Layered on top of all three sit the culture + tradition + skills components, which is where I like to start my consultations.

When working with a client (or yourself), my opinion is that the best entry point is what is already happening in the kitchen.

A sudden full blown switch tends to produce weeks of digestive (and kitchen) chaos and a likelihood of feeling like a failure and defaulting back to old habits.

This is why I always like to start with what is already happening and choose the easiest nudges toward better health.

Can you source locally in bulk at a discount for some of your staple food items?

Is there a new tool, like a better pot, cutting board, or knife, that would remove some of your dread around a certain cooking task that needs to be done but you hate doing?

Is there one small habit or recipe you could add?

In last week’s class for paid subscribers, I shared some of the things I have learned about managing the kitchen, which is really where the magic happens for diet.

Some of my best kitchen & cooking tips:

Ask for help.

Children can be in the kitchen as company before they are useful, then graduate into real tasks. You can add a food prep component to your baby shower planning and people will probably be happy to oblige the new mom in helping her stock up her freezer and pantry with meals.

Invest in real tools.

Sharp knives, solid cutting boards, and silverware that feels good really improve the experience of cooking. Many women I know who say they hate to cook are working with dull, flimsy, uninspiring equipment.

Buy in bulk.

Bulk buying simplifies the diet choices available since you have to make bigger investments at a time, meaning your budget (and pantry/fridge/freezer space) may be allotted to more of a fewer number of items. I really find it also helps my budget stay available for the food I had intended for us to eat because once it is bought and in the home, I am obliged to cook it. And you can often get bulk discounts.

Pick the No’s that matter.

Two examples from my family: artificial food coloring (because of its potential for neurological effects and how poorly it is regulated in the US) and commercially produced crackers (which trigger carb-chasing and rashes in my household). The list will look different for everyone. My No list used to be a lot bigger! I’m moving from tightly restrictive to more grateful and accepting.

Use the “never skip twice” or “never skip thrice” rule for healthy habits you care about.

If a habit slips, don’t let two days in a row pass without it. This helps me flow with inevitable habit disruptions without feeling like a failure and helps me not abandon my good intentions altogether just because I slipped up once.

Front-load food and water in the morning.

A slice of lemon and a pinch of mineral salt is how I usually start. Many pregnancy symptoms ease with this single change. The same for children and bedwetting: hydration delivered late in the day comes out at night. I find it’s just much harder to catch up if morning hydration is missed.

Here’s some more of the nutrition stuff we talked about

Folate, iron, and the cofactor problem in most prenatal supplements:

Almost every pregnant woman hears that she needs to supplement for iron and folate.

Folate use depends on DHA, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, choline, the full B-vitamin family, and several amino acids working together.

What those cofactors mean is one isolated source of folate does not guarantee the folate cycle will run smoothly.

The same is true of supplemental iron.

Driving isolated iron up without phosphate, vitamin D, and the rest of the supporting cofactors can tank other parts of the system.

And the same with messing with insulin and ignoring all the other metabolic hormones!

Local, seasonal variations

The mainstream “local seasonal” recommendation works differently depending on latitude and season. Lily Nichols’ research shows healthy pregnancies sustained on as much as 30 percent carbohydrate near the equator and as little as 2 percent in polar regions.

I think understanding the food culture you grew up in, what you agree with and where you are forging your own path is wise to reflect on.

Food is more than merely nutrition, and treating it as some kind of ideal to attain is just not as comforting or fun as chasing the flavors and experiences of home and belonging through meals.

Imported food: I think how food travels matters

Trade routes are ancient and I believe the desire for new tastes is built in and healthy.

My considerations when buying imported foods:

1. Dehydrated foods (especially sun dried), which are harvested at peak ripeness, keep a stable shelf life, and are lighter to ship

2. Fermented and pickled foods, also transported well historically

3. Flash-frozen foods, which retain a comparable nutrient profile (texture changes; nutrition largely does not)

4. More caution with canned goods, partly because of can linings if you aren’t doing your own canning

5. Caution with imported carbohydrates if you live in a polar or even temperate climate because of light/dark and metabolic hormone interactions and possibly deuterium

Sourcing quality food

1. (USA) Azure Standard convenient for one stop for bulk meat (cases from specific farms), line-caught fish, produce and other groceries, plus I love the “drop” system as yet another way to build local community

2. Local CSAs, you may be able to find one using a platform like https://www.localharvest.org/csa/ and customize your shares

3. Cow/pork shares split across families

4. Work-trade arrangements on local farms, gleaning parties

5. Mindset! Farmers markets are not just for shopping! They are also and maybe even more importantly a relationship-building entry point to your local farming community

References mentioned:

1. Lily Nichols, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Fertility (the latter includes a section for men)

2. The Brewer Diet for Pregnancy

3. Quantum Anemia series

4. Folate series

5. Full class citations at the end, and in my Circadian and Quantum Research Library

The perinatal nutritional arc:

Specific concepts I find helpful for preconception, earlt pregnancy, late pregnancy, labor, early and late postpartum.

