Healthy Habits During Pregnancy
During pregnancy, a woman’s health is critical for the wellness of her child, and her health is primarily determined by the foods that are eaten, as well as the overall health of the body before pregnancy (which is also determined by eating habits before conception).
The modern world offers standard advice for a healthy pregnancy. I am listing these for comparison, they are not necessarily the recommended advice, and my critique will follow below:
- Don’t drink alcohol or use drugs
- Visit the doctor on a regular bases
- Eat a diet that is “well balanced” consisting of
- lean protein sources (meats)
- vegetables and fruits
- whole-grain pastas and breads
- dairy products, low-fat
How Well Does This Typical Pregnancy Advice Support the Health of the Mother and Baby?
I’m sure you are familiar with the list above… but this is the question many people forget to ask: does this work? If a woman follows these guidelines, will she have the health to create and grow the healthiest baby possible? Or maybe the system is flawed. Consider the facts that the United States has 30% cesarean rates, miscarriages rates around 25-50%, and are numbered at over 100,000 per year. Aditionally, many women are very sick during pregnancy, with a growing trend of pregnancy illnesses and other health complications. Today, I am going to that the standard medical advice for pregnancy is not life sustaining.
Are Medical Treatments Required for a Healthy Pregnancy?
When a woman is pregnant, most doctors or midwives will begin administering tests right away. Many of these can actually be harmful to the body, including: drawing blood which is needed for the pregnant mother and growing infant, removing amniotic fluid which is necessary for the baby to have, and ultrasound tests where the body is exposed to ultrasound waves and radiation.
My suggestion is that the main reason there are problems with the medical management of pregnancy, is because women are led to believe that it is necessary to have these tests in order to create and maintain health. Many women think that their baby will be unhealthy unless these tests are performed. Keep in mind that the specific tests aren’t necessarily inherently bad, but the majority of the time they are unnecessary tests. When a test is performed without need, then vital fluids are robbed from the mother, she is unnecessarily invaded, and the only accomplishment of the test was for the medical professionals to earn more money.
Understand that it is within your rights to refuse any medical treatment. If medical tests are suggested by your medical provider, then first etermine if there is a verifiable reason to get the test. As little as 50 years ago, the majority of these pregnancy tests were not in use. Over the years, there has been an increase in the testing… yet the cesarean rates have sky rocketed from around 5%, to over 30%. The increase in c-sections make some people qonder if the tests are really benefitting us in any way? I suggest for most people, they don’t help.
Instead of testing for problems, it is better to prevent those problems in the first place? It is possible to prevent many common pregnancy problems by following a plan.
The Healthy Pregnancy Diet That Really Supports Your Body
Don’t misunderstand… I am not saying that all modern medical and dietary advice is wrong or unhelpful. There are some obvious habits that contribute to health, such as avoiding alcohol and smoking during pregnancy, as well as eating plenty of vegetables. But the rest of the modern dietary advice doet not contribute to the health of the mother or baby.
Why Our Modernized Pregnancy Diet Sucks
It may or may not be obvious to you, but it is necessary that I say it. Women naturally have fat in the hip area, these deposits are normal and healthy and is part of the features of that make women’s bodies curvy. It’s Nature’s design for women to be built this way, because the fat storage is a source of energy and vitamins for the nutritional demands of pregnancy, birth, and lactation. Because this fat is necessary, it would make sense for a woman to consume fat during pregnancy, since there are energy and fat requirements during pregnancy. So, why do modern doctors and birth care providers suggest that a woman follows a low fat diet? The truth is that brain of the baby, is made entirely of fat. Which means that it is absolutely necessary for a woman to consume fat during pregnancy.
Another reason fat should not be avoidedduring pregnancy, is the results of following a low-fat diet. When fat is consumed, it is our most dense form of available energy. Avoiding fat means that we starve, and then begin having cravings for high-calorie food. It is common to consider women who have junk food cravings during their pregnancy: ice cream, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, chocolate, and other sweet foods. The stereotype of a pregnant women having late-night cravings for ice cream, is nothing more than the result of her body’s requirements for healthy fats. The problem is that there are not healthy fats in ice cream (unless it is homemade with raw milk), and the ice cream is usually loaded with sugar. Also, the milk used to make the ice cream is pasteurized, which shatters the fat particles, making unusable by the body… and actually toxic.
For the best pregnancy health, a woman should avoid processed fats, such as: safflower, corn, canola, and soy oil. Instead, allow yourself to indulge in healthy animal fats, such as: yogurt, cream, butter, milk, suet, duck fat, lard, and so on. I suggest that for the best nutrient levels, all milk fats be unpastuerized, (if you are worried about germs, then simply take a moment to heat the milk at home) and animal fats should come from animals that are pasture fed instead of being confinement and treated in unhealthy ways.
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