Pregnant? What Your OB is NOT Telling You

You're tired. You're hungry. You're nauseous. You're late.

You're pregnant! Congratulations! Babies are the world's greatest gift and they provide endless joy and challenges. What happens when those challenges are health related and could have been prevented or been less extensive?  Well, from experience, it sucks and you then work to restore the baby's health.

When pregnant with Jahan, I followed the advice of my OB, she was board certified and it was her fiduciary duty to guide me to optimal fetal health. She prescribed me prenatals that were rather pricey, $100 for a month supply, and didn't provide any other recommendations. I would visit her monthly until I was 36 weeks along and then I visited her weekly until my son was born.

There was no other guidance from my OB, so I opted to do my own research.  Some things I learned included:

• There is a vaginal advantage versus a c-section. A recent study from the Canadian Medical Association Journal discusses this further.
• There is a clear advantage in breastfeeding versus formula feeding. Here are 18 breastfeeding benefits and here is a more scientific article that credits breast milk with a lot of positives. The immune system boost to the baby when breastfeeding is undeniable.  A simple google search will yield endless articles, scientifically backed showing the benefits of breastfeeding.

So shoot for a vaginal delivery and breastfeed the baby - easy enough. 

Once Jahan arrived and started showing baby eczema, we learned a lot of other things that we could have done while pregnant to ensure the highest immune system possible. My OB never shared these tips. Perhaps she didn't know. Maybe a new protocol could be to see a pediatrician or immunologist at week 20 of pregnancy. There has got to be a way to ensure pregnant mothers receive all information that may impact their baby. Some things to consider while pregnant:

• Avoid antibiotics while pregnant and get Group B Strep tested closer to delivery instead of at 35-37 weeks
• While pregnant, supplement with prebiotics and probiotics
• Ensure you are getting adequate Vitamin D
• Limit sugar intake while pregnant
• If a c-section is required, inoculate the baby with mom's vaginal flora immediately following the c-section delivery 

When pregnant with my second child, Emrys, I applied all of the above and he has had no immune system issues. His microbiome is flourishing.  He has had none of the complications Jahan has had and we also expose him to germs and dirt! 

Super Foods - Part 1

As Hippocrates once said, "let food be thy medicine."  Despite Jahan's multiple food allergies, which will all be treated starting in the next 24-30 months using OIT, food is the best option for medicine. Food will address the most pertinent issues (excluding the allergies) currently plaguing his two year old body. Leaky gut, inflammation, the presence of pathogens, unacceptably low levels of of good bacteria and eczema can all begin to heal by eliminating the inflammatory foods, ingesting a diversity of fruits and vegetables and taking daily vitamins and supplements.

While none of us are doctors, my husband and I have consulted with multiple functional doctors, functional/holistic dietitians, allergists and dermatologists and we have compiled a list of some of the best foods to help obtain optimal gut health based on their recommendations and our personal results.

Getting your two year old to actually consciously eat these foods or any foods other than juice, pasta and milk is an entirely separate and equally challenging endeavor.  Consider yourselves extremely blessed if your toddler is eager to eat and try new and different foods.

Here is part 1 in the Super Foods Series

1. Jicama - If an apple and a potato had a baby, Jicama would be the result.  This starchy tuber is packed with vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin C. Vitamin C is great for boosting the immune system of which a whooping two-thirds is located in the gut.  Jicama contains a prebiotic called inulin. Probiotics seem to get all the love these days, but prebiotics are ultra important too because they are food for the good bacteria.  If you don't feed the probiotics, they go away. Prebiotics promote the growth of the good bacteria in the gut. Jicama is refreshing raw sliced in a salad, added to a smoothie or cooked like any style potato you may fancy.  
2. Sweet potato - This starchy tuber is the gift that keeps on giving. Sweet potatoes provide high amounts of sustained energy without causing the body to spike.  Sweet potatoes are a also a prebiotic, so the good bacteria feeds off of these. Sweet potatoes are delicious baked, steamed or fried. 
3. Turmeric - This spice is used daily in our house. Turmeric is very commonly used in Indian cuisine, but word is spreading about this 8th wonder of the world. Turmeric is known for it's anti-inflammatory properties and can be used to treat a wide variety of digestive inflammatory diseases including Crohn's disease, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and indigestion.  Turmeric can be added to smoothies or sprinkled on potatoes.  We simply add to our toddler's milk at each serving and he gladly downs it. 
4. Salmon (wild caught) - All salmon are NOT created equal.  Farmed and wild salmon may look similar, but farmed salmon are loaded with antibiotics, which are extremely harmful to the gut flora's environment.  In addition to that, wild salmon has more protein and less fat per serving, less toxic compounds and lacks the artificial coloring that farmed salmon contains.  Oh and the taste, there is no comparison.                      
5. Plantain - A resistant starch. What does this mean?  Without getting too scientific, plantains resist being absorbed as sugar, instead, these starches travel to the small intestine where they are turned into a short-chain fatty acids, which provide energy to the cells in the colon.  Inflammation reduction also occurs.  Green plantains are delicious fried. This Puerto Rican version is similar to how I cook them at home. 

Stay tuned for more posts in the Super Foods Series.