

[Tana Amen]

I'm just saying, it's just so interesting.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Did you not get enough protein?

[Tana Amen]

No, My grandmother, like.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

I'm just saying, it's very interesting, that topic. So when I learned about this, I was like, mom, okay, so interesting.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

So maybe you can have more empathy for your mother.

[Tana Amen]

I have a lot of empathy for my mother now. I was just. It's.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Maybe that's why she was a little crazy. It wasn't just the red hair, but

[Jessie Inchauspé]

I have a similar story. So when I was 25 years old, I was on the cusp of pre diabetes and I didn't really understand why. And so as I'm reading all this book, I mean, learning about these studies and writing this book, I Call my mom. And I'm like, mom, what did you eat when you're pregnant? When you're pregnant with me? She said I had Special K every morning with like 10 teaspoons of sugar on top and a big orange juice and a Diet Coke. It's like, did you eat any extract? No eggs left. Oh, man. So, you know, I always wonder, like, maybe would my experience in my brain today be different? If my mom had eaten enough choline and omega 3s while she was pregnant with me, would I. Would my experience of life in my brain be different? Would I feel better? I don't know. It's fascinating. We have no idea, but what happens during pregnancy.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

But probably yes.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Probably, yes.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Probably, yes.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

It shapes your.

[Tana Amen]

So that's the biological. I mean, we always, you know, talk about how you shouldn't be have sex,

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

but then you probably wouldn't have written this.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Totally.

[Tana Amen]

It's true. But we talk about how you shouldn't feel stressed when you're pregnant because that translates to your baby. But when you think about what you eat might actually affect how they see the world and how they interpret the world, that's just a very unique.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

And it's also found that it's like the actual building blocks of your baby's body.

[Tana Amen]

Right?

[Jessie Inchauspé]

It's like, it's structural. It's the biology. And we can't measure everything. These amazing scientists, they've measured, okay, iq, reaction time, blah, blah, blah. But so many things we can't measure. There's no test for, like how it feels to be inside your own brain. You don't know. So it really is. Is mind blowing. And then what I wanted to do with this book is put everything on the table and say, here are four easy things you can do that have a measurable impact. So the first one is keeping your blood sugar steady and trying to stay under 25 grams of added sugar per day. That is the World Health organization recommendation. So 25 grams or less. Most pregnant moms are eating 80 grams. So trying to get under the WH recommendation, very easy choline. American association of Pediatrics says this is very important. And failure to provide choline during pregnancy can lead to irreparable damage. Right. Nobody tells moms about this. So 450 milligrams of choline, four eggs a day, gets you there. Protein. 70% of moms are not eating enough protein during pregnancy because your needs go way up as you're building another body. And then omega threes. So 300 milligrams a day, which works out to two servings of fish per week. These, to me, are the four most important building blocks. It's what I did because I was overwhelmed. It's overwhelming, the information, but that's what I did. And that's what I believe to be the biggest bangs for your buck that you can have as a pregnant mom.

[Tana Amen]

I think that's great. So I think, you know, making sure that because moms, when we get pregnant, most moms want to do the right thing for their babies, they just don't really know what to do. And then they have this stressful. Then they feel guilty. So I think making it really simple, like this is a really important thing. Just like it's like just start doing the best you can. Start somewhere because it can feel overwhelming. And I think that that's really great. You just give them a simple plan to follow and explain why. And what do you think about act. So bread versus sugar. So I know I didn't eat a ton of sugar when I was pregnant, although I wasn't as careful as. As that and as careful as I could have been and should have been, knowing what I know now, I didn't know then, but I ate a lot of bread. And in my mind now, bread is sugar.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

So it's not exactly the same.

[Tana Amen]

It's not.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Okay, so glucose, which is your body's energy, your blood sugar. This is where it gets confusing. The blood sugar, glucose. So glucose, your blood sugar levels are impacted by two types of food. Starches, Bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, oats. Those are starches. And sugars. Anything sweet from a cookie to an apple pie to a banana.

[Tana Amen]

Like added sugar.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Starches and sugars. Yeah. So in starches, you only have glucose, which is your body's energy, and it's great in sugars. Here's the thing. There is glucose, but there's also fructose. 50, 50 glucose. Fructose. Right. Now, you as a human and your baby does not need any fructose, right? Zero fructose, your baby and you need glucose. So eating bread gives you just glucose. Fructose is damaging. We want to reduce it as much as possible. Yeah. And whole fruit, it's fine. But in other sweet foods like desserts and stuff, it's for pleasure, it's not for your health. So when you're pregnant, your baby needs about 70 grams of glucose per day. In the very end of the third trimester, that's about a cup and a half of rice. At the very end of pregnancy, when he's the biggest, he's going to be because he's about to be born. Previous to that in pregnancy, you need much less. And so it's much better to get this glucose from starches that contain just glucose versus getting that glucose from sugars, which also contains this detrimental fructose. So eating bread is much better for you, for your baby, for everything than eating a cookie. They're not the same.

