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EventsExpecting our paleo baby
Here is a picture of my partner. She usually does not want to appear on my blog, but I convinced her to make an exception today.
Judging by the not completely flat stomach, you might think that LCHF is bad for the weight. Although you’d also have to consider that she is nine months pregnant, with our first baby. We’ll see the final results around September 3. But so far avoiding sugar, bread, rice and pasta has been quite a success story.
Common Problems
Many pregnant women these days gain a disturbing amount of weigh, get all swollen and may be diagnosed with high blood pressure or even gestational diabetes. Check out the ring on my partners right hand. The midwife could hardly believe it when we were there last week, but there is not the slightest problem with rings. There is no swelling.
Perhaps my darling has drawn a lucky ticket in the genetic lottery. But this spring, that’s not what it looked like. She became increasingly swollen, especially over the lower legs, and it was getting painful. The difference is that she ate considerably more carbs back then, because all the recommendations said that is important during pregnancy. I didn’t believe in those guidelines. But that didn’t matter much – you don’t get to be a prophet in your own home.
The solution
The turnaround came during the low carb cruise in early May. She talked to Dr Michael D. Fox , a specialist in fertility, who said that of course the swelling would go away if she avoided carbs, and yes, it was completely safe. He said that pregnant women are usually extra sensitive to sugar and starch (something that professor Lustig has later explained the reason for).
So she abruptly stopped eating sugar, bread, pasta, potatoes and rice. And in two days (with plenty of urination) all the swelling was gone. And that’s was it. She has continued eating strict LCHF because it has worked so well.
She still feels great. Her blood pressure is perfect. The amount of weight gain is just right. The stomach grows just as it should (the curve follows the mid-line) and inside there seems to be a spirited little Paleo-baby. Now we’re just waiting to meet her.
65 comments
Congratulations!
I am so glad that you posted this article, because the issue of whether LCHF is safe for pregnant women is very controversial here in the US, and there are many LCHF adherents who insist that a pregnant woman shouldn't do low carb, let alone be in ketosis.
I will definitely be checking out Dr. Fox's opinions on the matter. Thank you for the reference.
I know, without a doubt, that LCHF increases fertility. I am n=1 proof of it. That is why the standard advice to avoid LCHF and ketosis during pregnancy seems so odd to me, since this diet makes it possible for so many women like me (with PCOS) to conceive in the first place.
Thanks much, and best of luck ;)
Kate
PS, I recommend the Sleep Sheep for happy babies, if you can find this product in Sweden. (http://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Sleep-Sheep-Go-Soothing/dp/B000J6CDY6)
I have pretty severe PCOS, but got pregnant (totally unexpected, but very much wanted) after following a low carb diet 11 years ago. At that time, ketosis was thought to be very bad in pregnancy, but I upped my carbs only just enough to stay out of ketosis and had a very comfortable, happy, healthy pregnancy despite the fact that I was 41 (!) and working two jobs and attending graduate school at night (with another child at home). I didn't have swelling, morning sickness, discomfort, or GD, despite my PCOS. I credit low carb for my easy pregnancy and healthy, wonderful child who's now 10.
Why do so many folks believe ketones are bad for the developing baby? Is there any truth to it?
It made me wonder about other phenomenon we consider normal but aren't, especially during pregnancy: nausea, swelling, post-partum depression.
Congratulations. What a lucky baby you have.
Far less than 50, probably more like 20. She is considerably more strict than I am right now, as she feels that is the best way to completely avoid the problems of this spring (swelling). Thus she believes it is also best for the baby. And I think she may be right.
Anyway it seems to work beautifully, considering how well she still feels, even less than two weeks before the due date.
You mean Atkins baby? Last time I checked the paleo-crew did not promote drinking cream and consuming dairy in the paleo-days. Carbs make people fat only in the context of high-fat diet. Fat causes insulin resistancy. High carb, low-fat diets improve insulin sensitivity and cause weight loss. We don't see high-carb rural Asians & Africans bulking with huge amount of weight, not even during pregnancy.