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I thought we would be focused on circadian and quantum biology, and while that was a theme, we also were there for each other on all the tangents that happen when women gather together.

It was refreshing and fun to chat about implementation, hopes, challenges, progress and dreams in this more informal container.

We will be meeting again next month, so keep an eye out for your invitation.

Based on the response, I am going to be making these meetings a regular part of our membership here in addition to the deep-dive classes.

For those watching the replay, some of the topics we covered were:

• pregnancy wakefulness and insomnia

• fertility over 40 and preconception planning

• nutrition for pregnancy and knowns/questions that remain about supporting autophagy in pregnancy

• gift ideas for new and expecting moms

• and lots of the practical stuff like ideas for manage mornings and children and family gatherings

And I wanted to send special sho…

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A quantum lens on breastfeeding—live teaching + Q&A session

This is a quick email to let you all know I will be teaching live this month. The topic will be breastfeeding through a quantum lens and will be free for all paid subscribers (guests have the option to purchase a ticket to attend and get the replay and all the goodies).

Save the date for Quantum Breastfeeding: Thursday, October 16th from 1:00 PM Pacific / 4 PM Eastern for 90 minutes

​Quantum Breastfeeding live class outline:

1. ​Supporting breast development through puberty and pregnancy

2. ​Early lactation nutrition for mothers after birth

3. ​Colostrum composition

4. ​Premie milk vs full term milk and how to optimize

5. ​Milk as a circadian cue for baby

6. ​Melatonin / endocannabinoids and other hormones and neurotransmitters in milk

7. ​Antioxidants in milk - importance and how to increase

8. ​Vitamin D in milk - is it true all breastmilk is deficient?

9. ​Mitochondria i…

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In just half an hour, you can grab some super-practical frameworks that will help you be more persuasive.

I’m thinking about presentations such as could be made to:

• businesses about better night shift schedules for their staff

• local government and HOA’s for circadian outdoor lighting ordinances

• school boards and long-term care facilities for the installation of indoor circadian lighting

• and so on

There are so many opportunities to create positive change based on new scientific research.

Click play during your lunch break or listen while you drive—this is a super fast download of my simple frameworks joyful and streamlined creative flows that seamlessly incorporate evidence for maximum impact.

My method is a total procrastination-buster when it comes to adding citations to your work! You will love it.

Question for those of you in alternative health: did you realize we may even have a higher than normal need to use evidence to make our points?

This is because when you pit a new idea against an old one, the old idea is perceived as having intrinsic merit and truth.

Only the new idea must be scientifically validated.

There is no case where an old idea will be reevaluated with the same scientific vigor as a new idea because the familiar ideas is already perceived as trustworthy, while the new one is not.

Using evidence to bridge the gap between old and new information and practices—persuasively—is what this little training will teach you.

Presentation Slides for Evidence Based Resources Training:

Evidence Based Resources

5.11MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Schedule a free idea session with Nikko:

Free 15 Minute Idea Session

You are invited to bring your ideas for new evidence-based resources you could create to a live class this Wednesday at 3 PM EST / 12 PM PST.

I’ll be sharing processes you can use to:

• validate your idea and have confidence your idea will be well-received

• decide how many and which citations you need to create a persuasive resource

• repurpose your work so you can create multiple versions of your resources that are accessible to different learning types

And then we’ll have time at the end for you to share your idea and talk through it to get live feedback if you want it.

Here’s the link where you can save your seat (free for Pro subscribers, or use code INNERCIRCLE for 50% off access to the live call and recording):

Pro Class Registration

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After watching this workshop, you’ll be able to easily keep track of and re-use important articles for your wellness practice or advocacy work.

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend live!

We had great questions and participation—I really loved hearing from each of you about how you were going to use this information to get more organized and put research to work in your own careers.

Here are the slides to the workshop:

Curating Your Own Digital Research Database Slides

15.6MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

Here are the other resources I mentioned:

• Pro tier with bonus curated research archives from me to you: https://www.brighterdaysdarkernights.com/upgrade-to-pro

• PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

• Academia: https://www.academia.edu/install_app

• Gale: https://www.gale.com/open-access

• Retraction Watch: https://retractionwatch.com

• Zotero: https://www.zotero.org

And, if you weren’t able to attend live or still have questions, you can drop your questions as a direct message or in the comments and I’ll get back to you:

Leave a comment

My research archives are extensive and I’ve been working on them for years.

