Pregnancy, supplements, creating a healthy and happy member of the next generation

It's been a while!

As requested, this blog is sharing notes on pregnancy and nutrition for those who are interested. But first an update :)

With Grandma Helen

With Mum

Our son Reuben John Longhurst was born 7th March 2013. At 10 pound 4 or 4.65kg he was a big baby.

Getting a kiss

Content

 

Our family friend Jeanette Paterson (midwife) came to our home first and then travelled to the Family Birth Centre with us... with a wonderful light massage on the belly for each contraction I was truly blessed to have her with us. I was able to stay calm and had a very good labour ('the baby making machine').

My tips are; healthy and  control your breathing to a nice calm slow rate while imagining yourself in a happy place like the beach.

We only had one hiccup (and it might have been just that!)... Reuben did a poo in his waters and then inhaled it! Doh! At 40 weeks and two days, merconium in the water is common.

About two days old, in hospital being observed after merconium inhalation which proved to be no problem for such a lovely healthy baby

A big thank you to Kay Whyte of Ecology Medicine, who is an old friend from Subiaco Church of Christ and also a nutritionist, midwife and nurse. I found that she could resolve any problem I had during pregnancy and leave me feeling pretty good the whole way along. This post will sum up most of her advice for those who might care to copy. She has not approved this blog and I recommend that you have a consultation with her before taking any of the more particular supplements, or high doses.


In the early stages, before getting pregnant, it is wise to dramatically reduce the following (total exclusion is best):
- sugar
- alcohol
- additives, preservatives and other chemicals in your food.

Gallavanting at Joni and Jethro's party (about 4-5 months pregnant?)

If you have been on any medication, including the pill... you can consult with a nutritionist to see about compensating for this strain on your body. Chances are that you will have some areas of weakness, B6 or B12 possibly. You'd be wise to sort this out before you get pregnant and try your best to avoid the associated morning sickness, fatigue, feeling teary, poor sugar metabolism and potentially even miscarriage that can result from these deficiencies.

Baby Shower, l to r, Granny, Annora, G'ma Dot, Grandma Helen

This is what I used:
- Either Antiox C or Respiratory Formulae approx 2-4 tablets (to gut tolerance)
- Mineral B Formulae approx 2-4 caps but more towards the end of pregnancy
- Orthoplex Heme 100 which includes folic acid, iron and a few other goodies
- Orthoplex Activated B6 only to treat nausea (I had a little post-flu)
- Spirulina - more depending on whether you are having breathlessness
- Biodynamic staples including flour (Eden Valley) and milk (prefer Demeter certified if possible)

- plenty of organic olive oil and olives (no preservatives)
- plenty of meat and salads, preferably organic but I would often not worry about this.

Duck with Orange, salad, roast vegies

I made a modified sprouted seed bread with soaked seeds, biodynamic flour and a sugar free bread mix (order from here).

Baby Shower, feeling fine!

Your recipe might be better than mine so I won't share here. Get online and see what you think. Sprouting is a great idea as it makes the nutrients more bioavailable... including seeds is a great idea for Vitamin E (makes for a good labour and strong baby)... using organic and preferably biodynamic is a great idea too!

I would use coconut oil which helps to keep the bread fresh for longer, but note that not all brands are created equal. In warmer weather, when the oil has melted in the glass jar, look for a colourless liquid with no yellow tinge. After the baby is born, you may prefer to avoid rye and pumpkin seeds, which can be harder to digest for some.



Going sugar free is a very good idea. You'll feel stronger and better for it.

Early in pregnancy I had minor bleeding and Kay gave me a dose of B12 and the problem resolved plus I felt better emotionally and my eyes sparkled more ;)

At one stage I encountered a few days when I had some problems with my memory, having trouble remembering to take my glass from the study to the kitchen to get a drink! Kay immediately put me on zinc and the problem resolved itself. I was able to continue to consult and use my brain until the last weeks of pregnancy. Zinc deficiency shows as white spots on fingernails, it is deficiency in Western Australian soils.

Regarding seafood, please be very careful! Fukishima is a problem!

So, don't eat any tuna... at least. I stuck to salmon and red snapper, which are both low in mercury and good.