[Tana Amen]

And should you still be? If you are, let's just say you're someone like me, where blood, you tend to react very quickly. Your blood sugar is not, you know, is not ideal all the time. If you eat a lot of carbs, should you be checking your blood sugar and basing it on that?

[Jessie Inchauspé]

This is up for debates, right? It depends. I wore a glucose monitor 247 during pregnancy, but I do that all the time anyway. And I don't get anxiety from it. I find it.

[Tana Amen]

No, I actually like it. It's like a food nanny.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Okay, well, you have to be careful. Like this. Is these monitors useful? As long as they don't become a source of anxiety?

[Tana Amen]

I just find it so informational.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Cool. Then in that case, I would say it's useful. But if it creates stress, then it's not very useful. I would say yeah. And so in terms of.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Unless it's the right.

[Tana Amen]

And do you find that there are

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

actually a lot of people come to me, I'm a psychiatrist, and they go, I don't want to be anxious. And I'm like, no, that's not the goal. We want to take your anxiety maybe 0 to 100 from 80 to 15,

[Tana Amen]

because you want to, but you want

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

some anxiety because to help you make the right decisions. And when I wore a glucose monitor, oatmeal is completely out. It just spikes my blood sugar. Even steel cut oatmeal and cherries. I love cherries, but they really do a bad thing to my blood sugar. And so I had to break up with cherries.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Or you could have almonds with the cherries.

[Tana Amen]

There you go. What I noticed is if I ate certain things, like if I put almond butter, I'll do a half of an apple instead of a whole apple and I'll put almond butter on it. Didn't spike it the same way? Yeah. So what about that from the monitor,

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

that fruit juice going back to the fructose argument is you're doing something good for yourself. It's like a they want. And then if your children will drink their glass of orange juice, that you're really doing something good for them.

[Tana Amen]

We're not fans, we're just.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Did you really want to ask me that question?

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Okay. I have so much to say about this. Okay, so do you. Do you guys have pets? Do you have a dog? No.

[Tana Amen]

Yeah.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Yeah.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

You have a dog. What kind of dogs? What kind of dog?

[Tana Amen]

Shepherds.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Shepherds. Okay. So all the dogs that exist today.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

Now we have to show you pictures, please.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Let's take a break. All the dogs that exist today, they're all descendants of wolves. And humans have been breeding wolves together to make like shepherds and chihuahuas, etc. So humans design different breeds. Right. And in the same way, humans have been breeding fruit for centuries, in millennia to make them extra sweet and extra juicy. So when you look at it, for example, an apple today, and you look at an apple a million years ago, very different fruit.

[Tana Amen]

Very different.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

All the fruit today are berries, are different juicy desserts. So that's the first thing. So when people say fruit are natural, like, absolutely not. Did you know that oranges are made up fruit? They did not exist in nature. Humans made up oranges by breeding two other species of fruit. So the fruit we eat today is not natural. I have to scream this from the rooftop. However, fruit in its whole form contains fiber. Therefore, the sugar in the fruit is slowed down by the fiber and you get less of a glucose spike. So whole fruit, always. Fine. I have nothing against whole fruit. Now, what happens when you juice a piece of fruit? You throw some stuff away. That stuff is the fiber.

[Tana Amen]

The good stuff.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yeah, the good stuff. So you end up.

[Tana Amen]

What happens when you juice seven of them to make a glass? You.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

You get rid of all the fiber and you end up with water and sug. And here's the thing. Sugar that comes from fruit is no different than sugar in a can of Coca Cola. Yeah, agree. Same molecules.

[Tana Amen]

Yep.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Different source. Same molecules. In fact, sometimes in Coca Cola, the sugar comes from beets. Sugar beets, that's also a fruit. The sugar in the Coke also comes from fruit. So it doesn't matter what the source of the sugar is. What matters is its delivery vehicle in water. Bad for you, Bad news. No fiber, Big spike in a piece of whole fruit. It's fine. So fruit juice is not a health food. I do not recommend drinking it ever. I do not recommend giving it to your kids, ever. It's for pleasure. It's a dessert.

[Tana Amen]

And wouldn't you. Haven't you seen studies showing that kids are more obese because of the increase in how much we give them juice? But also non alcoholic, fatty liver and crazy things we shouldn't be saying? Yeah, in young people.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yeah. The. Yeah. The consumption of sugar, sugary beverages. Fruit juice. Soda is a big link to childhood obesity, 100%. And there's been incredible marketing campaigns trying to convince us that fruit juice is very healthy. So kudos to those advertising geniuses. But today we have to set that aside and understand fruit juice is not a health food. It's just sugar water.

[Tana Amen]

We agree with you.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

We just were curious if you. I'm so glad.

[Tana Amen]

We were curious if, you know.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Okay. So I was in this podcast one time with a French guy and he said, oh, but my kids, they love fruit juice. I can't not give them fruit. They ask for it. And I go, matthew, if your kids came to you and said, daddy, I really want a cigarette, would you give them the cigarette? So tell them what you say. He always says, if they really ask

[Tana Amen]

for cocaine, would you give them cocaine? So very similar.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Exactly. So, I mean, I. I'm hoping we're unpacking this as a generation, but yeah, fruit juices. I'm not serving my son fruit juice.

