Nutrition

[Astromom]

Let's talk nutrition! Sumerlilies' post in the roll call thread mentioned Nourishing Traditions, which I've never heard of so I wanted to start a thread for everyone to discuss our diets! It's so important, as we all know! I will be doing my best to do a Brewer's type diet (essentially trying to eat whole foods with a goal of 100 grams of protein a day) which is great for preventing things like pre-eclampsia.

Please share what you've learned about nutrition!

[summerlilies]

Oooh, I love to talk nutrition! I follow a Nourishing Traditions way of life. It is basically getting the most nutrition out of the foods that we eat. So it really matters how food is prepared.

Personally, I don't eat any sugar or anything processed. Which means I make everything from scatch - cereal, crackers, etc. We'll see how I do once the nausea kicks in....

Some foods are really bad (cereal, canola oil, pasturized and homonginized milk...)

Some foods are really great (raw milk, coconut oil, organic grass-fed eggs, beef, chicken etc). I basically get all of my food from a farm and then supplement with Whole Foods.

I could go on and on...

Check out NT in the nutrition forum (they even have one for pregnant and nursing moms) or go to www.westonaprice.org if you are interested in more.

Cara

[Astromom]

I love to talk nutrition too. I don't think I'll ever learn enough, there is so much information out there. But I do know one thing -- the further my philosophy takes me from the world of Hamburger Helper/canned vegetables/white bread that I grew up in, the happier I am!

Nourishing Traditions sounds like a great way to eat! I already make most of my stuff from scratch.. breads, crackers, crusts, etc. And we have a garden that I started this past spring. I have to say, the food from my garden tastes so much better than the stuff I can buy (even though I buy organic!) It's so funny... my DD will go out with me, munching on garden greens, but I can't get her to eat a salad from storebought greens!

I didn't know there was a thread here on NT. I will go check it out! Can I ask some questions first?

About not eating sugar.... what sweetener do you use for making breads? I tend to use honey in both my yeast breads and quick breads. I have heard that blackstrap molasses is the best sweetener, but honestly it makes me wonder since it's a by-product from the process to make table sugar. Honey seems more natural to me I guess.

About milk... I thought I was doing well by getting hormone-free organic milk. I've got a pretty deeply ingrained red flag that comes up when I think of raw milk, but I'm sure it's just like any other perception I've had to mow down. (And I've had to mow down plenty! ) Can you talk to me a little about the safety of raw milk?

And what are some of the major things that pregnant mamas following NT need to do differently than non-pregnant people following NT?

OK, I'm off to lurk in the NT for pregnant moms thread.

BTW, congratulations Summerliles!

[summerlilies]

For sweetners, I use agave, rapadura, raw honey, or maple syrup. For bread specifically, I use rapadura.

Raw milk is great - I can't say I always drink it. Sometimes I compromise and drink non-homogonized milk from Whole Foods (homogonizing denatures the proteins in the milk). Pasturizing destroys the good Vitamin B's (vit B deficiency is a major problem in pregnant women that can lead morning sickness). I only consume full fat dairy products (the nutritional value is in the fat).

It's not so much that "food" is bad - it is just the way that it is prepared that makes it bad. Food companies base decisions on profit - not on nutritional value. 90% of food in grocery stores is "junk" food IMHO. Vegetables should be lacto-fermented, dairy should be cultured, grains should be soaked (to neutralize the phytic acid which interferes with mineral absorbtion).

Check out www.realmilk.com. There is a lot of information about the safety of raw milk.


That's so cool that you grow your own food. I would love to hear more.

I highly recommend Sally Fallon's book "Nourishing Traditions" or her simplified version, "Eat Fat, Lose Fat."

It changed my eating habits forever.

[Astromom]

That's so interesting! Lacto-fermentation is something else I've never heard of, but I just did a search on it and I some really interesting information is coming up. Wow... I had NO idea about this stuff! And thanks for the link about the raw milk -- I'm going to go read up!

I LOVE growing my own food and I want to do way more. I was kind of apprehensive at first because my house plants have about a 90% mortality rate. But I heard about Square Foot Gardening being a pretty fool-proof method and decided to try it. To my amazement, it's working great and I just love it! I am in the desert and it's been over 100 degrees this month but stuff is still growing. I'm harvesting cucumbers, squash, chard, carrots, and corn now.

[audeesmom]

Hi there,
Just wanted to chime in. I am also into the Brewers diet and am aware of Weston Price. I found out about it all with my first pregnancy and it was successful, so I must have done something right. Looking forward to getting in my 100g of protein and raw milk when I can get it! After eating this way now for over 3 years, I can not eat the regular Northamerican diet, it just tastes like chemicals to me. It will be interesting to see what kind of food cravings I get!

[Astromom]

Congrats Audeesmom!

It's funny that you mentioned curiousity about what kind of cravings you would get. The past couple of days I wanted so badly to go get a cheeseburger from Wendy's, which is completely bonkers because I can't stand that stuff and haven't eaten fast food in years. However, I took the hint and made a turkey cheeseburger at home with whole wheat bread. Hit the spot completely, but my brain is so screwed up from my first 25 years of life that it can't correctly identify cravings!!

