Superfoods? Additional stuff for TTC? My Plan. - Page 2

[crunchy_mama]

I cannot remember for sure but I am thinking I did a few caps a day- especially pp when I was out of good liver. I make pate dairy free- I have used tallow and lard in it both. I think a big key w/ pate is to make sure you don't overcook it- it needs to be soft to blend well and carmelized onions add a lot to it. My last batch I didn't watch it well and overcooked it trying to blend it into pate just didn't work in my cheapo food processor. I had posted the recipe I use at some time on this forum- I kind of make it like liverwurst. If you get the spices and everything just right it is amazing. I like it w/ celery but have ate it w/ some nut/seed crackers a friend made it was yummy that way as well- put some sea veggies in those crackers and you have something else good for you

[mom61508]

Yes vitamineral green is high in folate but it is detoxifying too. It has spirulina and chlorella too. I wonder If the organ delight will be highly absorbed, I mean If your gut isn't the best shape you know? and yes the cell salts are a mineral supp but they really help your cells open up(bioplasma) to absorb everything else you take in better.

When I was pregnant with DD I couldn't even look at a salad or vegetables nearly the whole pregnancy I didn't do a green supp either or much of anything actually. This was of course before I knew better about nutrition and pregnancy. What about milk thistle?

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by mom61508

Yes vitamineral green is high in folate but it is detoxifying too. It has spirulina and chlorella too. I wonder If the organ delight will be highly absorbed, I mean If your gut isn't the best shape you know? and yes the cell salts are a mineral supp but they really help your cells open up(bioplasma) to absorb everything else you take in better.

I have taken dr ron's liver pills in the past, and I could really really feel them working. I needed to up my dose from 1 to 3 slooooowly, or I had b-vitamin nightmares. I felt the same thing w/ a b-complex--just less than w/ the liver. I still have gut issues, but all the tf eating and ferments etc have done a ton for me! And I'm totally going to do the cell salts--they sound fabulous! And Panserbjorne highly recs them--thats good enough for me!

When I was pregnant with DD I couldn't even look at a salad or vegetables nearly the whole pregnancy I didn't do a green supp either or much of anything actually. This was of course before I knew better about nutrition and pregnancy.

I don't even want to think a/b my prenatal nutrition during ds' pregnancy--but I don't recall having any aversions. Hopefully that woud be the case in the future!

What about milk thistle?

Milk thistle--for liver support? I saw it can help w/ nausea from a link earlier in the thread--what else does itdo?


Thanks for the pate ideas crunchy_mama! One of these days...

[FairyRae]

So, I read this article by Dr. Ron Schmidt about the differences between synthetic and food based vitamins.

Understanding the "food vitamin" supplements is a bit tricky and warrants explanation. There are three general types of products that are often referred to as "food vitamins."

One type is made by taking standard USP (United States Pharmacopeia) vitamins (manufactured in laboratories by biochemical processes) and putting them in tablets or occasionally capsules with dried foods and herbs (along with fillers and other additives used in production). Taking these vitamins is no different from taking standard USP vitamins with a meal (but a lot more expensive).



A second type of "food vitamin" is supplements made by adding standard USP vitamins to a liquid broth containing yeast. As the yeast grows, the vitamins and minerals are incorporated into the cell structure of the yeast. The yeast is then killed in a drying process, and the residue is pressed into tablets with herbs, binders and manufacturing additives. The companies New Chapter and Megafood use this type of process to make their products.



Because of the amount of space taken up by the yeast, products made this way are very low in potency. Even if absorption is superior, the low potency and high cost makes them very cost-inefficient for anyone wishing to take, say, 500 mg of vitamin C, or 100 mg of Coenzyme Q10, or 400 IU of vitamin E, on a daily basis. Another problem I've encountered is that many people taking these yeast-based supplements for any length of time develop yeast sensitivities. This is particularly true for those with a history of candida problems (common in our carbohydrate-addicted culture).



The third kind of "food vitamin" supplements is products that are actually dried foods, often organic, pressed into tablets with the aid of manufacturing additives. Again because of size constraints, these products are necessarily of very low potency in terms of the amount of vitamins and minerals present, although some people feel they have potent effects. While they may be of excellent quality, they are very cost-inefficient. Taking these supplements might be compared to eating good organic foods, in very small quantities.