[Tana Amen]

Right.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Let's be same.

[Tana Amen]

We didn't either.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

No. Yeah.

[Tana Amen]

It just wasn't.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It just wasn't gonna reveal a multi generational impact book. So we want to really help a lot of people get it. Nine months that count. I love this ever how your pregnancy diet shapes your baby's future.

[Tana Amen]

I am convinced that if I had had something like this a year before I got pregnant, I would have had way less issues. Because I think if you focus on it, this preconception medicine, if you focus on it a year before you get pregnant, you just get your body so ready. And I, I just. Even as someone who had more knowledge than average, there's just so much that you can prepare for and it just makes your whole pregnancy experience very different.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

And it could make conceiving easier too.

[Tana Amen]

It took me four years.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

So choline, for example, so low choline levels in a mom are linked to more brain defects and so more risk of miscarriage. All this stuff in here helps pre pregnancy as well. But in particular, this book is really focused on the nine months of pregnancy when your bloodstream and your baby's bloodstream merge and you're in charge of bringing your baby all these nutrients that nobody tells you about. How. How could mothers know all this stuff? Nobody. Nobody tells you.

[Tana Amen]

They think if they take their vitamins, it's what they need to think about.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

But I want to remove the pointing the finger. It's not the mom's fault, right? No, it's not. For the moms to feel guilty. It's for the system that's not giving them this information. And the stuff in here is not groundbreaking stuff. I mean global health agencies are, have been recommending this for years and decades but somehow it just hasn't made it through to people.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

It hasn't made it so let me noise wait. We often talk. We wrote a book together called the Brain Warriors Way because we believe you're in a war for the health of your brain. Everywhere you go, someone's trying to shove bad food down your throat that will kill you early. And large corporations spend billions of dollars not to heal you, but to hook you. And information like this is so important because I believe everybody wants to do the right thing for their children but they've been brainwashed that here, take this fruit juice like substance, give it to your children, put it in their lunch and somehow it's good for them. But it's a lie.

[Tana Amen]

Couldn't be any more so and just to give you an idea, I mean the age of social media can be double edged sword for sure, but at least there's more information out there. You just now have to figure out what is real and what's not. But when I was pregnant I think I was overly concerned and being a nurse and seeing what I saw in the hospital, I was so freaked out that I, you know, it's like so many, I'm like how does anybody have a healthy baby? Like so many things can go wrong. And I remember reading everything, going back over all my textbooks, oh my God, my baby's gonna be born with this, they're gonna be born with that. They're not. I mean how does anyone have a normal healthy baby anymore, right? Because there's just so many things that could possibly go wrong. I worked in a high risk hospital where so I was like so freaked out and I remember my doctor telling me stop reading, stop it. Like stop reading your books. You need to just enjoy being pregnant. Take your just, I mean take your, you know, your vitamins and just knock it off and just enjoy being pregnant. So she really didn't want me like doing that and but I never really got any more information than that. So there's a balance, right? You don't want to stress yourself out, but you do want to be armed with the right information.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yes. And I would say two things about this. From my experience and my friend's experience. It's very rare to be pregnant and have zero stress. It's very rare to be pregnant and not worry about anything. So in since you're going to be worrying about probably something and feel some sense of pressure, I think my book helps you navigate that with knowing what to do. My doctor also told me not to stress. So I had a miscarriage in my first pregnancy, a very late one at three months. And so when I was pregnant with my son, I was a big B scar. Stress the whole pregnancy, day zero to day 280. I was stressed. And my doctor was like, stop stressing. It's bad for your baby. I was like, f you. That's the worst advice you could ever give me. So I was very stressed. But I'm hoping that the, the choline and the omega 3s and the nice blood sugar levels have helped buffer a little bit of that. But it's, it's confusing. It's a difficult experience. It's difficult. And I hope this brings a bit

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

of so to add on to this. It's like how to manage your stress during pregnancy, how not to believe every stupid thing you think, how to guard your mind. But the one question that keeps coming back to me is, is this good for my baby's brain or bad for it? And is, is this good for my brain or bad for it? Because it's the same thing, right? High blood sugar levels, blood vessels become brittle, they start to break. Healing becomes impossible. It's like, no, you don't want high blood levels. Inflammation is the cornerstone. Blood sugar. Because then you're going to make all sorts of bad decisions.

[Tana Amen]

Inflammation is the cornerstone of every chronic illness.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Yeah.

[Tana Amen]

So.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

All right, well, we have to stop. But what a joy. Thank you so much for having me for coming. Nine months that count forever. You can get this anywhere. Great books are sold and we will do whatever we can to support it.

[Jessie Inchauspé]

Thank you so much for having me at Amen Clinics.

[Dr. Daniel Amen]

You're not just seeing one doctor. You're getting a team with over 50 specialists, including psychiatrists, naturopaths, nutritionists and therapists. We treat the whole. You learn more@ AmenClinics.com I hope you enjoyed this as much as Tana and I did. Please subscribe to the podcast. Leave a comment Question A review would be so grateful.