2. Iron – A large amount of iron is lost during birth, as well as during uterine healing because of bleeding. This is because iron is a main component in hemoglobin, which is a component in blood and assists in carrying oxygen through the body. Replenishing iron stores can improve your energy level by improving oxygen transport into the cells. Studies also show low iron is associated with postpartum depression. Foods that are great sources of iron are liver and other organ meats, red meat, turkey, spinach, legumes, and quinoa. Meat sources are heme-iron, which is more bio-available. In other words iron from meats are easier absorbed and used by the body. Vegetable sources of iron are non-heme, which is not as bio-available. Squeezing some lemon on those veggies increases their absorbability. Another amazing source of heme-iron is supplement capsules made from your placenta. 

it active and able to be use in making a number of other important chemicals or hormones in the body, such as phospholipids, glutathione, myelin, coenzyme q10, carnitine, and creatine, which are all extremely important for energy, heart health, nerve health and ridding the body of free radicals which can cause cancers. The main problem with folic acid intake, rather than folate intake, is that many people have a MTHFR mutation, which basically means the folic acid cannot be converted to methyl-folate, and there for creates a pool of folic acid in the blood while the hormones that methyl-folate is used for decreases and leads to major health issues. Many packaged foods have been fortified with folic acid to try and reduce neural tube defects within the population. This fortification has backfired. It is best to actually avoid these foods. Instead, get your folate form foods such as legumes, pasture raised eggs, leafy greens, and broccoli. If supplementation is needed, look for methylated folate or methyl-folate, rather than folic acid. ​

4. ​Zinc – This essential mineral has become the most common deficiency in men and women. There are two reasons for this. Over farming, pesticides and herbicides have depleted many minerals from farmed soil. Deletion in the soil leads to foods that are lower in zinc, and therefore people who are also deficient. A second reason for this common deficiency is that people’s gut health has dramatically been compromised from eating foods that cause inflammation, damaging the lining of the intestinal walls, and causing leaky gut. This damage makes the absorption of nutrients, including zinc, difficult to impossible. Zinc is needed for immune development, brain development, skin health, as well as countless enzyme reactions. There are three ways to improve zinc absorption after pregnancy. You can improve your gut health with the guidance of a Functional Nutritionist. You can increase your intake of dietary zinc through foods, such as whole grains, nuts, beans, and lean meats. Lastly, you can take a zinc supplement. 

October 27th from 10-2PM

"Join us for a fun-filled day! You can tour the new facility,
meet our amazing midwives and staff, connect with local area birth professionals,
and much more! We'll have a food truck whipping up lunch for
those who want to purchase a meal and snacks and
goodies for the family to enjoy.
​We are excited to offer this event and look forward to seeing you!"

Over the years, I have seen different chain restaurants come and go in popularity. When I was a kid, McDonalds and Burger King were extremely popular, follows by KFC, Wendy's and Pizza Hut. Looking at the fast foods that are popular today, people are trying to be more health conscious in the decisions of where to pick up a quick bite to eat. Three restaurants that come to mind are Chipotle, Panera, and Chic Fil A. In fact most people, in my local area, think of Chic Fil A as the healthy choice for fast food, with the added benefit of a fast drive through. They primarily serve chicken sandwiches and salads. When I talk to my clients about why they choose Chic Fil A, it is because their picky eater children will eat it AND they have grilled chicken nuggets, sandwiches, and salads. Of course, we have always learned that grilled chicken is so much healthier than fried chicken. But is Chic fil a grilled chicken ACTUALLY grilled chicken? Lets take a closer look:

• Yeast extract=MSG - Depression, irritability, mood changes, mutagenic teratogenic subacute and reproductive affects
• Modified cornstarch – chemically modified starch for thickening and jelling. Could cause digestive issues in babies due to their low resistance to chemicals. Propylene oxide, succinic anhydride, 1-octenyl succinic anhydride, aluminum sulfate and sodium hydroxide. FDA ordered to reevaluate safety in 1980, still waiting….
• Palm oil – not environmentally friendly
• Corn maltodextrin – sugar from hydrolysis of starch. Used as a tenderizer and flavor enhancer.
• Natural flavor – distillation and solvent extraction, or enzyme action to obtain materials from plants and animals. Process can change the chemical structure of the components.
• 5 more types of sugar: sugar, dextrose, cane molasses, orange juice concentrate, grape juice concentrate
• Xanthan gum – gum made from pure culture fermentation of carbs with Xanthomonas campestris. Also called corn sugar gum. Used as thickener, suspend, emulsify, stabilize water-based foods (Dairy and salad dressings). Used as a pseudo plasticizer in salad dressing to help them pour. Used in animal feed as stabilizer, thickener, suspending additives.

Wow! So grilled chicken at Chic Fil A is definitely not what it's cracked up to be. It is important to keep in mind that convenience and price don't always match up to or are better than quality. Personally, I would much rather have to walk into a restaurant and wait a few extra minutes for food than eat fake grilled chicken! Even better, prepping ahead of time and using a cooler for long days out and about would be ideal.

