Here is another medical term used in mainstream medical community. Whether to sound professional or whatever reason they might have , the real underlying cause is overtime chronic dehydration and the logical and effective method to reverse it is consistent re hydration of the body. Follow the water-cure protocol formula found in this blog.
Hyper emesis Gaverdarum(HG) Background
Nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is extremely common. Studies estimate that nausea and vomiting occurs in 50-90% of pregnancies. The nausea and vomiting associated with pregnancy usually begins by 9-10 weeks of gestation, peaks at 11-13 weeks, and resolves in most cases by 12-14 weeks. In 1-10% of pregnancies, symptoms may continue beyond 20-22 weeks.
Normal nausea and vomiting may be an evolutionary protective mechanism—it may protect the pregnant woman and her embryo from harmful substances in food, such as pathogenic microorganisms in meat products and toxins in plants, with the effect being maximal during embryogenesis (the most vulnerable period of pregnancy). This is supported by studies showing that women who had nausea and vomiting were less likely to have miscarriages and stillbirth.
The most severe form of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is called hyperemesis gravidarum (HEG). A continuous spectrum of the severity of nausea and vomiting ranges from the nausea and vomiting that occurs in most pregnancies to the severe disorder of HEG. HEG is characterized by persistent nausea and vomiting associated with ketosis and weight loss (>5% of prepregnancy weight). HEG may cause volume depletion, electrolytes and acid-base imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and even death. Severe hyperemesis requiring hospital admission occurs in 0.3-2% of pregnancies.
Pathophysiology
The physiologic basis of HEG is controversial. HEG appears to occur as a complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. The following theories have been proposed:
Psychological abnormalities
Some cases of HEG may represent psychiatric illnesses, including Munchausen syndrome, conversion or somatization disorder, or major depression. They may occur under situations of stress or ambivalence surrounding the pregnancy. It appears that psychologic responses can interact and exacerbate the physiology of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Most likely, physiological changes associated with pregnancy interact with each woman's psychologic state and cultural values. However, HEG may occur in the absence of psychologic illness or stress.
Hormonal changes
Women with hyperemesis gravidarum often have high hCG levels that cause transient hyperthyroidism. hCG can physiologically stimulate the thyroid gland thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) receptor. hCG levels peak in the first trimester. Some women with HEG appear to have clinical hyperthyroidism. However, in a larger portion (50-70%), TSH is transiently suppressed and the free thyroxine (T4) index is elevated (40-73%) with no clinical signs of hyperthyroidism, circulating thyroid antibodies, or enlargement of the thyroid. In transient hyperthyroidism of HEG, thyroid function normalizes by the middle of the second trimester without antithyroid treatment. Clinically overt hyperthyroidism and thyroid antibodies are usually absent.
A report on a unique family with recurrent gestational hyperthyroidism associated with hyperemesis gravidarum showed a mutation in the extracellular domain of the TSH receptor that made it responsive to normal levels of hCG. Thus, cases of HEG with a normal hCG may be due to varying hCG isotypes.
A positive correlation between the serum hCG elevation level and free T4 levels has been found, and the severity of nausea appears to be related to the degree of thyroid stimulation. hCG may not be independently involved in the etiology of HEG but may be indirectly involved by its ability to stimulate the thyroid. For these patients, hCG levels were linked to increased levels of immunoglobulin M, complement, and lymphocytes. Thus, an immune process may be responsible for increased circulating hCG or isoforms of hCG with a higher activity for the thyroid. Critics of this theory note that (1) nausea and vomiting are not usual symptoms of hyperthyroidism, (2) signs of biochemical hyperthyroidism are not universal in cases of HEG, and (3) some studies have failed to correlate the severity of symptoms with biochemical abnormalities.