My desktop is not cluttered.

I never spend time searching through my browser bookmarks.

I can easily find the papers I need, when I need them.

I have a clear process for adding new papers when I find them.

I can easily share articles with clients and members of my community that need them.

Generating citations is a cinch.

Would you also like for these things to be true for your research hoard?

Yes, I remember when my research was messy.

I remember when randomly named pdfs cluttered not only my desktop, but my browser bookmarks, my email(s!), and my phone.

And I remember a dozen times I went back to PubMed hitting keyword after keyword (and yes, I am very good at Boolean), trying to get back to something fascinating I remembered reading… only to come up empty handed 🤯💨

When I decided to get more serious about my work in perinatal quantum biology…

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Hey, just wanted to let you know I am going to be hosting a free and open Q&A for all things pregnancy, birth, and postpartum for the Quantum Biology Collective (QBC).

Since you are a member of my community here at Brighter Days, Darker Nights, you are invited to grab a free seat to this exclusive event:

9/17/24 at 6 PM CET / 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT

I’ll be fielding questions about the perinatal (peri = around, natal = birth) timeframe through the quantum biologic lens, my own motherhood experiences, and my years serving families as a labor and postpartum doula.

I’d love to see you there and answer your questions in real time!

It’s always such a blast to put names to faces and get to know all of you better during these live events—truly, meeting up live is one of my favorite parts of teaching and a big part of what keeps me going.

The only catch is that the Q&A replay will only be available to members of the QBC, so if you sign up as a guest, you’ll really have to attend live if you want to get the value out of this…

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Learn about the connection between your circadian rhythm and your baby’s in the postpartum

I have a new podcast interview out all about the unique—and challenging—newborn sleep phase. This is a topic all parents relate with, as it is a universal fact that newborn babies need care around the clock, while we grownups need sleep! However, this is not the paradox it seems. Come listen in as I chat with Kim Hawley of The Responsive Family Sleep Podcast about how supporting the circadian rhythm in this time helps so much. As a circadian-savvy expert in newborn sleep, Kim was a great host for this conversation and brought so much practical experience to the conversation. I really enjoyed how her vast experience supporting families through the difficulties that can come up between them and the sleep experience they want has led to her having such a sensitive take on the realities of implementing circadian and quantum health in this fleeting stage of life.

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This class is an extension and live teaching of the material covered here:

NVP Reset Slides:

Nvp Reset Slides

27.2MB ∙ PDF file

Download

Download

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Community Calendar

Slides for The Synergy of Melatonin and Oxytocin:

Resources we talked about in the Q&A:

• Quantum Newborn Jaundice Protocols

  • In pregnancy: https://nikkokennedy.substack.com/p/physiological-jaundice-support-protocol-1

  • At home: https://www.brighterdaysdarkernights.com/physiological-jaundice-support-protocol-2

  • In the hospital: https://www.brighterdaysdarkernights.com/p/physiological-jaundice-support-protocol-3

• Dminder app

  • Dminder review

• • First Dminder post

• Measuring skin charge for grounded sleep

  • The Building Biology Institute trains professionals to do home consultations to set up grounded sleeping arrangements: https://buildingbiologyinstitute.org/find-an-expert/certified-consultants/electromagnetic-radiation-specialists/

• Practitioner’s tier (now called the Pro Tier) of Brighter Days, Darker Nights for shared Google …

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Summary:

• Expected sleep patterns change across the 4 trimesters of pregnancy

  • Sleep disruptions in the first trimester are associated with perinatal mood disorders1…

  • … but a lack of sleep disruptions in the 3rd trimester is associated with adverse outcomes for babies2

  • Surprisingly, postpartum depression may also be associated with fewer night wakings than normal3

• Light controls sleep patterns; under longer darkness, human sleep becomes polyphasic4

• It is possible to optimize a polyphasic sleep rhythm to avoid circadian disruption and experience better mood and performance outcomes5

• Pineal mel…

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Enter the Workshop

About this Circadian Rhythm Workshop for Pregnancy, Birth, and Infancy:

The circadian rhythm controls the timing of what happens when in your body. This vital process deeply impacts wellbeing at every stage of life from pre-conception through old age. In this workshop, you will learn the fundamentals of how this biological rhythm specifically controls pregnancy and birth. The workshop will also show how taking care of the circadian system in pregnancy can also program baby’s physical and mental health for the rest of their life. From the nutritional factors that nurture circadian processes to the daily habits that strengthen the rhythm itself, this powerful workshop will leave y…

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