breastfeeding

[nisha]

I am new to this forum and am really hoping that someone out there is breastfeeding and macrobiotic. I have been trying to be macrobiotic for years but when I became pregnant I started craving more extreme foods again - I think mostly because I didn't believe that my macro diet was sufficient. Anyhow, since then I have been eating a mostly macro diet but I eat animal food on the rare occasion(yogurt, eggs and even chicken) when I feel like my milk supply is low. I have also allowed animal food to continue in my diet because I have lost too much weight since giving birth. I am curious if anyone knows how to eat macro and sustain breatfeeding healthily.
Thanks,
Nisha

[Bruce Paine]

First of all, Nisha, congratulations on your new baby.

You should be very proud of yourself for bringing someone conscienciously into the world.

There are so many people that have children and then don't do the best thing for that child but instead go for what is most convenient to themselves or their career.

First read the chapters:

Start with the Best, the Breast

Foods for Breastfeeding Moms in the book

in "Feeding the Whole Family"
( http://www.feedingfamily.com/ )

Cynthia Lair says that the great foods for breastfeeding moms are Grains (quinoa, millet, sweet brown rice [mochi]. Beans (chickpeas, pinto and navy beans, lentils, split peas, soyfoods) Vegetables (anything dark green or orange), Fruits (oranges, lemons, berries, grapes, grapefruit, apricots, peaches, melon), Nuts and Seeds (almonds, pine nuts, sesame and pumpkin seeds) Sea Vegetables (dulse, hiziki, arame, wakame), Dairy (organic yogurts, and cheeses, fresh goat milks and cheeses), and Fish and Poultry (fresh fish; free-range, organically fed poultry and eggs from them).

Apparenttly eating some animal foods properly is macrobiotic.

Some more books on macrobiotic childcare can be found here:

( http://gomf.macrobiotic.net/Books_Family.htm ).

Good breastfeeding to you and your baby.

Thank you, very much.

Bruce Paine

[Nancy]

Hi Nisha,

I woud say Bruce has given some good advice, regarding what to eat to generate nutritious breast milk. I wish you the best in your current endeavor, as well.

As those open to and approving of the macrobiotic philosophy and way of life, we don't always have to feel that "super strict" and "narrow" eating habits equal "The Macrobiotic Way". During the period I have been macro, I've observed that this slant does more harm than good. People often become unbalanced mentally, physically, and emotionally by forcing themselves into a strict, limited, eating regime, --that the wisdom of their own body is protesting against. The danger seems to be more that of becoming too yang rather than too yin, without personal insight into one's own condition.

Eating the Standard American Diet (SAD) in the past, we have been so haphazard as to regularly consume chemicals like Coke/Diet Coke, everyday during the summer. We consumed possibly genetically engineered/pesticide treated potatoes, laden with lard, as commercially produced french fries. We consumed antibiotic/hormone laden cow's meat, further injected with fear during the slaughter process, for hamburgers. In comparison to the atrocities done to our health in the past, causing such deterioration to our bodies to the point we've received the wake-up call to practice macrobiotic eating, --organic cheeses, free-range poultry, and various fruits are within the framework of health.

Everyone is the master of his/her own body, --this includes being open and listening to the wisdom of our own bodies! This includes responsibility for self and self-reflection. No one outside yourself and your own body can tell you what are the very best foods for you/yourself and your current condition. The best others can do is offer guidelines for creating optimum good health using macrobiotic principles and offer helpful suggestions for combating certain disease states. It is then our own responsibility to take the information we've collected under the best consideration we can and make our own choices regarding health, food, and what to eat to respect our bodies to the utmost, --thereby creating a good life, minus unnecessary physical ills, for ourselves and our offspring.

This is the Macrobiotic Way and the Journey of Life.

Enjoy,
Nancy

[nisha]

Thank you Bruce and Nancy,
I really appreciated both of your replys. I was able to order some of the books Bruce suggested and I really appreciated the openness with which you both approach a healthy life style.

[nisha]

I have another question and this time its about my baby. I have noticed very mild ezcema developing on her arms and legs. I only realized it was eczema in the last week and since then have stopped giving her the teaspoon of organic apple sauce (simple sugar) that I had been giving her for weeks. I have also read that it could be caused by dairy but so far all the dairy that my daughter consumed is breast milk.
I realize that my diet could be impacting her and I wonder what I should be limiting?
Thank you in advance.
I really appreciate this forum.:p

[Nancy]

Hi Nisha,

If you see that your baby is developing eczema, it will help to minimize extreme yin in both the baby's food and your own, since you are breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is absolutely the best thing you can do for both your baby and yourself, so don't worry about mother's milk. This is very healthy and protective for your own breast health, as well as for your baby's developing immune system.

