What You Eat During Pregnancy Does Matter!

There are many well documented studies showing how what we eat during pregnancy has a direct relationship with the types and flavors of foods our babies will prefer. One in particular involving carrot juice comes to mind. I thought of these studies as I ate loads of broccoli and kale and seaweed and blueberries and walnuts and anything I could think of that I’d want my baby to like and eat.

There was also another study that came out right before I got pregnant with my 2 year old. This one showed that women who ate chocolate consistently during pregnancy had overall sweeter babies with happier dispositions.

I took this study all the way to the chocolate factory. I made sure that not a day went by that I did not have some chocolate. I really mean it. I ate chocolate, and I ate chocolate, and I ate some more chocolate. Most days it was a few squares of organic very dark chocolate, and some days it was chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting from Magnolia Bakery, as my friend Stephanie can attest. Unlike many pregnant women, I did not crave sweets during pregnancy and sugar didn’t make me feel that great, but I had to eat chocolate because the study showed how important it was!

The result? From a biased mom’s opinion, my son is very sweet with an overall happy disposition. And he also dreams about chocolate, wakes up asking for chocolate and continues to think of creative ways to ask for it about 49 more times throughout the day. Now he’s added “Please, please, please, please?” on to all of his requests, so it’s very hard for me to say no.

We give him dark chocolate that is at least 70% cacao, as this has the least amount of sugar and still tastes great. We also always make sure it’s organic. He’s getting antioxidants, polyphenols, and some good fats. And, he came across some packaged milk chocolate- the kind you’ll find in every conventional supermarket- tried that and said to me, “Mommy, it’s yucky,” so we know he has good taste.

Yes, he definitely has a preference for what I ate when he was in utero.

Thankfully, every single day he also asks me for seaweed.

Prevention, Recipes

Nourishing Chicken and Rice Soup Recipe

Holly 4 Comments

Whenever any member of our family gets sick, we bring out the big pot and make this delicious Chicken and Rice Soup. Everyone loves it and we always have lots leftover. It’s a great way to get kids to eat their veggies!

Ingredients:

- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 medium carrots, sliced
- 2 inch piece of ginger root, sliced
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup brown rice
- 3-4 chicken thighs cut into cubes
- 1 bunch kale, roughly torn into pieces

In a large pot over medium-high heat, bring 1/2 cup broth to a simmer. Add onion, carrots and ginger and cook about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent, stirring occasionally. Add garlic and saute about 3 more minutes. Add remaining broth, water, rice, and chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook about 35 minutes or until rice is tender and chicken is cooked through. Stir in kale. Continue cooking just until kale is tender, about 5 minutes.

Even kids love this soup!

Prevention

Avoiding Secondary Infections During a Cold

Holly 2 Comments

Our family is currently on the tail end of the worst illness our son has ever experienced.

He is 28 months old, and thankfully has not yet had an ear infection, or any other sort of secondary infection. (Common childhood secondary infections that take root after a cold or the flu are those caused by buildup of thick mucus which allow warm moist places for bacteria and yeast to grow and include sinus infections, ear infections, and pneumonia.)

Up until this point, I had not needed to call his pediatrician to ask for advice. He has had 2 fevers in his life, and his colds are usually very short in duration.

This time around however, is different.

We suspect he has the flu, as he started out with a fever and headache and slept for two days, and then the symptoms started flooding in- runny nose, sneezing, irritability, insomnia. We are now on day 7 of the ordeal.

Anyone with whom I’ve shared the fact that he’s never had an ear infection or been on antibiotic (or taken Tylenol for that matter) asks me how we’ve done it. It might seem like we go a little overboard, but I will do whatever it takes to make my son heal quicker and feel better.

I can’t be sure these are the reasons, but my husband and I both feel taking these steps have helped our son to not (yet) develop a secondary infection:

1. Keep him home. This may seem like a no-brainer, but since our kids can’t tell us how they feel, it is up to us to make the decision to let them rest. Lots of parents don’t do this. I have seen many a child coughing and sneezing with runny noses in the grocery store, at the playground, in the church nursery, in music class, etc., very obviously sick and miserable while the parents just go about their normal business. When we as adults are sick, we stay home. Our children deserve the same consideration. Yes, this is extremely inconvenient for the parents who have to clear off schedules and rearrange priorities, and we’ve even been balked at when we’ve made the decision to skip events to keep our son home, but he deserves the chance to heal.

2. Give him lots of fluids- especially coconut water, chamomile tea, chicken broth and water. All day. He usually won’t eat much food, which is fine with us as his body needs the energy to fight off the infection. We offer easy to digest food, but if he doesn’t take it, we don’t push. We also make a huge pot of Chicken and Rice Soup for the whole family to eat.

