Do garlic-fingers bother you?  Not me.  I like knowing that I prepared and consumed something scrumptious and healthy.  And lately, garlic is in season, so I have a big supply of it from my CSA share.   I always always double (at least) the amount of garlic any recipe calls for.  As far as I’m concerned, you can never have too much.

Healthwise, garlic will be your best friend. It’s been shown to lower cholesterol and blood pressure; it’s anti-microbial, stimulating the immune system; has anti-inflammatory properties; helps fight colds and flu; and has been shown to inhibit the growth of some cancers.  The thing about garlic is: the stinky part is the important part.  The volatile sulfur-containing compound Allicin is what is responsible for the medicinal properties of garlic, as well as the odiferous ones.  And heat inactivates the Allicin (well, actually it inactivates the enzyme that is responsible for acting on Allicin’s precursor compound alliin to make Allicin), which is why cooked garlic is not nearly as stinky as raw.   So, fresh garlic is highly superior to aged or cooked garlic in terms of health benefits, and this is demonstrated in the scientific data.

Drs. Pizzorno and Murray, authors of The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, recommend garlic for the treatment of asthma and hay fever due to its anti-inflammatory properties; candidiasis (yeast/fungal overgrowth) due to its anti-fungal/anti-microbial properties; high cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure; diabetes (garlic even has blood-sugar-lowering properties!); and increased platelet aggregation (sticky blood) which promotes the formation of atherosclerosis.

Lately, during the change of the seasons which can wreak havoc on our immune systems, I’ve been trying to eat a clove or two of fresh garlic each day.  Yes, this is a somewhat odiferous endeavor.  My current method for getting them down is to smash the cloves up, mix them with some honey, then chase this down with orange juice.  If you know that your immune system is weakened or in need of a boost, I definitely recommend doing this, or else getting a quality garlic supplement (like Kyolic) and taking a double dose.  The fresh garlic is more powerful, but some folks can’t stand to get it down.  So if you’re set on choosing a garlic supplement, look for one that has a high allicin content, equivalent to that of a fresh clove.  A clove of fresh garlic has about 10 mg of Allicin, or 4000 mcg of Alliin.

With all the baking I’ve been doing, not to mention slathering the baby belly with coconut oil morning and night, I have been going through a lot of coconut oil.  A 54-oz tub from Nutiva, which costs anywhere from $25 to $33, used to last me several months.  But now I need a bigger tub.  A bigger, certified organic, cold-pressed, unrefined, fair trade certified, gallon-sized tub.  The shipping charges come to $10.62.  That comes to $0.39 per ounce for the gallon from MRH, as opposed to approximately $0.70 for the 54 oz tub on Amazon.

Score!  I love bulk buying.

I came down with the wicked wickedest of colds this week.  Like a hum-dinger of a cold.  The kind where you hack all night long and wake up more tired than you were when you went to bed.  More specifically, I think this would be called a Viral Respiratory Infection (involving the chest), since the common cold doesn’t typically involve a chest congestion (Plus, I had one once and went to the doctor and she said Viral Respiratory Infection and it felt exactly like this except with a fever.  In case you’re curious, that doctor said: go home and get in bed; this will last about a week.).  At any rate, Ick.  pregnancy + cold = miserable. It came on Saturday, and I spent Sunday through Tuesday in bed.  I admit I freaked out a little about it, being as there is an epidemic of Whooping Cough (Pertussis) in California, and I have been hearing a lot of propaganda about newborns and pertussis vaccinations (that’s another post) from pediatricians.  For me to freak out about a slight illness is not normal, and entirely pregnancy-induced. I called the Midwife in a slight panic on Sunday morning:

me: I have a cough do you think I have Whooping Cough?
her: No.  It’s probably just a cold.  Several people have called me saying they have a cold in the last few days. You would know if you had Whooping Cough because it’s very violent coughing.
me: Are you sure because I googled the symptoms and it starts out looking like a cold and you get a runny nose and sneezy and then it progresses to a….(and so on)
her: Stay in bed. Eat hot foods.  Soup would be good.  Send Jordan to the grocery store.  Tell him to make you ginger chest compresses.  Always have a pot of tea with honey by the bed. You can take some Robitussin at night so you can sleep, and elderberry syrup during the day. If you’re not feeling better by Wednesday then we’ll make you an appointment with the acupuncturist. Don’t worry.
me: ok (feeling somewhat reassured, but still suspicious, and occasionally covertly doing more googling).

