The Nourisher - Editor’s Blog

Often I am asked about this particular topic, most recently by a new friend planning to conceive soon. I have many years of experience with dietary experimentation while pregnant, birthing and breast feeding, some experiments less successful than others. Luckily I discovered the world of native nutrition during my 3rd pregnancy, and following the lead of my ancestors, I was able to turn around the health issues that had plagued me. I even improved my skin, hair, muscle definition and sexual desire (common complaints of breastfeeding women).

All ‘primitive’ peoples have dietary rules around reproduction.¹ For thousands of years our ancestors followed these rules, experiencing unassisted birthing generation after generation, and growing beautiful and robust children who could go on and do the same.

It’s just a matter of following your ancestral lineage. What would your great, great, great grandmother have been fed by her elders while preparing for birthing and breastfeeding?

From my research and starting with the foods I consider to be most important, here are a few suggestions for optimal baby making nutrition:

Fish eggs, shellfish, seafood.

Peruvian mountain dwellers would travel down to the coast of South America just to trade for dried fish eggs to feed the children and adults in their fertile years.¹ Through modern nutritional science we have discovered why. These foods contain cholesterol, fats (Omega3), fat soluble vitamins, protein and minerals like zinc and iodine.²

Although it is not often mentioned in nutrition texts, insects were a common source of fertility nutrition in traditional diets.⁸ Since we modern ladies are a little squeamish, may I suggest the insects of the sea: prawns, crabs and oysters are wonderful baby making foods. Eat a portion of these foods once a week.

Liver.

African tribesmen consider the liver sacred, the seat of the soul. Upon killing a beast, the liver, untouched by human hand, is given in equal portions to each villager³ ; children, elders and the fertile first. Liver is packed with cholesterol, fats, protein, iron and B vitamins, especially folic acid, B6 and B12, and is best eaten raw. Once it is cooked the essential B vitamins are destroyed.²

I have found the best way to take liver raw is to freeze it for 14 days at least to kill any parasites, then chop it still frozen into teaspoon sized pieces. Put these pieces in plastic coin bags and back in the freezer. Use one portion weekly or more often, even daily (depending on your need). Chop the still frozen portion into pilules and swallow just like any other pill. Use a glass of any drink that’s not fizzy or it will repeat on you - yurk - I use raw milk.

You will be amazed at the energy raw liver can give you. You may have to start with smaller portions or less often but using your intuition you will work out what your body needs. I ended up taking raw liver once a week; you may be different.

NB. It is advisable to eat only organic food. It is imperative that liver be from an organic beast. As the liver is the organ that detoxifies, the liver of animals who live on pasture or grains that are sprayed with pesticides, injected with antibiotics or dipped in poisons should NOT be eaten.

Eggs.

Sadly, eggs have had a bad rap in recent years but hunter gatherers literally lived on them. Fresh, organic eggs are a wonderful source of cholesterol, fats and fat soluble vitamins, protein, calcium and iron.² Avoid battery eggs. Apart from the cruel way the chickens are housed, they are fed antibiotics and dyes to colour their yolks that are toxic to you and baby.

Please don’t fall for the Veggs hogwash, chickens are omnivores. They must eat grubs to get the right fatty acid profile. I suggest 2 or more eggs per day and cook them in lard or butter, not vegetable oil. You can also eat the yolks raw in smoothies or just crack the egg into your hand, let the white run through your fingers and swallow the yolk down. The precious B Vitamins will stay intact this way.

Cod liver oil.

An old wives tale for a reason. Cod Liver Oil is a great source of Vitamin A.⁹ Traditional diets deliver more than ten times the Vitamin A than the standard modern diet. Vitamin D, essential for bone growth as well as the brain and nervous system of you and baby, is also found in Cod Liver Oil. I recommend one teaspoon of this superfood a day.

Good quality butter - raw (unpasteurised) is best.

Northern Europeans fed their children and fertile adults the orange yellow butter from cows feeding on the first green grass shoots of spring.³ Butter is a delicious source of fat soluble Vitamins A and D, zinc, iodine and other trace minerals.²

Please rethink the low fat paradigm, especially when breastfeeding. Primitive peoples searched for high fat food sources for a reason.⁷ I have found the more I eat high fat food, the stronger my musculature and more resilient my immune system becomes. I ask my butcher to reserve the fat from their organic pigs. Using the extra element on the BBQ outside (to avoid the clean up), I slowly melt small pieces of the lard down, draining off the melted fat into a glass jar. It keeps in the pantry for months, and I use it for almost all frying.