Particularly towards the end of pregnancy, Vitamin E (olive oil) and magnesium become important for a good labour and strong baby. Magnesium should not be over-supplemented as it can delay labour... but do get enough to not swell up terribly like a balloon... hommus, sprouts (do them yourself for safety) and greens.

For labour, Kay recommended an organic lemonade if I needed a boost and said for a long labour, I might need some Vitamin C if I felt fatigued... my labour was less than 12 hours long and I felt fine. Rodney tried to feed me a bit of banana but I wasn't keen.

About three months old

We almost had a perfect water birth, but there was merconium in my waters... so off we trotted to King Edwards. All up, a very good experience :) Water births rock.

About five months old, playing peek-a-boo

The connection between our environment's health and our own

There have been some great articles hitting my computer screen recently - about the connection between microbes and human health.

Last year I posted about sour dough bread - which I'm convinced is healthier for us - and the link between depression and unsustainable agriculture. This post connects a few more ideas.

This article is an interesting one, the lower rates of allergy in Amish communities. Some aspects of diet, environment or lifestyle have been helpful: Amish farm kids remarkably immune to allergies, study finds

It describes the connection between gut health and mental health - particularly autism and the now common disorders of the brain including ADD and dyspraxia:

Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAP syndrome or GAPS)

We've all heard people asking 'is ADD a real problem?'  and people who work with kids responding 'oh yeah!' ... 'if so and so doesn't take their medication he'd be climbing the walls'. My feeling is it might be worth re-framing the 'disorder' into a collection of symptoms. In other words - these kids have a lot of trouble concentrating and have a collection of symptoms which vary from child to child and which are improved by medicating them. The 'medicine' shows us that symptoms can be improved, but it doesn't tell us much about the heart of the problem.

For me, it seems obvious that the rates have gone up dramatically when compared to older generations and that therefore there must be an environmental variable, or several, that have changed dramatically.

The microbes that we live with are one possible explanation:

Environmental biodiversity, human microbiota, and allergy are interrelated

Sadly, I don't think that we understand perfectly the connection between microbes and our own health. We know that intestinal flora provide us with significant assistance in digesting and properly absorbing nutrients from our food... this includes manufacturing B vitamins. Yet biodiversity of microbes also seems to play a role. Even the pH or acidity/alkalinity of your gut likely influences which bacteria will live there - this makes sugar and refined carbohydrates highly suspect!

My personal choice is to play it safe and avoid chemicals and 'new' foods as much as is practical. At home we eat foods that our grandparents might have eaten. Perhaps this includes too much sugar! This link shows you the major foods included in the diet of my American Indian ancestors including Jerusalum artichokes which are known to be helpful for intestinal flora. Happily I'm growing some in the garden and very much looking forward to harvesting them soon.

We don't use commercial cleaners with antibiotics or strong chemicals. We don't regularly eat or drink out of plastic, nor do we cook much in our microwave. The best way to summarise our philosophy is that we try to live the way our grandparents did, plus some technology.

Our environment is worth protecting - both in terms of its intrinsic worth and because we might need something from it later!

Shiitake logs, beeswax and turning poo into food

Last weekend was a real joy as I was able to convert a sad event, a neighbour's tree being chopped down, to a good thing - new mushroom logs for us. I popped over and had a chat with the lady, who I'd never met before and made a new friend and got two free logs.

I got the idea from reading Mycelium Running, a book that still excites me when I talk about it!

Check out Paul Stamets' website

I have understood for some time that we should always try to use a resource for the highest purpose possible. High quality 'waste' goes to the chickens versus lower quality material being composted. This way, we get a second or third yield, in this case eggs, from our 'waste' stream and keep the energy flowing.

Happily there are some organisms that we can eat that are fairly low on the food 'chain' which might surprise some people!

Detritivores are creatures who like to eat muck filtered from the water - classic examples are mussels, prawns and, the classic Australian favourite, marron. People grow these critters by sprinkling duck poo on their ponds, which in turn grows algae and boom! Food from poo, which just makes my day.

Permaculture gardeners should all be familiar with Black Soldier Fly Larvae as the best way to compost and produce high protein, self harvesting feed for chickens or fish.