Probably not. And it's probably ok to have a glass of wine once in a while when pregnant.
But still: She quit drinking alcohol completely when she got pregnant and she stopped eating sugar/bread/pasta completely four months ago. Basically just to be safe. She eats plenty of vegetables though.
Those rural Asians hardly eat any refined starch or sugar.
Excellent! Fortunately, my wife believed me from the outset but that was after several years of benefiting from the diet and all the other authoritative people like Steve Phinney, Eric Westman, Jackie Eberstein, Abby Bloch, Mary Vernon and Will Yancy who have been guests in our home over that time.
As you know, we had a very good result from our low-carb pregnancy as others have already mentioned. I have no doubt you will, too. I think there is something about the epigenetics of all this that will turn out to be very important. Time will tell.
BTW - little girls adore their fathers. You are in for a beautiful experience.
Best of luck to you and your wife.
Regards,
Jay
Thanks! I'm looking forward to that beautiful experience. Hopefully we'll get to compare notes on our unusually healthy daughters later. Time will tell, like you said.
Those rural Asians hardly eat any refined starch or sugar".
Urban Asians, or Asians by large have been eating refined starch (white rice) since the 1950's and still obesity is way much rarer fare than in the West. This is a fact that every LCHF-promoter has to face. In fact obesity in Asia is only encountered in the Chinese pockets where animal-based diet reigns, eventhough these pockets consume less calories compared to the pockets where starches dominate.
Moreover, the lean & healthy strach-based eaters can also be encountered in much of Africa and rural South-America.
I hope you are able to answer to this one. I think you owe it to the skeptics. Thanks to clinical facts we know that high-carb, veg diets can not only prevent but also reverse chronic disease, henceforth I am curious why do promote a way of eating which is the root of ecologic disaster. 98% of the worlds soy production goes into feeding animals (225 million tons), basically the bulk of everything this is cultivated in the world goes into feeding animals. It takes 26 kalories to feed an animal to get 1 calory of flesh. It's an equation of disaster.
Peace...
"obesity in Asia is only encountered in the Chinese pockets where animal-based diet reigns"
I think you are badly mistaken. There is for example a massive diabetes epidemic (combined with weight problems) raging in India now, in a population that from what I understand is mainly vegetarian.
The BMI scale does not show the whole extent of the problem in Asia. Asians do not get fat in exactly the same way as caucasians and people of African origin. Asians more often tend to get "skinny fat", with relatively thin arms and legs but a growing belly. When they reach BMI 30 they often have way more metabolic problems than caucasians, sometimes even diabetes type 2.
Take at look at Joel Salatin's Polyface farm for an example of this in action... http://www.polyfacefarms.com/
Then read Lierre Kieth's The Vegetarian Myth to open your eyes to how damaging to the ecosystem a monoculture of plants can be... http://lierrekeith.com/vegmyth.htm
Check out Denise Minger's debunking of the eminent T. Colin Campbell's China Study... http://rawfoodsos.com/2010/07/07/the-china-study-fact-or-fallac/
and PLEASE show some civility in a thread which I read as a celebration of a new human life and NOT a platform for your vegitrollian, vitriol.
IF you have evidence to back up your "facts" please take it elsewhere for critical debate.
Well you didn't address my question. It's okay, it was a tough one. However, I did not beg for personal anecdote on Indian obesity epidemic. Think again, did India have obesity epidemic before? Did this epidemic start when Indians started to eat more plant-based? Ofcourse not! My money is on the guess that the Indians share the experiences of Japan.
Kitagawa T. Increased incidence of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus among Japanese schoolchildren correlates with an increased intake of animal protein and fat. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 1998 Feb;37(2):111-5.
Seriously, your irresponsible personal opinions may even turn people away from plants, that's the last thing we need right now.