When I began to eat more animal fats like butter, I found I no longer craved sweet foods. Sugar cravings are renowned for plaguing pregnant women, usually because they are protein deficient. Avoiding refined sugar is one of the best things you can do for yourself and your baby. (Since refined sugar is poison, eating honey and rapadura are a good alternative.).

If you can access raw milk products, try them. Often people who are lactose intolerant can deal with raw milk because it retains natural enzymes that help digest lactose.⁴ If raw milk is still difficult for you, try fermenting it with Kefir. The lactose will be predigested for you. Although pasteurised milk is virtually a poison and should be avoided, raw milk is a wonderful traditional source of Vitamins A, D, C, B12, B6, calcium and other minerals.⁵

Beet Kvass, Grain fields or Kombucha

Fermented drinks, fruits and vegetables are a mainstay in most traditional diets. Australian aborigines are known to ferment grains in streams and drink fermented nectar water. Modern day soft drinks are poor imitations of traditional, effervescent, healthful beverages like ginger beer, sarsaparilla, oat water etc. A rich source of enzymes, minerals and lactobacilus, one cup of fermented beverage every day with the main meal improves digestion out of sight.

Fermented Vegetables and Fruit.

Raw foods are getting a lot of attention lately, with many people swearing by an all raw diet. It is true that sprouted grains and fresh fruits and vegetables are a better choice than donuts and potato chips. However, there are many references in ancient and modern cooking lore to specific preparation techniques for even the most innocuous vegetable and fruit.⁵ To predigest raw foods and actually improve their nutritional profile, lacto fermenting or fermenting in brine is an important part of many traditional diets. We have a few favourite fermented recipes like sauerkraut and I highly recommend my nutritional bible, Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon for wonderful lactofermented recipes.

Organic or grass fed red meat and chicken, especially organ meats

As yet I have not found a single group of primitive racial stock which was building and maintaining excellent bodies by living entirely on plant foods.Weston A Price ³

During the fertile years I do not recommend vegetarianism. No group of humans has ever lived on a purely vegetarian diet with the exception of one group of people native to Southern India (although these people probably ate some animal protein in the form of insects in their rice). These people were known to live short lives and suffer kwashiskor, a debilitating disease affecting the brain and bone growth.¹ Animal foods are the most concentrated source of nutrients essential to life. Protein, Cholesterol and Fats make your baby’s body and brain.

Organ Meats are high in Vitamin Bs, especially Folic Acid, and minerals, especially Magnesium. Australian aboriginal peoples are known to catch kangaroos just for their fatty tail and organs, leaving the rest for their dog.

Please don’t buy meat that has been trimmed of fat. Fat is essential to assimilate Fat Soluble Vitamins like A, E, K and D. It also helps you digest the protein of the lean meat.¹ If you do get a lean cut of meat, slather it in butter or fry it in lard.

I suggest you eat meat daily, organ meat weekly and occasionally eat small portions of raw meat as Vit B6 and 12 are destroyed in cooking. Raw meat is also easier to digest.

Broths made from bones of organic or grass feed beef, fish and chicken.

Every time we eat a meal with bones, I save them and freeze them for my weekly broth. Chicken broth on its own is great to recover from birthing and there are many traditional recipes made from the spine and tale of large ruminants for “replacing marrow” after birth.

Miso soup is traditionally made from bone broth and eaten before or with each meal in Japan. The gelatin in broth helps you digest protein and is great for creating strong bones for baby. Broths are also a great source for minerals and amino acids. Make a broth every week and use it in your recipes or just drink it as a warm drink every day.

Unrefined Whole grains and legumes: soaked, sprouted or fermented.

Whole grains are a rich source of Vitamin Bs, Vitamin E and Fats.² If soaked they are more digestible, if fermented or sprouted they have added enzymes and lactobacilus. Eat only sourdough bread, fermented for at least 4 hours, 6 hours is optimal. Do not eat refined grains, its not worth it. My favourite recipe is Dosas¹⁰ which are a great source of protein also.

You may notice, grains are at the bottom of my list. Although our modern diet is based on whole grains, the reason for this is social and not nutritional.⁶ The food pyramid is a tool for managing masses of people living in cities and not truly a guide to the highest nutrition. For this, ask your ancestors. They are not trying to sell you anything.

A word on Supplements.

