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Take the FIVE INGREDIENT Challenge
By Louise Bastarache, CNM, NP, MS
Whether counseling a newly pregnant mother about her diet or discussing food choices with a middle aged woman during her annual physical, nutrition teaching remains the building block to support the optimum health of the human body. What we eat fuels our energy, repairs our systems, enhances our intellect, aids in reproduction, and cleanses our waste products. But, we are not often thinking of the significance or importance of the quality of the food that we put into our mouths. The obesity dilemma, the high cholesterol eruption and the fibromyalgia explosion may be the result of a food system that uses cheap fillers, dangerous food dyes and additives, gross amounts of pesticides, and much more.
Let’s start at the beginning. We promote breastfeeding for the first year of life. This is to enhance the infant’s health by using nature’s milk especially designed for that baby. The colostrum, rich in vitamins and antibodies which the woman’s body produces for the first 2 to 3 days, is thick and sweet and activates the digestive system, cleansing the intestines and providing the much needed bacteria to begin to digest milk. We introduce simple fruits and vegetables after 6 months and then grains. As we grow, it seems that keeping to this “simple” approach -- using basic foods that exist in nature as themselves for our meals -- would be beneficial.
Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, is one of the leading food experts advocating eating real food, especially fresh, homegrown and organic. He challenges us to eat foods that have 5 ingredients or less. So, read labels, avoid foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup, additives or dyes, and experiment with recipes using ingredients as they are found in nature. What are the effects of these man-made products, called processed foods, on our stomach, intestines, and brains? There is research suggesting a connection to ADHD, migraines, fatigue, depression, and cancer. We are a people that can make change happen. Take the challenge and Be Well!!
Louise Bastarache, CNM, NP, MS
Wareham Nurse Midwives…
Empowering Women to Birth NATURALLY
Wareham Nurse Midwives, PC
332 Main Street
Wareham, MA
If you would like to make an appointment or for more information, please call (508)295-3088.
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