Part 4: A look at how I believe my changing diet with each pregnancy has affected my children and the pregnancies themselves. (pregnancy #4, baby due in May)

Well, I certainly meant for this post to go up a couple of weeks ago. It turns out trying to buy a house, getting ready for a move, taking care of kiddos and everything else under the sun that is going on has kept me away from blogging. I do believe that my posts may be pretty intermittent for a while, so bear with me as my family and I make some pretty big transitions in our lives. All our awesome, but all take time and there is only so much energy and only so many hours in a day. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the fourth part of this series. To read about my other pregnancies check out the links below.

Pregnancy 1

Pregnancy 2

Pregnancy 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pregnancy, birth and the life that is brought forth into this world is amazing, scary, empowering, difficult and in the end a true learning experience, that is, if you want it to be.

I am over halfway through my fourth pregnancy and this one has been a journey all of it's own. I chose the route of learning from past experiences and applied that knowledge to this pregnancy. I've known since having my daughter that I truly desired to have a natural birth, without any tests and ultrasounds. I didn't want to be back in a doctor or midwife office feeling pressured to do things I wasn't comfortable with, nor feeling supported by my view points and research. So this time around I've chosen to go the route of having a home birth and seeing a certified professional midwife (CPM). This child, thus far has had about the most natural life that anyone can have, seeing as how we haven't so much as taken a pregnancy test, although the ever expanding belly and the regular kicks tells us our little one is growing healthy and strong!

Part 1: A look at how I believe my changing diet with each pregnancy has affected my children and the pregnancies themselves.

With this pregnancy in full swing, I am in nutrition mode, trying to continue to figure out and research the best diet for myself, the growing child in me, as well as, how to best feed my growing children. I'd like to share some history about my other pregnancies, because (in my opinion) I have seen direct correlations to me changing my diet and the outcomes of each pregnancy, birth and overall health of each child there after. I'm splitting it up into four segments, since this is my forth pregnancy.

Check out the things that have changed and the outcomes of each pregnancy and see if you think that food may have played a more vital role in my children than what most Western medicine obstetricians, pediatricians and nutritionist understand or share with us.

To read about my other pregnancies check out the links below.

Pregnancy 1

Pregnancy 2

Pregnancy 3

Pregnancy 4

Pregnancy #1

Miscarriage

As a mid 20 something I was living life to the fullest. My husband and I ate out regularly, enjoyed a very social life, stayed up to the wee hours of the morning and I drank to my heart's content. Drinking was my release point and my way of socializing. I was always far more relaxed after a drink or two. My eating habits were fairly terrible in comparison to today, although I did try to eat organic as much as I could. At this point in my life I never ate breakfast, for lunch I'd try to down a fruit smoothie from a nearby grocery store and for dinner I often ate a pasta dish of some sort accompanied by several glasses of wine. I was suffering from my eating habits. I often felt ill and shaky by mid morning from skipping breakfast, so the quick, easy solution was the fruit shake which would boost my sugar levels, except that I couldn't actually drink much before not feeling good again as my sugar levels would sky rocket (at the time I didn't know that I was struggling with hypo- and hyperglycemia.) I'd keep a protein bar in my purse or some nuts to snack on to get me to dinner. Pasta was always one of my favorites and I'd try to eat a "healthy" dinner, but I just didn't understand what my body was really telling me it needed.

Fermenting some veggies!

I eat fermented cabbage, or as most of us know it - sauerkraut, on a very regular basis and love it on sandwiches and along side my breakfast or dinner dishes, but until recently I hadn't started fermented any of my other vegetables (except for the occasional pickles). It was just one more thing to do and try and I hadn't made the time for it.

If you are completely new to the idea of fermenting veggies there is plenty of wonderful health reason for why you should consider incorporating this wonderful health food into your diet. Fermenting was done in the past to keep food fresh for long periods of time, because of course there were no grocery stores to run to or refrigerates to raid when you needed something to eat and gardens certainly didn't produce year round. During the fermenting process, which includes your vegetables, water, salt, whey and spices/herbs (if you want any), lactic acid bacteria is produced. Lactic acid keeps the vegetables from rotting (at least for a time) and also provides some wonderful benefits for your intestinal track by increasing beneficial bacteria and encouraging the growth of healthy flora. Fermented vegetables are filled with fiber, nutrients and wonderful digestive helping enzymes.