That is totally what the Garden of Life brand is as well (2nd type). He recommends Thorne Research products for supping large amounts of vits/minerals (like the Bs I'm wanting to supp...) and says not to supp fat soluable vits synthetically (A, D, E, K), but through foods...He also has a vit/mineral supp on his site that is extremely expensive, although it *seems* to contain some good, absorbable forms of vites...

Oh I'm confused...

[tanyalynn]

I'm replying mostly to sub, we may, possibly, be TTC within a year (don't want to jinx anything!).

That chicken liver pate recipe is supposed to be really good, and chicken liver's really high in folate. I'm another who hasn't tried it yet though.

I'm being very non-TF right now trying to get my vitA stores up, I'm taking Carlson's vitA gel-caps, they're from fish, I think it's a food-based A, but clearly it's been processed quite a bit.

I've seen my need for supplementing K2 and zinc go down when we started bioplasma, it's great stuff. K2 for me and DS, zinc for DD, and I feel like, overall, I'm doing fine taking less of my regular multivit now that I'm taking the bioplasma. And it seems to be helping me with cal and mag too--I'm totally sold on the stuff now, wish I'd started it a couple years ago.

Overall I like Thorne, they have real folate instead of folic acid, but I'm still torn about whether I can do this with food and food-based supplements. I haven't decided for myself yet, I may take mbravebird's suggestions and have a Plan A and a Plan B for when I can't eat.

I've been surprisingly happy taking the frozen liver chunks, I don't know if it'll work early in pregnancy, but it's one of the few foods that I've felt a real, short-term benefit from consuming.

Anyway, congratulations on getting to this point! It's so exciting. I'll keep watching to see what other ideas you come up with.

[Vaquitita]

well I'm pregnant rather than TTC, but here's what I'm taking (most days):

a 'bio-available' multi (made by nutri-spec)
HVCLO and HVBO
1 organ capsule (can't afford dr ron's, i'm taking natural sources version)
frozen liver pills (i feel a huge difference in how i feel when taking these)
probiotics (natren, was occasionally now that i'm nearing the end i'm taking them daily)
herbal tea: RRL, nettle, alfalfa, dandelion, oatstraw, skullcap, rosehips, spearmint
for the last trimester i'm taking mega foods blood builder
recently started taking floradix too
i took d.earth for a month or so earlier in my pregnancy, really helped with my bathroom issues. but didn't feel comfortable taking it long term.
bee propolis
i got some natural calm, but it's upsetting my stomach, so I've stopped
magnesium- realized i wasn't taking the nutri-spec magnesium and sulphur drops prescribed to me, so i'm taking those again too since i can't stomach the naural calm.
i recently added cell salts- bioplasma and also tissue p from 1800homeopathy.com

i think that's everything. i'm reading your lists for ideas! as if i need more supplements i've considered taking some kind of greens/spirulina/chlorella. i've taken it in the past and i just remember it tasting yucky and having to force myself to take it. so i haven't done it. can't even remember WHY it's good for you. will someone enlighten me? or i guess i could stop being lazy and google it...

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by tanyalynn

I've seen my need for supplementing K2 and zinc go down when we started bioplasma, it's great stuff. K2 for me and DS, zinc for DD, and I feel like, overall, I'm doing fine taking less of my regular multivit now that I'm taking the bioplasma. And it seems to be helping me with cal and mag too--I'm totally sold on the stuff now, wish I'd started it a couple years ago.

SWEET!

I've been surprisingly happy taking the frozen liver chunks, I don't know if it'll work early in pregnancy, but it's one of the few foods that I've felt a real, short-term benefit from consuming.

Alright, that's it. I'm getting grass fed beef liver tomorrow at the market. (They are like 1.50 a lb or something ridiculously cheap from my rockin' farmer!) Directions on how to cut them up into pill form mamas? I can search it too (I'll edit this if/when I look it up and find that.)

I've continued researching, and it looks like Quantum is a pretty great vit. company, which uses mostly whole foods and highly absorbable vites. I *may* go w/ their B vit complex (if I can make sure it's gluten free), maybe use their green supp (instead of the Amazing Grass I've been using up (I've had it in my cupboard at least a year!) or their daily multi, and then the rest of my plan written earlier. But the B's are quite expensive...maybe I'll just go w/ Thorne as they seem similar, and at least that is allergen free. GAH! I'm obsessive about stuff, so I'm going a little crazy here in my searching...

