The Swine Flu

I want to gag every time I check my mail on yahoo. There is always a pic of someone with a useless mask on their face. This whole thing is ludicrus!

So, go here and read what my hubby has to say about it. I totally agree and am wowed by the statistics he looked up!

In the meantime, we'll keep our bodies free of interference in this family and not worry about it! ;-)

Healthy Diets for Pregnant Moms and Babies

I took this information from the Weston A. Price Foundation. I love their website. The nutrition information is simple, researched and helps me focus on eating for health regardless of the constant weighing down of very clever advertising, my addictions to crappy food and what everyone around me eats. I'll do a few posts. Let's start with babies!

I ate close to this way for the first 28 weeks of my pregnancy. I barely gained any weight, I felt great! The second half of my pregnancy, I ate a more SAD (Standard American Diet) and gained 60 lbs!

Diet for Pregnant and Nursing Mothers

Cod Liver Oil to supply 20,000 IU vitamin A and 2000 IU vitamin D per day

1 quart (or 32 ounces) whole milk daily, preferably raw and from pasture-fed cows (learn more about raw milk on our website, A Campaign for Real Milk, www.realmilk.com)

4 tablespoons butter daily, preferably from pasture-fed cows

2 or more eggs daily, preferably from pastured chickens

Additional egg yolks daily, added to smoothies, salad dressings, scrambled eggs, etc.

3-4 ounces fresh liver, once or twice per week (If you have been told to avoid liver for fear of getting "too much Vitamin A," be sure to read Vitamin A Saga)

Fresh seafood, 2-4 times per week, particularly wild salmon, shellfish and fish eggs

Fresh beef or lamb daily, always consumed with the fat

Oily fish or lard daily, for vitamin D

2 tablespoons coconut oil daily, used in cooking or smoothies, etc.

Lacto-fermented condiments and beverages

Bone broths used in soups, stews and sauces

Soaked whole grains

Fresh vegetables and fruits

AVOID:

• Trans fatty acids (e.g., hydrogenated oils)
• Junk foods
• Commercial fried foods
• Sugar
• White flour
• Soft drinks
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Cigarettes
• Drugs (even prescription drugs)

After you have the baby, what do you feed it? Sounds stupid actually. We feed the baby our breast milk, right? Isn't that what God made our breasts for? Isn't that what all other mammals do? Unfortunately it is no longer so. Like I said...clever advertising.

I personally had latch issues with breast feeding due to latch issues. I didn't know or look into where to turn for help. I pumped for 5 months with my first then switched to formula before I knew better. It wasn't until we learned that formula (especially soy formula) was bad for our daughter. We took her off of it, started giving her cod liver oil and cleaned up her diet. Her motor skills and learning spiked immediately. With our son, I pumped for 8 months, then made an organic, raw goat's milk formula at home. With our 3rd, I was determined to breast feed and at 11 months old her and I still enjoy nursing and the bond we share because of it.

A news article appearing after the trial quoted a juror who worked for a pet food company. "There is more quality control for pet food," she said, "than for infant formula."

Here is some more information from the Weston A. Price website about breast feeding.

If you find yourself in a situation where you can not nurse, please look into making your own formula. Do not buy into it not being safe. My son thrived on our home made formula! Here is a recipe similar to the one I made and go here for more recipes.

MILK-BASED FORMULA

Makes 36 ounces

Our milk-based formula takes account of the fact that human milk is richer in whey, lactose, vitamin C, niacin, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to cow's milk but leaner in casein (milk protein). The addition of gelatin to cow's milk formula will make it more digestible for the infant. Use only truly expeller-expressed oils in the formula recipes, otherwise they may lack vitamin E.

The ideal milk for baby, if he cannot be breastfed, is clean, whole raw milk from old-fashioned cows, certified free of disease, that feed on green pasture. For sources of good quality milk, see www.realmilk.com or contact a local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

If the only choice available to you is commercial milk, choose whole milk, preferably organic and unhomogenized, and culture it with a piima or kefir culture to restore enzymes (available from G.E.M. Cultures 253-588-2922 or http://www.gemcultures.com).

2 cups whole milk, preferably unprocessed milk from pasture-fed cows
1/4 cup homemade liquid whey (See recipe for whey, below) Note: Do NOT use whey from making cheese--it will cause the formula to curdle. Use only homemade whey made from yoghurt, kefir or separated raw milk.
4 tablespoons lactose*
1/4 teaspoon bifidobacterium infantis**
2 or more tablespoons good quality cream (not ultrapasteurized), more if you are using milk from Holstein cows
1 teaspoon regular dose cod liver oil or 1/2 teaspoon high-vitamin cod liver oil*
1 teaspoon expeller-expressed sunflower oil*
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil*
2 teaspoons coconut oil*
2 teaspoons Frontier brand nutritional yeast flakes*
2 teaspoons gelatin*
1 7/8 cups filtered water
1/4 teaspoon acerola powder*

*Available from Radiant Life 888-593-8333, www.radiantlifecatalog.com
**Available from Natren 866-462-8736, www.natren.com, or Radiant Life 888-593-8333, www.radiantlifecatalog.com. Also, please note earlier versions of this web page called for 1 tsp of bifidobacterium infantis--this was a typo.

