No-No's for Moms-To-Be: Keys to Good Nutrition and Tips to Eating Healthy

"A mother has the great responsibility of determining and influencing the direction her children will take in their lives. That influence continues throughout infancy and childhood, but begins even before birth." - Dr. Paavo Airola

I want to share with you some big "NO-NO's" that apply to all women who are pregnant and to mothers who are breast-feeding their babies. These keys to good nutrition and tips to eating healthy will help protect the unborn child and the nursing baby.

SMOKING - Pregnant women and lactating women should not smoke themselves, and they should not be in areas where other people are smoking. As a giver and custodian of life, woman has a special responsibility to herself and to her children, which includes guarding her own health as well as the health of her family. Smoking is clearly incompatible with that goal.

ALCOHOL - All alcoholic beverages should be avoided by pregnant and lactating women. Even a small amount of alcohol can enter the fetus and affect the health of the baby.

DRUGS - All drugs, even simple aspirin, should be avoided during pregnancy and lactation because of potential harm to the fetus as well as to the mother. For example, if taken during the third trimester, aspirin can cause jaundice, premature labor, and bleeding in the unborn. Drugs taken during the first trimester can be especially dangerous to the developing unborn child. Drugs have many powerful and destructive side-effects, so a pregnant and lactating mother should avoid taking drugs during this time.

X-RAYS - Pregnant women should avoid all x-rays during pregnancy, including all dental and chiropractic x-rays. X-rays can contribute to all kinds of physical health problems both in the mother and in the unborn child.

EXCESSIVE USE OF SALT - Table salt, also known as sodium chloride, is toxic in large doses, and should be avoided because it can cause, among other things, edema (swelling). The best kind of salt to use in your diet is Himalayan Crystal Salt because it has over 70 minerals and other nutrients that the body needs.

HARMFUL SPICES - Mustard, white pepper, black pepper, and processed white vinegar are without any nutritional value, and they act as strong irritants to the digestive and assimilative tract.

SUGAR - All refined sugar, as well as all imitation sweeteners, such as NutraSweet, Aspartame, Splenda, Equal, etc., should be avoided and eliminated from the diet of pregnant women and lactating women. Excessive sugar destroys B-vitamins in the body, over-taxes the pancreas, leeches minerals from the body, raises cholesterol, and contributes to all kinds of health problems. The best sweeteners to use are raw organic unheated unfiltered honey, stevia, and agave nectar.

COFFEE, TEA, CHOCOLATE, AND SOFT DRINKS - All the stimulants in these drinks and chocolate, which contain large doses of caffeine, can reach the fetus through the placenta and cause health damage even before the baby is born.

WHITE FLOUR PRODUCTS - This group includes everything made with white flour such as white bread, "enriched" wheat bread, pastries, donuts, bagels, pies, cakes, cookies, packaged cereal, etc. These over processed, highly sugared, nutrition-less man-made foods have no place in the diet of a responsible mother-to-be or nursing mother.

In conclusion, the above mentioned things should be avoided at all costs by nursing mothers and mothers-to-be because they can have a negative effect on the woman's health and the health of the unborn baby or lactating baby. In order to finish on a more positive note, I would strongly recommend that pregnant mothers take a daily morning walk. The very best exercise during pregnancy is simple walking. To your health, The Naked Nutrition Knight

The above information was taken from chapter three of, "Every Woman's Book: Dr. Airola's Practical Guide to Holistic Health," by Dr. Paavo Airola.