Better Health, Better Body, Better Baby

Better Health, Better Body, Better Baby

From Alternatives Newsletter February 2012

Are you planning to have a baby (or are you a concerned “Grandparent-to-be”)? What kind of a “home” would you wish to provide for a growing baby in the first most important 9 months of intrauterine growth?

A home that is supportive of new growth and development, one in which your precious growing child feels comforted and loved, one that is free and clear of toxins – this environment begins long before a woman is pregnant!

We live in an unbelievably toxic environment. There are 90,000 plus chemicals in our American system.  We eat them, drink them, smell them, rub them on our bodies, clean with them, spray them on our lawns and gardens.  The Environmental Working Group has done studies on the cord blood of newborn babies and found 200 plus chemicals – some of them carcinogenic.   

This means that these chemicals the mother is exposed to are NOT able to be filtered by the placenta. At Alternatives, we believe that the ideal time to begin to cleanse your body of this toxic overload is 1 YEAR before you even consider pregnancy. This is the time to learn and practice healthier things to do to prevent this toxicity in a future child.

We are offering a 6 month program to educate you about the toxic load and ways to avoid it.  This will help to protect you, your family, and future unborn children.  In the program we will provide guidance for your gradual detoxification and teach you importance of liver and gastrointestinal health.

Because we are firm believers of good health “powerfoods” from healthy planetary sources you will learn what this means and how it benefits your overall health and healing abilities. We will discuss the importance of vitamins and minerals and the way to get these with food

We will be using a simple textbook of dietary guidelines formulated by the Weston A. Price foundation – to guide you on your way.

At Alternatives we are passionate about good health and would be honored to support you at this most important time of your life.  To find out more about how our Better Body, Better Baby program will benefit you please call 402-827-9450, or email us with any questions you may have.

Important Nutrition Advice for Expectant Moms

It used to be that a new mom could expect a healthy baby with very little effort.  After all, a woman’s body supplies all of the God-given nutrients to grow a well-developed new life, right?  Sadly, such is not the case anymore.  


“A placenta used to be considered adequate protection for a baby, but one study found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants,” said Kathi Bratberg, RN, MS Holistic Nutrition at Alternatives http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/execsumm.php.
   
“Many newborns are at a detriment at birth with compromised liver and immune systems.  Some are even born with allergies,” she explained.  The explosion of ADHD, autism and learning disabilities also are believed to have a genetic link, according to some experts.  “What’s worse, if the mother had a bad diet, smoked and drank alcohol, those conditions will factor into her newborn as well,” Bratberg said.


The ways in which industrial pollution begins in the womb are chronicled in the compelling YouTube video “10 Americans” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5n4HhQr25Q, produced by the Environmental Working Group http://www.ewg.org/.


That’s why Alternatives is helping expectant moms shore up their first lines of defense by identifying potential nutrition problems and designing nutritious food plans for the health of the mother and baby.  Micronutrient testing – a blood test – is now available at Alternatives. SpectraCell’s micronutrient test measures more than 32 vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in the body and evaluates how they are absorbed and utilized. 


“Expectant moms can prepare ahead of time,” Bratberg said, “by eating clean foods, healthy fats and proper proteins.  If a new mom is healthy, then she’ll be passing on healthy attributes to her new baby.  In fact, if a woman is even thinking of getting pregnant, she should begin to prepare her body through proper nutrition and supplements.”  Alternatives offers many resources and expertise into proper eating plans for expectant moms and children. 


A quarterly movie series will delve into the subject of chemical and toxic pollutants in our food chain and a discussion afterwards will cover the healthy alternatives that parents can consider for their children.  “We will get parents the information they need to make healthy changes in their children’s diets,” Bratberg said.  Cooking can be time-consuming, but it also should be a family affair, Bratberg noted.  “Mom isn’t the only one who has to cook.  Kids can get involved as well and they’re more willing to eat what they prepare,” she added.


“If you can get your kids started on good healthy foods and fats, and keep them away from toxins, sugars and artificial sweeteners, hopefully the genetic predisposition of poor nutrition.”

For additional information about healthy eating, go to the Westin A. Price Foundation at http://www.westonaprice.org/.