Updated 12-22-17
In the interest of hopefully saving myself and the other forum leaders a bit of time and clearing up confusion, here are most oft-asked HE Diet (High Everything Diet) questions under one roof.
:fami03:What is the HE Diet?
The High Everything Diet is the Gender Dreaming blue sway diet, atomic sagebrush’s diet made after realizing no one could stick to the French/IG Diets with HE principles, because it was way too confusing, people were making themselves sick and fat, and people were ready for a new option. The HE Diet is what I believe is a good sway diet for the average person without PCOS/insulin resistance and you can read the short version here (long version is in the Dream Members section along with recipes and other good stuff.) http://genderdreaming.com/forum/tryi...l-version.html
The general jist of the HE Diet is higher calorie, higher protein, higher fat, high-yet-still-normal sodium, high nutrients, gaining a little weight, and keeping blood sugar nice and even with no spikes and dips (we sometimes refer to this as “high blood sugar” but this is a misnomer – high blood sugar is NOT good for anyone and not something to aspire to. We want moderate, even blood sugar.)
:fami03:Does DH have to do the diet?
No, DH doesn’t need to do the diet but if he were to increase his intake of red meat, meat in general, eggs, healthy and saturated fats, and eat 9-11 servings of fruit and veg a day, while limiting artificial sweetener, soy foods, alcohol, caffeine, and transfats, it may help.
:fami03:Where is the list of the foods I can and can’t eat?
There ARE no foods you can and can’t eat. Really. As long as you stay within the limits of the diet, you can have whatever food you want. While some foods are better than others, there ARE no magic foods that make you have a baby of a certain gender. In the Dream Members section (Dream Memberships available here: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/payments.php) we have a guide in which commonly eaten foods are rated from grade A-F for both pink and blue swayers and most people find that is a very helpful thread.
That having been said, there ARE some foods that are better choices than others and some foods/combinations of foods will make it easier for you to stick to the diet.
You need to eat protein (meat, fish, dairy, eggs, beans, peas, nuts and nut butters, and the less processed forms of soy like edamame and tofu) plus carbs (sweet and starchy foods like bread, pasta, potato, rice, fruit, sweet tasting veg, sugar in sauces/dressings or desserts) at every meal and snack. If something goes wrong and you eat just carbs (people rarely eat just protein!) then simply eat again sooner rather than later to prevent blood sugar crashes.
Everyone swaying blue should take a high quality vitamin supplement of your choosing – I like Women’s One a Day because it has a wide array of nutrients in reasonable doses (no megadoses), it’s affordable, and widely available. If you can only change one thing for your sway in terms of diet, start a vitamin.
Avoiding diet beverages, excessive alcohol, skim dairy, and shellfish, and limiting foods high in nitrates/nitrites is a good idea. Some people like to drink tea rather than coffee. Natural fats like saturated and monounsaturated fats are great, but transfats should be avoided. Try to get more of your day's fats from animal and saturated fats (like coconut oil) instead of vegetable and unsaturated fats. Eating 9-11 servings of fruits and vegetables a day is very beneficial - some people have chosen to eat primarily organic produce but this is not a requirement.
Empty calories like those found in sugary foods are ok and in fact you may find it helpful sometimes to use them them along with your protein for your protein + carbs recommendation (such as, a sweet tasting salad dressing like 1000 Island can turn a chef salad from just so-so, into a great lunch for blue). But some sweet, empty calorie foods are a lot of calories for very few nutrients and so you will quickly ingest tons of calories without getting as many nutrients.
Try to get the most “bang for your buck” - the most nutrients for the fewest calories.
Some foods like oatmeal, garlic/onion, celery , nuts, and avocado are said to raise testosterone – you don’t need to eat them by the truckload if you don’t care for them, but they can’t hurt!
:fami03:Well, but I have to avoid dairy and calcium/magnesium/Vitamin D right?
NO you do not have to avoid dairy foods. The best data we have at our disposal indicates that nutrients across the boards sway blue – ALL nutrients including calcium and magnesium. Cal and mag in normal dietary amounts (not megadoses) not only do not sway pink, but very well may sway blue. And Vitamin D seems to be a strong blue sway nutrient. Dairy is a GREAT source of nutrients and is very beneficial for fertility. We have been getting excellent results with people eating full fat dairy such as whole milk, cheese, whole milk yogurt as a part of their blue sway and taking high dose Vit. D supplements and moderate intake cal-mag in multivitamins.