Some studies link high estradiol levels to the severity of nausea and vomiting in patients who are pregnant, while others find no correlation between estrogen levels and the severity of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. Previous intolerance to oral contraceptives is associated with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Progesterone also peaks in the first trimester and decreases smooth muscle activity; however, studies have failed to show any connection between progesterone levels and symptoms of nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. Lagiou et al studied prospectively 209 women with nausea and vomiting who showed that estradiol levels were positively correlated while prolactin levels were inversely associated with nausea and vomiting in pregnancy and no correlation existed with estriol, progesterone, or sex-hormone binding globulin.
Gastrointestinal dysfunction
The stomach pacemaker causes rhythmic peristaltic contractions of the stomach. Abnormal myoelectric activity may cause a variety of gastric dysrhythmias, including tachygastrias and bradycardias. Gastric dysrhythmias have been associated with morning sickness. The presence of dysrhythmias was associated with nausea while normal myoelectrical activity was present in the absence of nausea. Mechanisms that cause gastric dysrhythmias include elevated estrogen or progesterone levels, thyroid disorders, abnormalities in vagal and sympathetic tone, and vasopressin secretion in response to intravascular volume perturbation. Many of these factors are present in early pregnancy. These pathophysiologic factors are hypothesized to be more severe or the gastrointestinal tract more sensitive to the neural/humoral changes in those who develop HEG.
Hepatic dysfunction
Liver disease, usually consisting of mild serum transaminase elevation, occurs in almost 50% of patients with HEG. Impairment of mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) has been hypothesized to play a role in the pathogenesis of maternal liver disease associated with HEG. It has been suggested that women heterozygous for FAO defects develop HEG associated with liver disease while carrying fetuses with FAO defects due to accumulation of fatty acids in the placenta and subsequent generation of reactive oxygen species. Alternatively, it is possible that starvation leading to peripheral lipolysis and increased load of fatty acids in maternal-fetal circulation, combined with reduced capacity of the mitochondria to oxidize fatty acids in mothers heterozygous for FAO defects, can also cause HEG and liver injury while carrying nonaffected fetuses.
Lipid alterations
Jarnfelt-Samsioe et al found higher levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and phospholipids in women with HEG compared with matched, nonvomiting, pregnant and nonpregnant controls. This may be related to the abnormalities in hepatic function in pregnant women. However, Ustun et al found decreased levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, apoA and apoB in women with HEG compared with controls.
Infection
Helicobacter pylori is a bacterium found in the stomach that may aggravate nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Studies have found conflicting evidence of the role of H pylori in HEG. Recent studies in the United States have not shown association with HEG. However, persistent nausea and vomiting beyond the second trimester may be due to an active peptic ulcer caused by H pylori infection.
Vestibular and olfaction
Hyperacuity of the olfactory system may be a contributing factor to nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Many pregnant women report the smell of cooking food, particularly meats, as triggers to nausea. Striking similarities between HEG and motion sickness suggest that unmasking of subclinical vestibular disorders may account for some cases of HEG.
Biochemical research
HEG is associated with overactivation of sympathetic nerves and enhanced production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. Increased adenosine levels have also been noted; since adenosine is an established suppressor of excessive sympathetic nerves activation and cytokine production, the increase in plasma adenosine in HEG may be modulatory. Trophoblast-derived cytokines have been reported to induce secretion of hCG. Immunoglobulins C3 and C4 and lymphocyte counts are significantly higher in HEG. T-helper 1/T-helper 2 balance is decreased in women with HEG, which results in increased humoral immunity. Increased fetal DNA has been found in the maternal plasma of women with HEG, and the increased DNA is speculated to be derived from trophoblasts that have been destroyed by the hyperactive maternal immune system. Thus, HEG may be mediated by immunologic aberrations in pregnancy.
Frequency
United States
Of all pregnancies, 0.3-2% are affected with HEG (approximately 5 per 1000 pregnancies).
International
HEG appears to be more common in westernized industrialized societies and urban areas than rural areas.