And seriously, I've got deficiencies to make up for, or I wouldn't be *as* mental a/b this...

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by Vaquitita

1 organ capsule (can't afford dr ron's, i'm taking natural sources version)

Have you felt a difference taking these? They are insanely cheaper than dr rons. They contain maltodextrin which freaks me out b/c of ds's corn sensitivity, but I do get traace amonts from other sources, probably a lot. Hmmm...

herbal tea: RRL, nettle, alfalfa, dandelion, oatstraw, skullcap, rosehips, spearmint

Great! I'm really excited to put together a tea/infusion!

i've considered taking some kind of greens/spirulina/chlorella. i've taken it in the past and i just remember it tasting yucky and having to force myself to take it. so i haven't done it. can't even remember WHY it's good for you. will someone enlighten me? or i guess i could stop being lazy and google it...

They just make me feel good and energizeed--that's all I really know a/b them!

Thank you for all the brand names and your input on the cell salts and d. earth!

Did I mention I'm obssessed w/ this topic atm?

[FairyRae]

I know its annoying, but I find it helpful to write this all out--again. Please ignore this thread if its too long and boring!

Edited current plan:

Daily

Supp supps:

Thorne B complex $16.30 for maybe 60 servings??

Source Naturals minerals $5.46 60 tabs--1-2 a day
+ Mag through epson salt baths, cream?

Bioplasma cell salts $8.33 1000 tabs, rec dose 4, 4x a day

Organ blend, dr rons or natural sources? Dr ron's is $60 for 180 capsules, Natural Sources is $8.43 for 60 servings

Probiotic???

Greens supp--quantum greens?? $29.95 117 servings

Fish oil (will prob stick w/ Now DHA 500, and Now EPA 500) $13-ish per bottle for 90 at my local vite store...

Vit D drops (natures answer $9.17 for300 servings

ETA: Total cost for those supps, a/b $49 a month


Daily food supps:

-frozen liver 'pills'

-Green smoothie: greens, fruit, water or coconut milk or herbal infusion base, plus acerola cherry powder, bee pollen, and concentrace, w/ 1 egg yolk. Coconut oil here too...?

-Probiotics through at least a TBS of fermented veggiesalso fermented veggie liquid in the salad dressing in my 'big ass salad' (yeah MDA!)

-Herbal infusions of some sort (need to figure this out)--nettles, oatstraw, rrl, alfalfa, rose hips, spearmint, more?...

-Celtic or Himilayan sea salt in various foods, along w/ sea seasonings kelp flakes

-Maybe 1/4 cup of a nut/seed blend for a snack (including 2 brazil nuts for selenium, pumpkin seeds for zinc) w/ my lindt 85% dark chocolate (yeah--my daily chocolate is a mandatory supp!)

-Ghee all the time (I count it as a twist on high vitamin butter oil )

Weekly or more often:

Liver puree in ground meat/sauces, at least 1x a week

Bone broth made w/ bones, veggies, sea veggies and eggshells in soups, sauces and bbq sauce, multiple times a week

1-2 meals featuring omega 3 rich fish like salmon

[FairyRae]

Prefacing by reminding you all that I'm mental and clearly indecisive...

One other thought i'm having, is to forget the whole 'synthetic vites aren't good' idea, and to just use the Special 2 Multi by Now (also marketed as SuperMom by Beeyoutiful) which I've really enjoyed taking--feels soooo good--in place of the B complex, Minerals & Green Supp, b/c it contains all of those. Maybe not in as absorbable forms for some, but it is soooo energizing and I really like it. It does not have synthetic retinol palmitate which is a plus. Thoughts? (I said I'm indecisive, right?) My only worry is getting too much of a bad form of a vitamin causing problems down the line...I still don't know enough about this...

So instead it would be the supermom multi, vit D, fish oil, probiotics, organs from natural sources [b/c it seems great, and the vitacost link even says corn free!], and bioplasma cell salts, plus the 'daily food supps' in my last post.

ETA: This would bring my monthly supp total down to $32.

The herbs, acerola powder, and bee pollen, I can get in bulk very affordably at http://our4corners.net/ which I will probably do.

I also feel like eating liver daily would really help on the b-vite front...

Sorry to be so crazy and wishwashy and serial-posty! Just trying to figure out the best, and most affordable, plan for *me*!