It is biologically impossible for you to eliminate calcium from your body. When you eat less calcium and magnesium, your body simply takes them from your bones and teeth and the levels in your body never change. If they did, you would DIE.
If you absolutely MUST limit dairy for a blue sway, please read the following guide to milk replacers: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...pink-blue.html and make sure you do not go many months pursuing tactics that do not sway, such as timing, astrology, biorhythms, and the Chinese Gender Chart and use Preseed and Robi/Muci rather than egg white/baking soda which may kill sperm. Get pregnant QUICKLY if you are limiting dairy.
And please note that we have seen lots of opposites in the ladies drinking tons of milk replacers (particularly rice and almond milk) so we cannot recommend anything beyond occasional dietary use only (2-3 times per week)
:fami03:And I should be eating a lot of salt?
NO you do not need to ingest horrifying amounts of sodium for your sway to succeed. In fact, too much salt may even sway PINK by harming your health and reducing your fertility overall. These diet ideas come from an old theory that is biologically impossible – when you eat a lot of salt or potassium, your body just eliminates more of it to keep the overall levels exactly the same.
I do allow people to eat high-normal salt intake as part of the HE Diet, simply because it’s not harmful for most people in the short term and it would be all but impossible to increase food intake in an HE-friendly way, while limiting sodium. It’s not because I think sodium sways – all mammals, including humans around the globe, have a virtually insatiable taste for sodium. Yet the gender ratio hovers at 50-50 despite the fact that we are all eating way more salt in our diets than we ever have before in human history. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...tml#post960414
Under no circumstances should anyone be trying to get the 5000-6000+ mg of sodium that is recommended on some of the other sway sites and if you are African American, you need to be especially wary of sodium, because you carry a gene that causes you to retain higher than normal levels of sodium in your body to begin with. (By the way, despite this gene, people of African descent have more girls than they statistically “should”, so that fact alone totally shoots down the sodium = boys theory.)
I strongly recommend against taking the baking soda drinks – you don’t need them and the excessive sodium intake is not going to help your health and in turn, your sway. I do have the recipes on the site, but that’s not an endorsement!!!
Also, even tho sea salt is often touted as being good for blue, this can actually be a dangerous move to make when TTC. You NEED iodine at minimum 150 IU when TTC and more like 200 IU when pregnant. Sea salt typically contains no iodine, so if you want to use sea salt, be sure to find an additional iodine supplement of 150 IU or take a prenatal that contains iodine. Readymade foods, even if very high in sodium, almost always contain regular salt without added iodine and so just eating a lot of Top Ramen does NOT mean you are getting adequate iodine at all. (ps don't eat a lot of Top Ramen.)
:fami03:Yeah, but I really WANT to limit calcium and eat a bunch of salt, can’t I just do it even if it doesn’t work?
You can, but that is NOT HE Diet. At first I was pretty tolerant about people including that aspect of the traditional sway diets in HE Diet, but I have seen several very nice sways fail where people were doing everything correctly, but were limiting calcium intake and drinking tons of milk replacers. We have been getting very good results with including calcium/magnesium/Vit. D for blue (70-80%), and the pink swayers have been getting girls while limiting cal/mag/Vit. D (60-70%). I got my girl with my DH and I eating virtually no dairy and not taking any supplements, after getting 4 boys where we both were eating a lot. My 4th boy was a failed sway where I was taking megadoses of calcium, magnesium, and Vit. D. The French Gender Diet stuff DOES NOT WORK in the way that people claim that it does, every failed sway that there is proves it. Don’t take the chance, please include calcium, magnesium, Vit. D and be sane about sodium in your boy sway.
Not to mention the fact that some of the foods that are recommended on other sites as ways to increase sodium are really just awful for health. It’s ridiculous to think that eating a bunch of hot dogs, bacon, and ham is going to sway blue in any way – you want to IMPROVE your condition and hot dogs are packed with chemistry that is terrible for health.
:fami03:Dare I even ask about potassium?
Potassium ~may~ sway to some extent because adequate potassium is important for health and fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, and meat all have large amounts of potassium in them – ALONG with lots of other nutrients, and as you may recall nutrients across the boards sway blue. Potassium can also help to “correct” some of the physical harm caused by excessive salt intake and may mitigate the harm done by the traditional boy sway diets.