Mushrooms are a whole other 'kingdom' in the same way that plants and animals are very different, so are fungi and plants. Fungi are ancient amazing organisms which are skilled survivors in highly competitive environments and in some cases, could well save your life. Read Mycelium Running if you have cancer or a troubled immune system.

The thing that fascinates me is the way that mushrooms can convert a log which would otherwise be left to decompose or burnt - into high quality food. Or better yet, poo into food. The old fashioned way was to simply get some horse manure into a compact garden bed, allow it to hot compost, then roughly chop some mushrooms into the mix and tamp it down. The new way is to mix in extra nutrients, hot compost or sterilise and then inoculate with cultivated mycelium growing on dowel or agar. Of course, you have to match the type of mushroom to your growing media.


Months ago I purchased Rowen Reid's Shiitake mycelium on dowel which arrived in a snap lock bag similar to the ones used for school lunches!

One fascinating thing that I noticed before I started my wood work was the rather wide ant 'highway' trekking to the logs and their sweet sap. This sap sits close to the surface of the bark and is sent around from the leaves to feed the rest of the tree and often, soil biota that have symbiotic relationships with the roots.

The process itself is simple:
1. Trim the log so that any cut surfaces are fresh and not contaminated
2. Drill holes around the circumference of the log
3. Put in a dowel plug to each hole
4. Seal any exposed wood and holes with beeswax

Keep moist and in the shade.
They say you should shock them into fruiting by dunking them in cold water... I'll keep you updated on whether you really have to torture them or not!

The link between depression and unsustainable agriculture

It's been a wonderful break over Christmas and I spent most of my lovely free time reading My Beautiful Genome by Lone Frank and Salad Bar Beef by Joel Salatin. I can highly recommend both: However, the spotlight deserves to be on My Beautiful Genome.

Wonderfully easy to read. Share Lone's exploration of her genetic history and gain a deeper understanding of how genetic variations help to shape your personality, relationships, emotions and more. Her reflections on neo-eugenics, emotional resilience, genetic plasticity and how coffee can affect breast size... if you have the right genes.

I know what you're thinking! Very different topics - genetics and agriculture - but for me, I have been thinking of how our modern lifestyle places people under extraordinary pressures that they may not be biologically equipped to handle.
This is concerning not only in terms of our health, but also in terms of reducing our capacity to adapt to a changing world - considering climate, land use and culture.


How can we, as a society, hope to forge a new path, if we can't be bothered to get out of bed in the morning?


If you're depressed and struggling, you're not going to be thinking behaviour change, advocacy or anything at all other than 'what's for breakfast' ... which will probably include cheap wheat and sugar from your local industrial food outlet. Possibly with a bit of some heavy metal or a bit of carbon that can be traced back to it's pre-historic origins.

The rate of depression in first world countries - not to mention allergies, auto-immune diseases, decreasing fertility and cancer - is way too high. I've heard many people suggest that people in third world countries are too busy surviving to have time to get depressed. That is part of the story. Certainly I've met some people who manage to survive on meat and potatoes... not everyone would be OK on that diet! These people seem to be made of pretty sturdy stock.

Many people who are actually in the midst of a deep despair (I've known a few)  feel that they have no choice but to medicate themselves for either short periods of time, or their entire life. I suggest that these people are the canaries in the coal mine for our society - considering stress from perceptions of crime in densely populated cities splashed all over the media, lack of community, low quality food and toxins.

We understand that health challenges like depression do have a genetic component and Frank's exploration of this puzzle is worth reading, just to understand that scientists are still piecing together the pieces of the puzzle. We medicate as a stop gap before the 'perfect' treatment that might be developed in a number of years. Maybe this perfect treatment will be a little protein that flicks the epigenetic 'switch' back to 'normal' (whatever that means).

After I thought about these connections between sustainabilty and mental health... I went looked up the ingredients that the body needs to make a batch of serotonin. This information is not that well known even by those interested in nutrition.

• Tryptophan
• Iron
• Vitamin B3
• Calcium
• Folic Acid
• Magnesium
• Zinc
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin B6

(Tabrizian, I. 2003)

Wonderful... the ingredient list for mental health. Perhaps I should add 'act, belong, commit', which is a great public health campaign in Australia at the moment.

Consider that the following anti-nutrients can be present in high doses in either our environment or our food supply.