Resources:
Chic Fil A
Winter, R. (2009). A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives, 7th Edition: Descriptions in Plain English of More Than 12,000 Ingredients Both Harmful and Desirable Found in Foods (Revised, Updated edition). New York: Harmony.​

 

​

This year I am so honored to be hosting our first ever local hearts release as a part of Still Birth Day's global impact Hearts Release, organized by Heidi Faith, founder of Still Birth Day. I will be hosting with Staci Campbell, the Statesville Doula who is a bereaved mother and certified Stillbirth and Bereavement Doula. We will honor our beloved babies by writing their names onto teeny, recyclable paper hearts that are embedded with floral seeds and releasing them. 
​
It is an honor to hold your babies’ names.

Please join us for the FREE Statesville, NC Still Birth Day Hearts Release™. The event takes place October 20, 2018 at 5:00 pm and the exact location will be announced as we get closer to the event. We will also be lighting candles to remember our babies as we release our hearts ♥

You can take part by either attending the event or joining in online.

Please click the link to add your child's name. We will personally hand write it onto a heart for release.

To learn more about this global event, please check out Heart Release where you can, again, add your child's name for the global release!

​Certain chemicals applied to your skin or in the air can be absorbed by your body and may cause harm to your cells and organ systems. They can cause inflammation and increase the body’s production of free radicals, thus increasing your likelihood of developing chronic health problems.

​Food

• Shift your food purchases and consumption to organic when possible. It is most important to use organic dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, etc.). Free-range meats and eggs are desirable to purchase as organic. Minimize the use of large fish (swordfish, tuna, etc.) as they are higher in mercury.
• Purchase organic strawberries and apple, and refer to the Environmental Working Group or Consumer Reports websites to stay current about which fruits and veggies are most important to eat organic.

​Products

• Purchase the most natural cleaning and other household products you can find.
• Avoid spraying pesticides or herbicides in your home or your property.
• For hair products (including shampoo and colors) look for products without alcohol, sodium lauryl sulfate, paraben, phthalate or other petrochemicals. Check your local yellow pages and magazines to see if there is an environmentally oriented hair salon in your area.
• Avoid using hair sprays.
• Avoid perfumes or other skin or hair care products that use synthetic fragrances. 

​Skin Care and Makeup

• Use low-toxin makeup and skin creams (avoid products with: phthalates, parabens, propylene glycol, alcohols and fragrances). In general, skin care products from health food stores without the above ingredients are a safer bet.
• Consider using antioxidant creams on your skin: low solvent products with CoQ10, Vitamin C possibly DMAE and botanical squalene

Water

• Water can have many toxins and thus regular consumption of unfiltered water can significantly contribute to the toxic load of your body.
• Water quality will vary from city to city but in general it is better to filter tap water with a multi-stage carbon filter or reverse osmosis filter.
• Try to avoid bottled water all together, as the plastics often leach into the water. Minimize the use of plastic water bottles that have been in a hot car.  Tap water is better than water in plastic bottles.
• Minimize the use of camel-back type plastic water containers. Use glass, ceramic or stainless steel when possible.
• Mineral waters in glass bottles are generally safe unless there is a question of the quality of the source.
• Filter shower water in order to limit your exposure to chlorinated hydrocarbons.

 

​Plastics

• Plastics can disrupt hormones in your body.

• Avoid plastic bottles and containers with the numbers 3, 6 and 7 on the bottom. These are most likely to leach plastics into the food, juice or water that they contain.
• Buy juices and water in glass containers when possible.
• Avoid PVCs.
• Do not microwave in plastic containers.
• Minimize washing plastic containers in the dishwasher under high heat.
• Minimize the use of cling wraps; try to use paper wraps.

​Dental Care

• Avoid mercury amalgam fillings.
• Get second opinions on root canals.
• Avoid if possible having two different metals in adjacent teeth.
• Pick a dentist who is aware of healthy choices for the mouth—perhaps a more holistic or biologically oriented dentist who does not place new mercury fillings.

​Home or Office Remodel

• Use a low- or no-VOC paint and carpet or rug.
• Minimize carpet and choose hardwoods but not laminates (avoid Pergo, for example).
• Take off shoes at the door to decrease indoor chemicals and pesticides.
• Avoid urea formaldehyde in building products.
• Change the filter on your furnace every 3 months, using the best allergy furnace filter you can find.

 

Electromagnetic Fields
For patients with headaches or regional pain, decrease exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields:

• Minimize cell phone use.
• Minimize your use of portable phones at home and shift to corded phones.
• Take the clock radio away from the head of your bed.
• Get the fields measured in a potential new car before you buy it.

This is a lot of information that can be very overwhelming. Just pick one or two changes at a time to incorporate into your lifestyle. To help you out with a first step, I am including my very simple and basic recipe for an all-purpose cleaner I have been using in my house for years.

Ingredients:
16 ounce amber glass spray bottle​ (I ordered mine form Amazon)
8 ounces of distilled and/or filtered water
5 ounces of white vinegar
1-2 tablespoons of Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap (found in any health food store and many conventional grocery stores)
20-30 drops of Lemon Essential Oil (I like to purchase my essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs) or Thieves Oil by Young Living

Now what:
- Pour all of the ingredients into the glass amber spray bottle and shake.
- Full Disclosure: I usually don't measure the ingredients so these are all estimations. You can experiment with your amounts. For example, try a bit more vinegar or essential oil, or even try adding some other essential oil singles or blends.