Transforming Nutritional Paradigms

Photo:Cass Gilbert

Something is very different with our birth experiences and health of our babies compared to the births and babies at the beginning of the century. Labors are longer, more painful and definitely more invasive; we cannot tolerate the pain we once could and more babies are born with physical or mental impediments. Some chalk this up to coincidence, others karma or bad luck, where some don’t bat an eye accepting it as the new norm. And although complications with birth and pregnancy have become more commonplace, there is a real reason as to why such abnormal birth experiences are occurring and this can be rectified!

“No other society is as careless about preparation for pregnancy and birth as our own” says food pioneer Sally Fallon. We tend to be very excited about our birth plan, we want to know how to deal with the pain and we are adamant about knowing how everything is going to go on the birth day. However, we tend to disregard the most important preparation factor-nutrition. What we put into our mouths largely determines the outcome of one’s birth. Some people may find this hard to believe and many even find it silly or unromantic but it is in fact very accurate.

What we eat determines what our blood is composed of and what are blood is composed of determines the health of every cell in our body including our brain, organs, nervous and endocrine systems. Pick up any baby book and they will advise you to eat low-fat foods, a 45-65% carbohydrate diet, plenty of fruits and vegetables and lots of conventional dairy. This advice poses a very big problem however, that is, these foods don’t actually provide a solid foundation for you or your baby.

To have the healthiest baby you can and to have the shortest duration, least painful labor, with the fastest post-partum recovery, mothers need to focus on nutrient dense foods. Nutrient dense foods are rich in fat soluble vitamins, low in carbohydrates, are rich in minerals and help with the development of your baby more than you may know! Nutrient dense foods, such as egg yolks from pasture raised chickens and fermented cod liver oil are rich sources of vitamin A; vitamin A is like the chief commander giving orders to stem cells directing them to differentiate into various organs, “you be a heart, you be a lung, you’re the liver”. When vitamin A is deficient in the diet, the cells are lacking direction to become who and what they really are. This sets the stage for health and learning complications both early and later in life.

Vitamin A is one major component to the development of a healthy, robust baby and a healthy pregnancy for mom. Other key players are vitamin D, E, K, K2, DHA, folate, choline, sulfur, calcium, magnesium, cholesterol and saturated fats. These substances are best consumed in whole food form as prenatal vitamins tend to be hard to digest, block the absorption of other minerals and even lack the complete components of vitamins and minerals that are naturally found in nutrient dense foods. There isn’t a single prenatal vitamin that even comes close to the nutritional value one obtains from consuming a nutrient dense diet.

We can transform our births and we can improve the health of our babies when we change what we put into our mouths. Our birth experiences began to change when we became introduced to convenience foods. Dr. Romig, an Alaskan doctor in the early 1900’s reported that “in his thirty-six years among the Eskimos (who consumed a nutrient dense diet), he had never been able to arrive in time to see a normal birth by a primitive Eskimo woman.” This was true for cultures all over the world yet to be exposed to modern foods, it was normal to birth babies in a very short duration and on one’s own. Like us, Eskimo’s, and most all other cultures, are now heavily exposed to modern foods. Food pioneer Dr Weston A Price reports, “Conditions have changed materially with the new generation of Eskimo girls, born after their parents began to use foods of modern civilization. Many of them are carried to the hospital after they had been in labor for several days”.

This doesn’t have to be our birth experience anymore. We can reclaim our power by eating a nutrient dense diet that supports natural labor and robust children. When we do make these dietary transformations, watch how women heal and stand in their truth, and then witness how this creates a Universe that places the feminine at the center. The medical model doesn’t want to see this, but I absolutely do and the truth is that this change is already underway.

Heathar Shepard is a traditional nutritionist. She helps to empower and heal individuals and families all over the world through nutritional and emotional counsel. Heathar has her degree in Nutrition and has studied Classical Chinese medicine. She is a life long student of an ancient Peruvian lineage called Ka Ta See and has a background in Sidereal Astrology. You can learn more about Heathar and her services by visiting www.mamasoulsnm.com

If you are interested in learning more, Heathar will be teaching a course called Nutrition and Pregnant Mothers.  Click HERE for more details.