Mortality/Morbidity
HEG was a significant cause of maternal death before 1940. Mortality from HEG in Great Britain decreased from 159 deaths per million births from 1931-1940 to 3 deaths per million births from 1951-1960. Charlotte Brontë is thought to have died of HEG in 1855. In the United States, 7 deaths from HEG were reported in the 1930s, but today, although HEG is still associated with significant morbidity, it is a rare cause of maternal mortality.
* Many hours of productive work are lost because of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Nearly 50% of employed women believe that their work is affected, and up to 25% require time off from work.
* HEG is a debilitating illness that can cause severe suffering, which profoundly affects both patients and their families. In about half of the women there is an adverse effect on spousal relationships, and 55% have feelings of depression. In one study of 140 women with HEG, 27% required multiple hospitalizations. The financial burden of HEG on the American health system has been estimated as approximately $130 million dollars per year, excluding physician fees.
* Women with HEG who have a low pregnancy weight gain (<15.4 lb or 7 kg) have increased risk for delivering neonates of low birth weight, delivering neonates who are small for gestational age, preterm delivery, and a 5-minute Apgar score of less than 7.
Race
No clear racial predominance is noted for HEG.
* HEG is less common in American Indian and Eskimo populations.
*
* HEG is less common in African and some Asian populations (but not industrialized Japan).
Sex
HEG affects females.
Age
The risk of HEG appears to decrease with advanced maternal age.
Clinical
History
* The defining symptoms of HEG are gastrointestinal in nature and include nausea and vomiting.
*
* Other common symptoms include ptyalism (excessive salivation), fatigue, weakness, and dizziness.
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* Patients may experience the following:
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o Sleep disturbance
o
o Hyperolfaction
o
o Dysgeusia
o
o Decreased gustatory discernment
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o Depression
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o Anxiety
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o Irritability
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o Mood changes
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o Decreased concentration
o
* When obtaining history from the patient, discuss present symptoms. Obtain information pertaining to the timing, onset, severity, pattern, and alleviating and exacerbating factors (eg, relationship to meals, medications, prenatal vitamins, stress, other triggers).
*
* A thorough review of systems for any symptoms that might suggest other gastrointestinal, renal, endocrine, and central nervous system disorders is vital.
*
* Review past medical history, placing emphasis on past medical conditions, surgeries, medications, allergies, adverse drug reactions, family history, social history (including support system), employment, habits, and diet.
*
* Obtaining a thorough gynecologic history of symptoms, such as vaginal bleeding or spotting, past pregnancies, past use of oral contraceptives, and response to oral contraceptives used, is important.
*
Physical
* The physical examination is usually unremarkable in patients with HEG.
*
* The physical examination findings may be more helpful if the patient has unusual complaints suggestive of other disorders (eg, bleeding, abdominal pain).
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* Pay attention to the vital signs, including standing and lying blood pressure and pulse, volume status (eg, mucous membrane condition, skin turgor, neck veins, mental status), general appearance (eg, nutrition, weight), thyroid examination findings, abdominal examination findings, cardiac examination findings, and neurologic examination findings.
*
Causes
In a review of 1,301 cases of HEG from Canada, Fell et al showed that medical complications of hyperthyroid disorders, psychiatric illness, previous molar disease, gastrointestinal disorders, pregestational diabetes, and asthma were significantly independent risk factors for HEG, whereas maternal smoking and maternal age older than 30 years decreased the risk. Pregnancies with female fetuses and multiple fetuses were also at increased risk.
In some studies, women from low to middle socioeconomic class, women with lower levels of education, women with previous pregnancies with nausea and vomiting, women in their first pregnancy, and women with previous intolerance to oral contraceptives more commonly experience nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is also more common with multiple-gestation pregnancies.
Other factors that have been proposed include ethnicity, occupational status, fetal anomalies, increased body weight, nausea and vomiting in a prior pregnancy, history of infertility, interpregnancy interval, corpus luteum in right ovary, and prior intolerance to oral contraceptives.