That having been said, I vastly prefer that people get potassium from diet rather than supplements – your body knows how to use potassium it gets from food much better than from supplement form. Dream Members, there is an essay explaining how to get tons of potassium from diet and an explanation of why it is dangerous to take high doses of supplementary potassium. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...ou-should.html
I strongly advise against using Ural, ASG, COT drinks. They’re not safe and do nothing for you that can’t be accomplished better via diet. Using these things to increase your potassium AND/OR stopping them suddenly (because you cannot use them after ovulation while TTC), can cause you to have a fatal heart arrhythmia – as in, “feel fine one minute and keel over dead the next” type of thing, no warning at all. If you are currently using them, taper off slowly. Again, I do have the recipes on the site but I could live a long and happy life knowing that no one had ever used them.
If you'd like an easy way of getting potassium from food sources please drink V8 juice and/or coconut water. Both highly recommended!
:fami03:High Everything? So that means I should stuff myself, and gain as much as I possibly can?
NO. You do not need to be stuffed and miserable and gaining tons of weight for your sway to succeed. I prefer people gain 3-5 lbs up to 10-15 for those who are truly underweight. (Guide to Weight Gain for Blue is here: http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...tml#post960313) That's ALL. No one needs to or should gain 30-50 pounds. The purpose of the HE Diet is to gently help raise your maternal condition and overall fertility, while still keeping your body able to conceive and sustain a healthy pregnancy at the end of it all. Adding a bit of muscle will help your body to make more testosterone, adding a bit of fat will help your body make more estrogen and progesterone, but excess weight gain is not good for fertility or health.
NEVER lose sight of the fact that you need to be able to conceive and sustain a pregnancy at the end of the diet. Gaining 30 lbs will not help your health in the long term and may even affect your ability to have a healthy pregnancy.
If you are very heavy to start with, it’s best to lose the weight in a safe fashion (a balanced diet that includes protein, carbs, and healthy fats is best like South Beach Diet or Protein Power Plan) and then sway once you have taken the weight off. If that is not possible, that’s ok, just try to hold steady where you’re at without gaining any weight.
For Dream Members there is an essay explaining how to “eat smarter, not harder” on the HE Diet. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/ttc-...rder-blue.html Just pick the foods that offer the most “bang for your buck” – the most nutrients for the least amount of calories.
:fami03:Is that even safe?? How long is it safe to stay on this diet?
As long as you are sensible about it, this diet is 100% totally safe. In fact, you can read here that this is typical to what the average boy mom eats as a matter of course http://genderdreaming.com/forum/tryi...-our-boys.html If I did not believe this diet was totally safe, I would not be doing this. Safety is my FIRST priority above all else.
The reason I made this diet was to provide a safe option that a person could stay on indefinitely to allow them freedom to pursue other sway tactics. You can stay on the HE Diet forever, and in fact it’s quite good for you, as long as you do the following:
After you’ve been on diet a while, reduce calories from 2200-2500 to 2000-2200 (or, if you are very petite and were only eating 2000-2200 range, you can drop to 1800-2000, but do not go lower than 1800. We'd rather see you exercise more rather than reduce calories)
Watch portion sizes – portions are almost always smaller than we think and so we can end up overeating if we don’t stick to the recommended portion size.
Make sure you are sane with sodium and get potassium from diet rather than supps
9-11 servings of fruit and veg a day – good and good for ya.
Do not overdo it with protein – 90 grams is fine up to 120 grams. (Petite people or vegans may only be able to get 70-80 g and that is ok as long as it’s more than you were eating before) You do not need to overeat protein and in fact it may not be safe in the long term to do so. 90-120 g of protein is PLENTY for TTC a boy. Also it is very important to eat carbs with the protein as I’ve mentioned before – not only for your sway, but also for your health. Your body doesn’t handle superhigh intake of protein very well.
Fats are fabulous (except transfats such as margarine and shortening, which you should avoid) but stay within your calorie range – the fat intake is somewhat self-limiting because you can only eat a certain amount of food without exceeding the calories. Be sure you're getting more animal and saturated fats than vegetable based ones.