[ewp11100]

umm I've never heard of a brewers deit, but that's cool. I (try) to follow a peolo, hunter-gather deit. Lean meats, eggs, no dairy no graines, Lots of freash fruits and veggies, nuts, seeds, herbal teas ect. I don't have the money to eat everything organic but my #1 prority is the meats/eggs. I'm innsulin resistant and try to stay away from too much sugar even natural ones, I try to use stevia when ever possible. I had a lot of trouble last pg because I had a BIG meat aversion I was always craving fish, which I tried to limit because of the mercury. So far the only symtom that has popped up in breast tenerness but I didn't have that last time...maybe it's a girl?

[coffeetastesgood]

I did Brewer's 1st pregnancy and found that I was eating too many calories in the attempt to get my protein quota. If I hadn't met quota at the end of the day, I'd quickly chug a glass of milk with protein powder in it just to make quota. I did a modified Brewer's diet (trying to eat quality protein) 2nd pregnancy and I much preferred that...

[lunadoula]

Cool thread! I work a 12-step program for food, so I weigh and measure everything, stick to a food plan, etc. I don't eat any kind of sugar ever (either processed or "healthy" - like honey, fruit juice, molasses, etc.) except what occurs in whole fruit. I also don't eat any flour of any kind, so that limits me to whole grains. Which is fine! I've been eating like this for over two years, so my nutritionist will just increase my food and probably give me more snacks.

Besides those restrictions, I pretty much just eat what I want since everything I eat is healthy. I'm also wondering if anyone else on here is not planning on giving up eating sushi, soft cheeses, etc? I'm sorry but there is no way I am giving up those foods for 9 months! : The risk is so small (I'm in public health, so I know), and I don't eat them every day. Plus, those are the foods I'm craving like mad, so I have to give in a little!

[Astromom]

lunadoula, that's great that you never eat sugar of any kind. I try to definitely limit it, and then we go to my MIL's house and they load DD up on ice cream and candy and then they tell me she wouldn't have such a horrible reaction to it if I would just give her more at home! Crazy.

What kind of protein powder would you all recommend? I'm wary of too much soy... but I know there will be days when I don't reach my 100g goal since I don't eat a whole lot of meat. With DD, I just accepted that some days were lower, but I'm not sure I want to do that again.

[lunadoula]

Originally Posted by Astromom

What kind of protein powder would you all recommend? I'm wary of too much soy... but I know there will be days when I don't reach my 100g goal since I don't eat a whole lot of meat. With DD, I just accepted that some days were lower, but I'm not sure I want to do that again.

I use bioplex pure wpi in the "natural" flavor. It's one of the only protein powders I have found that is 100% protein - no carbs or fat, and no sugar at all. 1 scoop is 80 calories and 20g protein. It has a pleasant taste, which I haven't found with other protein powders. They also make chocolate, etc. which of course has sugar, but is better if you're not adding it to stuff. HTH!

[Astromom]

Thanks Beth, that sounds perfect!

[secretlypregnant]

Glad to see this thread... I am always looking for good info on nutrition. Last pregnancy I followed the Brewer diet and felt pretty good. Had an easy pg (once the nasea passed) and a pretty good birth. Very healthy baby

Originally Posted by lunadoula

I use bioplex pure wpi in the "natural" flavor. It's one of the only protein powders I have found that is 100% protein - no carbs or fat, and no sugar at all. 1 scoop is 80 calories and 20g protein. It has a pleasant taste, which I haven't found with other protein powders. They also make chocolate, etc. which of course has sugar, but is better if you're not adding it to stuff. HTH!

Thanks for this link! I am having trouble getting enough protein, with out taking in excess calories. This should do the trick.

[Brisen]

I lean towards NT... I say lean not because I really disagree with anything in particular, just because I'm not very good at sticking to it. All that food prep! And we recently moved away from a very convenient source of raw milk, butter, cream, and pasteured eggs. And it was cheap, too -- milk cheaper than store bought, and eggs and butter same as the cheap grocery store I go to I get into a bad cycle of being tired and cranky because I'm not eating well enough, but then I feel too tired and cranky to want to cook. And winter NT foods are so much easier to prepare, or at least familiar to me... gravies, soups, stews.... yum.

My blood sugar tends to go a bit whacky when I'm pg... if I skip my morning snack, I'm just toast for the rest of the day -- cranky, no energy, headache. So I do need to keep on top of it. Eggs in the morning is a habit I need to get back into. I just wish someone else would clean the pan.... hmmmm, if I just kept it in the fridge when I'm not using it, do you think I could get away with not cleaning it between uses?

[Yo Becca]

I did a modified Brewer's diet with my first pg. I went from being vegetarian to eating fish when I got preg. - and getting 100g protein from those sources seemed like crazy excessive calories - or else excessive soy, dairy or fish. So I shot for 80g with good results. I was happy with it.

Sonce having DD, my eating habits have gone to total crap. Being a working mom, living in a place where natural foods are CRAZY expensive, having less time to garden and cook, being on the go, having to feed a toddler too, etc. And I can tell - I've gained 20 pounds after having gotten back to my pre=preg weight. I was furious with myself for losing control and being so unhealthy with my behavior. I have been making some serious changes with eating and gettingback into my running routine - actually started a few weeks ago - and DH and I had decided to postpone TTC - partly b/c of our move but I also saw it as a chance to get myself in better shape. But baby had other plans...

I'm really dedicating myself to following the changes I've made - greatly limiting my sugar/flour/processed food intake. But I can't be super strict and go no sugar b/c it sets me up for cheating and failure. I get one "freebie" a day, and I actually stick to my plans.