"Lacto-fermented condiments are easy to make. Fruits and vegetables are first washed and cut up, mixed with salt and herbs or spices and then pounds briefly to release juices. They are then pressed into an air tight container. Salt inhibits the putrefying bacteria for several days until enough lactic acid is produced to preserve the vegetables for many months. The amount of salt can be reduced or even eliminated if whey is added to the pickling solution. Rich in lactic acid and lactic-acid-producing bacteria, whey acts as an inoculant, reducing the time needed for sufficient lactic acid to produce to ensure preservation. Use of whey will result in consistently successful pickling; it is essential for pickling fruits. During the first few days of fermentation, the vegetables are kept at room temperature; afterwards, they must be placed in a cool, dark place for long-term preservation."
~Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, page 90

I remember my first experience with homemade sauerkraut. It was probably 4-5 years ago and my mom was on a kick with this cookbook called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. This woman had a whole new approach to cooking and baking and I thought she might be nuts! :-) Her recipes seemed so foreign. I couldn't imagine people cooking the way she described. (How things have changed, since I love Nourishing Traditions now and if you follow my blog you'll know I quote from it rather regularly.) My mom made some homemade sauerkraut for my brother and me to try. Her container was bubbling and your could hear the carbon dioxide escaping, which naturally occurs in the fermenting process. I was very, very hesitant to try the sauerkraut. I was worried I was going to get sick. I mean normally sauerkraut comes in a can or jar in the canned food section at the grocery store. Certainly there was something special food companies where doing to make this food safe to eat. It took me months, if not longer, to become really comfortable with this new way of preparing or preserving food. My first couple of batches of sauerkraut I threw away because mold would form on top or it turned colors on the top. I was still worried I wasn't doing something right and would get sick, so into the trash the sauerkraut went. However, I was still very curious about eating food like this and it hit home for my desire to prepare foods in a more natural way, aka no preservative or processed ingredients.

Once you get past the initial wariness of naturally fermenting your food, it's easy to relax and start a variety of experimenting. Homemade yogurt, kefir, sourdough, etc. is all fermented food and just like fermented vegetables, are excellent for maintaining a healthy body. Get creative with with what type of vegetables you ferment, how you slice them, how long you let them ferment and try adding different spices.


For the fermenting I tried this time, I kept things simple. I decided to slice my veggies into spears because I thought I would have a greater tendency to eat them. They would be much easier to grab and munch on when I wanted a quick snack. I also only added garlic or garlic and dill for extra flavor.
After two days of fermenting I taste tested the veggies and decided to let them go for another day. How you slice your vegetables and the temperature in your house can easily change your fermenting time from approximately 2 days to 4-6 days. The warmer the house is the less time it takes for food to ferment. The average fermenting time is 3 days and works well when you're first starting out.
 
One things to note, the sauerkraut that you buy at the store in a can IS NOT the same as making the lacto-fermented stuff at home. The canning process kills any healthy bacteria that may have existed, assuming it was processed in a healthy way in the first place. Plus who knows what type of preservatives they've added to the can. Also, a site you might like on fermenting food is Wild Fermentation, and check out this article by Michael O’Brien on Fermented Vegetables.

The "recipe" you'll see below is for some very simple lacto-fermenting. In future posts I'll go into more examples of spices and herbs you can add. I also just made a fermented salsa and I'll share that recipe in the next day or two.


What You'll Need: for 4 pints of sliced vegetables
     • The vegetable(s) of your choice,
        sliced and enough to fill 4 mason
        jars. I did zucchini, carrots,
        cucumbers and green beans.
     • 4 cups filtered water
     • 8 tsp. salt
     • 4 tbsp. whey
     • 8 cloves of garlic, smashed
     • Fresh sprigs of dill
     • 4 mason jars with lids

Getting Started:
1. Fill each jar with vegetables, 1-2 cloves of smashed garlic and 1-2 sprigs of dill. (I actually only added dill to the zucchini and cucumber jars.) Have them sliced short
enough that you have about 1" of space below the rim of the jar. Pack them good or they'll float when you pour your liquid on them.

2. Mix together your water, salt and whey in a small bowl or pitcher until salt has fully dissolved. Then fill each jar, just until your vegetables are covered. Alternatively, you could fill the jars with water until veggies are covered and then add 2 tsp. of salt ad 1 tbsp. of whey.

3. Cover jars tightly and then place on counter (preferably in a room around 70º) out of direct sunlight for 3 days.


4. Place lacto-fermented vegetables into fridge for long term storage or in a root cellar, if you had one!


Enjoy this great food, but don't overdo it. These are better if treated like a condiment.