Some people have had the idea that more food (fat) is always better but that isn’t the case – sticking within the calorie limits ensures that you won’t get too much fat – you literally CAN’T get too much fat if you are sticking to 2000-2200 cals a day, eating 90 grams of protein (360 cals minimum right there), protein + carbs at every meal and snack (plenty of cals from carbs), and 9-11 servings of fruits and veg. You just won’t have ROOM for excessive fat and you won’t have the calories to spare for much.
Exercise - cardio 45 min or less 4-5 days a week and/or weights 4 days a week (arms 2 days, legs 2 days, 3 days rest). This helps burn off some of the calories in the foods you eat and as you gain weight, it will be in the form of muscle rather than fat, which in turn burns even more calories even if you're sitting around doing nothing.
Because I meant this diet to be safe to stay on indefinitely, some people have decided that they’ll go ahead and do timing “just in case”. While it’s true that you can stay on diet as long as need be, I still do advise against timing for a blue sway tactic. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...le-timing.html Trying for Shettles timing has really reduced odds of conception for blue swayers dramatically. When TTC a boy, since you’re doing everything to boost fertility, there is no reason you shouldn’t get pregnant within 3-6 months. Shettles timing only lowers odds of conception, it lowers the number of sperm on hand waiting for the egg, which may even sway pink, and the more months you go along on HE Diet, the more potential for weight gain there is. Leave the timing behind and aim for 3-5 attempts in your fertile window of O-3 through O Day, with 2 or 3 of those attempts at or after positive OPK.
:fami03:UGH tracking calories, fat, protein, etc – do I really HAVE to??
If you are only on the diet for a short time like 6 weeks-3 months and are doing a good level of exercise, then no, you prob. don’t need to. Just focus on 3 meals a day and 2-5 snacks, protein + carbs at every meal and snack, eating more natural fats, and 9-11 fruits and veg, and the details will take care of themselves. But the longer you are on the diet, the more potential for weight gain if you don’t monitor your intake at least somewhat.
Plus, since some girl moms tend to be picky, high carb low protein eaters, if you’re not being careful it can be too easy to fall back into old habits like skipping meals or eating just baked goods or fruit at meals. The old standby girl-mom lunch of a candy bar and diet coke starts to sneak back in!!
At any point if you start to see rapid or excess weight gain, you need to start tracking, even if you’ve only been on diet 2 weeks!
:fami03:Speaking of which, how long should I be on diet before TTC?
Blue swayers only need to be on diet for 6 weeks before TTC. Pink swayers have seen better results with people on diet for longer, but just because something works for pink swayers does NOT mean that blue swayers need to do the exact same thing. It should be WAY easier to improve condition than it is to decline condition, and I think it’s fine for blue swayers to start TTC after only 6 weeks.
You can even start after 2 or 4 weeks if you want to – I do think 6 weeks is probably going to be more reliable but if you’re paranoid about gaining weight or are heavy to begin with and already eat a relatively blue-friendly diet, it’s something to consider. I do not believe that the evidence favors better results for blue after 90 days due to "egg priming" or any other reason, 6 weeks is plenty and you may not even get pg the very first month of trying anyway.
If you are eating excessive sodium and are limiting calcium and magnesium, I BEG you to TTC sooner rather than later. Don’t go for 90 days, no way, no how, in that scenario. The longer you go on diet, the more likely it is that excess sodium will harm your health, and at some point your body will have robbed the majority of your stores of cal-mag and you will start to negatively affect your bones and teeth.
:fami03:If nutrients sway blue, then I guess I should I just take the highest dose of every supplement I have ever heard of?
No, it doesn’t work that way. Our body doesn’t like too much of things any more than not enough. Things that are good for us in moderation, can be downright harmful in excess. Remember, it’s NOT diet or nutrients in and of themselves that really sway, it’s declining vs. improving maternal condition. And you can decline your condition just as easily, if not more so, by ODing yourself on supplements than by cutting back on them (that is NOT a recommendation to OD on supplements to TTC a girl, pink swayers!!)
Some of the quantities listed on other swaying sites are DANGEROUS (no one should take 50 mg zinc!!! And Vit. E in high doses inhibits cell division, which is NOT what you want when you are growing a rapidly dividing ball of cells that is a baby!! (Don’t give megadose Vit. E to your hubby, either! Sperm are cells too and the XY cells need to be able to divide to make X and Y sperm!)