Three days in bed.  Hubs made an enormous pot of soup (God bless Hubs). Then Wednesday I get up.  I’m feeling more peppy.  Still coughing but the cough has turned a corner and is now a productive cough, and is altogether less coughing.  Wise German Midwife was right.  I’m still staying close to home, because I do not play around with pregnancy and a compromised immune system.

I attribute my catching of the cold to my immune-suppressed pregnant state, and my frequent use of public transportation, despite my somewhat obsessive hand-washing and use of herbal hand sanitizer.  And I was feeling really rotten about getting a cold (I hate getting sick, or any kind of less-than-ideal health status) until yesterday, when I was telling my chiropractor about it.

She reminded me of that a cold can actually be a detoxifying mechanism for the body.  The body uses the opportunity to expel mucous, dead cells, and other toxic materials via the respiratory passages.  And often when we fast or cleanse intentionally, we get cold and flu-like symptoms as part of the cleansing process.  So, theoretically, a cold can help us detox, and a detox can cause a cold.  And being as pregnancy has rather slowed down my normal elimination mechanisms (i.e. pooping), that my body may be in need of a detox makes sense to me.

So here I stay, at least until the sputum stops flowing.  At home.  Drinking tea.  Eating soup. Letting the thing run it’s course and trying not to feel too bad about it.

What causes leg cramps, aka Charley Horses?  In pregnant women they’re usually caused by mineral depletion. At this point, in 3rd trimester, baby is growing rapidly and ossifying (hardening/developing) her bones and hogging the minerals I take in.  But they can also be caused by electrolyte imbalance (sodium, potassium, chloride, phosphate) and dehydration, as well as muscle overuse.

Yesterday I was out all day, walked several miles, and probably didn’t drink enough water; so these factors combined with having a little mineral thief in my belly, are likely the cause of my leg cramp.  To prevent another one, I’ll be sure and do the following things today:

• drink plenty of water – for me this is about 3 liters.  A good rule of thumb is to drink about half your weight in ounces plus some to accommodate for any exercise, excessive sweating, or elevated metabolism (such as occurs in pregnancy). The more water you drink, the more your body will learn to tell you when it’s thirsty for water.  People who drink a lot of soda or other non-hydrating beverages often don’t recognize when they’re thirsty for water.
• eat mineral-rich food – whole fruits, veggies, beans, whole grains, nuts, fermented soy, and especially greens, as well as some fermented dairy and eggs.  This will ensure that the diet is rich is potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
• supplement with at least 400 mg of magnesium citrate
• supplement with at least 1000 mg of calcium citrate
• take a dose of Blue Ocean Minerals
• use whole (full-spectrum) sea salt – whole sea salt contains a range of trace minerals, not just sodium and chloride, which is what table salt is.  I salt my food to taste.  I find if I crave salt, it’s because I need it.  Try Real Salt or Himalayan Crystal Salt.
• rest and stretch periodically

These preventative measures don’t just apply to pregnant people.  Athletes are often plagued by muscle cramps, as are folks who are significantly overweight or significantly undernourished (overweight and undernourished often go hand-in-hand).  If you’re having muscles cramps, your body is telling you that it is in need of nourishment and attention, so it’s best to listen.

If you’re pregnant, then probiotics are doubly important – for you and for your Little.  During pregnancy, probiotics help regulate your digestive and immune systems, as well as those of your baby.  During breastfeeding, the friendly bugs pass through the breastmilk to your baby.  There’s loads of research proving the worth of probiotics for mamas and infants.   For one thing, the good bacteria fight the bad, reducing incidence of infections like yeast (thrush, candidiasis), vaginitis, and fungal infections.