Not your traditional morning oatmeal, other grains to try instead.

It's 6 AM and breakfast is on my mind! I think breakfast is the most important meal of the day and easily the one most often skipped by the majority of us. Instead of taking the time to sit down to a well balanced meal, we run out of the house or start on our to do list with a granola/health bar, a cup of cold cereal or forgo the whole meal all together. Advertisers have us believing that we can get our daily vitamins in fortified cereals/breakfast bars and those oh so healthy foods will give us the energy we need to get through our day. Ah, how misleading those advertisements are. I won't delve to much into this one, at least not now, but just because a cereal/breakfast bar says it has 100% of your daily vitamins doesn't actually mean that your body can absorbs those vitamins. Most mainstream cereals/breakfast bars are filled with synthetic vitamins and sadly our bodies are not able to absorbs vitamins in this form, at least not as well as vitamins from whole, natural foods. Getting past the synthetic mess, next look at the list of ingredients on the package of your cereal/breakfast bar. If there are any words you can pronounce or don't know what they are, pitch it. That's a good cue that most likely what your eating really isn't good for you.

If you are in a time crunch in the morning, it's time to try and restructure the morning. I certainly know how busy the morning can be. Hence working at 6 AM on this post so I can hopefully get a couple things done before the kids are up! :-) My husband and I used to always eat breakfast together, however he now leaves for work at 6:45 AM and rarely are the kids up at that time, so now he makes breakfast for himself and takes it to work with him. He's then able to have a well balanced meal and also get his day started by checking email and doing all those other activities that fill the beginning of the day. I always try to eat with my son, so I wait till he is up and then we typically have a well balanced meal of eggs, yogurt, fresh fruit, some toast and a large glass of fresh whole milk. It's quite a bit of food, but by doing a full breakfast I am able to balance my sugar lever (I've always had a bit of a problem with hypoglycemia) and give my body the healthy calories and vitamins it needs to give me energy for my day. Plus, when your body is content because you've met it's nutritional requirements you don't find yourself needing or wanting to snack. This has it's pluses since typically when I grab a snack I'm not grabbing the healthiest thing for my body!

Okay, with that all said, back to the point of this post. Who wants to eat the same thing everyday for breakfast? I always used have oatmeal once or twice a week, but then I saw a 5 grain cereal recipe in Nourishing Tradition by Sally Fallon and thought it sounded interesting, so I gave it a whirl. The cereal recipe includes 2 cups of wheat or spelt, millet, short grain rice, barley or oats and split peas or lentils (yes you read correctly peas or lentils is in this cereal mix :-)). You mix your ingredients together and then coarsely grind them and store them in your refrigerator
until your ready to use the mixture. This ended up being a very satisfying meal, more so then just oatmeal which always tended to leave me hungry an hour later and a bit shaky from too many carbohydrates and not enough protein.

Now I incorporate anywhere from 3-5 grains, always including quinoa because it's a complete protein. I typically mix together enough dry ingredients so I have 1 - 1 1/3 dry cereal mix, I then mix this with about 2 1/2 cups of water and a couple tablespoons of whey or yogurt and let it all sit together on my counter overnight.

"All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorus is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, copper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss. The modern misguided practice of consuming large amounts of unprocessed bran often improves colon transit time at first but may lead to irritable bowel syndrome and, in the long term, many other adverse effects. Soaking allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. As little as seven hours of soaking in warm acidulated water will neutralize a large portion of phytic acid in grains. The simple practice of soaking cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight will vastly improve their nutritional benefits."
~Nourishing Tradition by Sally Fallon, page 452

After my grains have soaked, I dump them and their liquid into a medium size pot and add some sea salt, about 1/2 tsp. and cook them covered over medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes, if you've ground your grains they may cook in as little as 5-10 minutes. If you choose to not soak your grain, do realize that it will greatly increase their cooking time, up to about an hour or so.

Once the hot cereal is cooked, top it with a variety of nuts, fresh or dried fruit and even some shaved coconut meat (a favorite with my son). You can add just about anything you want like butter or cream and even incorporating 1-2 egg yolks. Be creative here and have fun trying new foods.