Plus, some of the supplements are probably not safe (or at least, we don't KNOW if they're safe) when taken for swaying, even in normal amounts. Things like algae/spirulina/chlorella, maca, high doses of green tea, tribulus,and many other herbs – not much is known about these things both in terms of swaying, health in the long term, and safety for your unborn child when TTC, so it’s not always a good idea to just take everything you have ever heard of. Royal jelly/bee pollen has actually caused several DEATHS – even tho I know a lot of gals swear by it for a blue sway, and it’s probably fine for most people, you don’t need it and why take the risk??
While we once thought EPO and flaxseed oil were good for blue, we have seen large numbers of opposites in people taking them and flaxseed oil has been proven unsafe. We have dropped them both from our recommendations.
You do NOT NEED to include everything you’ve ever heard of to TTC a little boy. It is much better to stick with the tried and true, they may not be fancy but they get the job done and you haven ‘t broken the bank buying everything under the sun. Save that money for baby clothes!! Multivitamin, fish oil, folic acid, Coq10, Vit. D and probiotic, plus Robi/Muci at attempt time. Also, Vitamin X (exercise) and Vitamin S (sleep). If you take those, you don’t need anything else.
:fami03:NOW that you mention it, this all sounds very expensive!!
Yes, it is and I have an essay on moneysaving tips here. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/tryi...r-he-diet.html please feel free to share your moneysaving blue sway tips on this thread, especially if you are not from the US (I am from the US so I’m sure my experience is less helpful for people in other countries.)
Just a reminder - you can do a “boy blitz” with some of the boy beverages like coconut water and wheatgrass juice. Since these things are extremely expensive but act quickly, if you reserve them for only 3,5 or 7 days coming into O, you may be able to get most of the benefits from them while saving money. And they’re SO MUCH safer than the baking soda/COT drinks!!!
:fami03:I’m confused – I thought we were supposed to be healthy to TTC blue and eating a lot of red meat and eggs is unhealthy! And full fat dairy – that will KILL me!!
There is some confusion between healthy in terms of heart health and preventing cancer (lots of colorful fruits and veg, low fat, less meat) and what is healthy in terms of fertility. You’re trying to improve your condition in terms of your FERTILITY, not your heart health. What’s good for keeping you fertile and popping out lots of little chubby boy babies, is not always what is good for keeping you alive in the long term. Skim milk may be healthier in the long term, but it’s not necessarily going to get you a boy.
Mice and rats fed a very low cal diet lived a long time. But they stopped having babies. There is a tradeoff between fertility and heart health. Cholesterol from saturated fat makes the sex hormones and without cholesterol and saturated fat, you won’t get pg. For TTC blue, we are trying to improve fertility somewhat while still staying able to conceive. Red meat, full fat dairy, and eggs are an important part of the diet. Even the healthy fats that come from plant foods are also very good for blue because even though they aren’t as good for making cholesterol (and in fact may lower it overall) your body can use them to do other functions in your body, so you actually may need less cholesterol to stay fully fertile.
Not to whine :drama: but it is a little confusing to me when people complain about the HE Diet being unhealthy in favor of the high sodium content, nitrate-laden foods, cutting out calcium/magnesium/Vit D, and baking soda/COT drinks that are part of the traditional sway diet. Trust me, drinking some full fat milk for 6 weeks is not going to harm you; a diet of ramen and hot dogs washed down with baking soda, very well may.
:fami03:I’ve heard people say I want high blood sugar, so does this mean I should eat lots of sugar?
I read on another site that sugar is bad for blue so does that mean I can’t eat candy at all?
First of all, you actually DON’T want high blood sugar for a boy. I sometimes ~say~ high blood sugar when I really should say, “moderate, steady blood sugar” or “not low blood sugar”. NO ONE wants high blood sugar for either gender, it’s not healthy AT ALL and it’s not good for either XX or XY blastocysts. It is a shortcut I make because I feel like it’s easier for people to remember and understand that way, but really it’s just laziness on my part and I will try to do better about that in the future. Low blood sugar sways pink, moderate steady blood sugar sways blue, high blood sugar is NOT SAFE.