* Risk factors for HEG may include the following:
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o Previous pregnancies with HEG
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o Greater body weight
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o Multiple gestations
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o Trophoblastic disease
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o Nulliparity
o
* Cigarette smoking is associated with a decreased risk for HEG.
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For the innocent and trusting sick to benefit from the solutions offered within the science of human physiology, medicine will need a change of stand by some key policy-makers and the government administrators of health who support the present commercial attitude of the health-care industry; medical professionals will need to give support to alternative ideas and the more plausible science-based solutions to the health problems of the sick. This change of attitude might not serve the profit motivations of the industrial and commercial arms of the health-care institutions, but it should be remembered that simple, nature-serving solutions to major health problems are less costly to the society they are OBLIGATED to serve.
Dr.F.Batmanghelidj M.D.
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The Cell. Let us take a look at the most basic life-generating element in the human body, the cell. The cell is surrounded by a very thin outer "skin" or membrane that protects it from being flooded by unregulated entry of water, salt, sugar, fats, and many other elements that constitute the serum solution that is outside the cell wall.
Since the cell is constantly bathed in serum solution, it regulates its intake and output by means of many, many small 'pumping units'. Fluid inside the cells should be neutral, neither too acidic nor too alkaline; it has a pH (potential of hydrogen)
of 7.4 under normal circumstances.* The way this neutral pH is maintained is very simple: the 'cation(cat-i-on) pumps' constantly pump out hydrogen ion, which is the acid substance not used by the cell. The entire human body -- nerve, bone, cartilage, ligament, muscle, blood, brain, you name it -- is made up of these tiny cells, each performing this regulation of intake and output of elements to maintain function. Each cell is just like an underwater city, with canal systems and waterways; outside of it, arteries and veins are its highways.
*7.4 is the level of reading on a scale designed to measure the degree of acidity. From 1 to 7 is the acid range; 1 being more acid than 7. From 7 to 14 on the scale is the alkaline range; 7 is less alkaline than 14. On the pH scale, 7 is neutral.
Water and Life
The most important life-giving substance in the human body, and one that the human body desperately depends on is WATER. In the soft tissues -- muscle, liver, kidneys, the intestines, small and big -- 75 percent of the volume of the cells is water.
The human brain cell is said to be 85 percent water. Headaches and migraine are sign of water loss. The first impact of dehydration is felt by the brain cells; they are very sensitive to water loss from the human body and their functions would be affected by even minute changes in their water contents. The above figures roughly represent a normal, healthy state of function. The blood and fluids outside the cells consists of approximately 94 percent water.
WATER has the urge and determination to flow from solutions at lower concentration to solutions at higher concentration when these solutions are separated by a thin membrane. When the concentration of water is 94% outside the cell and 75% inside the cell, there is a tendency for water to flow across the cell membrane into the cell. This difference of 19 % acts somewhat like the water-head of a hydroelectric dam. Nature has designed a simple mechanism of providing each cell with hydroelectric power. It uses this 19% difference in water levels to generate electricity inside the cell. In the same way that height of water over the turbine generators of a hydroelectric dam turns the generators and creates electricity, at the cell wall barrier, water turns the cation pumps and generates electricity.
Since all nerve transmissions depend in a major way on hydroelectric energy of water, insufficient water intake can also cause a chronic fatigue state of the human body.
Follow the water-cure formula which you can find in previous posts in this blog.
All fresh fruits and vegetables only provide alkaline result upon digestion.
For the benefit of reader, I rerun this previous post here. Hope to enjoy more happy motherhood and childhood with all mothers-to be. Happy New Year 2009 to all the healthy readers too.
Mother-to-be take care your water intake. When alcohol consumption(also other dehydrating agents such as caffeine, coffee, colas, soft drinks, tea) by the mother prevents the secretion and the needed actions of vasopressin, the same effect is produced in the child-fetus, way before it's birth. The mother's brain structure is already formed, but the fetus' is not. It is still in progress. Even after it is born into this world. Go see newborn baby's top head "popping" up and down.
