Real Food Pregnancy Prenatal Nutrition Reviews Summary

Effectiveness of Nutritional Advice

Pros:

• "Real Food for Pregnancy is a deeply researched, science based food guide."
• "I started implementing Lily’s advice in preparation for my first pregnancy and I lost weight and feel amazing."
• "Not only have I learned that there is such a big difference between prenatal vitamins but also how to supplement all nutrients."
• "By eating the foods I was told to avoid like whole fat cows milk, red meat, lots of fats, more salt, and less carbs, my symptoms were so much better."
• "I followed the real food style of eating for months following reading the book, and the ONE month we tried to conceive, we got pregnant."
• "The advice regarding protein intake and blood sugar management really helped me with early nausea."
• "I nourished my body and created a healthy environment for a baby, and believe the food choices I made were what made the difference in getting pregnant."

Cons:

• "This book creates a blueprint, but could also make a mother feel like if she's not doing all of these things she's setting her baby up for failure."
• "A vast majority of Americans don't have access to local, organic, sustainably grown food for every meal and snack."
• "Nutrition isn't always 'one size fits all', and I believe the author tries to address that in places in this book, but the delivery doesn't feel very all-inclusive."
• "If you have at all struggled with disordered eating, I do not recommend."
• "If you don't have unlimited means and/or even a cook or some kind of help during the day, I wouldn't necessarily recommend this resource."
• "I, however, had to limit how much I read the book during pregnancy because I noticed that it was becoming a source of anxiety."
• "I would say that those who dislike this book are most likely vegans/vegetarians with limited diets and who do not want to be told that they have to eat animal products."

Research and Evidence

Pros:

• "For every nutritional claim she makes she follows up with unbiased research and even includes research on meat alternatives."
• "This book is unbiased, non-judgemental, and more strongly cited by evidence-based research than some textbooks I've owned!"
• "Lily Nichols really knows her nutrition information and this book really shows how much research she did."
• "Everything the author writes is backed up by scientific studies (like a true scientific research) with an impressive amount of references listed at the end of the book."
• "Lily Nichols has meticulously researched key topics to write an evidence-based, thoughtful, and practical guide."
• "It’s is so reassuring to see how much research the author has done to inform her writing."
• "As a registered nurse, I can appreciate how evidence-based her content is."

Cons:

• "A couple reviews say this isn't well researched but I am not sure why they felt that way..."
• "Most of her studies are based on rats and most if not all of them can be debunked with other studies."
• "There are occasionally statements where the recommendations don’t appear to be fully backed up by science."
• "Along with cherry picked research for some recommendations, no references for others."
• "It almost feels like the author was paid to promote the dying industry that is animal agriculture now that veganism is more and more popular."
• "If you've read other pregnancy books, most of this will not be new."
• "Especially if you have an eating disorder in your past, I'd skip this book."

Accessibility and Practicality

Pros:

• "This book is very readable even with the amount of science included."
• "This book is so detailed and informative! I have learned so much from it."
• "I love this book and I recommend it to every pregnant person I know."
• "This book is so very thorough and yet easy to understand."
• "This book is a great resource. It is full of great information that is research based."
• "It’s easy to read, to the point and eye opening."
• "This book is one you will keep referring back to and enjoy."

Cons:

• "It absolutely overwhelmed me."
• "The meal plan provided is pretty unrealistic for most."
• "I don't find the meal plans accessible to average people at all."
• "The sections on eating a more plant based diet are clearly extremely biased and incomplete."
• "Reading this makes me feel so inadequate because it's not attainable in this season to eat like the author suggests."
• "However, the issue I had was with the authors languaging, her closed mindedness, her fear-mongering, and her lack of empathy for individuals who do not have the socioeconomic advantage of being able to eat so 'perfectly.'"
• "Many don't have the financial resources or time to source, purchase, and prepare all meals and snacks from scratch and often don't even have easy access to conventionally grown whole foods, let alone local and organic foods."

Quality of Publication

Pros:

• "I am incredibly pleased with how easy this book is to read and understand."
• "I appreciate the breadth and depth of Lily's research and knowledge on the matters she writes about in this current book."
• "The author clearly condenses hundreds of scientific references in an easy to understand format."
• "This thing is loaded with easily digestible information."
• "Lily Nichols does an excellent job combining ancestral wisdom with a scientific approach to make solid dietary recommendations for pregnancy."
• "This is an amazingly thorough guide for pregnant women navigating vital prenatal nutrition in a culture saturated in dietary misinformation, outdated guidelines, and dangerous old wives tales."
• "This book combines actual scientific studies, along with common sense and historical wisdom in an easy to read, non judgmental format."

Cons:

• "This book was NOT for me at all."
• "This book should be renamed 'An Advanced Manual for Orthorexia.'"
• "I’m enjoying the book so far but it’s frustrating that every other page is just literally like not included in the binding."
• "The pages literally fall out of my book as I read them. The binding is terrible!"
• "However I was sent an illegal, fake copy by Amazon in which the author receives no financial compensation and I am upset that this is happening."
• "I don't think the author is coming from a very realistic place in a lot of her suggestions for the majority of Americans."
• "It's not vegan or vegetarian friendly, but that should be clear from the get go so not sure why people are giving it bad reviews over that."