Anyway, back to the question at hand. I know this is confusing, but actually NO, eating sugar doesn’t automatically mean you will have high blood sugar. For anyone with a normal insulin response, eating sugar ALONE can cause your blood sugar to go up temporarily but then it drops very low – lower than it was before you ate, even. You may recognize this sensation as a blood sugar crash. When this happens, your body has to start cannibalizing its own stored reserves to keep you going. We believe that either or both, the low blood sugar that comes an hour after eating something sweet/pure carbs, and the fact that the body then has to burn its stored reserves as fuel, sways pink. Also, eating lots of carbs and sugar has been shown to lower overall fertility in the Nurses’ Study 2 and we have a study in mice that shows that a low fat, high carb diet sways pink.
As a result, for TTC blue, you need to eat protein+ carbs at every meal and snack. The protein helps to slow down sharp rises and falls in blood sugar and keeps your blood sugar stable after eating. Getting carbs in the form of whole grains and fruits and vegetables is best, because in addition to being more nutrient dense than white carbs, they contain high levels of fiber, and fiber also helps slow down rises and falls in blood sugar. Also, eating protein + carbs can help build muscle, and more muscle signals your body to make more testosterone.
This means you CAN eat sweets and candy while on the HE Diet. Dark chocolate may even help your blue sway to some extent, because it has antioxidants that are great for health. Just try to eat it along WITH something that has protein in it, and make the best choice you can – get the most “bang for your buck.” Instead of a sugar cookie, have banana nut bread with cream cheese. Instead of a box of marshmallow Peeps, have a Snickers bar instead.
:fami03:I have PCOS and/or insulin resistance, can I still do HE Diet?
Yes, you can and it may even help your overall health to do so. However, you should eat ONLY meat/eggs/dairy/nuts (limit or eliminate beans and soy because they are so high in carbs and do not have as many health benefits as nuts do), fresh fruit/veg (no fruit juice), limit whole grains to 2-5 servings a day, and increase intake of healthy fat like olive oil. Pass on sugar and empty carbs and keep carbohydrate intake overall at about 30% of your overall caloric intake. Don’t gain weight, just hold steady where you are at. Most people with PCOS/IR are boy moms, but since the PCOS medications tend to sway pink, you should attempt to TTC naturally if at all possible – even if this means taking a few months prior to your sway to take some weight off on a South-Beach type diet.
We have an alternate version of HE Diet in this thread that will be better for PCOS. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...et-thread.html
:fami03:Can I eat cinnamon and drink ACV? I read they lower blood sugar levels.
Both cinnamon and ACV have been clinically shown to lower blood sugar pretty dramatically, even in fairly small amounts. When you’re on HE Diet, you’re doing so much to raise blood sugar levels that a little cinnamon and ACV will probably not be able to counteract it. Dietary amounts of cinnamon and cider vinegar are absolutely fine. That having been said, if you’re doing lemon water, there is no need for ACV and it has upset a lot of people’s stomachs, so I personally think since it’s not necessary and it may lower blood sugar levels, give it a pass in anything more than dietary amounts. I would also avoid cinnamon taken as a supplement or eaten in sky-high amounts…cinnamon on toast a few times a week is fine, cinnamon tea drunk 5 times a day is probably not.
Exception - if you have PCOS/insulin resistance and typically have to take Metformin (sways pink) to lower your blood sugar levels when TTC, you may want to give cinnamon and/or ACV a try instead - anything that can get you off the stronger prescription drugs is all good for a blue sway in that scenario.
I do see a potential issue if you are doing IG Diet – some of the suggested meals/foods like Rice Krispies with non-dairy creamer, ramen, tomato soup, bananas, and iceberg lettuce salads are pretty lousy for blood sugar, and if you threw the ACV into the mix I think it could lower your blood glucose levels considerably. Also, if you are struggling on HE Diet and are skipping meals, the ACV will just aggravate a bad situation. Stick with the lemon water.
:fami03:OH no, I accidentally ate a banana or a candy bar and then I wasn’t able to eat any protein with it!
That’s ok, it’s never any one meal that matters, it’s your diet overall that is important. If you are in a situation where you have to eat something and all you have is something that is pure carbs, no worries, just be sure to eat again a little sooner than you would have otherwise. Eating small amounts of pure carbs regularly (every hour or so) can also keep your blood sugar up, it’s just a little more risky than the protein + carbs is.