A study published in the British Journal of Nutrition demonstrates that probiotic supplementation during pregnancy reduces the risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM).  Consequently, it also reduces the risk of (excessively) large birth-weight babies; large size at birth is associated with later risk of obesity once the baby grows up. Probiotics also help cure vaginitis, which is a common underlying cause of pregnancy complications.

Norwegian researchers are also saying that probiotic supplementation during the last trimester of pregnancy through breastfeeding (until the infant is 6 months old) can reduce the incidence of eczema in babies by half. Another study demonstrated that a mix of probiotic strains given pre- and post-natally, “is an effective approach in preventing the development of eczema in infants at high risk of allergy during the first year of life.”  This is especially important to me, since I am one of those mamas with a history of allergic issues, having had chronic eczema my entire life.  It is more than worth it to me to do whatever I can to reduce my baby’s risk of having atopic/allergic issues*.

Additionally, probiotics are crucial for healthy immune development in babies, and can help reduce the incidence of colds, ear infections, and digestive upset.  In fact, in one study, a strain of probiotic bacteria reduced symptoms of colic in babies by half.

If you’re looking for a high-quality probiotic supplement, here are two that I like and use:
The Essentials Probiotic Support
Orthobiotic
When you’re purchasing a probiotic, look for the highest number of live bugs per capsule (or dose, if it’s a powder supplement) that you can find.  This is referred to on the label as CFU’s.  I look for ones that have 5 to 10 billion CFU’s per capsule.  You can also look for one that’s GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) certified.

…

*other things I’ll do to reduce my baby’s risk of eczema and other allergic diseases are:

• breastfeed her as long as I can
• avoid the introduction of solid foods to baby’s diet until she’s at least 6 months old
• follow an alternative vaccination schedule to avoid overwhelming baby’s delicate immune system during the first year of her life

Another thing I like is that one of her objectives with minimalist cooking is to give people who wouldn’t consider themselves to be experienced or capable cooks confidence in the kitchen.  I’m on board with this goal.  I think that a lot of our national problem with obesity and ill-health stems from our collective move out of the kitchen and into the fast-food (by that I mean actual fast-food chains, but also big-box chains like Ryan’s or Applebee’s) restaurants.  Home-cooked food is usually healthier, less-processed, and contains less additives.

Even the ADA is acknowledging that the simple act of cooking your own food can make you healthier.  Here’s an article from USA today that outlines some reasons why (it’s a bit old, but they still apply).  So I’m supportive of folks who want to make healthy cooking easier and more accessible to those who might consider it to be difficult in terms of time, money, or effort.

Stone Soup author Jules Clancy has also been challenging herself to eat for $2 a day.  Which I also think is cool.  Give her e-book a download, and let me know what you think.

The new VT has a spread on hummus, wherein they provide a basic hummus recipe, plus various ideas for flavoring additions.  They mention in the article that the basic recipe makes a large batch, but that the hummus freezes well (!).  You know how fond I am of freezing things.  Hummus is perfect babymoon food.  So I made the big batch (from dry chickpeas for all my eco-friends and budget watchers;  I use my pressure cooker for this.  The Pressure Cooker is also on my list of top five kitchen tools.If you soak the chickpeas beforehand, you have perfectly tender ones in less than half an hour.) and spice it with cayenne, lemon, a hint of truffle oil (a gift), and kelp flakes.  I recently wrote a paper on sea vegetables for my Food and Culture class, and have been obsessed with kelp flakes ever since; mmm, iodine. No really, start sprinkling kelp flakes everywhere; you’ll never know they’re there, and your thyroid will thank you.

And lastly, I turned my hand to this Leek and Brie Bruschetta, from Martha Stewart.  I have been jonesing to try this recipe for a while.  Leeks are not budget-friendly food, at least not in my neck of the woods.  Neither is brie.  In fact, the recipe calls for 6 leeks, but I could only bring myself to buy four for a whopping $6.  I would not ordinarily do this, but this recipe has been calling to me and I had to shut it up.  And 4 leeks were plenty.

But here it is folks: if you get your hands on some cheap leeks, SNATCH THEM UP.  Quickly make a run for the bread and brie aisles, grab some tomatoes (and a bottle of vino), then RUN home and make this bruschetta.