The lack of vasopressin can result in the child's brain not developing normally, and in some cases, not complete in development. remedy: increase high-content, nutrient density foods like fresh fruits and green & colourful vegetables/fresh herbs is best for mother-to-be and child.
Vasopressin deficiency continue...the child's lungs may also develop with abnormalities that could lead to cystic deformation. Google the word "cystic" and learn more if you wish.
because of the vital role of water in regulating all functions of the human body, it is not accurate to blame most developmental abnormalities entirely on DNA malformation, as has been the case up to now. It is the first dehydration not corrected that cause the DNA to change itself. Dehydration could be a contribution factor. This need a paradigm change from solid paradigm to solute paradigm to understand better body physiology and symptoms manifestations.
So, son and daughter, learn the truth of any subject, and let us do the right things to our bodies for oursleves from here. Please don't pass the buck, for I know it's easier to blame our parents'genetic code.
Read the post in this blog "NORMAL CHILDBIRTH" (testimony) for inspiration. Sing "Healthy birthday to you, healthy birthday to you, ..........!"
Water Regulation of a Fetus. "Early-Pregnancy Morning Sickness"
How does a pregnant woman register her new level of water needs for herself and the growing demands of the child in her worm? You are going to learn a secret that has never before been recognized.
Before going any further, if a pregnant woman suffers or complains about "morning sickness", just use the water-cure formula as given. Increase her water intake in proportion to her weight increase throughout the pregnancy period. Avoid dehydrating substances such as coffee, colas, tea, alcohol. Every one kilogram of body weight needs at least 31.42 mL of plain water, daily. Drink 10% of this total amount every 90 minutes, or more frequent as the body produce more urine. Never go on salt-free diet.
The early-pregnancy morning sickness of a pregnant woman is a most meaningful thirst signal. She is not sick, but thirsty. Remember, each new cell that forms, about a trillion cell divisions will have taken place, has to be filled up mainly with water, by the time the fetus grows to be a full-term baby. In fact, so-called 'morning sickness', is the very first sign of dehydration of the mother and fetus together. It is brought about by the water-regulatory action of histamine.
Histamine is an important neurotransmitter that primarily regulates the thirst mechanism, for increased water intake. NOTE: just plain water (H2O), not any other liquid. Histamine also establishes a system of rationing for the available water in the drought-stricken body. Histamine is a most noble element employed in drought management of the human body. NOTE: Histamine is NOT the 'villain' that we have been led to believe due to our limitation of knowledge about the human body, that we are prescribed with different kinds of antihistamine medications. When the foundation be broken, what can the righteous do.
In dehydration, histamine production and its activity increase greatly, and this generates the emergency thirst signals and indicators of the water-rationing program that is taking place inside the body.
Histamine has many "nursing" responsibilities - it is a wet nurse to growing cells. Histamine will bring the new cells water and nutrients from its direct influence in expanding the blood and serum circulation. Histamine will rhythmically "pump-feed" the new cells with potassium. (Do you see the marvel of nature here? Way before we are breast-fed by our mother, our cells had been feed too. Awesome !) It is this feeding program that matures the new cell until it divides and divide yet again, and again, until a new life in the form of a fetus comes into being. Histamine is a most noble element in our human body.
Histamine also has responsibilities in antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-foreign-agent (chemicals and proteins) defence systems in the human body. Any antihistamine drugs used will only destroy these properties of histamine. Poor patients (people who have asthma/allergies) will continue to suffer from "correctly prescribed drugs but wrongly understanding of sign/symptom caused by dehydration" protocol. They are actually not sick, but thirsty. APPEAL: Doctors, please give them water, not drugs to re hydrate the cells. At a normal level of body-water content, these actions of defence are held at an imperceptive or unexaggerated level. But, in a dehydrated state of the human body, when much histamine is produced, an immune system activation will release an exaggerated amount of the transmitter from histamine-producing cells.