This is also a good technique to fit in some carby foods that you’d like to include in your diet, but are just a bit much to add onto a meal – such as banana, avocado, dark chocolate, salad, berries, and so on. Instead of trying to choke down a full meal or snack with protein + carbs AND then a whole avocado to boot, simply plan to eat your avocado about an hour before your next meal. Your blood sugar really won’t have the time to crash because you’ll be eating again not too long afterwards. You can also stretch out a meal in a more European fashion rather than sitting for 15 min. and cramming down as much food as you can like we Americans tend to do LOL and you may find you’re able to eat a bit more than you would be otherwise. If dinner is a leisurely 2 hour affair, it isn’t as much of a chore to have a green salad with some wine or juice, then a steak and asparagus a bit later, then some cheese and fruit for dessert.
:fami03:I get why we’re eating red meat to raise testosterone, but I thought chicken and eggs have progesterone in them??
Your body makes all the hormones it ever needs out of the saturated fats and cholesterol in your diet. It DOES NOT get progesterone, testosterone, estrogen from foods – it manufactures its own supply from the stuff which foods are made of. You can eat as many eggs as you want, even tho they do have some tiny amount of progesterone in them – your body simply uses the cholesterol in eggs to make testosterone and estrogen that will help your blue sway.
And while we do include red meat for our blue sway, it’s not because of the testosterone that is supposedly in it – it’s because red meat is very nutrient dense, the high quality protein in meat helps to make muscle especially when eaten along with some quality carbohydrates, and your body can use the saturated fat in the red meat to make testosterone and estrogen.
The idea that progesterone sways pink is a totally unproven theory anyway. It’s much more likely that high levels of all three sex hormones sway blue – which is what the HE Diet is really all about.
:fami03:I’m vegetarian/vegan, is there any hope for me?
YES! You can have a great vegetarian/vegan sway and there are a lot of famous vegans with sons, like Emily Deschanel, Alannis Morrisette, and Liv Tyler.
Just be sure you are getting protein and carbs at every meal and snack and 9-11 servings of colorful fruits and vegetables every day. Do try to avoid the “unhealthy teenage girl” style of vegetarianism based around empty white carbs and carrot sticks LOL.
Vegetarians, be sure to include full fat dairy and 4-6 eggs a day and in addition, also follow the recommendations for vegans below.
Vegans, be sure to include nuts, beans, and natural sources of soy like edamame and tofu regularly. Avoid high intake of highly processed soy foods like meat replacers and soy milk – high intake of soy protein may sway pink and has been linked to deformities in the genitals of baby boys. Coconut oil is a great source of plant-based saturated fat and it would be something to include daily in addition to other plant-derived fats such as olive oil. If you are vegan, you should treat coconut oil as a daily supplement.
:fami03:Can I have caffeine? SHOULD I have caffeine, even if I don’t usually?
Yes, caffeine in moderation is allowed on HE Diet for both DH and DW but you do not have to start if you don’t already like it. The best study done on diet and baby’s gender found no difference between moms who conceived boys and moms who conceived girls. Caffeine does not sway blue.
The only reason caffeine was ever said to sway blue was because was once thought to cause calcium to leach from the body and reduce bone mass. This has subsequently been totally debunked and researchers found that the reason why there was originally ever a link between caff and bone mass, was because women who drank only caffeinated drinks had worse diets overall, worse exercise practices (exercise builds bone mass) and lower calcium intake, NOT that the caffeine was doing anything at all to the calcium. They’ve tested calcium loss after drinking coffee and know for a fact that it doesn’t cause you to lose tons of calcium, and this is true no matter how many websites make claims to the contrary.
Caffeine has been said to lower fertility but it’s not clear whether it’s the kind of reduction that may sway pink or some other thing going on (such as, increased rates of miscarriage with people who use a lot of caffeine). Tea, esp. green tea, may sway blue a bit. Do be sure you are eating some food WITH the caffeine because some people feel that caffeine can make their blood sugar drop sharply.
If you would like to have DH drink some caffeine 1-2 hours before your attempt, it may make sperm swim more quickly. We do not know if this translates into more boys conceived, however.
:fami03:Can I have alcohol?
Alcohol in moderation is ok on HE Diet but is probably not the best way to “spend” your calories. Red wine and high quality beer may the best option. If you have PCOS/IR or low AMH, you should forgo alcohol. If DH has any issue with sperm count/quality, he should drop alcohol all together.
:fami03:Do I need to worry about drinking water?
I do not believe water sways in any real way but I do have an essay about it here:
http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...pink-blue.html
:fami03:What sweeteners are best for blue?
