Jay Shetty & Jessie Inchauspé ON Important Nutrients During Pregnancy

What if the food you eat today could dictate your child's health, intelligence, and metabolic resilience for the next eighty years?

In this On Purpose episode, Jay Shetty welcomed back the Glucose Goddess, Jessie Inchauspé, a biochemist and best-selling author whose viral science teaching has transformed the way millions understand their relationship with food. In her newest book, Nine Months That Count Forever. In How Your Pregnancy Diet Shapes Your Baby's Future, she explores how a mother's diet during pregnancy serves as a blueprint for her child's lifelong health.

No More Bun in the Oven Metaphor

Jessie Inchauspé told Jay Shetty that she disagrees with the phrase "a pregnant woman has a bun in the oven." According to her, this implies that the mother is merely a passive oven providing heat and time, while the baby is the bun, whose recipe is set in stone at the moment of conception, and whose traits are unchangeable regardless of maternal input.

Inchauspé told Jay Shetty that this depiction is deeply flawed and scientifically inaccurate. In her words, the mother is more like the soil and the baby the seed. She explained that even if a seed has a genetic plan, the soil makes the difference; whether it's rocky gravel or nutrient-rich soil will determine how it adapts, grows, and thrives. A mother's diet co-creates the baby, as it calibrates their metabolism, brain cell count, and resistance to future diseases.

The Four Pillars of Prenatal Nutrition

Jessie Inchauspé shared with Jay Shetty four main nutrients that have a crucial impact on the child's long-term health:

1. Glucose – the mother's glucose levels during pregnancy can program the baby's DNA's vulnerability to type 2 diabetes later in life.¹
2. Choline – this is found primarily in eggs, and it's essential in building the baby's brain; a deficiency can lead to a brain with fewer neurons.²
3. Protein – pregnant women need to consume more protein during pregnancy, as low intake can program the baby to maintain low muscle mass for their entire life.³
4. Omega-3 – these fats, derived from algae or fish, are crucial for brain construction, and are linked to higher IQ in children whose mothers consumed sufficient omega-3s during pregnancy.⁴‍

However, there is a huge gap between the scientific knowledge about an expecting mother's diet and the current dietary habits of the average person. She explained to Jay Shetty that the food industry has created a toxic environment where processed foods are the norm, failing to support maternal health. Roughly 90% of mothers today are missing at least one of these crucial nutrients, specifically choline, protein, and omega-3s.⁵ Yet a large amount consumes three times the recommended amount of sugar during this time.

Epigenetics in the Womb

Jessie Inchauspé explained to Jay Shetty that, while a baby's DNA sequence is set at conception, epigenetics are microscopic switches that control how the genes are expressed. The switches determine whether a gene is activated or silenced, and they are directly influenced by the environment provided in the womb.

A mother can program her child's DNA through diet, Inchauspé told Jay Shetty. High glucose levels can activate diabetes-related genes in the baby at birth, which can persist throughout their entire life. It's a vulnerability decided before the baby is born, and it explains why the mother's health and dietary habits are crucial for her child's health.

The Critical Need for Protein

When it comes to protein, Jessie Inchauspé revealed to Jay Shetty that the recommended protein intake for pregnant mothers was previously set too low and that the updated recommendation is now 50% higher than once thought, equaling 1.5-1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day, which translates to roughly 100 grams daily for most women.⁶‍

Inchauspé explained that protein is not just for building muscle, but also for the immune system, skin, and hormones. If the mother lacks protein, the baby receives a biological signal that it is born into a world of scarcity, triggering epigenetic mechanisms that keep muscle mass low to conserve resources.⁷ However, it's still unclear whether this prenatal conditioning also affects the body's ability to build muscle later in life.

Nausea and a Balanced Diet

In the first trimester of pregnancy, Inchauspé believes that mothers can ignore strict nutritional guidelines if they suffer from severe nausea. She told Jay Shetty that it's a unique period when survival is the priority, as many women can eat only a handful of foods due to first-trimester sickness. She admitted that even she spent a whole month eating only bread because it was all she could keep down.

Once nausea subsides in the second trimester, mothers can begin to follow dietary recommendations and ensure they get all the nutrients their baby needs for growth. She told Jay Shetty that the recommended diet consists of four eggs a day for choline, protein at every meal, fish or omega-3 supplements, and a strict sugar intake. Yet, unlike the popular belief, you mustn't eat for two.

Inchauspé explained to Jay Shetty that by the end of the pregnancy, a baby requires only 70 additional grams of glucose per day, roughly the equivalent of 1.5 cups of rice. The baby's sugar levels mirror the mother's, and her glucose spikes will trigger a spike in the baby's blood sugar, she warned. These spikes trigger inflammation and force the baby to convert excess glucose into fat, while programming the baby to be great at storing fat lifelong, making it potentially difficult to lose weight and maintain good metabolic health.⁸‍

Microglia and the Developing Brain

Jessie Inchauspé told Jay Shetty that humans are born with approximately 100 billion neurons, almost all of which are created in the womb at a rate of 250,000 per minute.⁹ They are never replaced, so a person's neurons in adulthood are the same ones created in their mother's womb. While being formed, microglia cells act as rangers, pruning away damaged or poorly connected neurons to ensure optimal health.

