Breast-Fed Baby May Mean Better Behaved Child

“Add yet another potential benefit to breast-feeding: Fewer behavioral problems in young children.” read more…

Improving Digestion during Pregnancy

• Go to bed early – ideally, this means lights out by 9:30 p.m. The hormonal changes that happen during the first early block of sleep are what set us up to wake refreshed and hungry.
• Eat a full breakfast by 8 a.m. Waiting too long to eat just invites nausea and sets us up to eat too little for the rest of the day.
• Plan on three full meals a day, with snacks in between at least every two hours.
• Eat protein and fat at every meal and snack, both from animal sources (butter, lard, meat, milk, etc.)
• Foods naturally high in probiotics can help settle the stomach and keep digestion moving. These include unpasteurized miso, raw sauerkraut and full-fat plain yogurt. Taking an actual probiotic supplement can also be helpful; I recommend Nature’s Way Primadolphilus Reuteri.
• Small amounts (4oz or less daily) of kombucha can aid digestion.
• An enzyme supplement, such as chewable papaya tablets, can be taken after meals if heartburn is a persistent problem; however, reducing foods made with flour and sugar and increasing folate will have a more lasting effect.
• Two teaspoons of raw apple cider vinegar in a 1/2 cup of water drunk 20 minutes before meals helps jump-start the digestive process. Add a little raw honey to taste. This is especially helpful if fatty foods are feeling hard to digest. If you are suffering from gall bladder pain, sip the concoction during the meal as well.
• Half a teaspoon of Sweetish bitters in a glass of water, drunk on an empty stomach first thing in the morning helps the body make more bile and break down fat more easily. If morning nausea is a problem, try taking it at the end of a meal.
• Ginger and peppermint teas are both soothing to the digestive system. Using loose peppermint leaves or fresh ginger root will be more effective than tea bags.

Risks: High PCB Levels, Fewer Births of Boys

“Women exposed to high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, are significantly less likely to give birth to boys, according to a new study.” read more…

Childbirth: Highway Proximity Linked to Birth Weight

“A Canadian study suggests that mothers living near highways are more likely to give birth to preterm or low-birth-weight babies, but contrary to previous studies it found the association only in wealthy neighborhoods.” read more…

Prematurity May Lead to Adult Problems

“Premature babies, even those with no apparent treatable medical problems, may face an increased risk of medical and social disabilities in adulthood.” read more…

Depression During Pregnancy May Cause Premature Birth

“Women who are depressed early in their pregnancy run a higher risk of preterm delivery, the leading cause of infant mortality, a new study suggests.” read more…

Exploding the top pregnancy myths, part two!

Taking cod liver oil during pregnancy is unsafe because consuming more than 10,000 IU of Vitamin A (retinol) per day will lead to birth defects in the baby.

No! Vitamin A comes in several forms, and the body processes them differently. The form that occurs naturally in food is called oil-miscible, while the manufactured form found in a vitamin pill come in water-miscible, emulsified and solid forms. These manufactured forms are 10 times more toxic than oil-miscible retinol. The RDA for Vitamin A is generically set for all forms. For short term use (several weeks) the body can tolerate up to 100,000 IU of food-source retinol, and daily consumption of between 25,000 and 60,000 IU have not been found to be harmful in pregnancy.

In addition, when Vitamins A and D are present together (as in cod liver oil), the body is further protected against toxicity, although this mechanism is not yet clearly understood. The current thinking is that it is related to the signaling function of the two vitamins combined with the actions of another fat-soluble vitamin, Vitamin K2. The body needs all three vitamins working together to organize and deposit minerals in the bones. What is seen as a toxic level of one vitamin (say, Vitamin A) is actually more likely a deficiency in either Vitamin D or Vitamin K2.

Why take cod liver oil at all? The western diet is woefully deficient in fat-soluble vitamins, particularly Vitamin A, sometimes with devastating consequences for the baby, including eye, kidney and heart defects and cleft palate, as well as growth retardation in the fetus and prematurity, periodontal disease, kidney stones and ear problems. Cod liver oil is the very best source of food-based Vitamin A (and D) available.

The safest way to take cod liver oil is to make sure you are getting a high quality supplement, with only naturally occurring vitamins, keep your intake of Vitamin A below 30,000 IU per day, and accompany your cod liver oil with foods high in Vitamin K-2. I personally recommend Green Pasture’s brand Blue Ice Cod Liver Oil.

To be continued…

Vitamin K-2 and Pregnancy

Function in Pregnancy: Vitamin K-2 prevents the early calcification of the growth plates of the baby’s bones, allowing for proper bone formation. It also plays a crucial role in keeping mother’s own teeth and bones healthy, preventing decay and osteoarthritis. Vitamins A and D both require Vitamin K-2 in order to do their jobs of bone formation and calcium placement.

Symptoms of deficiency: Vitamin K-2 status is related to that of vitamin K-1. If any of the symptoms under K-1 apply, a deficiency in K-2 should be suspected as well.

Effects of deficiency on mother and baby: Tooth decay, soft tissue calcification, bone loss, growth retardation in utero, nervous system damage in the baby, and birth defects, including underdevelopment of the nose, mouth and mid-face, cupped ears and shortened fingers.

