A food-first preconception nutrition plan supporting your bowel regularity, iron and ferritin status, magnesium, folate, methylation, normal hormone metabolism and overall nutritional sufficiency.
The goal is not perfection or restriction. The aim is to make nutritious eating simple, enjoyable and sustainable.
Drink water throughout the day rather than a very large amount at night.
1–2 servings daily. Prioritise vitamin-C-rich choices: orange, guava, pawpaw, bell peppers. Vitamin C helps absorb non-heme iron from beans, greens and seeds.
A generous serving at lunch and dinner. Main mix: bell peppers, carrot, cabbage, green beans, peas. Leafy greens: ugu and/or spinach.
1–2 tbsp daily. Core combination: pumpkin + flax + chia, with hemp rotated in as desired.
Daily walking or gentle movement, ideally a short walk after meals when practical.
Both iron types are used. Heme: beef, mackerel, chicken, a little liver. Non-heme: beans, leafy greens (including ewedu), pumpkin seeds, egusi, oats, paired with vitamin C.
If ferritin is low, food alone may not restore stores quickly. Your ferritin result will guide whether iron supplementation is needed.
Fibre from beans, oats, flax, chia, vegetables, fruit, avocado and whole-food carbohydrates, increased gradually with enough water and movement.
Pumpkin seeds, egusi, beans, leafy greens, oats, chia, flax and avocado raise baseline intake. Your supplement is considered separately, based on needs and food intake.
Beans, dark leafy greens, avocado, citrus and liver, repeated through the week. A folate-rich diet is a foundation, but it does not replace the recommended periconception folic-acid strategy, so the prenatal should be chosen deliberately.
We support normal metabolism and elimination through fibre, regular bowel movements, cabbage and other cruciferous vegetables, greens, flax, chia, beans, protein and micronutrients. No single food is claimed to lower estrogen.
Protein, B vitamins, choline, folate, energy and minerals from eggs, fish, beans, beef, chicken and greens. Liver itself is one small serving about once a week.
Instead of one high-dose supplement, the plan supplies a broad nutrient foundation repeatedly through whole foods.
| Nutrient | Main food sources |
|---|---|
| Folate | Beans, leafy greens, avocado |
| B12 | Fish, eggs, beef, liver |
| B6 | Fish, chicken, beans, banana |
| Choline | Eggs, liver, fish |
| Riboflavin / B2 | Eggs, meat, fish |
| Protein / methionine | Eggs, fish, meat, beans |
| Zinc | Beef, eggs, seeds, beans |
| Magnesium | Seeds, beans, greens, oats |
These are estimated daily totals from the portions in this plan, not laboratory-precise values. Real numbers vary with mackerel size, type of beans, cooking method, vegetable proportions, egg size and the cut of beef or chicken.
| Day | Protein | Fibre | Iron | Magnesium | Folate | B12 | B6 | Choline | Zinc | Vit C | Omega-3* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1† | ~119 g | ~41 g | ~17 mg | ~477 mg | ~840 µg DFE | ~16 µg | ~2.4 mg | ~755 mg | ~13 mg | ~172 mg | ~3.4 g |
| 2 | ~126 g | ~48 g | ~20 mg | ~594 mg | ~754 µg DFE | ~20 µg | ~3.2 mg | ~820 mg | ~22 mg | ~212 mg | ~8.1 g |
| 3† | ~144 g | ~41 g | ~20 mg | ~522 mg | ~760 µg DFE | ~22 µg | ~3.0 mg | ~1,230 mg | ~18 mg | ~170 mg | ~3.5 g |
| 4 | ~123 g | ~46 g | ~18 mg | ~589 mg | ~684 µg DFE | ~16 µg | ~3.1 mg | ~804 mg | ~16 mg | ~169 mg | ~8.2 g |
| 5 | ~140 g | ~51 g | ~20 mg | ~496 mg | ~837 µg DFE | ~6 µg | ~3.1 mg | ~914 mg | ~22 mg | ~303 mg | ~1.0 g |
| 6 | ~124 g | ~49 g | ~20 mg | ~583 mg | ~674 µg DFE | ~20 µg | ~3.1 mg | ~816 mg | ~22 mg | ~218 mg | ~8.1 g |
| 7 | ~134 g | ~44 g | ~19 mg | ~473 mg | ~829 µg DFE | ~21 µg | ~2.9 mg | ~1,083 mg | ~16 mg | ~266 mg | ~3.5 g |
*Omega-3 depends heavily on the actual fish used and its fat content, so treat it as a very rough estimate.
†Re-estimated after the Day 1 and Day 3 dinners changed to swallow with soup. Soups vary widely (amount of egusi, palm or stew oil, stock, any added meat or fish, and whether amala is made from yam or cassava), so these two days are the least certain.
About 475–595 mg/day from food alone, comfortably above the adult female RDA of 310–320 mg.