I have another friend, A,  who also has a sensitive child.  Several months back, she was getting pressure from her pediatrician to give her little girl dairy milk to provide her with necessary fats. My friend didn’t feel good about this intuitively, as she notice her child had a runny nose after drinking milk, and was asking me for ideas for alternatives.

I myself have a history of food sensitivities, and, with my own little one on her way, I’m definitely keeping in mind the possibility of her having some too.  I’m also thinking about how best to eat now, so as to prevent her from having immune issues in the future.

So that’s all to say I’ve been thinking quite a bit about kid and food allergies/food sensitivities.  Parents should be on the lookout for signs of food sensitivity.  In particular, runny nose, excess mucous, skin rash, GI distress, headaches, and frequent infections can all be signals of a food sensitivity. Food sensitivities aren’t the end of the world, and usually there are plenty of ways to provide kids with the nutrition they need — it will just require a bit of extra planning and learning on the parents’ part

Here are some things I’d do if I had a child with food sensitivities (to dairy, soy, corn, wheat):

• Feed her avocados, coconut oil, and fish oil or flax oil for healthy fats.  Kids need DHA, which is found in high concentrations in fish oil, but if my child couldn’t tolerate fish, I’d give her flax, which contains the precursor to DHA: alpha-linolenic acid.  Coconut and flax oil can be mixed into foods like oatmeal or rice cereal or mashed veggies.  Coconut oil is an excellent source of healthy saturated fats (remember how not all saturated fats are bad? I’m reminding you.).
• Feed her a wide variety of legumes for protein (this is more important after weaning).  If she’s older than 12 months, I’d feel ok about giving her smooth almond butter and sunflower butter.  I’d wait till she’s older for peanut butter, as peanuts are more likely to be allergenic.
• I’d try to choose higher-protein grains like quinoa and amaranth, and always use whole grains that have all their fiber and minerals in tact.  Quinoa is actually a complete protein, containing all of the necessary amino acids, and is very versatile.
• In place of cow’s milk, I’d choose hemp, almond, and coconut milks; and I’d rotate them.  I wouldn’t give exclusively one or the other.  Hemp milk has approximately the same percentage of fat content as cow’s milk, roughly 3%, except the fats are a good mix of omega-3, 6, and 9. Cow’s milk has a higher ratio of omega-6 fatty acids, and it contains arachidonic acid, both of which are pro-inflammatory and may bother little immune systems.
• I’d supplement vitamin D, especially after weaning, unless I was certain my child was getting adequate amounts of sunlight.
• I’d supplement with a high-quality probiotic.  Studies show that kids who get probiotics have fewer ear infections, colds, and runny noses, and their immune systems are healthier.  Kids need healthy bacteria, especially, ESPECIALLY if they’ve been on antibiotics.  (Incidentally, I think nursing and pregnant moms should also supplement with probiotics.  Well, actually I think everybody should.  So there.)
• I’d try to nurse as long as I could.  We have tons of data that tells us that breastmilk helps kids have healthy, balanced immune systems.  Since food sensitivities are an immune system issue, I’d try to support my child’s immune system with breastmilk.
• I’d routinely offer a wide variety of fruits and veggies, in all colors.  This would ensure that she’s getting a wide array of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, as well as fiber.
• I’d do my best to feed her organic food.  If I know I’ve got a sensitive child, I want to try to keep toxins to a minimum to avoid over-burdening her already-hyper immune system.
• To try and prevent the appearance of food sensitivities in the first place (not always possible), I’d wait to introduce solid food until she was at least 6 months old.  Until then, I’d give her breastmilk. Some people with sensitive children wait even longer for solid food.
• I’d be vigilant about introducing new foods one at a time, and watching closely for any reaction.  The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, which is a great resource for low-allergen recipes, has an excellent section on introducing solid foods to infants
• And I’d try to remember that kids have sensitive, immature little pallets; if she doesn’t like it today, she may like it tomorrow; or it may take several introductions.