Below I've included some of the grains and nuts I use and their health benefits. This is hardly a comprehensive list of nutritional information. Check out the links to read more about each item. A couple of other grains to consider and that I don't have pictured below are kamut, spelt and rye. One of the goals here is to try and get away from eating the typical and trying to incorporate more variety into the diet. I've heard that one of the reasons we see some of the food allergies that we do is because of the lack of variety in out diet. We over consume the same foods like eating to much wheat or peanuts, which can then stress our digestive system ultimately causing food allergies in ourselves and our children.



Steel Cut Oats
Health Benefits: Contains manganese, selenium, vitamin B1, dietary fiber, magnesium, protein, phosphorus, copper, folate (folic acid), vitamin E and zinc

Interesting Fact: "The modern oat draws its ancestry from the wild red oat, a plant originating in Asia. Oats have been cultivated for two thousand years in various regions throughout the world. Before being consumed as a food, oats were used for medicinal purposes, a use for which they are still honored."
~ World's Healthiest Foods, article on Oats


Cracked Wheat
Health Benefits: Contains protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, vitamin E, iron, magnesium, manganese, selenium, zinc

Interesting Fact: "Wheat is the largest and most important grain crop in the world and has been cultivated since 7,000 BC."
~The Best-Ever Vegetarian Cookbook by Nicola Graimes

Cracked wheat contains all the same nutrients as wheat berries, since it's simply wheat berries that have been crushed. If you are normally one who likes to eat wheat germ or bran, consider eating cracked wheat instead. It's almost always wiser to eat a food in it's whole form instead of isolating one or two parts. Good rule of thumb, the less it's processed the better it will be for you! Wheat bran is actually a bi-product of white flour production.



Barley
Health Benefits: Contains fiber, calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium and B vitamins.

Interesting Fact: "Barley, one of the first crops cultivated by man, has been used as a food and medication since biblical times."
~ Wholehealthmd.com

The most nutritious form of barley is called pot barley, however we more often see pearl barley in our stores. Pearl barley has been husked, steamed and polished, so it looses some of the extra nutrients that is contained in the bran, which has been removed.



Millet
Health Benefits: Contains B vitamins, iron, zinc, calcium, manganese,

Interesting Fact: "Millet is one of the oldest foods known to humans and possibly the first cereal grain to be used for domestic purposes. It is mentioned in the Bible, and was used during those times to make bread. Millet has been used in Africa and India as a staple food for thousands of years and it was grown as early as 2700 BC in China where it was the prevalent grain before rice became the dominant staple."
~ Whole Grains: Millet by Karen Railey

"Millet is highly nutritious, non-glutinous and like buckwheat and quinoa, is not an acid forming food so is soothing and easy to digest. In fact, it is considered to be one of the least allergenic and most digestible grains available and it is a warming grain so will help to heat the body in cold or rainy seasons and climates."
~ Whole Grains: Millet by Karen Railey



Brown Rice
Health Benefits: Contains zinc, niacin, vitamin B6, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, selenium, fiber

Interesting Fact: "Because the bran is not milled away, brown rice contains four times the amount of insoluble fiber found in white rice--a prime reason for eating brown rice instead of white."
~ Wholehealthmd.com



Quinoa
Health Benefits: Contains iron, potassium, calcium, vitamin E, riboflavin, B6, niacin, thiamine, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, protein (it is a complete protein because it contains all eight essential amino acids)

Interesting Fact: "It has been cultivated in South American Andes since at least 3,000 B.C. and has been a staple food of millions of native inhabitants. The ancient Incas called quinoa the 'mother grain' and revered it as sacred. Each year at planting time it was traditional for the Inca leader to plant the first quinoa seed using a solid gold shovel! Quinoa was used to sustain Incan armies, which frequently marched for many days eating a mixture of quinoa and fat, known as 'war balls.'"
~ Quinoa from the Andes by Karen Railey



Split Peas
Health Benefits: Contains soluble and insoluble fiber, folate (folic acid), iron, selenium, manganese, zinc, phosphorus, thiamine, potassium and some protein.

Interesting Fact: "The modern-day garden pea, from which dried peas are made, is thought to have originated from the field pea that was native to central Asia and Europe. Dried peas have been consumed since prehistoric times with fossilized remains being found at archeological sites in Swiss lake villages. Peas are mentioned in the Bible and were prized by the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome."
~The World's Healthiest Foods article on Dried Peas

Peas and lentils (listed below) both decrease harmful LDL cholesterol in our bodies which can help fight against heart disease. They are also high in fiber, which helps the colon and bowels work properly . One other great benefit of fiber is it can slow down the rate sugar can enter into our bloodstream. This can be beneficial to those who have diabetes.