"@Peter.. why on earth are we feeding soy to animals"
Good question. Ever heard of factory farming? In the USA 99% of the poultry comes from factories, I don't have the figures for pork, but I guess it' lot. Most people cannot buy grass-fed, "ethical" organic beef. That's is very expensive stuff and out of the reach for even most of the middle-class Westerners. Organic, non-factory farmed meat is certainly not the solution.
My stats comes from the UN and USDA.
Anyways, Andreas congrats with the upcoming baby.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/06/12/18601536.php
I am reminded of the saying, "When people start believing, they tend to stop thinking and asking questions"
I have offered links above where you could broaden your outlook on these subjects, instead of simply trotting out the same sad old vegetarian myths. Yes industrial-level farming based on the extensive use of fossil fuels is an ecological disaster and if we continue doing this we will all likely starve when the oil runs dry, or even sooner when it becomes prohibitively expensive. Right now my local supermarket in Eastern Canada has cheap produce shipped from China!... how the heck can it be cheaper to transport produce 1,000s of miles by container ships than to grow it locally? It might be cheap but what is its nutritional value?
Your figures for the cost of growing meat are based on a factory-farming system: that relies on fossil fuels to provide fertilizer for growing the soy, corn etc..., transporting it to the cattle, transporting the "slurry" away from the cattle and so on -- it is unhealthy for the cattle and unhealthy for those eating the meat and dairy. It is NOT sustainable BUT local farming as used by Joel Salatin IS time-tested, sustainable, cost-effective and does offer us a practical solution without reliance on fossil fuels. No food to truck in, no slurry to truck away or "dispose" of etc...
If you could just take the blinders off from the idea of "eating animals is wrong" you might see that factory farming is bad for ALL of us. We are ALL part of the same ecology -- plants and animals are all part of the same system.
you have not broaden my perspective at all. According to the UN stats vegan leave 7 times less carbon dioxide prints with their food choices as oppose to omnivores.
"UN urges global move to meat and dairy-free diet" (2010)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/02/un-report-meat-free...
What you tried to is "broaden" my outlook by quoting people that are not part of the solution. What they are is hoax. Make sure you are in the right team.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJVGOvpvkXc
My figures are indeed based on factory farming system since 95% of US animal production (meat & dairy) comes from factories. I guess it's the same for Europe. The rest 5% produces at so low quantity and at so high prices that it's virtually out of the reach for majority of Westerners, let the inhabitants of the third world, who make up the bulk of the population.
My own approach is to favour real whole food, from local, seasonal sources -- this is better for me, better for the local economy and by supporting my local framers I am helping to create a sustainable system that will outlive our current reliance on fossil fuels.
I am confident in my choices for myself and for my own son's future, but I remain willing to change my mind as new evidence comes along for critical analysis.
"It’s next to impossible to review this book; it is so packed with misinformation and confusion that refuting the claims could be another book itself"
http://www.theveganrd.com/2010/09/review-of-the-vegetarian-myth.html
Sorry Andreas, my intention was not to hijack your pretty thread-starter. I am off..
As for not intending to hijack the thread perhaps you should have thought about that BEFORE your initial inflammatory post #19
Lierre Comedy.....don't worry Frank, I have to read this book, it sounds amazing.
"On page 227, she notes that 'Mark Messina, a champion of soy, thinks the Japanese eat 8.6 [grams of soyfoods] per day, or less than a tablespoon. Really? Well, I happen to be married to Mark Messina, so I have a fairly good idea of what he 'thinks' about soy intake. But even if I didn’t know him, I could read his 2006 analysis of soy intake data that was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Nutrition and Cancer. Apparently, Keith didn’t or she would have seen that Asian soy intake is the equivalent of 1 to 1 ½ servings or more per day. Why did she get this so wrong? It’s because she doesn’t understand that there is a difference between soy protein intake and soy food intake. A cup of soymilk contains around 7 grams of soy protein, so the 8.6 to 11 grams of protein that the Japanese typically eat is equal to at least a serving per day".