That’s where I’d start.  I’m not a doctor; nor am I a Dietician. I’m a person who just finished up a Master’s degree in Nutrition, and who has had food allergies/sensitivites myself, and I have my own bambino on the way.  This is what I would do, and I’ve based it on my own education and research.  You should talk to your trusted healthcare provider if you’re unsure about something.  And by all means, you should educate yourself; if my friend A. had just blindly done what the pediatrician told her to do and given her child cow’s milk, her kid would have a constantly snotty nose and who knows what else — but she went with her gut and made the decision to educate herself in order to help her child be as healthy as possible.

I think the chapter on feeding children in Natural Baby and Childcare by Dr. Lauren Feder, which I’ve posted about before,  has some great advice and would be worth reading through for parents of food-sensitive children.  However, I differ with her about coconut oil.

Do you have a food-sensitive child?  Have you developed strategies for feeding him/her that work? I’m all ears…

Fragrances also contain synthetic musks, chemicals which have been shown in laboratory studies to be linked to cancer, skin sensitization, skin irritation, and fertility problems in women. According to the Environmental Working Group, “In the US, all musk chemicals are unregulated, and safe levels of exposure have not yet been set.”

Some health researchers believe that chemicals in cosmetics are partly to blame for the high rates of hormonal imbalances, particularly in women.  In addition, allergies and chemical sensitivities are on the rise — many people suddenly find themselves allergic to products they’ve been using for years.  My advice is: if you know you have hormonal issues, or find that you’re becoming more sensitive to personal care products, replace all your cosmetic and personal care products with all-natural, non-toxic, fragrance-free versions; many of these can be made at home.

On an environmental note, most of the chemicals in fragrances are petroleum-based compounds; this means, our use of them doesn’t decrease our dependence on a petroleum-based economy, which I think most people agree is a good idea. Not to mention, all these chemicals go down the drain and get into the water supply.

For more info, check out the Environmental Working Group’s stance on artificial fragrances.

Instead of artificial fragrances, use plant-based essential oils.  I have a few that I always keep on hand for fragrancing homemade cosmetic and bath products, and for use as natural pharmaceuticals.  Here are a few I like, and what I use them for:

• Tea tree oil: natural antiseptic and anti-fungal.  Dilute and use on cuts, scrapes, pimples, even some rashes.  Important to dilute, or to test your tolerance of this.  I find that tea tree is irritating to my skin unless its well-diluted with coconut or olive oil.  Also great to put a few drops in a bath if you’re dealing with an issue such as a yeast infection.
• Eucalyptus: great for colds and sinus issues.  I put a few (maybe 5 drops) in a bath to clear sinus problems.  Or I might add a couple drops to my neti pot. Rosemary oil has a similar effect.
• Lavender: the ultimate calming, soothing scent.  I add this to coconut oil that I put around my house in baby-food jars for use as moisturizer and lip balm, as well as minor first aid such as kitchen burns.  I’ve also been using this on my belly to prevent stretch marks.  (For more on preventing stretch marks, check out my friend and fellow nutritionist Jessica Forbes’ blog post on the subject.) And, lavender is my go-to bath addition – for me, no hot bath is complete without the scent of lavender.
• Lemongrass: I keep lemongrass around simply because I love the scent of it.  I add it to my homemade laundry starch spray so that our clothes get that fresh lemony-herbal scent.
• Peppermint: this one’s great for flavoring homemade toothpastes/powders, and anything else you want to smell minty.  Sometimes I mix it with lemongrass in homemade fabric refresher.  It also has some antiseptic properties.  (Side note: I have always loved the scent of Aveda salon products.  I found that I could mimic their scent by combining rosemary, peppermint, and lavender oils in my oil diffuser (the kind you burn a tealight underneath), to fragrance my home)

There are so many essential oils to experiment with, and they all have different properties.  For more info on the properties of essential oils, check out Aura Cacia, an Iowa-based company that sells quality essential oils and products.  Try a few out in place of your artificially-fragranced products.  You can even use them as perfume–I especially like rose and jasmine for this, and sandalwood is nice for guys!

If you have other essential oils you like to use, or have experience with the toxic effects of fragrances, leave a comment!