[mbravebird]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mama

I cannot remember for sure but I am thinking I did a few caps a day- especially pp when I was out of good liver. I make pate dairy free- I have used tallow and lard in it both. I think a big key w/ pate is to make sure you don't overcook it- it needs to be soft to blend well and carmelized onions add a lot to it. My last batch I didn't watch it well and overcooked it trying to blend it into pate just didn't work in my cheapo food processor. I had posted the recipe I use at some time on this forum- I kind of make it like liverwurst. If you get the spices and everything just right it is amazing. I like it w/ celery but have ate it w/ some nut/seed crackers a friend made it was yummy that way as well- put some sea veggies in those crackers and you have something else good for you

Will you give us the recipe, pretty please??? I am hoping to try pate soon too -- although I, like others, feel so much benefit from the raw liver chunks. But for some reason I just want to make some pate.

[mbravebird]

Originally Posted by tanyalynn

That chicken liver pate recipe is supposed to be really good, and chicken liver's really high in folate. I'm another who hasn't tried it yet though.

Chicken liver is one of the "OK" sources of K2, too. Higher than beef liver. Although beef liver is higher in everything else.

Which reminds me -- Fairy Rae, are you anywhere near the middle of the country? You might be able to get mail-order goose liver if you are. And goose liver is VERY high in K2.

So interesting about how the food-based vites are made. Thanks for that!

Here's the table of K2-rich foods from the WAPF site (K-4 refers to the K2 that is animal-based, rather than bacteria-based. They last different amounts of time in the body and function slightly differently):

FOOD
VITAMIN K2 (MCG/100G)
Natto
1103.4 (0% MK-4)
Goose Liver Paste
369.0 (100% MK-4)
Hard Cheeses
76.3 (6% MK-4)
Soft Cheeses
56.5 (6.5% MK-4)
Egg Yolk (Netherlands)
32.1 (98% MK-4)
Goose Leg
31.0 (100% MK-4)
Curd Cheeses
24.8 (1.6% MK-4)
Egg Yolk (United States)
15.5 (100% MK-4)
Butter
15.0 (100% MK-4)
Chicken Liver
14.1 (100% MK-4)
Salami
9.0 (100% MK-4)
Chicken Breast
8.9 (100% MK-4)
Chicken Leg
8.5 (100% MK-4)
Ground Beef (Medium Fat)
8.1 (100% MK-4)
Bacon
5.6 (100% MK-4)
Calf Liver
5.0 (100% MK-4)
Sauerkraut
4.8 (8% MK-4)
Whole Milk
1.0 (100% MK-4)
2% Milk
0.5 (100% MK-4)
Salmon
0.5 (100% MK-4)
Mackerel
0.4 (100% MK-4)
Egg White
0.4 (100% MK-4)
Skim Milk
0.0
Fat-Free Meats
0.0

[newcastlemama]

We are expecting to get pregnant soon too
Vitamins:The whole foods ones seem like a wate to me because they are so expensive and have so little in them. I recovered from PPD/nutrient deficencies using "synthetic" supplements and TF (largely inorganic!) food so I do think they work. Plus I feel so much better when I take them!

I take:
NOW prenatal: has beta-caortene instead of palmitate and is affordable.
zinc
Vitamin D3: 5,ooo-10,000 iu (I am trying to raise my level a little more)
Thorne K2 drops
Twinlab clo
NOW super enzymes/Betanine HCI

Occasaionally:
Borage oil
Country life B-complex (I think I will switch to Thorne sometime though)
NOW Mag citrate
B6

This approximate program was set up for my last pregnancy by Julia Ross' clinic and I have stayed on it for nursing. (Except they wanted me to take regular fish oil but I took HVCLO instead)

I realy like the chicken liver pate. It helps me so much with energy and made me feel so much better in my last pregnancy. I also eat homemade lacto-ferments and kombucha for probiotics (and they are delicoius ) Beef broth and greens are my favorite mineral sources. I eat pastured eggs, meats, and coconut products, evoo, walnuts, almonds, produce, as well.

I really want to try herbal infusions again. I did an only nettle one last time and it made my blood pressure drop too much (My normal BP is like 98/64 so it is barelly moving anyway). I really like the mixed ones in "Mothers Tea" by Western Botanicals but it is too pricey so I will mix my own. (My Midwives give you a free one when you are pregnant) It is really yummy. http://www.herbsfirst.com/descriptio...othersTea.html
Red Raspberry leaf, Dandelion leaf, Nettle leaf, Peppermint leaf.