• Mercury (blocks iron and zinc, which sit near it on the periodic table)
• Copper (blocks iron, folic acid, zinc and magnesium)
• Cadmium (blocks zinc, magnesium) 

(Tabrizian, I. 2003) 

I'm aware that cadmium is present in industrial fertilisers. It becomes more available to the plants in unhealthy or degraded acidic soils which occur in marginal farming country - where farmers may be pushed financially.

Here in Western Australia we don't have a lot of natural minerals in our ancient soils - zinc is one example. We can try to get it from seafood and eggs and so on, but realistically, chances are that we're on the low side. Supermarkets can't get the high levels of Vitamin C - the older the fresh food; the lower the levels. This is because Vitamin C is nature's anti-oxidant (preservative).

I don't know about you, but I find this biochemical reality very very interesting. For me, it is a nail in the coffin for industrial agriculture using chemical fertilisers. It is also a glimmer of hope for those who are prone to depression - the canaries in the coal mine... a warning sign that our society is getting it wrong!

It highlights for me the many many reasons we should be growing some of our own food on real compost... aside from deliciousness!

If you're feeling excited: have a read of Peter Dingle and get into local, organic produce!

Sour Dough

I've rediscovered a lost art... baking from scratch using wild caught yeast!

I started with Youtube, watching as many videos as I could about how to do it. The technique I used was to simply mix some white organic wheat flour together with water to make a runny pancake consistency. Pop this in a jar outside and cover with an old stocking held in place with a lucky band. This is so that yeast will land on the mix from the air. Keep your fingers crossed and discard half each day, replacing with more flour and water and mixing. This is critical as it is fresh food for any new yeast that arrives and keeps conditions right for rapid growth.

Depending on temperature mainly, you should have a good colony going in about 1 week. Keep feeding it at least once per week and don't keep too much of your starter and let it get too big, it works best when it can grow fast and you don't want to use truckloads of flour to achieve this end.

Tonight I've started what I hope will be a tradition. I have milled my own organic rye flour to feed our starter. I used our Thermomix, which was a present from Rodney's mum Helen. Milling my own flour optimises both nutrition and awareness of our food. Grain keeps well and was designed (by nature or God, you decide) to keep. Flour is vulnerable to oxidation of natural oils and is best fresh, particularly whole-grain which includes the 'germ'.

To make a good bread, you need active starter (when it is growing, rather than waiting for you to feed it again) and not too much of it - say ~1/3 cup for a loaf. I like to 'air knead' which is when you oil up your hands and fold and stretch the dough up in the air rather than in a bowl or on a board - where it might stick. If too soft - ie. you pour a runny mix in to bake, it won't dry enough inside to make a proper 'grain' of bread and will be doughy. If too dry, the yeast won't work as well. Add oil to help the bread stay fresh for longer - to reduce trans fat you can use coconut, lard, butter or olive oil (olive may produce a little). There are so many sour-dough recipes, both savoury and sweet.

I pop mine in a silicone baking container and leave to rise on my seedling raising tray overnight - because it keeps it warm. I then bake it in a medium oven and pull it out when it looks right.

Coming at bread making for the third time, I have very much enjoyed it and found that a machine was not necessary although we do have one and for 'normal' / fast bread I'm still happy to use this. Sour dough however, may (I've heard) 'etch' metal - so glass or ceramic is the go when you leave it to rise.

Why cook this way? I am convinced that using microbes in our food is healthy for us. As is the process itself - reconnecting with food as we make it, rather than shovelling it in as fast as possible! ...but back to microbial activity:
- fewer defensive chemicals from the plant itself, in essence pre-digested
- higher protein, lower sugars
- higher nutrition, Vitamins K (several) found in fermented foods
- no 'magic box'... I know where each and every part of my food has come from and how it was made ... not the case for commercial yeast kept in the freezer!

I'm very happy to buy less yeast as well. From time to time we'll go back to the bread machine and bought yeast, but this is primarily for convenience.


I also have a container of wheat flour, a present from my good friend Jess Mess,  and I'm very much looking forward to using this! I think it's not 'bread making' wheat as this is not usually available but I can use it for biscuits and to add the 'whole-meal' taste. I will be keeping my eyes open for other options which might include farmer direct from family friends.

