Rest & Digest.

It’s all well and good eating a nutrient dense and varied diet when TTC but if your digestive function is off then you may struggle to absorb all the amazing nutrients your food can potentially provide you with.

Digestion starts in the brain. If you’re constantly eating on the run, shovelling down a bowl full of overnight oats with all the nuts and seeds and trimmings (protein, healthy fats, carbohydrates, tick) while pacing around the house, then they could be wasted mouthfuls.

If you’re always in fight or flight mode when you’re eating then the body is going to think, ‘hang on a sec, let’s ditch this digestion business and focus on staying alert’.

Getting the body into the parasympathetic nervous system (the more chilled out state) is the best way to get the digestive enzymes flowing and give you a better shot at utilising the nutrients from your food. A great way to do this is to do a couple of rounds of box breathing before you eat. So, take a deep breath in to the count of 4, hold your breath for 4, breathe out for 4 and hold the out breath for 4. Repeat this sequence a few times so your body starts to feel in a more calm, relaxed state and able to enjoy your food.

Digestion is both mechanical and chemical which means that chewing also plays an important role in breaking down the nutrients in our food and making them more bioavailable (able to be absorbed and used by your body). See my previous post on this. Basically, less inhaling your food and more time spent savouring it is the key!

If you think your digestion is off then it’s always worth checking in with a professional to see how you might be able to optimise your digestive function while trying to conceive. Those eggs and sperm need all the good nutrients they can get!