http://www.theveganrd.com/2010/09/review-of-the-vegetarian-myth.html
"Notably, she points out that ten acres on Polyface Farm can produce enough food to feed 9 people for a year. But on his blog Say What Michael Pollan, mathematician Adam Merberg performs calculations which suggest that Polyface requires more calories in feed (for the chickens) than it produces in food. The numbers aren’t nearly as egregious as those for factory farming, but they suggest that there is no such thing as truly sustainable meat production. (For more on environmental questions associated with Polyface, I highly recommend Adam’s review of the Omnivore’s Dilemma.)"
I am confident in my choices for myself and for my own son's future, but I remain willing to change my mind as new evidence comes along for critical analysis".
Good. Me too. Just forget the "local"-thing. My local McDonalds serves locally produced food (seriously), while my bananas come from Ecuador....something to think about.
Also, the argument over protein sources tends to overshadow the fact that a low carb diet means eating more fat, not more protein. It doesn't have to be animal fat; it can come from plant sources, but not from the seed oils that are too high in omega-6.
Definition of farming: the use of land to convert petroleum to food.
"Horizon explores the secrets of what makes a long, healthy and happy life. It turns out that a time you can't remember - the nine months you spend in the womb - could have more lasting effects on you today than your lifestyle or genes. It is one of the most powerful and provocative new ideas in human science, and it was pioneered by a British scientist, Professor David Barker. His theory has inspired a field of study that is revealing how our time in the womb could affect your health, personality, and even the lives of your children."
Forgive me, but you are both somewhat incorrect. Obesity is a huge and growing problem all across Asia; as incomes have risen, the majority of people have been eating that white rice and white bread, as well as increasing their intake of sugar, esp. soda. The Asian governments are all now instituting obesity programs.
Japan:
"According to the Health Ministry, the rate of obesity in Japanese people over age 20 is increasing in every age group except women ages 20 to 29 and 40 to 59. Men have gained most of the country's extra weight, but obesity in children also has risen significantly, from 18.9 percent in 1988 to 24.3 percent in 2005, according to a survey."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR200...
Korea:
"With youth obesity becoming a social problem, a civic group Wednesday called for the government to take proper action, and plans to propose a bill to the National Assembly on the issue.
"The problem of children’s obesity has reached a serious level,’’ Lee Young-joong, secretary general of Youth Health Solidarity, told The Korea Times. ``If we don’t take proper action now, it will be too late and we will have to pay for it.’’
The obesity rate among Korean children is reaching a similar level to that of kids in the United States and is twice as high as in Japan, he said."
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2010/02/113_4687.html
China:
"The rising number of overweight Chinese people is, in part, the result of the country's remarkable economic growth over the last 30 years.
This lifestyle change is documented is a new book by Paul French and Matthew Crabbe, called Fat China: How Expanding Waistlines are Changing a Nation.
There are now thought to be more than 90 million diabetics in China - about one in 10 adults."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-11368027
Indonesia:
"A survey released by the Health Ministry at the end of 2010 found that 14 percent of Indonesian children under the age of 5 were overweight. The same report found that 9.2 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 12 were overweight.
Jakarta has the highest number of overweight children with nearly 20 percent of those under 5 suffering from overnutrition."
http://www.apecdoc.org/site/indonesia/2011/04/27/health-ministry-tack...
Philippines:
"Obesity is now on the rise among Filipino adults ages 20 and up, and threatens to increase the number of people having degenerative diseases like heart disease, hypertension and diabetes mellitus, as study conducted by the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) showed.
The increase was discovered in 2008 when it registered a trend in the study conducted by the DoST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute.