Dehydration at cellular level will reduce body immune/defence system. Remedy is to rehydrate the body, not pump in more drugs. Observation: people who never drink enough water fall sick easier and more often compared to people who drink water. When they take the pills, that is the only occasion the body has a chance of increased water supply. It is not the pills which the body is using, but the increased water level, to rebalance its chemistry. Hence, the recovery progress. Water cure, while drugs kill, the body. Recognize the real underlying shortage, correct that shortage, and you solve the sign/symptom. You never use drugs when your body is well, why use more drugs when it is down and out?
To evaluate deficiency disorders - water deficiency being one of them - we do not need to observe the same research protocols that are applied to the research protocols that are applied to the research of chemical products, like drugs. Identifying the shortage and correcting the deficiency is all we have to do.
Back to the 'morning-sickness'. This indication of the water needs of the growing fetus through the mother's sensory system is an important signal that connects the child's sensory system for its water needs to the mother's regulatory mechanisms.
Most pregnant mothers adjust or increase their water intake by the third month and the 'morning sickness' disappears, but some unsuspecting women don't and continue to live a life that promotes dehydration in the fetus as well as in themselves. The consequences can be catastrophic.
Why morning? Because of human body natural bio-rhythm of the waste elimination cycle during 4am to 12noon(8 hours). This elimination cycle is most intense and if free-water is not available or sufficient, then pain is registered with the brain. Headache, tiredness are also some of indicators of dehydration in the body.
When a mother continues to drink dehydrating drinks such as coffee, tea, caffeinated products and alcohol during her pregnancy and does not take in sufficient water (plain water = "cash$$$flow " for the body functions) she influences the physiological pattern of the developing child in her uterus. The child draws the necessary ingredients for growth from the mother's pool of resources. The desperately needed ingredients for normal cells growth include WATER, OXYGEN, and the AMINO ACIDS that are available in the mother's blood circulation via the placenta. Thus, the level of water intake and the composition of the amino acids (plentiful from fresh fruits and green /colourful vegetables) made available during intra-uterine life determine the assets of the growing child for natural development. These, in turn, establish a metering system that regulates the child's future growth and development.
The mother, just like the Mother Earth, is responsible for the marvelous creation of a healthy, natural chemical environment in which the child can grow through all the necessary normal development stages from a single fertilized cell, multiplied to a full-term baby, average of 9 months.
Dehydration itself causes the human body severe stress. The body establishes certain physiological and hormonal reactions to stress. The fetus is not protected from the physiological signals associated with the stress/ distresses of the mother. The indicators of stress that influence the mother's physiology and become the basis for her adaptive behaviour also register with the child.
The lifestyle of a pregnant woman can directly influence the chemistry of a developing fetus. If she develops an imbalance in her own chemistry, her fetus has to cope with the imbalance, too. It is true that the placenta acts as a selective barrier, but certain natural chemicals of the body go across the barrier, even in disproportionate amounts if these are present in the mother.
It short, the mother-to-be's range of body chemistry is a template for the development of her child-to-be.
Similarly, a woman who consumes an excess of alcohol/ is an alcoholic during pregnancy may produce a mentally fractured and unable-to-cope child. That is the cause of dehydrating effects of alcohol upon the body; not some kind of 'black-magic' spell or curse. The mother's brain and a fetus developing brain need much water.
Friday, July 11, 2008
NATURAL CHILDBIRTH
This post is dedication to all mother-to-be.
This is the detailed account of what Diane Vallaster Folton did during the period of her pregnancy and how Baby Eric has been thriving on RAW FOODS. No "Baby Formulas." Read it, and in the future : GO THOU AND DO LIKEWISE !
Natural Childbirth : baby Eric slipped into the World with a squawk !!