Add gelatin to water and heat gently until gelatin is dissolved. Place all ingredients in a very clean glass or stainless steel container and mix well. To serve, pour 6 to 8 ounces into a very clean glass bottle, attach nipple and set in a pan of simmering water. Heat until warm but not hot to the touch, shake bottle well and feed baby. (Never, never heat formula in a microwave oven!) Note: If you are using the Lact-Aid, mix all ingredients well in a blender.)

Variation: Goat Milk Formula

Although goat milk is rich in fat, it must be used with caution in infant feeding as it lacks folic acid and is low in vitamin B₁₂, both of which are essential to the growth and development of the infant. Inclusion of nutritional yeast to provide folic acid is essential. To compensate for low levels of vitamin B₁₂, if preparing the Milk-Based Formula (above) with goat's milk, add 2 teaspoons organic raw chicken liver, frozen for 14 days, finely grated to the batch of formula. Be sure to begin egg-yolk feeding at four months.

Get Educated Before You Vote!

FYI

Just wanted to let ya'all (like my Texan?!) that I am working on my VBAC story. It's longer than I thought!!! So many details. It should be up soon!

Here is a fun site about eating sustainable foods! Enjoy!

The Breakdown of Organic Food Lables

Does Organic really mean organic. What exactly does 'no chemicals added' mean? Which terms are backed up legally and which terms are subject to what the company wants them to mean?

This article breaks it all down. Green Home by Huddler has a slew of resources for living green!

Food Causes Disease

I will be posting much more about what we eat related to our health in general and specifically obesity, diabetes and cancer.

Here is something to open up the topic. I receive daily raw food inspiration emails. When I opened today's, this is what I read:

"The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) has filed a lawsuit to make California restaurants comply with a state law requiring businesses to warn consumers when their products contain a known carcinogen. (Jinjee's notes: The definition of carcinogen is: any substance or agent that tends to produce a cancer. According to the FDA all cooked foods contain carcinogens). The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, passed by voters on a ballot initiative in 1986, helps keep toxic industrial pollution out of ground water, and also protects citizens' right to know when a cancer-causing agent is present in other edibles. One of these carcinogens, PhIP, forms when animal flesh is grilled at high temperatures. The most concentrated PhIP levels are found in cooked chicken, and PCRM maintains that the law must require restaurants to post "clear and reasonable warnings" on their food. President and chief executive of the California Restaurant Association Jot Condie says enforcement of the law would cause many restaurants "to take [chicken] off the menu". (Reuters)"
-VegNews Magazine July-August issue

In Joy!
Jinjee
www.TheGardenDiet.com

How much longer are we going to deny that our food is making us sick? I guess we should truly ask, how much longer are we going to believe the mulit billion dollar advertising. How much longer will we hold on to our attachments of the food we are eating and at what cost? I can definitely relate to these feelings. I thought this poster was humorous with the chicken hiding and the title (and my kids love this movie!)

Current List of Vaccines with Aluminum

This was taken from NNII. While I do not agree with their opinion that aluminum is safe just because it is found in other things in our world, it is a recent list of vaccines that contain aluminum. By the way, we do not use aluminum in my house. We do not use aluminum foil or pans, we use glass dishes and cups and aluminum free deodorant. It is not safe and I would never think of injecting my child with it. The reason they put it in vaccines is because the vaccine will not be as effective with out it. It is just one of many ingredients in vaccines that will harm our children.

The current vaccines with aluminum are:

• DTP (diphtheria-tetanus=pertussis vaccine)
• DTaP (diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis vaccine)
• Some but not all Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b) conjugate vaccines
• Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine
• Hepatitis B (given at birth!)
• All combination DTaP, Tdap, Hib, or Hepatitis B vaccines
• Hepatitis A
• Human Papillomavirus (the new HPV/cervical cancer vaccine)
• Anthrax
• Rabies

Vaccines that do not contain aluminum (but may contain other harmful ingredients):

• Inactivated Polio Virus vaccine
• Measles, mumps and rubella
  
• Varicella vaccine
  
• Flu shots

If you are going to give your child a vaccine without the aluminum, make sure it is not combined with another aluminum filled vaccine. The combination shots(2 or more diseases in one shot) are becoming very popular. Also remember that because the vaccines are not effective, your child will get multiple doses of most vaccines with booster shots!