In our last blog, Dr. Donna talked about some of the most common questions that women ask her as a nutritionist. We are continuing in this blog with more questions and statements related to women’s wellbeing. For other questions addressed to Dr.Donna join our FB Community where you can ask her directly.
How Women Prepare to Be Nutritionally Sound in Pregnancy?
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In many cultures, women spend one whole year preparing their bodies for pregnancy. They load up their own nutrient stores to make sure there will be more than enough for the baby and for herself. Even though there may not be an advanced medical system or access to medical research in these cultures, the women are doing exactly what is right to have success for their pregnancy. And although they aren’t taking supplements, they are eating high-density foods, ones packed with nutrition.
In modern-day cultures, we ignore this principle so we start out our pregnancy at a semi-good nutritional status and then find ourselves depleted when the baby is born. We rely on the prenatal supplements that are supposed to give us what we need.
What is the fallacy of prenatal supplements?
If you ever spend any time reading what’s in these doctor-prescribed prenatals, you would find they are woefully inadequate. And the bigger problem is that the doctor seemed to think that Jenny, Kayla, and Brittany all need exactly the same doses of nutrients! Nothing could be further from the truth.
It’s no wonder that health problems such as pre-eclampsia, food cravings, morning sickness, gestational diabetes, and sometimes high blood pressure occur during pregnancy. The underlying nutrients are lacking. Chromium, zinc, and niacin are essential for blood sugar control. Magnesium and vitamin D are essential for blood pressure control.
The nutrient deficits weren’t figured out at the beginning of the pregnancy and during those nine months, they worsened. The little prenatal was inadequate. The baby is supposed to get all its nutrients from the mother, and if she doesn’t have them, the nutrients don’t mysteriously and supernaturally appear out of nothing.
The deficits do not improve with nursing. Nursing is another milestone that takes nutrition from the mother. What is needed is filling up those nutrient stores of the mom in each phase of her life.
Nutrition is the foundation of any success in life. You can’t grow, think, develop, have great relationships, be productive, think of witty ideas, or stay healthy if you don’t have proper nutrition. You will be limited in every one of these.
Proper nutrition means more than what you are eating. It starts with what you are eating but proper nutrition means having nutrient stores filled up in your body so you can become limitless.
How Do You Replenish Your Nutrient Stores?
When many women are asked this question, their answer defaults to what the culture has taught them: drink superfood smoothies and incorporate superfoods in your diet.
They may have felt a difference when they added superfoods into their diet. This answer is only part of the true answer. Consuming superfoods starts the process of rebuilding but it never is going to be enough if you want to reach a limitless status where all your dreams come true.
You have to go beyond diet and superfoods. You have to step up one level higher to find out what your nutrient status really is. Right now, we live in a great time where you can do this quite easily. You can have blood or hair tests done that will tell you where all the nutrients are on the scale for optimum health.
What is the bottom line on what to take?
If you can only take a few supplements to start, take a complete multivitamin/mineral tablet, extra vitamin D, CoQ 10 if you are taking any medications, omega 3 fats, and a probiotic.
Where are your vitamin D levels today?
You can start with a vitamin D test. Where are your levels? Are they in the 0 to 30 ng/dL range? This means you are severely deficient and your immune system is having a difficult time keeping up with the daily bacterial and viral assaults.
Are you at 40 ng/dL and your doctor said you are perfectly fine? Remember that doctors are not trained in nutrition. A level of 40 ng/dL means you are barely above deficient levels and you can easily fall back into deficiency – and poor immunity.
Most doctors that follow nutritional science findings recommend their patients have a vitamin D level of 75 ng/dL. At this level, it doesn’t matter who comes over to your house with what virus; you still won’t get it. Vitamin D starts a defensive attack within one and a half hours of any virus or bacteria entering into your body. With optimum levels of vitamin D, your immune system turns you into a superwoman and you will withstand the assault.
Blood tests and hair analysis tests reveal your status
Vitamin D is just the start of finding out your nutritional status. Blood tests could also measure iron, vitamin B12, vitamin C, zinc, iron, folate, magnesium, copper, selenium, iodine, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, vitamin B1, vitamin K and beta-carotene.
If you’re vegan or vegetarian, companies like Life Extension Foundation (lef.org) have put together a beginning blood test panel of tests that help determine what’s happening with most of your nutrients. You can add tests such as selenium and iodine to determine thyroid function indirectly while simultaneously finding out more about your nutrient status.
If your regular doctor is constrained with what he can order for you nutritionally, you can order the tests yourself at Life Extension Foundation. They have blood test discounts every spring season. Results could be discussed with their Medical Director, a licensed medical doctor. And if you are really serious about a whole nutritional workup, consider finding a clinical nutritionist who specializes in uncovering deficiencies and rebalancing your nutrients so your body, mind, and soul may be restored on new levels (making you limitless).
Other health disorders have a root problem of nutrient imbalances
If you have been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder or other chronic diseases, your nutrients are out of balance. A hair analysis will help determine your mineral status for 33 different essential minerals and toxic ones such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and others. From this test emerges different patterns that can be correlated to different illnesses.
For example, if you have had hair loss, a chemistry screen (blood test), vitamin D and iron and zinc blood tests, and hair analysis will provide enough information on whatever is happening to cause the hair loss from a nutritional perspective.
If you have hormonal imbalances, that could be related to low boron levels, iodine, selenium, zinc, and high heavy metals. If your thyroid is not working well – too high or too low in function – why not find out what underlying nutrients could be contributing to the problem? Over the years, I’ve seen thyroid nodules ‘disappear’ when the thyroid gets enough nutrients.
If you have been diagnosed with cancer, levels of selenium are almost always the cause and can be picked up on a hair analysis. Levels of selenium may also be found on a blood test but with a hair analysis, other parts of a “cancer pattern from nutritional causes” can be determined.
Cancer is more likely with low vitamin D levels (vitamin D handles your immunity), low zinc (zinc is important for immunity, too), high toxic elements (these cause cancer and mitochondrial dysfunction), low germanium (germanium oxygenates the cells), and low iodine (iodine provides thyroid hormones the ability to absorb nutrients from food).
If you have had anxiety or panic disorder, there could be a nutritional cause. Deficiencies of the essential elements molybdenum, magnesium, calcium and lithium may be the reason why medications don’t make that much of a change. Similarly, depression may be caused by a deficiency of calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamin D, iodine, selenium, or B vitamins.
How does it work?
All these things can be determined – and what happens is a nutritional transformation of the patient once they start on this path. The solution will be to take specific supplements that you need for YOUR BODY over a period of time. It takes a good six months to replenish the stores, longer if bone density is low and other serious health problems are present.
But once you do, you will see that you are a much different woman. You look different. You aren’t so inflamed anymore. Your bones, muscles, and skin have changed. You feel energized and often aren’t tired when you go to bed. Your food cravings have stopped, your weight has normalized, or is ready for a diet – one that will finally work. You may even have been able to reduce your usage of medications. This commonly happens by month 3.
Your thyroid, reproductive system function, and immune system function are now working well – and you feel the difference. You wonder why you thought you had good health before when this new state of higher nutrition is very different and so much better.
Now you have reached a good nutritional status. Your next goal is what to do to stay there. Now your nutritional status propels you to a much better life.
Disclaimer
NeoRhythm has not been evaluated by the FDA. These products do not claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical conditions. Always consult your medical doctor regarding any health concerns.