Based on the study, there were about 20 out of 100 adults of both sexes who were overweight 1998. The figure then increased to 24 and 27 out of 100 in 2003 and 2008, respectively."
http://www.mb.com.ph/node/278649/obe
Vietnam:
"According to the Institute, obesity is recorded in ten percent of children in Hanoi and 20 percent of those from Ho Chi Minh City, Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper reported."
http://www.vietnewsonline.vn/News/Society/Health/9483/Childhood-obesi...
India:
"India is now in the grip of an obesity epidemic and the trend needs to be immediately arrested by taxing junk food, restricting food ads and making food labelling clearer, according to a study.
The study that looked at the burden of overweight citizens in six countries -- Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia and South Africa -- has found that between 1998 and 2005, India's overweight rates increased by 20%.
Currently, almost 1 in 5 men and over 1 in 6 women are overweight. In some urban areas, the rates are as high as 40%."
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-11-12/india/28245306...
Malaysia:
"Malaysia is ranked sixth among Asian countries with high adult obesity rate, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Malaysian Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai told a press conference in Malaysia's federal administration center here on Wednesday that the weight of Malaysian students were also on an increasing trend.
While 20.7 percent of Malaysian students were overweight in 2001, Liow said that the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2006 had forecast that the percentage would rise to 26.5 in 2007."
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/health/2010-12/08/c_13640494.htm
It's like Robert Lustig writ large.
I don't have it incorrect. As you see yourself from the digits, Asian obesity epidemic is nothing compared to that of USA or UK. Despite Asians have been eating mostly refined starch since the 1950's. What does this imply? It implies that refined starch is poor candiate for the obesity epidemic, although it may have a part in it. Interesting is that Asian immigrants in US and UK are equally obese compared to the natives. So genetics are out of the question.
I must address Andreas in regards to his Indian comments. Vegetarism/veganism does not imply healthy diet per se. You can drink gallons of coke and watch movies all day long lying in sofa and refer yourself as a vegan. The kind of diet that has been clinically proven to reverse chronic disease is a diet of low-fat, whole-food veganism.
This remainds me of my sister, who is celiac, and had an absolut marvelous pregnancy. The doctors were astonished. I always thought that her dietary restrictions were the cause for it.
I love reading about other pregnant women who are smart enough to catch on to the LCHF WOE. I am currently just over 11 weeks pregnant, and while most others in this period are complaining of morning sickness, bloating, cravings, nauseau, headaches, fatigue, etc., I feel 99% normal. I had about 2 weeks of nausea and soreness, but I had been eating poorly (had no idea I was pregnant), and within a week of cutting out (err, "severely limiting" may be a better term than "cutting out" since I do still eat out frequently, so some things may sneak in undetected on occasion) grains, starchy vegetables, soy, artificial sweeeteners, and sweets, I was right back to feeling fine. I sleep a little more than I did before, but I'm not exhausted - I have no trouble getting up in the morning, no trouble making it through my work day, and just go to bed a little earlier than I used to. And I've lost about 10 pound over the past few weeks (I have a good 30 more to spare, so this is not a bad thing!).
I plan to continue eating this way throughout the entire pregnancy. I've had type 2 diabetes before (followed by weight loss surgery, resulting in now a complete absence of diabetes symptoms), so I know I'm at increased risk for gestational diabetes. Even without that factor, though, I simply feel better eating this way.
I'm hoping to gain very little weight during my pregnancy (as I mentioned, I'm still a bit overweight to begin with), and I believe eating more naturally and focusing on LCHF will lead me to only gain when/where needed.
Hopefully, for your wife's sake, the baby has arrived by now - do update us on how everything is going with your new treasure!
Short answer: Read "Wheat Belly"
"It’s the changes introduced by geneticists over the past 40-50 years, coupled with dietary advice to consume more wheat, that have conspired to create this current mess we are in, turning wheat from a problem ingredient into a health scourge exerting adverse health effects on an international scale." - taken from an interview with Dr. William Davis through fathead-movie.com