[FairyRae]

Re k2, check this: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co...none-mk-4.html

There is discussion of ghee as a possible good source of k2 in the comments there.

And here is more linking ghee to k2. http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1196545 Bluebirdmama1 mentions around 4 tbs of grass fed ghee could give the same amount (approx) as in one serving of butter oil. I can totally do 4 tbs of ghee a day, easily...

What do you think? I'm planning on egg yolks too (had one in my smoothie this am). I'm on the east coast, and don't plan on getting goose liver atm. But will look into it if necessary...

Thanks for the info!!!

ETA: Ahhh! Slight nausea, prob 40 minutes since I finished that smoothie, I'm sure from the egg yolk (or tiny bits of white I was unable to get off of it b/c it was raw...) Maybe I'll skip them for a bit and add in only hardcooked yolks for now--easier to separate I think...

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

We are expecting to get pregnant soon too
Vitamins:The whole foods ones seem like a wate to me because they are so expensive and have so little in them. I recovered from PPD/nutrient deficencies using "synthetic" supplements and TF (largely inorganic!) food so I do think they work. Plus I feel so much better when I take them!

Thanks for your input on this and for sharing the specific products you use--these are such tough decisions to make!! I too feel better supping w/ the (synthetic + whole food concentrates) vites I've been using, but haven't switched 100% to not supping and doing a great superfoods regimine, so not really sure about it all...

I really like the mixed ones in "Mothers Tea" by Western Botanicals but it is too pricey so I will mix my own. (My Midwives give you a free one when you are pregnant) It is really yummy. http://www.herbsfirst.com/descriptio...othersTea.html
Red Raspberry leaf, Dandelion leaf, Nettle leaf, Peppermint leaf.

Thanks for the herb recs--I'm getting excited about these!!! Herbs are probably the biggest reason I was able to exclusively breastfeed after a very rough start, so I KNOW they make a HUGE difference!!

[mom61508]

Can only quick post have more to add later but the thing I don't like about the supermom vites is they contain folic acid not folate. I know for me that be a no no. Be back later

BTW: Your not annoying

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by mom61508

Can only quick post have more to add later but the thing I don't like about the supermom vites is they contain folic acid not folate. I know for me that be a no no. Be back later

BTW: Your not annoying

Thank you! I'm interested to hear what else you think!

So, I'm planning on putting in an order today at vitacost for the cell salts & organ blend, and an order for RRL and alfalfa (I've got oatstraw and nettles--nettles which I don't use, but may increase slowly), along w/ bee pollen (its raw, and its cheap!) and acerola powder (w/ no additives--yay!) all from http://our4corners.net I can get things like rosehips and spearmint at a local hfs in smaller amounts when I've got more $...I'll probably add in one new herb at a time anyway to make sure I'm ok w/ them...(sensitive lady that I am!)

So, Bs, minerals, and green supp are on the back burner for the moment--we'll see!

[mbravebird]

Oh, I keep forgetting you do grass-fed ghee -- yeah, I bet you're fine. Although when I wrote Dave, he said they'd never tested butter oil's K2 levels, so there's no way to really know equivalents. But common sense says that grass-fed ghee would be a great source, regardless.

oooooh, have fun.

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by mbravebird

Oh, I keep forgetting you do grass-fed ghee -- yeah, I bet you're fine.

Probably b/c I always say we're 'dairy free', when ghee really *is* dairy. (We just don't react to it--phew!)

Awesome. I'll keep all of this in mind though, and continue looking into it more. I honestly have never even thought about K2 b/4 this thread...

[FairyRae]

Originally Posted by mom61508

I've been taking vitamineral green shots...that stuff is nasty!!!!

Ok, so of course I'm still researching (poor ds has been really patient w/ me today!!) and I was looking into vitamineral green which *seems* amazing! Do you notice a difference when you take it? Or have you not been doing it long? It claims to be able to replace all multivites and mineral supps, but I'm not so sure...

But, it does include probiotics (plus I'll be eating my fermented veggies and such) so I think I could knock that off my long list. I wonder if I could take it in place of the Bs and minerals as well... Esp if I actually eat all that liver I'm planning on, and drink those herbal infusions and keep up w/ bone broth etc... I mean, its REALLY pricey, so not sure I'd want to go for it unless it would really be worth it. It seems pretty cool though...