(Here are Diane's own words): There is was, June 1966 and I was pregnant ! I was due to have my first baby at the age of 33. What an astounding and sobering thought! I had one month of school still to go. Keeping thirty (30) grade one students busily occupied, and at the same time attempting to handle the endless end-of-the-year forms, left me feeling limp.
Suddenly the vegetables salads I had been enjoying so much, felt like sawdust in my mouth -- my diet formed a completely new pattern. Roughly, it went as follows:
1st,2nd and 3rd months pregnant : Nothing appealed to me but grapefruit, and freshly cracked hazelnuts (filberts) eaten three times a day.
4th, 5th, and 6th months : Though grapefruit was still a staple, I found myself back to enjoying a wide variety of fruits. By this time we were in September and the wild blackberries were at their tangy best. we also managed to find delicious plums, prunes, pears and apples all grown without chemicals. We had read that raspberry leaf tea was good for pregnancy, so early in September we visited our neighbors' raspberry field and picked bags of leaves which we dried on trays and then stored. From September until March first, I consumed at least a pint (16 oz.)of this tea daily. It was difficult to find good carrots, but we managed to obtain enough for a pint of the precious juice a day. Because I was exhausted after a busy school year, I felt I needed a few supplements to boost me along, so I took daily: 6 kelp tablets, 6 natural calcium tablets, 100 I.U. of vitamin E, 2 teaspoons of cod liver oil, because we are just not out in the sun this time of the year in British Columbia, Canada, and natural Vitamin C in varying quantities.
If ever there was any retention of water in my system, I immediately hunted for a fresh pineapple, if none was available I found that the unsweetened pineapple juice worked also.
I was feeling so wonderful that I never saw a doctor until the sixth month. Friends were becoming so alarmed that I finally consented to see one. The doctor could not get over the strong heartbeat the baby had, that I had no weight gain, and that I had no toxicity. He believed in natural childbirth so he was pleased with my simple natural diet.
I hiked miles every day. We had two puppies so I always had an excuse to be out. I took a course in prenatal exercises for natural childbirth and did them daily in addition to my housework.
Then at last March first, Eric slipped into the world with a squawk and a head of thick, long, curly, black hair. This was remarkable because most babies today are born with little or no hair. His glowing color was the talk of the doctors and nurses -- no milky white skin for him !
To the amazement of everyone, I was able to breast feed Eric, and though the milk was slow in coming, I persevered, and soon there was an ample supply of rich creamy milk, although I had always been told that such milk is usually blue and watery.
The hospital diet was rather dead after the live foods that I had been eating, but I ordered every live or living food that was offered on the menu. The nurses were constantly worried that my protein intake was inadequate, so I was bombarded with huge glasses of pasteurized milk every three hours. These I fed to the sink and replaced them with water. My husband and my sister brought a quart of fresh carrot juice to me each day, plus bags of freshly shelled hazelnuts to supplement my meager diet. The tray of sun-dried fruits that I was presented with was pronounced "dangerous" as -- they said -- it would give the baby diarrhea. i could not see how it could hurt baby or me, as I had eaten them for ten years and baby had done a beautiful job of growing on it for nine months already.
How wonderful it was to return home t an abundance of all the foods I was used to. I could no longer resist the tray of dried fruits and, as we expected, there were no ill effects !
With all the raw food I was eating (at least 60% of which was fruit ) I was horrified, after Eric was born, that he went day after day without a bowel movement. Finally, on the fifth day home, he produced a completely normal small stool -- no constipation! No diarrhea !
Where had the stool been so long ! We were mystified, but this was to be the pattern. How often I wondered if I should give him enemas. The mystery continued until, by chance, we found an old baby book on breast feeding, stating that the food was sometimes so completely utilized that it was not unusual for a wee babe to go up to seven days without a bowel movement.
This pattern continues as long as he had no solid foods. At six months of age he sipped a little fresh carrot juice, but it was not until he was nine months old that he had any solid food. Very ripe banana and a wee bit of avocado, both pressed through a fine strainer, made up his first solid meal.