After many years and much money, I have decided supplements are worth more to their marketers than they are to the human body. Superfoods are the best way to supplement the diet and as long as your digestion is working and you eat organic and don’t damage your body with non-foods such as modern soy products, sugar , refined grains and caffeine, they are all you should need. Some superfoods are:

• Cod Liver Oil
• Acerola powder and Amalaki powder (High vitamin C whole foods)
• Azomite Mineral Powder (for minerals)
• Bee Pollen
• Spirulina (not for B12 though)
• Evening Primrose Oil
• Glandular or organ extracts
• Kelp
• Noni juice

My first baby was born after a pregnancy plagued with unexplainable pain, extremely uncomfortable thrush, and an excruciating 67 hour labour. My perineum tore badly and after 5 weeks, refused to heal. The flesh around the stitches was in fact becoming gangrenous. I could not relax into motherhood, nor could I sleep soundly. I was a vegetarian, ignoring my cravings for meat for the sake of some delusion of purity. I was studying acupuncture at the time and chose to ignore the wise words of my Chinese Professor to “yeet meat”. I was trying to live on a diet designed for meditating monks, not breastfeeding baby makers.

Of course, there were emotional reasons my first birthing and mothering experience went awry but I’m not so sure my psychological state could be separated from my nutritional position. I literally felt starved, I felt I was dying and I resented my son for doing this to me.

My second baby’s birth was an amazing improvement. My little girl was strong. We birthed at home, in water, with a midwife in attendance, but needing no assistance. I felt the strength of my ancestors flow through me as I squatted in the water and roared her into the world. It was a 9 hour, strong labour. I felt less tortured and more strengthened by my labour, as we came closer to birth. I tore my perineum again, through my own impatience, but this time it healed within 2 weeks.

At this time I was eating fish twice a week and red meat once a week. I was eating my grains correctly and consumed no sugar. I was fitter and happier than I had ever been. The mistake I made with my little girl was to wean her, too early at 19 months, on to soy and rice milk. She quickly formed cavities in her teeth - we have no refined sugar in our diet at all. I was able to discover why and replace the soy with raw milk which healed her teeth somewhat.

I think raw milk made a big difference in the pregnancy of my third child. His was a 4 hour, unassisted birth, in water, at home. I describe his birth as ecstatic. I did not experience pain and he seemed to flow out of me with such grace, I was not surprised my recovery was so easy. I had begun to eat raw liver occasionally during the pregnancy and took Cod Liver Oil. I still didn’t eat as much animal protein and fat as I could have but his babyhood was definitely the easiest by far. The fact that some of the animal protein I consumed was raw (milk and liver) helped a lot. I was able to jog until 5 months and continue Astanga Yoga until almost 7 months. This exercise load was impossible during my earlier pregnancies.

Of course, I know I have become more accustomed to not sleeping, constant mess, no time to myself; generally surrendering my needs to the needs of my children. But I wonder what motherhood would have been like first time round if I had listened to my Chinese Professor and looked to the old ones for their culinary advice. If my joints were nourished with daily broth, my muscles were strong from animal protein, my hormones worked well from eating foods high in cholesterol… If I could sleep well and keep my temper because my brain had enough B Vitamins to stay calm and clear… If my digestion actually worked and I didn’t have Candida explosion and sugar addiction…

Eating traditional foods is time consuming and labour intensive. Raw liver and egg yolks is a bit hard to take when you have morning sickness. Your friends will think you’re crazy when you gather up all the bones at a BBQ to take home to your freezer. It’s worth it though. For an easy, fluid birth and a happy, robust baby, look to your ancestors. Good luck creating a beautiful birth experience and making a beautiful baby.
References

1. Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, Sally Fallon and Mary Enig Phd.
2. Staying Healthy With Nutrition: The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine, Elson Haas
3. Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Weston A Price
4. www.realmilk.com
5. Keeping Food Fresh: Old World Techniques & Recipes, Claude Aubert
6. Dangerous Grains: Why Gluten Cereal Grains May Be Hazardous to Your Health, James Braly M.D. and Ron Hoggan M.A.
7. The Fat of the Land, Vilhjamur Stefansson
8. Nasty, Brutish and Short., Sally Fallon
9. Vitamin A Vagary, by Sally Fallon for more information about this essential vitamin.
10. Wild Fermentation: The Flavor, Nutrition, and Craft of Live-Culture Foods, Sandor Katz

About the Author...

Joanne Hay, Editor of Nourished Magazine, Chief Nourisher and Mother of three is very grateful to live in Byron Bay and be able to share all she has learned about Nourishment. She has trained as an Acupuncturist (unfinished), Kinesiologist (finished) and parent (never finished). She serves the Weston A Price Foundation as a chapter leader. She loves sauerkraut, kangaroo tail stew, home made ice cream, her husband Wes and her kids Isaiah, Brynn and Ronin (in no particular order…well maybe ice cream first).