No doubt I'll blog on sour-dough again most likely using my lovely new book on the topic that Rodney bought for me just before he left for Russia :)

Advertising and Sustainability; the way to make sure that the underdog will win

I was lucky enough to secure a seat at the latest Sir Walter Murdoch Memorial Lectures by Todd Sampson on Creativity - balancing fear & success. 

(I got a spot because I responded immediately as part of my strategy to not double-handle emails!)

If you're like me, you might need to look him up if you don't watch much TV! You can see him on the 'Gruen Transfer' show. As a successful advertising executive, he has also been heavily involved with dreaming up 'Earth Hour' which has recently been popular in the less developed world including China (I felt hope bubbling up inside me as I saw the images and almost cried).

He was delightful, wearing a stupid 'Farmville' T-shirt in bright red and casual shoes. The academics introducing him were all wearing very formal wear and were very careful to follow protocol, although I happen to know that they are lovely real people in person. The contrast was stark and I'm sure that he is very conscious of his personal branding - managing it very carefully.

He regaled us with his stories including flying to New Zealand for work and happening to have tea with Sir Edmund Hillary, climbing Mount Everest solo, his pivotal decision to finally become CEO in his firm and about his kids and the importance of parenting encouraging creativity.

He wants us to be courageous enough to take 5 minutes of being creative, rather than choosing to default to some conservative response as a result of fear.

This struck me. In Australia we have numerous examples of environmental problems being ignored or under-funded. Climate change, salinity and systemic forest and woodland declines to name a few close to my heart. We seem reactive and scared. The Carbon Tax has come about as a sort of stop gap after the larger  Emissions Trading Scheme proposed by Kevin Rudd fell through as a result of the leader of the opposition, Malcolm Turnball being displaced in favour of Tony Abbot (the economist in favour direct action and any other random insanity that occurs to him). Something that seemed inevitable with bipartisan support fell apart and the Australian carbon market took a heavy blow... several years later we seem to almost have The Carbon Farming Initiative in place, but that too could fall over before the administrative arms are up and running.

We're settling for less than what my heart tells me is possible.

This concept of creativity trumping fear (at least for 5 minutes) must be embraced by those of us in environmental campaigns as the way to make sure that the underdog will win.

So the question goes out to the ether - "How do we use the creativity often shown in the advertising world for good (rather than evil)?"

"How can we inspire others and change our world?"

Your role can be small, or larger than you could ever imagine :)

Wicking Beds

I've got so many topics I want to blog about! Today I've chosen wicking beds, as I know that my good friend Theo is excited about them and it is very topical as we here in Western Australia are coming into summer.

We will want to design our spring & summer gardens to conserve our scheme (town) water. Did you know that around 50% of our tap water comes from ground water and that we have got forests and woodlands dying from drought? I only recently put two and two together and it has mostly cured me of my desire for long showers. I simply imagine the tree roots sucking on air above the clay bottom of their home aquifer.


The concept of wicking beds is to stop the water from running away and store it in such a way that plants can access it passively. This is in contrast to systems like hydroponics and aquaponics which rely on electricity to keep the water flowing past the plant roots.


There are as many ways to implement a wicking system as there are permaculture designers and practitioners! Speaking of designers, my favourites are Milkwood's Kirsten and Nick -you can see how they made their wicking bed here.


I've got one trial so far and it has worked extremely well. I'm happy to recommend it as possibly one of the easiest ways to grow food in pots.

I started with one of the food grade 5 litre oil containers below (thanks for these Andy!). I find the large size is best for plants to grow vigorously and that they are more productive this way.

I cut off the top to turn it into a pot - easy enough with an angle grinder but some people don't like to use the electricity!  I then cut slots in the base using the angle grinder to allow excess water to drain away, these are up about 5 centimetres from the ground. You can see the bottom has a slight ridge in the centre to allow them to be stacked like this. If you were using another container you can just as easily put the drainage in the side.


The image below is of the finished product with some mint I've successfully grown from seed! Mint seed is tiny, so I'm very happy with this result.

The plants have doubled in the last week or so and are loving the spring weather. They will do better in this pot than any other as they are thirsty!

I'm looking forward to mint with watermelon or apple and cos salad. Yum.!

Here's to simple gardening that is good for us and the earth.