Thereafter there was no waiting five days for his bowel movement. In the space of few hours after eating, he produced a stool full of tiny black threads ! I was horrified! Now (I thought) he must have worms ! The public health nurse was due in our area for her inspection. She immediately wondered what he had eaten, and when I told her just a bit of banana, she laughed and said : "Well, there are your 'worms': banana cellulose !" To this day I find it hard to believe that a soft banana is so full of cellulose !
Eric had only thee two foods - banana and avocado - plus a little carrot juice until he was more than one year old. Slowly, then we added the pulp of strained soaked raw prunes, dates, and apricots, usually accompanied by avocado, to his diet. Soon he was having blended fresh fruits as they came in season.
Eric was the chooser of his food, we soon learned. Sometimes he had only apple for days at a time. then he would switch to avocado, and so it went. He loved and still loves, to chew on dried dulse leaves.
The only milk he received was my breast milk for two and a half years. Now he drinks carrot juice, nut milk, and we hope to start him soon on raw goat milk.
He has never had a stuffy head, no mucus, no puffiness, no distended stomach and no swollen glands.
Most of my friends were busy feeding their babies pablum, and from bottles. The pablum supposedly to keep them sleeping all night. Since their babies were unable to digest the starch, it was a never ending round of colds, flu, pneumonia, diaper rash and allergies. Thankfully we have escaped all of these by following the simple but rigid laws of Nature.
One thing that bothered me about nursing was the fact that i required more sleep and did not have my usual extra bounding energy -- but I had a happy contented baby instead. I also noticed that my stomach did not go flat as I had expected, but after Eric stopped nursing it resumed its normal proportions.
Now it is May, 1970,-- Eric is three years of age. His diet consists of raw and dried fruits, fresh raw vegetables and their juices, nuts, seeds and honey. He is well balanced mentally, well developed physically, and full of energy and curiosity.
My many thanks to Dr. Walker's program.
Diane Vallaster Folton
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"Fresh VEGETABLE and FRUIT Juices: what's missing in your body?" (Formely titled "Raw Vegetable Juice") by Dr.N.W.Walker,120 pages, US$6.95.
"I can truthfully say that I am never conscious of my age. Since I reached maturity I have never been aware of being any older, and I can say, without equivocation or mental reservation, that I feel more alive, alert, and full of enthusiasm today than I did when I was 30 years old. I still feel that my best years are ahead of me. I never think of birthdays, nor do I celebrate them. Today I can truthfully say that I am enjoying vibrant health, I don't mind telling people how old I am : I AM AGELESS!"
Norman W. Walker, Doctor of Science, Ph.D.
Vibrant Health
Posted by Its ME at 10:27 PM 3 comments
(NaturalNews) The consumption of fruits and vegetables during pregnancy can reduce the chance of a miscarriage, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
The study of nearly 7,000 pregnant women by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine looked for links between diet, lifestyle and miscarriage, and were detailed in the study led by Dr. Maureen Maconochie from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Maconochie and her colleagues studied thousands of pregnant women and concluded that those who ate fruits and vegetables often in pregnancy were 46 percent less likely to have a miscarriage compared to those who did not use fruits and veggies as often.
Products such as chocolate, vitamin tablets, dairy products, fish and white meat were also linked with a reduced risk of miscarriage. Regular chocolate eaters were 17 percent less likely to miscarry once becoming pregnant. In addition, pregnant women who were underweight faced a 70 percent higher risk of having a miscarriage.
Maconochie's team also associated stress with elevated risk of miscarriage, since those who experienced separation, divorce, illness and a stressful job were 60 percent more likely to miscarry.
Those who eat more fruit and vegetables, and take vitamins regularly increase their odds of a full-term pregnancy, according to a scientist affiliated with www.FoodConsumer.org. In fact, the more health-conscious tend to follow a healthy lifestyle which may also lead to increasing the odds of a successful pregnancy.
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