Eczema is a skin condition caused by extreme yin, --simple sugars, yeast, and acid foods. Milk is yin and products like cream cheese, while hard cheese contains more sodium
and is yang. Be careful that you are not consuming an overabundance of nightshade vegetables, which are acid: tomatoes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green, red, and yellow peppers, other peppers, eggplant, and spinach. See the Cybermacro Website Menu for Articles, --for a good article and explanation of "Nightshade Vegetables". As long as your baby is suffering with mild eczema, it might be a good idea to eliminate the simple sugar in fruit. So, your instinct to stop the applesauce was right. In fact, applesauce can be an extremely yin food, causing problems with adults also. Babies who suck 24/7 on a bottle filled with fruit juice develop childhood dental carries (rotten teeth) and it might also have something to do with childhood ear infections. The other area of diet to be careful of is yeast, yeasted breads, white breads, white flour products, and pastas. Review a book or Internet information about Candida and this will pinpoint the foods responsible for overgrowth of yeast, creating systemic Candidiasis in the worse cases, and responsible for a myriad of yin-related illnesses.

So avoiding simple sugars, yeast, and acids should do it, and balancing your own diet and your baby's in the middle range with whole grains and root vegetables to alkalize (ie. carrots, etc.
whole grains - oats, etc.).

Nancy

[nisha]

Nancy,
Thank you so much for your response. Reading it I can see that my diet has perhaps been to extreme since my daughters birth 8 months ago. It's amazing how I have felt compelled to eat more "normally" during this time even though it went against my truest desires and instincts. I look forward to returning to a more balanced place..
Thanks again,
Nisha

[Elizabeth Sunderland]

Hi Nisha,

I am a nursing mom and mother of two so I might be able to give some helpful imput. While I was pregnant with both of my children I did crave things like cheese, nuts, bread, pb, sometimes even ice cream! I mean it is better for the baby if one dosen't indulge but I can't say that I never did! It is always better to try and satisfy cravings macrobiotically with the vegetable quality equavilent (like for corn chips try fried polenta, or cheese try mixed nuts or peanut butter, ice cream try a blended kanted with almond butter, etc) but it dosen't always work out. I can't say that I have ever craved meat with either pregnancys. If you are craving meat you need to look at the amount of salt that you are taking. An imbalance of minerals leads to such cravings. I would say trying to cut you salt intake by half.

Then you need to replace the animal quality yang with vegetable quality. Everyone needs yang to keep them going and give them energy. While I was nursing my son I got so depleted that I HAD to have soba at least two to three times a week. Plus kimpira, nishimi, *plenty* of arame and hijiki (at least a cup a week), dried daikon. This time, after my daughter was born, I had to move on to baked vegetables and baked beans! Anyhow, it works. Also, mochi and amazake are both excellent foods to keep one's milk supply up. Mochi in miso soup, soba and broth topped with deep fried mochi or just pan fried mochi with a little grated daikon are some of my favorite ways to have it. Make sure you have the usual array of pressed, blanched, sauteed veg. dishes and quick steamed greens, as well.

My son had a problem with exema last winter. I cut back severly on the amount of baked flour in our house while I was pregnant in the last trimester and stumbled upon the answer. Baked flour makes the skin really dry and exema is just the skin's way of discahrging that excess. Nuka (rice bran) baths are helpful and too many baths overall can aggrevate it (my husbands favorite way of changing a poopy diaper is giving the kid a bath with out stopping up the drain- yuck, I know...). So Griffin's skin cleared up on it's own without any moisturizers or special creams.

Hope this helps-
Elizabeth

[nisha]

Hi Elizabeth,
It's so nice to hear from another macro mom. I wanted to thank you for your reply, tell you that I ate soba yesterday and felt great afterwards, and finally that I have many more questions for you about raising kids macro.

I will have to write to you later on this weekend with them (as I must sleep while my baby sleeps).

Thanks so much for your suggestions,
Nisha

btw, my babies eczema has cleared up since I took the tsp of applesauce I was giving her out of her daily diet and infrequent dairy consumption out of mine. I'm sure the clouds would open if I gave up the sourdough bread I eat and love but I find that much harder to do.

[nisha]

Bruce,
I wanted to thank you for suggesting the cookbook Feeding the Whole Family. I ordered it and have been using it for a couple weeks. I love it.
I appreciated your suggestions very much,
Nisha

[nisha]

Hi Elizabeth,
Here I am, finally getting a chance to ask you lots of questions. It's so nice to have a macro, nursing mom to write to.

My two questions about your diet are how much liquid did you consume while nursing and how much protein did you consume? And I would love to hear how your little ones ate and what they ate when you introduced them to solid foods.

My babe is 10 months tomorrow and she's eating all kinds of grains and veggies but in very small portions and I'm wondering if your kids were the same. Or maybe they had a yummy favorite that I am not thinking of.

Thanks in advance,
Nisha
:p