Natural sweeteners derived from actual food sources are ALWAYS best for HE Diet. I have an essay about it here : http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...pink-blue.html
:fami03:How should I handle special occasions if I need to cheat, what should I cheat on, and OMG I cheated!
Since there are really no forbidden foods on HE Diet, there ARE no cheats! If you have a bad day here or there where you miss a meal, it’s ok. Remember, it’s the overall pattern of your diet that counts and not any one meal or day. Trust me, all us mostly-boy-moms had the occasional day when we were busy and missed lunch, made a meal from leftover Halloween candy, or had a diet soda instead of whole milk to drink. Regroup and start anew the next day without even a second thought. We have a Guide to Cheating on Diet thread here http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...tml#post959803
:fami03:Do I HAVE to eat breakfast and snack? I HATE cereal!!
No, if you really CAN’T eat breakfast, no need to force yourself. I do think it helps your sway but it’s no magic bullet. Just eat when you’re ready to.
Snacks are more important than breakfast, esp. the bedtime snack. If at all possible, try to fit a bedtime snack in every day – protein + carbs is best. You have to keep the fires a-burning the whole night and a bedtime snack really helps, esp. if you are a person who can’t eat breakfast.
Don’t feel that you need to eat cereal (or ANY HE Diet food) if you dislike it. Anything you enjoy is fine so long as it has protein + carbs – even leftover pizza!!
:fami03:What to do after bfp – how long to do diet, and how to normalize:
Yay! BFP! Congrats!!
First thing, add a prenatal vitamin if you weren’t already taking them (the Women’s One a Day has as good or better nutrient levels to many prenatals, so if you’re on those, you can just continue them) and switch from fish oil, to a DHA supp such as Enfamil Expecta. There is a bit less DHA in Expecta than there is in fish oil so it’s best to make this change gradually. Take 2 of the Expectas a day for 2 weeks (this will be one full box), then one one day and 2 the next day in an alternating pattern until a second full box is done, then you can switch to one a day for the duration of your pregnancy.
If you were not using iodized salt, and/or you were eating high levels of iodized salt and are now cutting back, you may want to add a low dose iodine supplement (about 150 iu). ONLY if you do not have thyroid trouble, though. If you do have thyroid problems consult your doctor about taking iodine before starting it.
Continue the higher dose folic acid throughout the entire first trimester and then gradually cut back to the amount in your prenatal by spacing doses farther and farther apart. Gradually wean off Coq10 after BFP. Continue probiotic and Vit. D throughout your pregnancy. Probiotic may help prevent yeast infections while you’re pregnant and hospital-acquired infections both in you and your newborn after birth, and may also help your newborn to digest his food more easily. Vit. D has been linked to lower risk of preeclampsia.
Feel free to start gradually resuming your normal diet to some extent. If at all possible, continue eating breakfast and having a bedtime snack, altho you can relax the snacks between meals. Unlike pink swayers, the longer you are able to keep up the diet into pregnancy, the better. Some people have thought that once pregnant, they could cut way back on food intake and limit weight gain to make up for weight they gained on HE Diet, but please don’t do that. It is very likely that baby boys need more caloric and nutrient intake during pregnancy as well, and if you become too strict with yourself, particularly in very early pregnancy before baby is well and truly stuck, your body may interpret that as you not having enough resources to maintain a pregnancy. Data suggests that the best pregnancy outcomes are found with steady weight gain throughout pregnancy, even if you are a little on the heavy side to start with. Also, some aspects of the HE Diet may make twinning more likely and evidence indicates that twins are even more nutrient-greedy than singleton pregnancies are.
Try to eat meat regularly and continue a fairly high level of protein intake. You need at barest minimum, 75 grams of protein a day during pregnancy– that’s 3 servings of meat about the size of a deck of playing cards (of course you can get protein from other foods as well). Eating protein and carbs together helps your body use the protein better, but you don’t need to stick to that quite so strictly as when you were swaying. You may want to switch from full fat dairy to skim. It’s never a bad thing to eat 9-11 servings of fruits and veg when pregnant, continue eating lots of whole grains, and healthy fats.
I hope this helps! In conclusion I want to give a shout-out to my son Clark :hug2: who was insanely helpful while I was writing this essay :superhero: and is a better son than I ever deserved.