Roughly 675–840 µg DFE/day from food, a very good foundation. The prenatal folate recommendation is still kept separate from this calculation.
About 17–20 mg/day (the pregnancy RDA is 27 mg). Iron intake is not the same as absorption, and neither is the same as restoring ferritin, so your lab result will decide whether food alone is enough.
About 41–51 g/day, well above the general adult target of roughly 22–34 g. Helpful for constipation if tolerated.
About 119–144 g/day, more than adequate, so portions can be fine-tuned later. More protein is not automatically better.
Choline is excellent thanks to eggs, fish, liver and meat. B12 and B6 are very well covered. Vitamin C is abundant, which also supports non-heme iron absorption.
1. Iron absorption. Pair beans, greens and seeds with a vitamin-C-rich food, and where possible avoid taking large amounts of calcium-containing foods or supplements alongside iron-rich meals, since calcium can interfere with iron absorption.
2. Fibre tolerance. Don't start at full intensity. Increase beans, chia and flax gradually and make hydration a daily priority.
3. Energy. Estimated calories fall roughly between 1,500 and 2,000 kcal/day, but this is the least reliable figure (cooking oils, palm oil in soups, portion density and fish fat all change it). These numbers are not meant to place you on a calorie restriction. Adequate energy matters before pregnancy.
The plan is already nutrient-dense, so the next step is not adding more foods. It is reviewing these numbers alongside your lab results and the prenatal and supplements under consideration, to see where food already covers your needs and where supplementation genuinely fills a gap.
| Food | Pattern |
|---|---|
| Beans, eggs, leafy greens, mixed vegetables, seeds | Daily |
| Mackerel | About 4 meals/week |
| Chicken | About 4 meals/week |
| Beef | About 3 meals/week |
| Cabbage | Several times/week |
| Avocado | Most days |
| Fruit | 1–2 servings/day |
| Liver | 1 small serving/week |
| Oats | 3 smoothie/breakfast servings/week |
| Whole-food starches | Daily, moderate portions: sweet potato, plantain, rice, with swallow (amala, eba) at two dinners |
Mackerel stays central because it is the fish you eat and enjoy. We balance it with chicken, beef, eggs and beans for a broader range of nutrients and a more sustainable plan.
Prepare the building blocks once a month, not finished meals, so meals are quick to assemble and stay varied.
| Food | Prep | Portion | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beans | Soak, cook until tender, cool, portion | 1 cup | Freezer |
| Mackerel | Clean and portion; cook as needed or in batches | ¾ cup cooked/flaked | Freezer |
| Chicken | Clean, portion into meal packs | ¾ cup cooked | Freezer |
| Beef | Cut, portion into meal packs | ¾ cup cooked | Freezer |
| Liver | Cook, divide into tiny portions | 1 tbsp | Freeze individually |
| Eggs | Buy in small batches, keep whole | 2–3 per meal | Refrigerator |
For meats and fish, portioning before freezing matters more than cooking everything for the month.
Cabbage (largest part) + bell peppers + carrots + green beans + a smaller amount of peas.
Use with chicken + sweet potato, fish + rice, beef + plantain, omelettes, bean meals.
Ugu and spinach: wash, dry thoroughly, chop and portion into ~1-cup cooked-equivalent packs. Freeze for omelettes, soups, stir-fries and meals.
| Food | Portion | Prep |
|---|---|---|
| Sweet potato | 1 cup | Cook and portion, or peel/cut and freeze |
| Plantain | 1 cup | Peel, slice, freeze |
| Amala / eba | ½ cup cooked | Make fresh at mealtime from yam flour (elubo) or garri; not frozen |
| Rice | ¾ cup cooked | Cook in batches, freeze individual portions |
| Food | Portion | Prep |
|---|---|---|
| Ewedu and stew | 1½ cups | Cook in batches, cool, portion and freeze; pair with fresh amala and chicken |
| Egusi vegetable soup | 1½ cups | Cook in batches with ugu and/or spinach, cool, portion and freeze; pair with fresh eba and chicken |
Shopping: ewedu leaves, ground egusi, yam flour (elubo), garri.
Keep flax whole for storage and grind small batches every 1–2 weeks; store ground flax in the fridge or freezer. Hemp seeds are kept separately and rotated in.
Eggs, avocado, oranges, guava, pawpaw, bananas, fresh cabbage, fresh herbs, and any vegetables you prefer fresh. Grapes when available and enjoyed.
1 protein + 1 vegetable portion + 1 whole-food carbohydrate + avocado or fruit where appropriate
Swallow dinners follow the same pattern: the soup supplies the vegetables and the swallow is the carbohydrate. Cup measurements for cooked fish and meat are household estimates. Aim for consistency, not laboratory-level precision.
An occasional add-on to the meal plan, not a replacement for any meal. Portion the ingredients below into individual packs and freeze, one pack per day for the 7 days.