High levels of inflammation can cause microglia to become overactive and, if this happens, they might start destroying healthy, necessary neurons. Inchauspé shared with Jay Shetty studies that show an association between gestational diabetes and a 25% higher risk of autism and other psychiatric disorders in children.¹⁰ While the findings show an association and not a direct correlation, we must pay more attention to glucose management during pregnancy.

The Emotional Weight of Miscarriage

Jessie Inchauspé opened up to Jay Shetty about her pregnancy loss experience. She described the silent miscarriage, where she had no symptoms, and only discovered during a routine ultrasound that her baby had stopped developing. She was overcome with deep grief, not just for the lost pregnancy, but for an entire projected future.

This type of grief, Inchauspé added, is often invisible and misunderstood, as society doesn't hold much space for it. She told Jay Shetty that there is shame and guilt associated with a miscarriage and that many mothers feel responsible, although there was nothing they could have done to prevent it. Inchauspé explained that the body rejects fetuses whose conditions are incompatible with life outside of the womb.

It's crucial to start an open conversation around miscarriage so that the mothers no longer feel alone with their pain. It happens more often than reported, and many women suffer in isolation, although they are not the only ones going through it. Inchauspé encourages normalizing the conversation around this topic and for women to share their stories.

Glucose Spikes’ Effects on the Baby's Health

Jessie Inchauspé shared with Jay Shetty a few tips to maintain a good level of blood sugar during pregnancy:

• Never eat sugar on an empty stomach, as it creates the most violent spikes followed by fatigue.
• Eat fiber-rich vegetables before carbohydrates to create a protective mesh in the intestine and slow glucose absorption.
• Dilute a tablespoon of pasteurized vinegar in a large glass of water before eating carbs, potentially reducing a glucose spike by up to 30%.
• Go for a 10-minute walk after dinner, or do simple calf raises while sitting, to help lower blood glucose spikes and improve the baby's emotional regulation.

The UK government introduced a sugar ration between 1940 and 1953, limiting everyone to about 40 grams of sugar per day. When the restriction was lifted, sugar consumption doubled. Decades later, scientists analyzed the health records of 60,000 people born during and after this period and found that babies developed in the womb when sugar was scarce had a 15% lower likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes throughout their entire lives compared to those born just after the ration ended.¹¹‍

Inchauspé shared with Jay Shetty that, today, most mothers consume 80 grams of sugar or more per day, while the World Health Organization recommends only 25 grams. So, limiting sugar intake during pregnancy can build a powerful, lifelong shield against metabolic disease for your baby.

More From Jay Shetty

Listen to the entire On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast episode “Jessie Inchauspé: 90% of Pregnant People Are Missing THIS Nutrient (Follow THIS Simple Diet To Reduce Glucose Spikes & Protect Your Baby’s Brain & Metabolism)” now in the iTunes store or on Spotify. For more inspirational stories and messages like this, check out Jay’s website at jayshetty.me.

Disclaimer: The practices described are based on personal experiences and preliminary research. They are not medical advice, nor are results guaranteed. Individual outcomes vary, and some claims are still being studied. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before beginning any new health, wellness, or therapeutic practice.

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²Zeisel SH. Choline: essential for brain development and function. Adv Pediatr. 1997;44:263-95. PMID: 9265973.

³Herring CM, Bazer FW, Johnson GA, Wu G. Impacts of maternal dietary protein intake on fetal survival, growth, and development. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2018 Mar;243(6):525-533. doi: 10.1177/1535370218758275. Epub 2018 Feb 22. PMID: 29466875; PMCID: PMC5882021.

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⁶Elango R, Ball RO. Protein and Amino Acid Requirements during Pregnancy. Adv Nutr. 2016 Jul 15;7(4):839S-44S. doi: 10.3945/an.115.011817. PMID: 27422521; PMCID: PMC4942872.

⁷Herring CM, Bazer FW, Johnson GA, Wu G. Impacts of maternal dietary protein intake on fetal survival, growth, and development. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2018 Mar;243(6):525-533. doi: 10.1177/1535370218758275. Epub 2018 Feb 22. PMID: 29466875; PMCID: PMC5882021.

⁸Zhao D, Liu D, Shi W, Shan L, Yue W, Qu P, Yin C, Mi Y. Association between Maternal Blood Glucose Levels during Pregnancy and Birth Outcomes: A Birth Cohort Study. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 24;20(3):2102. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20032102. PMID: 36767469; PMCID: PMC9915873.

⁹S. Ackerman, Discovering the Brain, ch. 6, "The Development and Shaping of the Brain" (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 1992), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234146/. 

¹⁰Xu G, Jing J, Bowers K, Liu B, Bao W. Maternal diabetes and the risk of autism spectrum disorders in the offspring: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Autism Dev Disord. 2014 Apr;44(4):766-75. doi: 10.1007/s10803-013-1928-2. PMID: 24057131; PMCID: PMC4181720.

¹¹Benjamin B. Bargeron et al., “Exposure to Sugar Rationing in the First 1000 Days of Life Protected against Chronic Disease,” Science 386, no. 6721 (2024): eadn5421, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn5421.