Reviewed March 2016

So if I were you, I would start making sure that I had enough omega-3 fat in my diet, long before conception, and then, of course, once I conceived, I’d really start socking that stuff to me. Red Alaskan sockeye salmon is loaded with DHA.

If you’re vegetarian, you can get it made from marine algae. One of the brands that makes it from marine algae is called Neuromins. You want to shoot for at least 400 milligrams a day of this amazing substance.

And by the way, for anybody at any age, fish oil has been shown to reduce all-cause mortality, meaning everything that you could possibly die prematurely from, fish oil helps you prevent, and it sure does wire in a healthy baby’s immune system and brain and so on.

And what happens in the women I’ve told to take the fish oil, I later see their babies, and they have the smartest babies I’ve ever seen. This is just the truth. And the data on it is overwhelming.

The other thing you should have preconception is high levels of folic acid. A supplement should contain at least 800 micrograms of folic acid, daily.

And again, the women whose bodies are replete in folic acid before they conceive are the ones least likely to have birth defects such as spina bifida and even cleft lip and palate. In fact, we’ve got data on people who have followed a very good preconception nutrition program, and their rate of congenital defects, birth defects in their babies is much, much lower. So please take my advice.

If you are thinking of having a baby at any time, you start to feed your baby right two to three years before he or she is born.