Sources (Eat a variety of the following daily to provide ample Vitamin K-2)

• Hard or soft cheese, preferably raw and aged for at least 60 days
• Egg yolks
• Yellow butter
• Liver, any type
• Muscle meat, any type
• Raw sauerkraut

Vitamin K-1 and Pregnancy

Function in Pregnancy: Vitamin K1 activates clotting factors in the blood, helping to prevent hemorrhage in both mother and baby. Babies do not produce vitamin K-1 and must rely on the supply available in the breast milk.

Symptoms of deficiency: Frequent bruises, nose bleeds, a history of heavy menstrual periods, gastrointestinal bleeding and blood in the urine. Having a history of antibiotic use or difficulty digesting fat both indicate a likely deficiency.

Effects of deficiency on mother and baby: Increased chance of miscarriage and postpartum hemorrhage, as well as fetal intercranial hemorrhage during or after birth.

Sources: (Each choice proves 50% of your daily K-1, pick two)

• 1/2 cup of cooked dark leafy greens
• 1/2 cup raw sauerkraut
• 1 cup raw green leaf lettuce (not iceberg)
• 1 cup cooked broccoli
• 1 cup cooked brussel sprouts
• 1/4 cup raw parsley
• 1/2 cup raw cilantro
• 6 Tablespoons pine nuts

Exploding the top pregnancy myths, part one!

Pregnancy requires the addition of only 300 calories to your normal diet.

No! It’s not possible to increase your nutrient intake by the amount required with only the caloric equivalent of a single glass of milk — you need more than 30% of your normal intake of vitamins and minerals to have a healthy, nourished baby and pregnancy. This means that your calorie intake will generally go up by 30% as well. But what does this mean for your weight gain, you ask?

A healthy weight gain for a normal pregnant woman is less than 35 pounds.

No! The standard American medical advice of a weight gain of 25 to 35 pounds provides very little support for breastfeeding. Following this recommendation, after the baby (and its accompanying placenta and extra fluid) is born, the mother is left with a weight gain somewhere between 10 and 18 pounds. Breast milk contains 20 calories an ounce, and fat has 3500 calories per pound. With a young baby needing an average of 36 ounces of milk a day, this will support the production of breast milk for only 12 weeks! Is is any wonder that so many mothers complain about undersupply, and most give up breastfeeding completely before their baby is six months old? A more realistic weight gain of 35 to 60 pounds will come from a diet that is providing all the nutrients that mama and baby need, and give caloric support both during the pregnancy and postpartum.

Eating full fat foods will make you fat.

No! Full fat foods, like whole milk, butter, eggs and meat form the basis of a healthy pregnancy diet. Saturated fat is vital during pregnancy for so many reasons, including boosting the immune system, encouraging fertility, supporting the baby’s developing brain, supporting the absorption of vitamins A, D, E and K, regulating the circulatory and clotting systems, and, through conversion into prostaglandins (special site-specific hormones), saturated fats actually dilate the cervix and induce birth! A high fat diet does not encourage either excessive weight gain or overly large babies; sugar and refined carbs do. Gestational diabetes (insulin resistance tied to overconsumption of said sugars) has been clearly linked to babies that are overly large at birth. In fact, leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells, has been shown to regulate baby’s growth and is a determining factor in the incidence of gestational diabetes.  Exercise (both before and during pregnancy) helps leptin regulatation by increasing insulin sensitivity and altering fat metabolism, so rather than cut calories or eat low-fat, simply choose a low-impact exercise regime that you can do for the duration of your pregnancy, such as swimming or walking.

Taking a prenatal vitamin provides all the extra vitamins and minerals your pregnancy needs.

Prenatal vitamins have become the bad diet panacea for many a pregnant woman. It seems so simple, especially when we are working or already have children to care for, to just pop a pill (or six!) and feel that at least we did something good for ourselves. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Typical prenatal vitamins are a mixture of petrolem-based colorants and vitamins, rancid oils and difficult to digest minerals, such as the oxide forms of iron and zinc. There’s a reason that many women find them nauseating! Even so-called “food-based” prenatal vitamins fall woefully short of supplying even a fraction of a day’s worth of nutrients. For example, Rainbow Light Complete Prenatal System, a “high quality” prenatal vitamin, has the quite a few short comings. The pills have none of the active form of Vitamin A, retinol, instead relying on the plant-source Vitamin A precursors beta-carotene and palmitate; many people have a difficult time converting these into Vitamin A, needing to consume between 15 and 22 units of beta-carotene to make one unit of retinol. It provides only the lab-manufactured form of vitamin C, ascorbic acid. Unlike the Vitamin C that occurs naturally in fruits and vegetables, ascorbic acid does not come paired with bioflavonoids; they have to be added in separately by the manufacturer. Only one of the eight known forms of Vitamin E is included in the vitamins. The pills do contain calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide, however, both of which are basically marble dust and quite difficult for the body to digest. The iron and calcium in the pills have an antagonistic relationship, with calcium inhibiting iron absorption by more than 50%, so that 30mg of iron is really more like 11mg when bio-availability is  accounted for. And finally, while in theory these pills have fat-soluble vitamins your body desperately needs to support the pregnancy, these vitamins are virtually useless unless consumed in an environment rich in saturated fats. Where are the instructions that say, “Take with a glass of whole milk”?!

To be continued…