3. No baths during the worst part of the illness. A bath will be welcomed after a few days of feeling bad, but we we always avoid the bath in the beginning stages of a cold. The body has to work too hard to heat back up after getting out of the tub, and needs that energy to heal. The skin is also an important part of the immune system and secretes antibacterial substances. Of course we do frequently wash all of our hands (child included) and use a sponge bath for the face and bottom before bed.

4. Use the healing power of foods like those outlined by Dr. Laura Feder, such as the healing properties of onion and lemon. In her wonderful book Natural Baby and Childcare: Practical Medical Advice and Holistic Wisdom for Raising Healthy Children she writes, “Lemon is good for watery, thin discharges, tickly coughs, and bronchitis. It can be used as a steam inhalation, warm chest compress, or a throat wrap. Placing lemon slices near a radiator will help disperse oils throughout a room.”

5. Treat symptoms with homeopathic remedies and herbs which work with the body to heal, rather than just suppress symptoms. After all, the symptoms exist to rid the body of germs. From the Dr. Greene website symptoms are “the body’s attempt to get rid of the virus and to minimize damage. Sneezing ejects the virus from the nose, cough from the lungs and throat, vomiting from the stomach, and diarrhea from the intestines. Fever makes it difficult for the virus to reproduce.”

6. Lots of steam- in the form of a vaporizer, sitting in the bathroom with a hot shower on, and flooding the nose with preservative free saline nose spray, to keep the mucus moving and not let it become stagnant allowing bacteria to take a foothold.

7. Possibly the most important- lots of extra TLC!

None of this has been easy as I naturally worry about my child, have to deal with his emotions, comfort his physical ailments, and try to keep it together myself! It takes lots of support and patience and it’s been a rough week, but it looks like we are on the road to healing. He slept very well last night, woke up today without a cough or runny nose, and has his appetite back.

PHEW!

Recipes

Recipe of the Week: Mighty Miso Soup

Holly 1 Comment

Recipe of the Week: Mighty Miso Soup

Prep Time: 5-10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10-15 minutes
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:
4-5 cups spring water
1-2 inch strip of wakame (my favorite sea vegetable) rinsed and soaked 5 minutes in 1 cup of water, until softened
1-2 cups thinly sliced vegetables of your choice (see notes)
4-5 teaspoons barley miso
2 scallions, finely chopped

Directions:
1. Chop soaked wakame.
2. Discard soaking water or use on houseplants for a boost of minerals.
3. Place water and wakame in a soup pot and bring to a boil.
4. Add root and ground vegetables first and simmer gently for 5 minutes or until tender.
5. Add leafy vegetables and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
6. Remove about 1/2 cup of liquid from pot and dissolve miso into it. Return it to the pot.
7. Reduce heat to very low—do not boil or simmer miso broth.
8. Allow this to cook 2-3 minutes.
9. Garnish with scallions and serve.

Notes:
Any combination of vegetables can be used in miso soup. Here are some classic combinations:
• onion-daikon: very cleansing
• onion-carrot-shiitake-mushroom-kale
• leek-corn-broccoli: great in summertime
• onion-winter squash-cabbage: great in wintertime

Variations:
• Add cooked grains at the start of making the soup. They will become nice and soft.
• Add a tablespoon of uncooked quinoa or millet at the beginning and let it cook with vegetables for 20
minutes.
• Add cubed tofu toward the end.
• Add bean sprouts toward the end.
• Season with 1/2 teaspoon ginger juice for an interesting twist.
• If using dry shiitake mushrooms, let them soak for 20 minutes, slice and add at the beginning.

Prevention

Eat Less, Play More

Holly Leave a comment

Remember when you were a child,and you got so wrapped up in playing, imagining or creating that you didn’t want to stop when it was time to eat? Do you remember leaving your meal half-finished to run off and continue playing? If you don’t remember this, you certainly see it in your children. Children innately understand that food is secondary to what is very nutritious in life: fun and play.

As adults we seem to have lost our instinct to prioritize play. In our busy world with its emphasis on work and responsibility, being healthy and balanced needs to include feeding our hearts, minds and spirits, not just our bodies.

Have you noticed that when your body, mind and spirit are engaged in a creative project or happy relationship that your reliance on food seems to decrease? Likewise, when you are unsatisfied with your relationships, your job or other areas of your life, you may lean on food to cheer, soothe or numb you. When your life is out of balance, no amount of food can feed you at the level where you truly need nourishment. The food that we eat is very important for health and balance, but what really feeds us—a full and fulfilling life—doesn’t come on a plate.

What is fun for you? What makes your insides light up? What excites you? Make time for it this week.

Even if you don’t have much time for fun, try approaching a “serious” activity with an attitude of play. This can greatly reduce stress and anxiety and bring pleasure to your day. Take your focus off food, try adding more fun into your life and watch the magic unfold.