Lentils
Health Benefits: Lentils are very similar in health benefits as split peas. They also contain soluble and insoluble fiber, folate (folic acid), iron, selenium, folate, manganese, zinc, phosphorus and thiamine, potassium and some protein.

Interesting Fact: "Lentils are believed to have originated in central Asia, having been consumed since prehistoric times. They are one of the first foods to have ever been cultivated. Lentil seeds dating back 8000 years have been found at archeological sites in the Middle East. Lentils were mentioned in the Bible both as the item that Jacob traded to Esau for his birthright and as a part of a bread that was made during the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish people."
~The Word's Healthiest Foods article on Lentils



Sunflower Seeds
Health Benefits: Contain an excellent amount of vitamin E, as well as, folate (folic acid), copper, magnesium, selenium, protein, zinc and other B vitamins

Interesting Fact: "While sunflowers are thought to have originated in Mexico and Peru, they are one of the first plants to ever be cultivated in the United States. They have been used for more than 5,000 years by the Native Americans, who not only used the seeds as a food and an oil source, but also used the flowers, roots and stems for varied purposes including as a dye pigment."
~The World's Healthiest Foods article on Sunflower Seeds



Pecans
Health Benefits: Contain vitamin A, vitamin E, folate (folic acid), calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, several B vitamins, zinc, protein

Interesting Fact: "New research, published in the August 2006 issue of Nutrition Research, shows that adding just a handful of pecans to your diet each day may help inhibit unwanted oxidation of blood lipids, thus helping prevent coronary heart disease. The researchers suggest that this positive effect was in part due to the pecans’ significant content of vitamin E – a natural antioxidant. Pecans contain different forms of vitamin E, which protects blood lipids from oxidation. Oxidation of lipids in the body - a process akin to rusting – is detrimental to health. When the "bad" (LDL) cholesterol becomes oxidized, it is more likely to build up and result in clogged arteries."

"In addition, landmark research published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry (June 2004) found that pecans rank highest among all nuts and are among the top category of foods to contain the highest antioxidant capacity, meaning pecans may decrease the risk of cancer, coronary heart disease, and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s."
~National Pecan Sheller Association, article on pecans Nutrition in a Nutshell



Walnuts
Health Benefits: Contain ellagic acid, copper, manganese, tryptophan, omega 3, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin E, phosphorus and postassium

Interesting Fact: "Walnuts have often been thought of as a "brain food," not only because of the wrinkled brain-like appearance of their shells, but because of their high concentration of omega-3 fats. Your brain is more than 60% structural fat. For your brain cells to function properly, this structural fat needs to be primarily the omega-3 fats found in walnuts, flaxseed and cold-water fish. This is because the membranes of all our cells, including our brain cells or neurons, are primarily composed of fats. Cell membranes are the gatekeepers of the cell. Anything that wants to get into or out of a cell must pass through the cell's outer membrane. And omega-3 fats, which are especially fluid and flexible, make this process a whole lot easier, thus maximizing the cell's ability to usher in nutrients while eliminating wastes--definitely a good idea, especially when the cell in question is in your brain."
~The World's Healthiest Foods, article on Walnuts

"Melatonin, a hormone produced by the pineal gland, which is involved in inducing and regulating sleep and is also a powerful antioxidant, has been discovered in walnuts in bio-available form, making them the perfect evening food for a natural good night's sleep. "
~The World's Healthiest Foods, article on Walnuts



Almonds
Health Benefits: Contain calcium, magnesium, vitamin E, dietary fiber, protein, potassium

Interesting Fact: "Almonds are a very good source of manganese and a good source of copper, two trace minerals that are essential cofactors of a key oxidative enzyme called superoxide dismutase. Superoxide dismutase disarms free radicals produced within the mitochondria (the energy production factories within our cells), thus keeping our energy flowing. Fortunately, Mother Nature supplies both mineral cofactors in almonds. Just one-quarter cup of almonds supplies 45.0% of the daily value for manganese, and 20.0% of the daily value for copper. Riboflavin (vitamin B2) also plays at least two important roles in the body's energy production. When active in energy production pathways, riboflavin takes the form of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) or flavin mononucleotide (FMN). In these forms, riboflavin attaches to protein enzymes called flavoproteins that allow oxygen-based energy production to occur."
~The World's Healthiest Foods article on Almonds